Home » Government » Globe Mayor’s Report: January 2025
Globe Mayor Al Gameros. Courtesy photo

Globe Mayor’s Report: January 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025: On behalf of your Globe City Council and staff, we want to wish everyone a Happy New Year in 2025. We want to thank our residents for your continued support and patience moving forward into the new year as we continue to navigate our plan and overcome challenges as we work towards building a strong sustainable economic base for the future of our city. There are many more projects that you will witness in the new year that will come to fruition that have been in the works. Your city council and staff remain committed to improving the quality of life for not only our city residents, but for the entire community. May 2025 bring hope, peace, happiness, and unity in our community

LOYALTY OATH TAKEN: At the December 10 meeting, Judge John Perlman administered the Loyalty Oath for the three re-elected Council members for another four years. That included Mayor Al Gameros, Councilman Freddy Rios, and Councilman Mike Pastor.

PUBLIC HEARING TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 1899 – ADJUSTING WATER AND WASTEWATER RATES: A public hearing was held on December 10, 2024 to hear input from the public, staff, and council as part of the legal process on implementing rate adjustments and timelines as presented at the November 7th meeting. The justification of the anticipated increases is part of a study completed by the Wilden Financial Services giving projections for the next five years on infrastructure and inflation. There were no public comments received at the hearing.

This topic was an agenda item for council to further discuss and how to move forward. After discussion, council unanimously approved a 12% increase to be implemented in March of 2025. It was also agreed that with this increase, there will be no other increases brought forward for the next five years.

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION CHANGE: Council approved a letter of recommendation to the Copper Mountain Transit Advisory Board to consider the location of Transit Bus stop #23 at Globe Safeway to be relocated to a designated site on the corner of Hill Street and Maple Street near the Hill Street School Apartments and renaming it Bus Stop #23, Hill Street School. Letters of recommendation were also received from the other two stakeholders, the Town of Miami and Gila County for the change. The next step is to submit an application to the Arizona Department of Transportation for final approval. 

CONNIES BRIDGE UPDATE: The final remediation required on the bridge by the City of Globe engineering department is now scheduled and approved. We hear and understand the frustration of our residents as we are also frustrated with the length of this project. There are three key points to be considered as we move forward with the completion of this project. First, we will not accept or approve the final project until it meets all the design and safety requirements, and construction approvals of the initial contract. Second, there has been no additional cost to the city due to the length of time and additional required work. Third, we have the old Connies Bridge to still access the area. We hear the concerns of our residents about the island that was constructed as part of the original design. Once the bridge is completed and opened, staff will evaluate the traffic flow of the island design and if necessary, bring forward and alternate curbing design as part of the Jess Hayes Road sidewalk improvement project. 

RESTRUCTURE OF THE CITY OF GLOBE COURT SYSTEM: On September 24, 2024, I had a meeting with Gila County Attorney Brad Beauchamp. The purpose of the meeting was to review a letter received from Mr. Beauchamp, stating that the County Attorney’s office would no longer prosecute the City of Globe criminal misdemeanor cases effective January 1, 2025.

This prompted our staff to work on an alternative plan to move forward after the deadline. At the December 10, 2024 meeting, the Council approved an IGA with Gila County for the Consolidated Adjudication of Hearings and Trials and the sharing of the Magistrate Court Administration and Operations in order to keep misdemeanor prosecution cases moving forward without any delay. This IGA was then forwarded to the Board of Supervisors, and on December 17, 2024, the Gila County Board of Supervisors also approved the IGA. 

At the December 19, 2024 meeting, council approved several contracts as part of the plan for the restructure. A contract was approved with Andy Jolley for an in-house staff position as the city’s Prosecutor effective December 31, 2024. A contract was approved with Judge Jordan Reardon appointing him as the Presiding Magistrate of the Globe Magistrate Court for two years, effective January 1, 2025. A contract was approved with Daisy Flores to provide indigent legal services to the City of Globe Magistrate Court for two years, effective January 1, 2025. 

I want to thank our city manager and staff for their diligent work on developing an alternative plan and securing contracts in such a short period of time to make sure that the transition is seamless. I also want to thank the Gila County Supervisors for approving and expediting an IGA to continue the legal process for hearings and trials that are vital to our community in order to hold all violators accountable for their actions.

COFFEE WITH THE MAYOR: City staff and your city council continue various efforts of transparency and communication to our community. There are several ways to keep informed of what is going on in your city. You can attend monthly meetings scheduled every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 pm, visit our city website, read articles posted in the Arizona Silver Belt and Globe-Miami Times, or contact staff, any of your council members, or myself for any updates. As part of the continued efforts of communication, I will have a “Coffee With The Mayor” event every third Wednesday of the month at 1 pm to answer any questions of what is happening in your city. I will continue these events as long as there is continued interest in them. You can also get updates by reading my monthly reports that are posted in the Arizona Silver Belt, Globe-Miami Times, and on Facebook. I also utilize KIKO radio open line and KQSS FM Radio monthly. This month’s Coffee with The Mayor is Wednesday, January 15 at 1pm at Copper Cities Coffee at 1100 N. Broad St., Suite F. See you there.

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One comment

  1. Please thank David Abbott for his article “All Roads Lead to Globe: Highway 77, Tucson to Globe”. I very much enjoyed reading it.

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