Events
District 1 Community Breakfast
The next District 1 Community Breakfast will be held on January 27, 2012. Phoenix’s new Mayor Greg Stanton will be speaking. Breakfast begins at 7:30, the speakers will start around 7:45. Breakfast will be available for $3.99 and the District 1 office will pay for your drink.
Date: January 27, 2012
Time: 7:30 a.m.
Location: Deer Valley Airport Restaurant – 702 West Deer Valley Road
Cactus Park Sign Sweep
The next Cactus Park quarterly sign sweep is December 10th. Meet at Cactus Park Precinct (12220 North 39th Avenue) at 8:00 am if you are interested in helping out.
Certification Workshops for Small Business Owners
Small business owners in Maricopa County are invited to attend a free workshop this month and learn more about the city of Phoenix business certification programs and how they can provide opportunities for small business economic growth. The next workshop will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, at Longview Neighborhood Recreation Center, 4040 N. 14th St.
The city’s Equal Opportunity Department offers free monthly educational workshops to help business owners complete the application process for certification with the city as a small business enterprise. The workshops offer in-depth information about the requirements, process and benefits of becoming certified. Seating is limited for these presentations. To reserve a space, call the Phoenix Equal Opportunity Department at 602-262-6790, or email business.relations.eod@phoenix.gov.
Faces of Diversity Brown Bag lecture: Asian-Pacific Women’s Health Issues
Valley residents of Asian-American and Pacific Islander descent will share their personal health experiences through a series of short films at the free Faces of Diversity Brown Bag series at noon Friday, Dec. 16, at the Phoenix City Council Chambers, 200 W. Jefferson St. These films are being shown in the community to encourage dialogue on issues such as health and cancer and their effects on the Asian-Pacific community. Zeenat Hasan will share her research on these issues and how her interest in advocating for social justice and universal rights blends with Asian-Pacific health and cultural issues.
The free event is co-sponsored by the Phoenix Human Relations Commission and the city’s Equal Opportunity Department. The Faces of Diversity series features dynamic people telling their stories about diversity. Bring your lunch and enjoy a cultural experience. No reservation is needed. For more information, call 602-495-0358 or visit phoenix.gov/eod/whatsnew.
Coffee with a Cop
Cactus Park Precinct:
Date: December 7th
Time: 8:00 am
Where: Mimi’s Café
Address: 10214 N Metro Pkwy, West
Black Mountain Precinct will not be holding a Coffee with a Cop in December. The Black Mountain Coffee will return after the holidays in January.
Warrant Clear UP
The Phoenix Police Department is teaming up with the Phoenix Municipal Court to present “New Opportunity Warrant Clear Up,” (NOWcU) a misdemeanor warrant program. From December 5-9, 2011 between 8 am and 5 pm, those with Phoenix misdemeanor warrants are invited to come to the Valdemar A. Cordova Building (City Courthouse) and take care of their outstanding warrants. Extra courtrooms and staff will be available to assist these people in a safe environment. For those who choose not to participate, the Police Department will be conducting a city-wide warrant round-up immediately following the courthouse event.
Warrants pose a number of problems for our community. People with warrants often pose officer safety risks, cause high booking costs for the Police Department, decrease the likelihood of adjudicating a case the longer they hide, and victims of crimes to not receive justice and closure until their case is resolved.
Next Week’s Public City Meetings
City Council Meetings
City Council Policy Meeting – Tuesday, December 6 at 2:30 pm in the City Council Chambers
City Council Formal Meeting – Wednesday, December 7 at 3:00 pm in the City Council Chambers
City Council Recessed (Zoning) Meeting – Wednesday, December 7 at 5:00 pm in the City Council Chambers
City Council Subcommittee Meetings
Downtown, Aviation & Economy Subcommittee Meeting – Wednesday, December 7 at 10:00 am in the 12th Floor Subcommittee Room, Phoenix City Hall
Planning Meetings
Zoning Adjustment Hearing – Thursday, December 8 at 9:00 am in Assembly Room C, Phoenix City Hall
For more information on these and all other public City meetings visit http://phoenix.gov/PUBMEETC/indxhtml.html. You can watch City Council Policy Meetings on Channel 11 or on the internet at http://phoenix.gov/citygovernment/phx11/programming/policysession/index.html. You can also listen to all meetings held in the City Council Chambers by calling 602-495-0614.
Community
Trivia
What three musical instruments are picture on the U.S. quarter honoring Tennessee?
Arizona Centennial Volunteer Challenge
In honor of Arizona's 100 Birthday, turn your passion into action. Take the Arizona Centennial Volunteer Challenge.
Pledge to volunteer 100 hours between now and February 2012
TRACK your volunteer hours
Help us reach 1 million hours of volunteer service between now and February 2012
SHARE the Challenge with your friends and encourage them to turn their passions in to action
For more information, including a Volunteering toolkit, visit the Arizona Centennial Volunteer Challenge today.
MAG receives praise
During the launch of the Metropolitan Business Plan, the Brookings Institute praised the MAG Regional Council for creating an Economic Development Committee that is made up of a high-caliber team of public and private sector leaders. We are relying on the knowledge and talent of our partners to help guide this important process. We are building upon the hard work that has already taken place in the region, including incorporating economic development plans already underway, to develop a unified strategy that moves the needle toward recovery.
City Efficiencies
Mobile Workforce Management
The current version of Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) requires field activities to be printed at the beginning of each day and provided to field staff to work. The routing of the day’s printed field activities in inefficient. Field activities issued throughout the day via radio are sent to staff without knowing who is closest to the customer’s address, which can decrease responsiveness to a customer and adds unnecessary mileage to city vehicles.
Examples of efficiencies and enhanced customer service offered by the expansion of MWM are as follows:
Real time scheduling, street level routing and wireless deployment of field activities.
Staff will complete and close field activities on their laptop, eliminating the need to turn in paper at the end of the shift that is then entered into Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) by clerks several days later.
Customers can make appointments and CC&B and MWM will route the field activity to meet the customer’s request.
Field staff will be able to access CC&B and obtain a customer’s history to better respond to questions or issues at the customer’s property.
MWM expansion will significantly increase efficiency and save money. The costs associated with this upgrade include purchasing laptops and software, wireless capabilities to allow real time scheduling and street level routing, which will result in fewer miles driven by staff each day and decreasing gasoline and maintenance costs on vehicles. Field activities will be closed out as they are completed, which will eliminate the need for the part-time clerks who enter completed field activities into CC&B. Paper and printing costs will also be decreased.
Organizational Review
Based on initial review, this year’s organizational review process will provide approximately $3.5 million in savings from the elimination of over 40 positions and the reclassification/reallocation of over 50 positions, as well as other department cost savings measures. Some of these other cost savings measures include:
Reduction of lobbying contract in Government Relations resulting in $60,000 in savings.
Reduction in temporary contractual services in Housing resulting in $72,000 in savings.
ePRO Electronic Discovery in Law resulting in $100,000 in savings.
Some customer service enhancements identified during department presentations include: a “How’s My Driving” program for non-public safety vehicles; same day service for trash/recycling; “QR” codes for park/center signs; and, iPhone and Droid apps to report neighborhood blight.
Landscape and Grounds Maintenance Procurement Status
Landscape and grounds maintenance of City facilities was managed previously by contracted vendors (65 facilities) or serviced by the Parks and Recreation Department (70 facilities). Eight separate contracts provided similar landscape and grounds maintenance service for the contracted City facilities. In an effort to be more efficient and cost effective, eleven departments participated in developing a landscape and Grounds Maintenance competitive bid for a total of 135 City facilities.
The 135 City facilities included in the bid were grouped based on geographic areas to receive competitive pricing; eight geographic groups in total. Two citywide groups were included for palm tree purging and tree removal. This allowed for consistent requirement citywide. The process was a competitive sealed bid. The pre-bid meeting was held on August 22, 2011. Seventy potential bidders downloaded copies of the solicitation, and twelve vendors submitted bids. Three were deemed non-responsive and therefore disqualified after consultation with the Law Department.
The recommended awards are based on lowest responsive and responsible price of each group. The results were posted on the Finance Department’s procurement website on November 22, 2011. Savings to the City are estimated at over $350,000 a year. The contract term is a one year contract with four options to extend for one-year each. The contract will be on the City Council Formal agenda in December for approval.
Managed Competition for Solid Waste Contained Collection
The Public Works Department has utilized a competitive bidding process since 1979 to ensure that the citizens of Phoenix receive the most cost effective and highest quality services. In this process, the City submits an audited cost estimate simultaneously with the private industry. Over the past 31 years, 13 bid processes have been conducted for solid waste contained collection, with six awarded to private companies and seven to the City. To date, managed competition for solid waste contained collection has resulted in $38 million in cost savings.
The City is divided into 10 service areas labeled A through J. The next area scheduled for competitive bidding is Service Area F. Service Area F covers both sides of South Mountain Park. The area on the north side of South Mountain Park is bounded by Durango to the north, 12th Street to the west and 52nd Street on the east. On the south side of South Mountain Park, the area is bounded by South Mountain Park to the north, Pecos to the south, 43rd Avenue to the west, and I-10 to the east. The area serves approximately 36,400 living units and includes portions of Council District 6 and 8. The bid is scheduled to begin and be awarded in July 2012. upon bid award, a year will be allowed for transition. The term of the contract for Service Area F will be for six years from June 1, 2012 to July 31, 2019.
The proposed bid process and schedule is consistent with longstanding policy and the Department’s recent redistricting process to expose all areas of the city to competitive bidding. City staff now collects 100 percent of residential accounts, having submitted the lowest bids in the last two bid processes.
City News
City of Phoenix Adds Nearly 600 Acres to Desert Preserves
The City of Phoenix has added another 592 acres of State Trust land to the Sonoran Preserve, pushing this latest piece of the city’s vast desert preserve system to a total of approximately 7,500 acres. The city’s desert preserve system now encompasses more than 31,000 acres citywide. The city purchased the parcel at a State Trust land auction November 30 for $10.4 million. Approximately $6.3 million of the purchase price came from the Phoenix Parks and Preserve Initiative (PPPI) and $4.1 million from a state Growing Smarter grant.
The land in the new preserve is unique to the city’s preserve system. Much of it is located in the transition zone to the Arizona Upland subdivision of the Sonoran Desert. This area is characterized by higher amounts of rainfall, up to 12.5 inches a year, which increases both the lushness and diversity of plant life. South Mountain, Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak, on the other hand, are located in the Lower Colorado River Valley, the largest and most arid subdivision of the Sonoran Desert. With only 7.5 inches of rainfall a year, vegetation in these areas is sparser and less varied.
The PPPI was reauthorized by 83 percent of Phoenix voters in May 2008. It authorized the continuation of a modest sales tax for a 30-year period to purchase thousands of acres of state trust land and to fund construction of and improvements to regional, neighborhood and community parks. The public lands purchased were reclassified for conservation through the Arizona Preserve Initiative (API), established by the Governor and Legislature in 1996. Voters passed Growing Smarter in 1998 to fund the matching grant provision of the API through 2012.
Water Pressure Improved Near ASU West
In August the Water Department increased water pressure in some of the areas near ASU West by reducing valve settings. The change may increase area pressures by 1-3 psi. The Water Department also modified settings across zones which should result in less fluctuation of pressures throughout the day. The combination of these changes ensures that the existing pressures for the residential areas near the campus will remain about the same as the new resident’s hall at ASU West.
Trivia Answer
A guitar, trumpet and fiddle, which are shown with a musical score and a banner inscribed, “Musical Heritage.”
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