Globe Miami Times Connecting you to the Pulse of Globe Miami
MAYOR’S REPORT – JULY
Adoption of Final Budget 2017-2018
On July 11th, the final budget was adopted for fiscal year 2017-18 in the amount of $21,590,488.00. The goals identified for the upcoming year are public safety, roads, WIFA funding, blight, housing, regionalism, and tourism
Arizona Creative Community Grant
The City of Globe has been chosen as one of nine cities in Arizona to participate in the inaugural Arizona Community on The Arts program. This is a 12 month program sponsored by the ASU Herberger Institute to explore the many ways that Arizona creativity can be put to work for a positive community impact. This program includes four weekends of intensive training sessions, statewide networking, and consulting opportunities, and a 20K investment in our community. Once a project is determined for our city, an artist will be assigned to serve a residency in collaboration with our team to complete the project. Our team members include Paul Tunis, Director of The Center for the Arts, Tiera Guerena, student at ASU studying non-profit management, Linda Oddonetto, Executive Assistant with the City of Globe, and Mayor Al Gameros.
City of Globe Historic Preservation Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee presented five more recommendations on paint palettes for downtown businesses for Council approval. These businesses are Diamond Dental, Tonto Hotel Building, La Luz Del Dia, Nichol Kell, and Bloom Building.
Globe Haunt 2017
The City of Globe and the Downtown Association have been meeting with organizers and investors from Phoenix to bring a professional produced haunted house to our city similar to the ones in Phoenix. An agreement has been reached and the investors have been secured for this project at the old jail on Oak Street and they are ready to move forward with construction. This will be a six week-long event beginning September 28th and ending on October 31st. Their hope is to bring thousands of attendees from all over Arizona and to our downtown community. If the first 2017 Globe Haunt event is a success, they plan on making it an annual one.
VA Clinic
A meeting was held on July 19th at the American Legion Hall in regards to rumors that the local VA Clinic was closing. About 80 veterans attended the meeting along with representatives from Congressman Tom O’Halleran’s office. A statement was read from the VA administration office stating that the local clinic was not closing. The local veterans still voiced their concern of transparency and requested a personal visit from the VA administration office and a letter in writing confirming the statement. The representatives agreed to take back the concerns along with over 600 signatures on a petition that were accumulated.
Thrills in Copper Hills Softball Tournament
The City of Globe and the Arizona National Softball Association will be hosting the Thrills in Copper Hills Softball Tournament on August 25th thru 27th in Globe. The tournament includes girls ages 10 through 18 and will include teams from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California. There are twenty teams already registered with a limit of twenty-five. We hope to make this first tournament a successful one so we can become a hub as part of their year around schedule. Our future plans are to also bring a youth boys and adult softball tournament to the area. The city’s new Parks and Recreation Committee will be assisting with this event as their first project.
15K Single Item Sales Discussion
In 2011, the City Council passed a resolution that caps the city sales tax at 15K for any single retail item purchase. The reason was to help boost our local economy and keep our residents from driving to the valley for high ticket items. This means that the city only collects taxes on the first 15K of the purchase and waives any taxes above that amount. The county and the state still collect their taxes for the full amount. It is estimated that the city loses between 90K to 120K annually with this cap in place according to a presentation made to Council, by Albert Holler and Associates, our tax auditor consultant. There was no deadline or any review process set in place to measure the results at that time. There has been a lot of discussion and collection of information to help the current Council understand the impact of this resolution. This item is not taken lightly by the council as research is completed. The decision will need to be made to see if this cap is still a positive and viable economic benefit for our city as we move forward.
There has been some comments made that questions the integrity and transparency of the city council about not releasing information on how the estimated 90K to 120K came about. The simple reason is that we are prohibited by law to release such information to the public. Staff is working with our city attorney to clarify these limitations for Council. This Council and staff strives to be as transparent as possible and are working hard to help promote our great city and I am proud to be part of such of a diverse and progressive group. I guarantee our citizens that this item is being researched extensively before any decision is made. It is important to understand and educate ourselves how important it is to buy local first.
As a lifelong resident of the community, I have served with the City of Globe Fire Department for 30 years including 18years as the Fire Chief. After retiring in 2016 I ran for Mayor because I’m passionate about bringing people and organizations together to make good things happen in the community. It’s my privilege and honor to serve Globe in this new capacity.