State of Mesa: Councilmember Scott Somers - District 6

We have a new edition of our series, "State of Mesa." We have offered each councilmember an opportunity to submit their own editorial on the state of their District to be posted on Mesa Issues. Here is Councilmember Scott Somers' State of District 6:

State of the District: Mesa Gateway Bucking the Trend

Mesa, along with the rest of the nation, continues to struggle with the downturn in the economy. Many economists are starting to say that we’ve hit bottom, but it certainly seems to be a marshy bottom as unemployment in Arizona continues to hover above 9-percent. In this environment, investments in economic development become increasingly important for our State and City’s long-term recovery and growth.

In many ways, southeast Mesa is bucking the trend of receding economic activity with the addition of new businesses and expansion of existing ones. This growth has created jobs and brought millions in private investment to the City.

Major aerospace employers now occupy the north ramp of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Cessna, Embraer, and Hawker-Beechcraft have or will soon create a combined $47M in capital investment with 260 jobs and an annual payroll of $16M.

Despite the decline in business and recreational air travel, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and its major tenant Allegiant Airlines continue to expand. The Airport Authority recently accepted a $9M Federal grant for the expansion of the Charles Williams Terminal. With that announcement came the addition of Allegiant’s 20th destination from Mesa. Allegiant employs 60 people at Gateway and funded an earlier $3M expansion of the terminal.

The Arizona Aerospace Institute was conceived to promote a global role for the State in aerospace research and infrastructure. We expect AzAI will soon plant its flag in Mesa. Mayor Smith and I are pleased to be among the founding members of the advisory board.

Manufacturing is beginning to seed itself near Mesa Gateway. Soon CMC Steel will open its doors. The company will recycled metals to create steel rebar. The mill’s capacity will be able to supply nearly all the steel rebar needs for Arizona. CMC invested $120M in our City and will provide 60 jobs with an annual payroll of $3.6M.

Healthcare services are expanding in east Mesa. Banner Baywood recently opened its new emergency room; Mountain Vista Medical Center is up-and-running offering improved cardiac and stroke services to the east Valley; and A.T. Still is expanding its medical education and services campus to begin construction on a specialty hospital.

Tourism initiatives in southeast Mesa are progressing. Last year voters overwhelmingly approved the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center. This project will bring 1200 resort rooms and nearly 500,000 s.f. of convention space to Mesa. Despite the down economy, Gaylord Entertainment was able to retire debt and raise capital, money that is reported to help with their expansion projects, most notably right here in Mesa. Gaylord will bring nearly $1B (that’s Billion) in private capital investment to Mesa – the largest such investment in Arizona history.

Don’t be surprised if you see a movie star in Mesa in the coming years. The Gateway Studios project located south of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport continues to move forward. While there are a few obstacles to overcome, this project promised to bring $70M in private investment to southeast Mesa, along with some notoriety.

Mesa is quickly being recognized for its innovation in planning. Recently, the Mesa Gateway Strategic Development Plan, which we’ve been working on for nearly 2 ½ years, received an award from the American Planning Association for “Best 21st Century Plan”.

I expect southeast Mesa will continue to see tremendous growth in Healthcare, Education, Aerospace, and Tourism in the coming years. Will continued diligence and innovative planning it can truly live up to our vision of a 100,000 high-wage job center.

State of Mesa: Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh- District 3

This is the latest entry in our new series, "State of Mesa." We have offered each councilmember an opportunity to submit their own editorial on the state of their District to be posted on Mesa Issues. Here is Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh's State of District 3:

It has been a busy time for the City Council since I took office last June. First and foremost, Mesa, like virtually every other American city has been faced with an unprecedented loss of revenues due to the recession economy. In December 2008 the Council approved dramatic reductions for the balance of this fiscal year and for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. No area of city government was spared these cuts and unfortunately, we will see a diminished level of city services during this coming year.

Now more than ever, we will need help from our residents, particularly in offering volunteer services. Virtually every city department has a valued place for volunteers and I hope District 3 residents continue our proud tradition of volunteer service to our community. Also, please continue to help us out by making your major purchases in Mesa as we rely so heavily on sales tax revenues.

We do have some exciting things happening in District 3. The opening of light rail has produced a wave of excitement among residents and businesses and has stimulated new development in West Mesa. The Mekong Plaza shopping mall is a great example of adaptive reuse of the old Target store and its parking lot has been crowded since day 1. Across the street we look for the opening of an upscale Hispanic market (Pueblo Market) this spring. We are seeing the beginnings of an international dining/shopping area at the start of the light rail line.

We have completed work on design guidelines for the Fiesta District. Changes to our zoning code are also anticipated to reduce barriers to reinvestment in West Mesa and the Fiesta District. Banner Desert Hospital, Mesa Community College and Fiesta Mall have all seen significant dollars invested in their locations. Through a partnership with the West Mesa Community Development Corporation and the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) the city is encouraging façade improvements by West Mesa businesses. The new regional pool facility at Rhodes Junior High School is under construction and will be a valuable community asset when it opens this fall.

Finally, District 3 continues to have stellar neighborhood groups which work hard to keep crime down and property values up. I truly appreciate all that they do for our city.

Dennis Kavanaugh
Councilmember, District 3

State of Mesa: Councilmember Dave Richins - District 1

This is the first entry in our new series, "State of Mesa." We have offered each councilmember an opportunity to submit their own editorial on the state of their District to be posted on Mesa Issues. Here is Councilmember Dave Richins' State of District 1:

There are some exciting things happening in and near District One in Mesa. Two significant projects have the potential to affect Mesa and District One for many years. No, it is not Riverview or Waveyard. It is Arizona Regional Medical Center (formerly Mesa General) and Banner Corporate Center East (formerly Banner Mesa Medical Center). Both expected to generate over 1500 jobs in west Mesa.

Arizona Regional Medical Center is a full service hospital. The Emergency Room is being operated by District One resident and long-time Emergency Room Physician Dr. Kent Layton. I have great faith in Doc Layton and he has brought confidence and quality to emergency medicine at ARMC. Additionally, ARMC recently passed its accreditation inspection through the Joint Commission on Accreditation, with the highest level of certification a hospital can receive. The inspector commented that in his many years of hospital inspections he has never seen a cleaner hospital. Check it out of yourself. I am sure glad it is there if I need it. A BIG thanks to everyone who helped preserve jobs and healthcare in west Mesa, particularly Rep. Mark Anderson, Robin Harris of the Mahoney Group and Board President of West Mesa CDC, and Mesa’s Economic Development, Planning, and Building Safety Departments. I would also like to extend a thank you to my predecessor, Claudia Walters, for all she did to smooth the process of approval and communication with the City of Mesa.

Banner Corporate Center East will employ over 1200 people supporting the entire Banner system. The first 60 employees moved into the totally renovated facility on Dec. 29th, 2008 and more will move in each month. Check out the excellent article on progress in the Jan. 10th, 2008 edition of the East Valley Tribune. A big thanks here goes to Mesa Grande Community Alliance for staying engaged with Banner and encouraging quality reuses of this facility.

Another big deal, timed to coincide with Spring Training’s return to the valley is “Play Ball – The Cactus League Experience” at the Mesa Historical Museum in Horne Road and Lehi Road in Lehi. I would encourage you to check it out if you are a baseball fan. Additionally, the Wallace and Ladmo exhibit is still there as well. If you haven’t been to the Museum in a while, I would suggest a visit to see the new exhibits and reconnect with Mesa’s past.

THE BUZZ! The buzz about what? The Buzz is a new free shuttle circulating around west Mesa and downtown. It links everything together. Light Rail, Metro Link, and The Buzz should get you anywhere you need to go, without a car, and with an easy link to the airport, you can go anywhere in the world! It also achieves one of the goals of the Mesa Grande Community Alliance revitalization plan. Check out my city council website at http://mesaaz.gov/citymgt/mayorcc/richins.aspx for more information on the Buzz.

Riverview. No State of District One report would be complete without an update on Riverview. Riverview Pointe, the office component of the project will be open late Jan. 2009. The Hyatt Place hotel hopes to be open by March for Spring Training. The owner of the hotel also owns the Oakland A’s and rumor has it that it will be the hotel home of the A’s during Spring Training. The big three, Bass Pro, Home Depot and Wal-Mart are still going strong. Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill hopes to be open in time for the Super Bowl. I haven’t seen official numbers but it looks like Riverview has produced almost $5,000,000 in sales tax revenue for the city so far. I have recently reviewed the rather cumbersome agreement between the developers and the city and things seem to be on track. I know some bristle at the incentives and a half full shopping center but always keep in mind two things, 1) this is a tough economy and the developer only gets money if the project generates sales taxes and 2) many aspects of the project have been built way ahead of schedule. It takes a while to absorb over a million square feet of shopping into the market. Be patient!

Waveyard, the dream is still alive. The Waveyard group is still working on securing financing for their project. They are working on deals in South Korea and Abu Dhabi as well as the project in Mesa. Waveyard is experience the same economic difficulties securing financing as many projects around the county. We are continuing to be engaged with Waveyard, in the meantime, enjoy a round of golf or join a softball league and have fun!

On Feb. 28th, 2008, instead of a Pancake Breakfast traditionally held by council members, we are going to stage a cleanup and beautification event called Top 2 Bottom. We are going to paint bridges (similar to the one on Alma School Road), clean alleys, vacant lots, illegal signs, remove old debris and tires, and paint out graffiti. We will be meeting in front of Home Depot and Mesa Riverview early that morning so come on by and pitch in to help. We will have breakfast and a free T-Shirt for all of our volunteers. Links to sign up are found on my council website at http://mesaaz.gov/citymgt/mayorcc/richins.aspx.

If anyone has questions or needs help on an issue feel free to call me at 480.644.4002 (office) or 602.625.5162 (cell). Please don’t call my cell after 8:PM, I have young kids! My email address is councilmember.richins@mesaaz.gov. Thanks!