City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 Part 1 of 5

Reading through the City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 and once again it hits home that we are in a reverse stage of the cities growth. The 82 page PDF titled – Schedule 1: Proposed General Fund Budget Reductions by Department covers a $139 Million dollar reduction. I suggest you read through this. It is amazing to see what we have government for.

I suggest you attend a hearing if you have anything to say about this proposed budget: Phoenix Budget Hearings

A few things stood out for me but it cascaded into a really long post. Turns out we are cutting a lot of shit out of the budget this year. So here is part 1 of 5:

Page 8 – Community and Economic Development
Eliminate a Building Code Examiner position on the Non-permitted Construction Team. This will reduce investigations of non- permitted construction, further adding to the current backlog of over 5,000 complaints. This may result in unsafe conditions and deterioration in the quality and livability of neighborhoods.
$(151,000)

Yikes!

Page – Environmental Programs
1. Eliminate an Environmental Programs Specialist that supervises the Pollution Prevention Unit. Eliminating this position will adversely impact compliance with state and federal hazardous materials and waste management laws.
$(113,000)

Lets grow three eyes!

Edited: February 3rd, 2010

City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 Part 2 of 5

Reading through the City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 and once again it hits home that we are in a reverse stage of the cities growth. The 82 page PDF titled – Schedule 1: Proposed General Fund Budget Reductions by Department covers a $139 Million dollar reduction. I suggest you read through this. It is amazing to see what we have government for.

I suggest you attend a hearing if you have anything to say about this proposed budget: Phoenix Budget Hearings

A few things stood out for me but it cascaded into a really long post. Turns out we are cutting a lot of shit out of the budget this year. So here is part 2 of 5:

Page – 15 to 18 – Fire
1. Reduce funding for overtime by adjusting and reprioritizing the training schedule for on-going training, High-Rise training, and Specialty Response Teams.
$(1,273,000)

2. Relocate the Ambulance Billing Function to City-owned space. (271,000)

3. Eliminate civilian support positions from the Crisis Response Team, Technical Services, Ambulance Billing, and Administration, Personnel, Operations, Payroll, and Public Affairs Sections. These positions may impact the department’s ability to perform many administrative duties in a timely manner.
(1,307,000) (13.3 Civilian)

4. Eliminate one Assistant to the Fire Chief who serves as the Fire Marshall. This reduction will increase the span of control and potentially impact service delivery.
(210,000) (1.0 Civilian)

5. Eliminate three Fire Prevention Supervisors and nine Fire Prevention Specialists responsible for ensuring compliance with the Fire Code. This reduction will result in scheduling delays as fewer staff will be available to perform inspection-related duties.
(1,014,000) (12.0 Civilian)

6. Eliminate two Fire Battalion Chief*Deputy positions assigned to Fire Prevention and Safety. This reduction will negatively impact the sworn span of control and will require some reorganization.
(519,000) (2.0 Sworn)

7. Eliminate one Fire Captain*40-Hour position assigned to the Fleet Management Division and one Firefighter*40-Hour position assigned to the Health Center. The loss of these two positions will negatively impact the department’s ability to effectively manage the fleet and Health Center.
(307,000) (2.0 Sworn)

8. Eliminate one Media Production Specialist position in the Public Affairs Section. This will reduce the number of public education campaigns related to home and life safety issues.
(112,000) (1.0 Civilian)

9. Eliminate three (of eight) Fire Battalions consisting of nine Fire Battalion Chief*56-Hour positions and nine Fire Captain*56-Hour positions. This will degrade supervisory span of control of fire station personnel and possibly affect response times for command staff.
(3,457,000) (18.0 Sworn)

10. Eliminate one (of two) Shift Command unit, consisting of three Fire Battalion Chief*Deputy 56-Hour positions, three Fire Captains, and one Secretary II position. This reduction will affect span of control and require some reorganization to reduce the impact it may have on incident command response times.
(1,301,000) (6.0 Sworn) (1.0 Civilian)

11. Eliminate two Fire Emergency Dispatchers and one Fire Communications Supervisor in the Dispatch Section. This will affect the department’s ability to maintain staffing standards but will not impact service delivery or response times.
(247,000) (3.0 Civilian)

12. Eliminate three (of 22) full-time One and One Rescue Units that provide supplemental paramedic coverage to paramedic Engine Companies. Also reflected is the elimination of one (of 11) 12-hour part-time paramedic rescue. The loss of these units will negatively affect response times, as fewer units will be available to respond to calls for service.
(3,075,000) (18.0 Sworn)

13. Eliminate six (of 64) Engine Companies that provide fire and medical emergency services in a specific geographic area. This reduction will negatively affect response times, as fewer units will be available to respond to calls for service.
(10,935,000) (84.0 Sworn)

14. Eliminate one (of 13) Ladder Company that plays a critical role in fire support and emergency medical incidents. This will increase response times, causing delayed fire ground and emergency medical activities.
$(1,786,000) (14 Sworn)

Total – $(25,814,000)
(144.0 Sworn)
(31.3 Civilian)

Carry a Fire Extinguisher in your car?

Edited: February 3rd, 2010

Attention: Save your AZ State Parks or Kiss them BYE BYE Forever!

Sorry to interrupt your day with this but its really important and you should understand why. Currently Arizona is facing a huge budget shortfall because of the slow economy. One idea that the legislator has is to close down the state parks to save about $20 million dollars against the $4 Billion deficit that the state currently faces. Thats less that 1/10 of 1% yet the parks generate around $250 Million in local business revenue each year, and guess what? That revenue is taxed and helps out the State… Huh?

The problem with this is not just that we are shutting down everyday peoples access to affordable outdoor recreation but that we are eliminating a significant portion of revenue for local business and in turn State revenue:

AZ Family Channel 3 report:

“State parks take nothing from the general fund and actually give back to the state budget a big fat $22.7 million in state and local taxes. The state legislature has swept millions from state parks to help balance the budget, leaving them too short to operate the 30 parks in the system.

Three have already closed.

Does this make sense since state parks bring in more than $225 million dollars to the state’s economy through the 2.5 million visitors each year.”

AZ Republic Report on AZ State Park Closures

“Bahl noted that last year parks contributed $25 million to the General Fund, even though parks themselves receive no General Fund dollars. A Northern Arizona University study found that the parks generated $266 million annually in economic activity for rural communities.

“We’re important to the economy,” Bahl said. “We’re important to the people right now. Folks can’t afford to do much these days, and parks are one affordable luxury that we want to keep open.”"

The AZ State Parks foundation points out that if this is allowed to happen we may be looking at a huge land grab of pristine public land handed back over to private owners. Maybe they will put a chairlift on the Superstitions and install a KFC on the Flatiron…

AZ State Parks Foundation

“The cuts will force major reductions in Parks staff and closure of more than half of the State’s 30 parks this fiscal year.  The resulting loss of Park revenue is projected to leave the Parks System with no money to start the next fiscal year, July 1, 2010.  The next step will be to shut down the entire system and dispose of Parks properties, returning most of them to their original owners.”

According to the AZ State Parks Foundation there are a number of ways you can take action:

#1 – Call Governor Brewer and Email this sample letter (Word Doc):

Phone:  602-542-4331 or 800-253-0883

Email via Governor’s Contact page at:

www.governor.state.az.us/Contact.asp

Mail:  The Honorable Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona,

1700 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85007

#2 – Attend the AZ State Park Board Meeting on Jan 15th at the Phoenix Zoo and let them know how you feel about this.

#3 – Email this sample letter (Word doc) to your legistators (find yours here: AZ senate – AZ house – Find your District)

#4 – Let the AZ State Parks Board know where you stand.

Take 30 minutes out of your day today and address this issue. Please.

Edited: January 13th, 2010

Yoga Schools get the Regulatory Pinch, maybe its time for a better business plan?

A friend sent me this NY Times story about how Yoga Schools that teach students to teach yoga are getting pressured into paying the same fees that Massage and Hairdressing Schools have paid for a while. While I am not a fan of paying taxes and fees for most things but I do think that this is A) inevitable and B) a good thing. Yoga Journal has a post on it as well.

Regarding the inevitability of Yoga Teacher Training Schools paying regulatory fees it actually came as a shock to me that this wasn’t already the case. I was even more shocked to know that a Yoga teacher doesn’t even have to have a license to teach Yoga. This is an industry with 12 to 20 Million practitioners and Billions of dollars in revenue. The government is going to want a piece of that pie, especially in a downturn.

This is good for the consumer/student to know that the school they are practicing at has gone through the registration process and that its a legit operation. Even with this certification there is still no guarantee that the graduate will be able to teach anywhere. It is also uncertain if this qualifies them for financial aid.

Some of the schools in the article point out that the Teacher Training programs are a substantial revenue generator for their business:

Lisa Rapp, who owns My Yoga Spirit in Norfolk, Va., said she was closing her seven-year-old business this summer. “This caused us to shut down the studio altogether,” Ms. Rapp said. “It’s too bad, because this community really needs yoga.” (NY TImes)

At $2000 to $4000 for a 200 hour certification program I will agree but I also think that this highlights a common issue that I have experienced with most Yoga studios: their business model is bad.

Every Yoga studio that I have attended follows the same business model: buy sessions and use them in a few months. Refill and repeat. Some offer unlimited programs that you buy on a 1, 3, 6, or 12 month plan. The problem with this is that you have no contract and therefore no recurring revenue and no ability to create a budget.

I suggest that they adopt the model that Gyms and Martial Arts Studios have: a 12 month, or longer, contract that charges monthly. Sure its not as free and open as a session model but if it allows you to keep the lights on and maybe even grow a little it cannot be seen as a bad thing.

A concern with this model is the overhead created of handling the contracts, payments, and support issues that always come up. The good news is that there are a number of companies that offer a full service solution for this. I work with Member Solutions and am impressed with their focus on service and allowing Studio owners to stay focused on Yoga and getting new students.

What do you think?

Edited: July 15th, 2009

Scam Alert! Towing Scam in Tempe, AZ

Last night was Ignite Phoenix #4 which we held at the Tempe Center for the Arts and it as awesome. We had at least 500 people there and everyone was super cool. The after party was at La Bocca wine bar near 7th and Mill Ave and it was that intersection when the evening took a turn for the dreadful.

I pulled into a semi empty lot at about 10pm and parked to go to La Bocca. There were 6 other cars and a few taxis in the lot and I assumed things would be cool. Well in Tempe this is the wrong assumption. When I came out of La Bocca at 11:30 my car was gone and so were most of the other cars that were there.

A nice group of folks from Ignite Phoenix were there as well because their cars were gone as well. Jay Thompson (@phxreguy) has a good write up here.

When I got home I called the Tempe police and talked with Katie to discuss the Tempe Towing law and in particular Sec. 32-2. Maximum charges and fees; release of vehicles:

(a) No private towing carrier shall hold or attempt to hold any vehicle towed from any location within the city without the consent of the owner or operator thereof as security for accrued towing and storage charges. Any such vehicle shall be immediately released, regardless of impound location, to the owner or operator thereof upon the production of proof of ownership or agency, as hereinafter defined.

My issue was that the towing company dispatcher was telling me that I would have to wait till 9am to pick up my car but the law says the “vehicle shall be immediately released, regardless of impound location, to the owner or operator thereof upon the production of proof of ownership”. To me this means that when I can show that the car is mine I can get my car. Katie explained that the law does not require that the lot be open 24 hours a day to which I replied that it also does not not say that either so there is room for interpretation either way.

That is issue #1.

I sensed that this was going no where so moved onto Sec. 32-6. Notice to public of right to tow. Part b:

(b) Signs will be a minimum of twelve (12) inches by eighteen (18) inches in size and will be mounted at a minimum height of five (5) feet and a maximum height of ten (10) feet above the ground.

Here is the sign in question.

Unless Jay is a giant I am pretty sure it is under 12′ by 18′ and is lower than 5 feet off the ground. Monster is the Irony here, ha!

Katie explained that I could file a complaint but that someone would have to call me back first.

30 minutes later Karen Scheffler called me back. Ms. or possible Officer Scheffler was pointedly unhappy about having to speak with me and explained that officer Tony Miller had already been to the scene and saw that the signs were all in order. I asked to speak with Officer Miller and was sent to his voice mail.

30 minutes later (1am) I was called by Officer Miller who was very nice and happy to talk to me about this situation. I asked about the size of the signs and he felt confident that they were up to code as they have to regularly check these types of lots around the city. He explained that this is a weekly issue for his beat and that it is a regular topic and Town Council meetings. He recommended that I contact the Mill Ave. Disctrict which is a coalition of Mill Ave business owners who are trying to fight this type of behavior as it is hurting their business. i thanked him for his time and went to bed.

That is issue #2.

I woke up this morning and got the car out of the lot a bit after 9am for $135. While I was there I noticed at least 10 other invoices on the desk. At $135 each that is about $1300 a night. Keep in mind this was a tuesday night in the summer in Phoenix/Tempe which means things are slow. That means conservitavely these guys are bringing in $300k a year from this one lot!

The next issue is still with Sec 32-6 but not on part e:

(e) The private towing carrier shall post a sign with a minimum one inch lettering with the maximum charges and fees as established by council resolution (see Appendix A) at the main business entry of the impound location.

Once again looking at this great picture of Jay you will notice that the only part of the sign with one inch lettering is the part that says Restricted Parking. The law states taht the charges and fees must also be this size when in fact they are about 1/8″.

That is issue #3.

While I was getting my car another customer was waiting and asked if I had seen him get pepper sprayed, see Jay’s post. I said I had missed that part but was very interested when he mentioned that the one car not towed was entered and driven away by a Tow Truck employee. This tells me that no one representing the property owner was actually at the scene which is in violation of Sec. 32-5. Authority to tow.

It shall be unlawful for a private towing carrier to tow or transport a motor vehicle from private property without the permission of the owner or operator of the vehicle unless such private towing carrier receives a request from a law enforcement agency or the express written permission from the owner of the property or the agent of the owner, who has complied with requirements of this section. The owner or the owner’s agent shall either sign each towing order or authorize the tow by a written contract which is valid for a specific length of time. The private towing carrier may not act as the agent of the owner. A copy of the written contract shall be made readily available to the law enforcement agency upon request and include the owner’s or owner’s agent name and current telephone numbers.

(Code 1967, § 33A-5; Ord. No. 2006.77, 1-4-07)

I am posting this for three reasons:
1) I need to release these thoughts in order to move on from them, as the Dhammapada states:
“He abused me, mistreated me, defeated me, robbed me.”
Harboring such thoughts keeps hatred alive.
“He abused me, mistreated me, defeated me, robbed me.”
Releasing such thoughts banishes hatred for all time.
2) I want to let others know about this scam and hope that it helps them avoid it. Start by not going to Tempe until they change their laws.
3) I want to see if any lawyers think that my Issues are valid and what steps may be taken.

With love from PHOENIX, peace out!

Edited: June 17th, 2009

Hillary Still Wants Yer Money – ClickZ – News and expert advice for the digital marketer since 1997

Hillary may be on her way out, but she still wants your money. I had to chuckle when a message arrived in my inbox this morning, signed by Hillary Clinton, affirming her plans to “extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy” Saturday.

Hillary Still Wants Yer Money – ClickZ – News and expert advice for the digital marketer since 1997

Edited: June 5th, 2008

Signs of a changing political landscape – Bush-McCain downsized in McCain homestate

Ouch that has to sting a little. I mean we are talking about Arizona here, McCain’s home state, where he is the elected Senator.

Poor ticket sales, expected protests scuttle Bush-McCain fundraiser at Phoenix Convention Center – Phoenix Business Journal:

Edited: May 27th, 2008

Obama raises $40 million in March

The momentum continues to build. The biggest number though is the number of new donors: 218k.

The amount is less than the record $55 million he raised in February, but still a sizable amount that sustains his place as the fundraising leader among all presidential candidates.

Obama raises $40 million in March – Yahoo! News

Edited: April 3rd, 2008

Because he is a foreign policy master…

Looks like Mccain is pretty knowledgable about foreign policy:

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”

It is absurd that this man is even a candidate. How do we plan on being successful in a WAR if we dont even know who we are fighting?

A McCain Gaffe in Jordan | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

Edited: March 18th, 2008

Afghanistan – Land of War

I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns a few weeks ago and am working on a review for it but it is taking longer than I want. The big thing that it made me realize is that we have completely forgotten about this war. A war in which a close neighbor of mine is on the front lines of putting his life on the line.

In the book Hosseini covers 30 years of Afghan history, though it is a work of fiction he does reference many historical periods and events throughout the story. One thing that is mentioned again and again is that the warring will always come back and as we are seeing now the Taliban has made a huge shift in momentum. Even against the mightly US military:

Nagl listed a catalogue of challenges in Afghanistan, including its harsh climate and terrain, its lack of centralized government in the past 30 years, the destruction of roads and other basic infrastructure, and the state of its army.

“I’ve worked with the Afghan security forces a little bit. I find them to be diligent and dedicated and trainable (but) not particularly well educated … The Iraqi security forces are far more advanced than are the Afghans,” he said.

“The Taliban did extraordinarily harmful things to the intelligentsia of the country. The people you need to run a country no longer exist.”

The last sentence there is the critical component of what we are missing and what we have left out since our intervention in the 80’s with the USSR’s war there. There is a huge vacuum with regards to education in Afghanistan. What is there to replace it is obvious: Radical Fundamentalist Islam.

Mccain’s answer is for more guns, but the need is for more books.

Afghan war trend worse than Iraq: U.S. trainer – Yahoo! News

Edited: March 15th, 2008