New signage and enforcement coming to Connie’s intersection
Public Works Director John Angulo presented a detailed update on the status of the Upper Pinal Creek Bridge and the reconfigured Connie’s intersection, followed by a long Council discussion on safety at the intersection.
Angulo said the construction phase is nearing completion, with materials still being hauled away and pedestal lighting being relocated from the east to the west side of Hill Street for improved nighttime visibility and pedestrian safety. Landscaping for the islands is scheduled to begin in early June and is expected to take approximately two weeks. Meanwhile, city engineers are obtaining quotes to address a rough patch of roadway left from the transition between the new bridge and the older section of the intersection.
The discussion mostly centered on public safety and driver adjustments to the new traffic flow. Jepson pointed out that the reconfiguration significantly alters previous patterns, as instead of a free flow east–west on Broad Street, the new design promotes movement from Hill into Connie’s and up Jesse Hayes. While the design adheres to federal MUTCD standards and was constructed as originally approved, safety concerns have arisen, especially about vehicles speeding downhill on Hill Street, surprising other drivers at the intersection.
“All you've got to do is slow down. If you just go at your normal speed, you’re okay. But people have to take their feet off the gas pedal.” Councilman Pastor
Angulo explained that original traffic projections used during the design phase were based on historical numbers, rather than current, post-construction traffic behavior. Because of this shift, the city is considering a new traffic study to evaluate actual current use patterns.
Council discussed the best way to move forward. Jepson raised a concern about the timing of a new study, especially with the school year ending in two weeks, which will temporarily reduce traffic volumes. Councilman Leetham emphasized the potential legal liability to the City if an accident occurs and felt the City should conduct a study as soon as possible.
Police Chief Walters and Angulo both supported immediate low-cost interventions. Chief Walters reported that although there have been complaints, no accidents have been documented. He suggested enhanced signage, reduced speed limits, flashing radar signs, and possibly rumble strips, or potentially making the intersection a three-way stop. He also committed to targeted enforcement efforts focusing on driver education rather than ticketing. He emphasized the value of giving the public time to adjust to the new layout.
“It took me a long time to adjust, not being from Globe, to how the traffic flowed before, which was completely opposite of anything that I’d been exposed to. It was pretty creative, is what it was. I think it’s much safer the way it is now.” Chief Dale Walters
Councilmembers described their own observations of the area and reiterated that the main issues seem to be speed-related—especially vehicles descending Hill Street too fast—as well as visibility when turning onto the bridge. Councilmen also highlighted that the current signage is too cluttered or poorly placed, and proposed installing illuminated signs or larger indicators to slow traffic down and alert drivers to the intersection.
In the end, the consensus was to move forward with enhanced signage, enforcement, and educational outreach, such as a potential public service announcement. Council agreed to reassess in August, after school traffic patterns return, to determine if a formal study is still needed.
Angulo said quotes have already been obtained for radar speed signs and other improvements. The city intends to proceed quickly with these enhancements.
FY2025–2026 Budget Update
City Manager Paul Jepson presented a detailed update on the 2025–2026 budget development process, highlighting important dates, insurance costs, wellness initiatives, and council priorities.
The key dates for budget milestones are as follows:
For the third year in a row, the city reported no increase in base health insurance premiums. Instead, the only changes are annual incremental adjustments to employee contributions, part of a long-term plan to reach a 33% contribution target for dependent coverage.
Jepson highlighted two health and wellness screening programs:
Additional health and wellness initiatives include potentially increasing gym reimbursement to $40/month, continuing to offer city-paid family pool passes for employees, and launching an optional annual fitness challenge program.
The city has committed to maintaining the property tax levy flat, as promised when the sales tax was increased in previous years. To keep that promise, City staff propose reducing the property tax rate from 1.22% to 1.18%, offsetting rising property valuations. This move helps avoid triggering Arizona’s Truth in Taxation requirements and additional public hearings.
Jepson pointed out that city revenue streams—including sales tax—have consistently exceeded projections. He also said that Council needs to keep an eye on the state legislature potentially targeting shared revenue or the city’s food tax, although that is not happening now.
2025 Employee Survey results show increasing trust and positivity
LaCoya Shelton of Revolutionary HR Consulting presented the findings of the City of Globe's 2025 Employee Survey. This marks the fourth year of the survey, with previous surveys conducted in 2020, 2022, and 2023. Shelton praised the city for its consistency and follow-through, noting that gathering and acting on employee feedback builds trust.
Participation was strong in 2025, with 86% of employees (103 of 120) completing the survey. That marks a 14-point increase from 2023. Shelton attributed this improvement to growing employee trust in the survey process and the administration’s efforts to follow through on feedback from past surveys. Shelton said several employees specifically commented that they believe the city listens and acts on the feedback they give.
The survey was conducted between January 13 and February 4, 2025, in both English and Spanish. All responses were anonymous.
Shelton noted that this year’s favorable scores were just two points shy of the city’s highest ever (77% in 2022). The decline in both neutral and unfavorable responses suggests a meaningful shift in employee sentiment toward the positive.
Newer employees report the highest satisfaction. Shelton noted that this is often the case, as longer-tenured employees have more experiences—positive and negative—that shape their views.
With regard to age-group trends, 41–50-year-olds make up the largest group of City employees (27 respondents), and they reported the highest unfavorable responses in key areas. Shelton advised the city to consider follow-up with this group specifically.
These results continue a trend seen in previous years, where employees rate their immediate teams and supervisors more favorably than the organization as a whole.
While these were the lowest-scoring items, several still showed improvement. For example, even though communication remains a concern, the percentage of favorable responses on that question rose by 13%.
Open-ended questions showed that employees ranked the top strengths of working for the City as co-workers and team, teamwork/family culture, leadership, and culture/caring/support, in that order. They identified areas for improvement as compensation, staffing/retention, communication, insurance costs, and equipment.
Some employees raised concerns about aging or inadequate equipment, suggesting past requests were met with "the cheapest solution." A few comments mentioned perceived favoritism, especially in Public Works, where certain employees were seen as receiving more leeway or opportunities.
The survey results showed that employees cite community connection/mission, mission and vision, passion for the work, retirement benefits, and opportunities to learn and grow as reasons to stay.
Positive comments about leadership nearly doubled from the previous year (27%, up from 13% in 2023). Several employees praised specific leaders including the mayor, city manager, chief of police, and the council as a whole for providing support and caring about employees.
The City will share the survey results with all levels of staff. Jepson said there will also be group meetings to examine some of the key findings that need to be addressed.
Upper Pinal Creek Bridge to get a new name
Paul Jepson explained that the Upper Pinal Creek Bridge needs an official name that can be used in documentation, maps, and public communications. Many residents refer to it as Connie's Bridge, and ADOT refers to it as the Upper Pinal Creek Bridge, but no formal name has ever been adopted. Jepson said there has been growing momentum among residents and some council members to assign a more historically and locally resonant name.
Councilmember Mike Pastor, who represents the district where the bridge is located, presented a detailed 20-page packet of historical documentation submitted to him by constituents. The materials trace the name “Ruiz Canyon Bridge” back as far as the late 1950s. Pastor stated that his constituents support naming the new bridge “Ruiz Canyon Bridge” and urged council members to review the documents before making a decision.
“I think it’s proper to look deeply into the history of Ruiz Canyon, of the region, the beginning days of this area and this bridge…. We need to enrich the history of this area and preserve it.” Councilman Freddy Rios
Councilman Rios expressed appreciation for the historical research and emphasized the importance of honoring the heritage of the area. Rios supported getting input from the public but expressed caution about setting a precedent that every future infrastructure project would require a public vote.
Councilman Leetham stated he had no strong objection to calling the bridge Ruiz Canyon Bridge and noted that using a regional name could help prevent public confusion. He also supported allowing residents to have input in the decision-making process. Councilman Gonzalez echoed this sentiment, saying that involving the public would be a fair and inclusive approach.
“Leave it up to the residents and let them decide. I think that it will give the residents something good to look forward to.” Councilman Leetham
Several councilmembers expressed the desire to review the historical information in Pastor’s packet before deciding how to proceed with either a council-led decision or a community-driven process, and Mayor Gameros agreed that the council should first study the provided research before taking any formal action. Council agreed to review the historical documents and return in the future to discuss how best to proceed with the naming process.
Linda Oddonetto updated the audience on April’s Globe Clean & Beautiful Spring Clean event, calling it one of the most successful cleanups to date. The three-day event combined a downtown beautification effort with a citywide cleanup, drawing strong volunteer participation and resulting in record-breaking waste collection.
The first two days were dedicated to downtown improvements, including planting flowers in all of the flower boxes and in front of the historic depot. The event brought in 87 registered volunteers, who also painted curbs and railings, planted a tree sponsored by Tally-Ho Engineering, and took on a range of other beautification tasks. A group of 4-H students participated in planting at the depot, and volunteers from Freeport focused on restoring benches.
Oddonetto thanked Connie and Melissa for coordinating logistics and ensuring each volunteer had supplies and a designated task. Public Works crews also received praise for their extensive behind-the-scenes work, including prepping all the flower beds in advance so they would be ready for planting. Oddonetto also expressed gratitude to the Globe Police Department, Mormon Missionaries, and DJ’s Companies for their participation.
“This is huge. We now have people that call Community Development, when they anticipate when we do these cleanups now.” Public Works Director John Angulo
John Angulo pointed out that the City does Dumpster Days three times a year. This year, residents brought large amounts of waste to designated roll-off locations. This year’s event collected a total of 68.62 tons of trash—more than 137,000 pounds—and included 217 tires. Oddonetto said this is the largest volume of waste ever collected during one of the city's cleanup events. The dumpsters were placed at sites such as the old hospital and baseball field, and DJ’s managed the removal. Oddonetto confirmed that all material was taken to the dump, and the field was only a temporary collection point.
Cat Vega takes over as Recreation Special Events Manager
Kathleen “Cat” Vega has moved into a new role as Recreation Special Events Manager as of March 18. Introducing her, Linda Oddonetto informed Council that she has already conducted 55 lifeguard interviews, hiring 30, and led 12 lead lifeguard interviews, selecting four. In total, the pool staff now includes 38 people, 23 of whom are returning from previous seasons. The pool opens on May 23.
Vega has worked for the City for nine years, including at the Besh Ba Gowah Museum and Globe Police Department. Her goals in her new role include expanding the parks and recreation department and continuing to create programs and events that serve and uplift the community.
Council also approved motions for the following:
Members of the Globe City Council: Mayor Al Gameros, Vice Mayor Mike Stapleton (District 4), and Council members Freddy Rios (District 1), Mike Pastor (District 2), Jesse Leetham (District 3), Mariano Gonzalez (District 5), and Fernando Shipley (District 6). All members were in attendance at this meeting except Vice Mayor Stapleton and Councilman Shipley. Councilmen Rios and Leetham attended via Zoom.
To view this meeting online, visit City Council Meeting - May 13, 2025.
To view documents related to this meeting, click here.
Full minutes can be found by going to the City Hall website at https://www.globeaz.gov/government and clicking on Agendas/Minutes in the bottom left-hand corner.
The Globe City Council meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The meetings are currently open to the public at 50% capacity. Members of the public are requested to wear a mask except when seated. Seating is limited to allow for social distancing.
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