Busy and important week concluded

Last week was busy but entirely worthwhile. With the Mayor of Glendale and Chair of Fighter Country Partnership and others who are very knowledgeable of Luke AFB issues, I participated in an editorial board meeting with "Luke Forward Now" as our subject. Next day attended a Governor Brewer hosted press conference on the same subject. The following day, with the past chair of Fighter Country, I briefed the AZ Chamber of Commerce on our efforts to get our businesses and citizens to demonstrate this State's support for Luke being selected as the second training site for the F-35.
Although Luke and the F-35 were the primary subjects for the early part of the week, the Cincinnati Reds cornered the second half. The city and others sponsored two nights of events to commemorate the opening of the Reds practice fields and clubhouse. We are fortunate to call the Reds neighbors as they are a first class outfit. We are now finished with the construction of the city-owned portion of the Goodyear Recreational Complex. Done, finally-----and on schedule.
Jim Cavanaugh

Bulk debris pickup problems voiced at council mtg

Last night at our council meeting, five citizens, who clearly represented the views of other citizens as well, voiced their dissatisfaction regarding the new bulk debris pickup procedures. There have been many problems in execution of the new procedures and the citizens were right on in their criticism. I expressed the city's regret for the inconvenience our citizens have experienced, apologized for the poor quality of service, and asked Staff to have the issues resolved as soon as possible. The Staff will report back to council during next week's work session with solutions to problems which are literally too numerous to mention herein.
The change in debris pickup service from once weekly to a call-in or internet request procedure was justified as a cost saving decision. Already, the administration and additional personnel costs associated with correcting the on-going problems outweigh any savings that would have accrued this year, if in fact the contention is correct that this new procedure would have saved money. It is regrettable that a service which was outstanding (admittedly some believed over the top) was not broken and did not need fixing was replaced based on an inconclusive cost savings rationale. However, it was changed, and now we have to determine how best to recover. This will be decided next week. In the meantime, our sanitation men and women are out there doing their level best to correct the obvious problems.
Jim Cavanaugh

Air Force Ball at Luke, 13 Sep

My wife and I attended the AF Ball last evening to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the United States Air Force. Very much enjoyed spending time with LtGen Phil Breedlove, who was the guest speaker. Gen Breedlove is a past commander at Luke several years back. He was, and still is, a good friend and supporter of Goodyear, in fact, merited award as Goodyear's Person of the Year in his final year at Luke. Obviously my lack of specificity reveals I do not recall the specific years, but in sum, he was very welcome by all of the 800+ attendees at the event-----a welcome he certainly deserved. He and the current commander, BGen Neubauer were very gracious in their comments to the audience, and particularly complimentary to the west valley cities for our continuing support to Luke and its mission. In fact, Gen Neubauer compared the west valley's support to Luke as a "national treasure". Linda and I ran in to many of our west valley and military friends and made quite a few new friends. All in all, a very worthwhile and enjoyable evening.
Jim Cavanaugh

Continuing on education committee

A bit late on this post; sorry. Regarding the education committee, we essentially had three goals or objectives. First, to determine how and where ASU could take up temporary residence as early as Fall, 2011; e.g. make use of one of Goodyear's closed retail businesses. Secondly, what should be done with the entire 60 acres adjacent to the City Center which we had earlier earmarked for higher education. A part of the acreage is controlled via lease by Franklin Pierce University, and thirdly, how do ASU and Franklin Pierce take up permanent residency in Goodyear, and how do we make it fair, effective, and affordable.
Our meeting went very well with every participant contributing their expertise and opinion. In fact we sort of blew away the agenda and decided to move with even greater vigor to provide a foundation of data to enable us to answer the above questions. The two universities are to provide a plan for initial and early implementation of their academic intentions and what physical requirements are needed to accomplish such implementation. The City Staff will devise an array of funding options assuming partial municipal government funding. Others of us are to devise a strategy and plan to seek out private sector investment. The entire committee will meet again on 6 October to provide reports on the three distinct tasks. We are making progress.
Jim

First education committee meeting

Last night for about two and one-half hours a committee of 15 met to discuss how we can bring ASU to Goodyear. The committee was comprised of two members of council including me, four city staff leaders, three ASU representatives, two Franklin Pierce representatives and four business/community leaders. The newspapers recently grabbed attention by emphasizing that ASU wants the city to provide $35-50M up front to build a facility housing classrooms for the potential ASU College at Goodyear. The papers are correct, however that number is only an expression of what a facility might cost. It is way too early to declare there is only one option for construction of a facility. We simply do not yet know what we the residents of Goodyear will be expected to finance. Bringing ASU and other colleges to Goodyear is an opportunity we absolutely cannot afford to miss, however how we and the colleges can accomplish this feat is not even close to being determined, let alone making a recommendation to the citizens. That's why we have established this committee. More on the committee's actions for tomorrow's blog.

Mayor Jim Cavanaugh Blog

Friends have encouraged me to periodically but regularly prepare a blog covering some of the highlights in the days and weeks of a mayor of Goodyear. Initially I was a bit reticent for I am not one who easily fits into the electronic information era. But, I need to adapt and be more flexible in a world that is forever changing. I have a responsibility as the mayor and chief executive officer of a city to be the best I can be in providing service to our citizens. I can only do that with the continuing and full support of those same people. So I need to keep our citizens current on what’s happening in Goodyear, clearly express my view on subjects of import while continually being open to other’s views. By blogging I can give my personal opinion on subjects which may or may not be in agreement with a majority of our seven-person council and city staff. We’ll start with the funding challenges Goodyear faces regarding the city center and bringing ASU to town. I will attempt to keep our residents apprised of the status of these major events and how I visualize their respective impact on our future. So let me begin tomorrow with a report on the first meeting of a superb committee formed to determine how we can bring ASU, Franklin Pierce University, and other universities and colleges to Goodyear! That meeting will occur this evening at 7:00PM in City Hall, Room 117. I look forward to the meeting as well as reporting to you how the meeting went.

Goodyear's Newest Point of Pride

It has been a little over a week since thousands of excited fans watched the first pitches cross home plate at the Goodyear Ballpark, the new spring training home of the Cleveland Indians, and next year, the Cincinnati Reds. I’d like to share with you some of the comments about that day from Bill Fedor, a Valley resident and band leader of the orchestra that performed at the opening day festivities. Bill wrote: “The band played from 10AM to 1PM, during which time thousands of fans passed by our location. What impressed us was the enthusiastic response to our music of nearly all of the fans. They applauded, cheered, yelled, stopped to shake my hand, and take pictures. Granted, the folks may have been pumped because it was opening day, but my band members and I were struck by the warm, friendly response of the citizens of your city.”

The 2009 inaugural game held at our community’s latest point of pride and in the Cactus League’s finest stadium is the culmination of almost three years of vigorous negotiations, careful planning and firm resolve to put Goodyear on the map as a destination for sports fans, winter visitors and potential residents seeking the quality of life for which Goodyear has received national accolades.

Bringing spring training to Goodyear made sense for our community and for Major League Baseball. Arizona’s Cactus League is already an established entity in the state and across the country, with room and desire to expand. The most logical place for that expansion was in the West Valley. Goodyear is the fastest growing city in Maricopa County and home to Phoenix-Goodyear Municipal Airport and major business operations by industry giants such as Lockheed, Lufthansa and Macy’s.

The Goodyear Ballpark is the cornerstone to a much bigger vision for our community and its burgeoning economy. When completed, the 240-acre site will feature an attractive entertainment and retail complex of shops, restaurants, offices, and a hotel/conference center.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the new ballpark, I encourage you to do so. This is your ballpark, a public facility owned and operated by the city of Goodyear. As your mayor, I hope that you will find as much pride in it as I do and share in my belief that this is just the beginning of better things to come to Goodyear. With your support, I look forward to four more years of building on that shared vision and building Goodyear into a community we can proudly call home.

Mayor Jim Cavanaugh
Goodyear


AN ELECTION REMINDER

This is just a friendly reminder that Tuesday, March 10, 2009, is Election Day for the Mayor and City Council of Goodyear. The city of Goodyear switched to a mail-in ballot for this year’s elections, and those ballots were sent to Goodyear’s registered voters last month. If you did not receive a ballot, or need a replacement, provisional ballots are still available at the Goodyear City Clerk's Office at City Hall, 190 N. Litchfield Road, Monday-Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Ballots that haven’t already been mailed in may be dropped off in person at the City Clerk’s office, but must be received by Tuesday, March 10, at 7 PM.

A Wealth of Opportunities for Goodyear

Goodyear, like the rest of the country, has a challenging agenda ahead of it. We can make it through this protracted downturn by identifying and capturing opportunities. To put ourselves in a position to capitalize on opportunities, our city government must first and foremost cut its cost of doing business without sacrificing jobs or reducing the effectiveness of our public safety programs.

Among my priorities as mayor of Goodyear are opportunities that I strongly believe will grow our economic base and enhance the lifestyle of our citizens.

GOODYEAR AIRPORT
Now is the time to make our municipal airport a focal point for economic development. We must optimize the value of the airport as our major economic development driver. The 4,000 acres adjacent to our airport are intended to provide tens of thousands of high-pay jobs over the following decades. This area is the” long pole in the tent” if we are to satisfy the objective of “live, work, and play” in Goodyear.

EDUCATION
While this is a difficult time for financing education, the universities and the city of Goodyear must collaborate for the schools to successfully navigate through this downturn. Now is the time to lay the groundwork to be a community of not two universities but rather ten. A Claremont-like model has been a success in California and can work for Goodyear.

CITY CENTER
The City Center must proceed with care. My goal is to start construction of a city hall and hopefully a library in 2010, followed by a performing arts center. We need to understand that a performing arts center is integral to our economic development, a focal point for us to mature culturally as a city, and a source of education for our youngsters.

GOODYEAR BALLPARK AND RECREATIONAL COMPLEX
The fractious relationship which developed between private sector partners in the construction of the ballpark has stymied efforts to surround the park and adjacent areas in the city center area with restaurants, hotels, office structures, and other mixed use possibilities. We must effectively market this potential to a broad array of investors and developers. The potential to enhance and broaden our quality of life is enormous and this area’s development must be advanced.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
This is not the time to build more houses but it is the time to agree on future developments. Now is the time to eliminate time consuming and cumbersome requirements on our developers. When these financially pressured elements of our society fail, our city and its people suffer. It is the time to use our baseball complex, our 2010 mall, and our city center to attract not only those who enjoy the day but the night as well.

With your vote, I am ready to serve four more years as your mayor, face the challenges head on, and show the rest of the state and the rest of the country why Goodyear is the All-America city.

Mayor Jim Cavanaugh,
Goodyear

Goodyear Switches to Mail-In Ballots

For the first time in Goodyear’s history, the Mayoral and City Council elections will be determined by mail-in ballots. This offers our residents a cost effective alternative to organizing and manning voting polls throughout the city on Election Day. The mail-in ballots will replace the need to go to a polling place to vote for our city government in the March 10 General Election.

Ballots were mailed out on February 9, 2009, to registered voters. Goodyear residents can mark their ballots at their leisure and mail them free of charge to Maricopa County, the city's elections contractor. Ballots are due by March 10th at 7 p.m.
Election officials recommend mailing in the ballot to the County on or before Friday, March 6th to assure it arrives on time.

For anyone who has lost their ballot, needs to replace the ballot you received in the mail, you can pick up a provisional ballot in the Goodyear City Clerk's Office at City Hall, 190 N. Litchfield Road, Monday-Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Registered voters can also drop off their ballots at the City Clerk’s Office during those same hours beginning February 9, 2009.


A LOOK AHEAD TO 2009

2008 brought unparalleled distinction for our City of Goodyear. We were one of only ten cities to be acclaimed “All-America City” and one of only five cities with populations under 100,000 to win the Most Livable City Award. Coast to coast, we are recognized as one of America’s finest cities.

Goodyear citizens have reason to be proud, but there’s no time to rest on our laurels. We must face today’s challenges head-on and create a firm foundation for Goodyear to become a center of excellence for higher education, clean commerce such as solar manufacturing, and medical care. As your mayor, my goals for Goodyear include:


• Collaborate with faith-based organizations and local employers to help those citizens struggling from the recession

• Manage our city government’s operating budget responsibly while preserving jobs

• Maintain funding to man and equip our police force and firefighters

• Attract businesses into our 4,000-acre airpark and construct west side access

• Advocate a statewide transferable tax credit for solar manufacturing firms wishing to set up business in Goodyear

• Pursue opportunities to bring additional universities and colleges into Goodyear

• Advocate establishing Luke AFB as the second training site for the F-35 fighter jets

• Enhance commerce and community with development of art, cultural, entertainment and quality nightlife venues surrounding the City Center, Ballpark, and Regional Mall

It is a challenging agenda. With your vote, we can make it happen. I would be honored to serve four more years as your mayor, face the challenges head-on, and lead us to achieve the quality of living you desire and deserve.

Building on the Vision

Hi, I’m Jim Cavanaugh, the current mayor of the City of Goodyear, and a candidate asking for the support of our Goodyear citizens for one more four-year term as Mayor. Over the following months, I will be communicating my message to you via candidate forums, direct mail, meetings in homes of supporters, and campaign signs.

This year I have chosen an additional way to communicate with you, through my blog, http://www.mayorjimcavanaugh.blogspot.com/. It will give you, the citizens of Goodyear, an unprecedented look at the inner workings of my role as mayor of our community. I will be sharing my rationale for decision-making, updating you on current city council activities, and discussing opportunities for our future. And most significantly, the blog will offer an exchange of views as you may wish to respond to my thoughts on subjects of importance to your community. Please log on anytime to get a glimpse of our campaign and happenings within Goodyear.

As 2009 gets underway, let us be proud of our achievements as a City. When you look at Goodyear from the perspective of growth, we are in our infancy going from about 8000 residents in 1995 to more than 60,000 today. Our changes have been dramatic as seen in a 4-year acceleration in the on-going widening of I-10, the addition of two hospitals, a Southwest Valley Crisis Center, two universities, one major league baseball team coming in the spring and another in 2010, two regional parks and many smaller parks, excellent housing choices, nice streets and views throughout, and an almost 25% reduction in real property tax rates.

As promising as this period of achievements has been, there have also been some unforeseeable challenges. Sadly, in the last two years, more than a thousand of our residents have been forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy. The recession also affected our City by severely cramping financial prerogatives in seeking new and better ways to serve and grow. We will get through these rough times together, but it may not be soon and definitely won’t be easy.

The four years ahead will pose many challenges for our City Council, staff, and citizen committees. Among them:

· Get City Center underway
· Build and stock a first class library
· Secure funding for our performing arts
· Build new administrative and training facilities for police, fire, and public works
· Make better use of the county park in the Estrella Mountains
· Open our new regional mall in 2010
· Plan for our other parks including the Goodyear Recreational Complex where we are building twelve fields and a stadium

Above all, we must continue to focus on bringing quality employment opportunities to Goodyear. Opportunities will abound. We must smartly capitalize on these opportunities while serving our people and protecting our resources. As your mayor, I look forward to bringing the changes needed to secure the best quality of life possible for all of us in this exceptional community.

Jim Cavanaugh,
Mayor