Tag Archives: phoenix

City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 Part 3 of 5

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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 3 of 5:

Page 31-32 Library
1. Reduce direct customer service staff at the Burton Barr Library. This will reduce in-person assistance to customers seeking information at all service desks and staff assistance via telephone, e-mail and the Library’s website. This will also eliminate the Library’s ability to provide Braille translation for City staff. Accessibility Center services will be available by appointment only.
$(452,000) (5.0)

2. Reduce library hours of operation at all 15 branches by 8 hours per week by closing on Fridays. Burton Barr Central Library’s current hours of operation will not change, and Library branches currently operating with Sunday hours will remain open for four hours on Sunday. This reduction will leave the library branches open between 40-44 hours per week, depending on the branch, and, therefore, sharply limit the availability of public computers with internet access; and further reduce or eliminate library materials access, classes, public forums, and other community services.
(818,000) (10.8)

3. Close Century (1750 E. Highland Avenue), Acacia (750 E. Townley Avenue), and Ocotillo (102 W. Southern Avenue) branch libraries. Closure will eliminate service for the respective surrounding communities including teens, adults, businesses and families with children. The eliminated services include: access to library materials, public computers with internet access, and educational and recreational activities developed for various age groups such as the family reading program, Babytime for infants, and Toddler time for children ages 24-36 months. These libraries serve approximately 659,000 people each year.
(2,015,000) (21.3)

4. Close Desert Sage (7602 W. Encanto Blvd.), Saguaro (2808 N. 46th Street), and Yucca (5648 N. 15th Avenue) branch libraries. Closure will eliminate service for the respective surrounding communities including teens, adults, businesses and families with children. The eliminated services include: access to library materials, public computers with internet access, and educational and recreational activities developed for various age groups such as the family reading program, Babytime for infants, and Toddler time for children ages 24-36 months. Closure of these additional branches will also eliminate five support staff positions. These libraries serve approximately 882,000 people each year.
(3,572,000) (36.4)

Total $(6,857,000) (73.5)

Its good that we don’t the kids read so they have more time to do drugs and light shit on fire…

City of Phoenix Budget Proposal for 2010 Part 2 of 5

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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?

Smc phoenix – small business and social media #smcphx

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SMC Phoenix
Small Biz using social media
8/13

Panel action tonight
Dana Arnold is Chair – Works for local Agency
Jim Davis – Bobbies Flowers – Blog, Twitter, FB, soon Linked in – one store bobbies_flowers
Heather Cordova – Bookmans – FB Twitter, Myspace(Not so much) – bookmans
Kristen – Wildflower – 9 Locations in AZ – Twitter, FB, Yelp – wildflowerbread
Joe Johnston – Joe’s Farm, Liberty Market – realjoe , libertymarket, joesfarmgrill

Why SM?
Joe – 1)passion and 2)serve from heart – does it to show community where it comes from – ex. food classes, menu recommendations, feedback – interacts with anyone who goes there and uses twitter

Kristen – built biz on word of mouth, show passion, also searches for what is being said about them online

Heather – being aware and engaging conversation about their brand, also for reaching out to community

Jim – reaching out to community, is new to it about 3 months now, likes the idea of it and is business focused but working on social, trying for the younger crowd, sees it as another networking avenue

Is SM effective/measurable?
Jim – has noticed new customers due to FB, is not advertising just using a FB page

Heather – deciper the various types of success – 1) numbers 2)community – sees the branding aspect as very effective

Kristen -have been on since April – have tried some focused promotions, got 40 people on a single day promotion for cheesecake discount, also using the feedback capability as method of winning back customers. they get alerts whenever someone posts about wildflower, the company owner gets involved with these feedback.

Joe – direct measure by getting more money from hosting EVFN and other events that bring people into their store, about $10k in additional revenue from 9 months promotion. also sees large buzz about liberty market name online. sees the momentum created as really big aspect.

Jim – comment feedback is very effective also creating buzz online, no dollar at this time to measure

How much time on SM?
Joe – 2 to 2.5 hours a day, has partners that help operate businesses. he is focused on the concept. does not buy advertising

Kristen – 5 hours a week – majority of time is handling reactive situations, sees it as a need for customer support, wants to see how things can be more proactive. she runs Twitter, FB, and runs the marketing department.

Jm – How much time is reactive vs proactive?

Jim – 2 hours per day, feels that once he learns and gets strategy and will not have to spend that much time in the future. wants to reduce time spent on there. his wife does twitter

heather – 8 to 9 hours of monitoring, doesnt feel its enough, active participation is 2 hours at least a day, but needs to be on there more – she is the web monkey

how do you solicit followers?
jim – friends of friends – searches through the profiles of friends on FB, on twitter is building is slower sees it easier to add friends on FB over twitter

joe – is aggressive about it, checks @ replies and follows immediately, searches for no @’s and get them, tracks followers and goes after theirs, searches critics, and keeps expanding it, checks followers followers, is bumping into the twitter ceiling, once you have 2000 followers you have to have more than 1800 following back

kristen – does drawings and contests for getting more followers, uses referral and word of mouth for building FB

heather – responds to @’s, RT good messages about the store, FB is strange for her as new users show up randomly

what is the response time for comments?
kristen – has not had a realtime response yet, is looking for it. she saw one instance and the user felt he was being stalked as she responded in twitter.

joe – responds pretty fast

what are your doing to get people in the store?
Heater – ticket giveaways if you come to the store, events, have not had more than 5 people show up, no stampedes
Jim – offered some coupons, good response with free flowers, sends out a newsletter with trivia question that required blog response or be a fan and that drove up follower numbers

when you post updates how much is personal?
Jim – tries not to be negative but lets some personality come out but tries to be positive

heather – more personal than she used to, comes with a comfort level on twitter. has to make it real so that people will pay attention. they struggle with getting the individual personality out that each store has.

kristen – tries to show personality but has to police herself a lot. @ replies are more than just ‘thank you’

how many times do you DM over public?
kristen – not seeing her @ replies

joe – sees bathroom replies. their baristas are also encouraged to tweet

can you give us a specific idea that was successful with SM?
joe – passion for the food, has classes that have limited seating, sends out invites 1 week early, booked within 45 minutes

heather – helped advertise a tweetup for espresso guy in front of tucson store

jim – helped out rock and roll fingers and by a few tweets resulted in getting news cameras to location

what is tough for your business using SM? or is there an issue with B2B?
jim – searching on 1800flowers for bad experiences and picks up business to help them out

how would you agitate followers to be more conversational?
heather – make it about the users and grow from that

jim – talks about his dog and that gets comments

joe – asking customer for feedback, also helps for product development, BLT or Tuna

do you use pics or video?
jim – wants to know about it

heather – people love when pics are posted about employee dogs, video about events and local performances

kristen – uses twipic when talking about menu items, gets managers at each store to send them pictures

joe – uses phone camera and ubertwitter, posts immediatley about new menu items, also has library of stock photos and uses those for various @’s, videos of restrooms

advise for getting started with SM?
heather – not having enough time to respond to everything, streamling, yelp makes it difficult with multiple locations

kristen – find some followers and searches to check in on, do not be analytical

joe – DIY because the personal aspect is important, no one knows your business like you do. does not like giving discounts.

is there an ROI? how are businesses doing?
jim – goal was to build SEO, not sure about ROI on SM

heather – not really focused on ROI

kristen – doesn’t have a number

do you track where customers are coming from?
kristen – gets feedback from managers each night but very small at this point

jim- pulls out business cards from networking meeting and says he can now follow up with them on twitter to keep dialogue going

Wake Up Calls, Sky on Fire, and rediculous Xmas Lights

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Had a nice wake up call this week with my cholesterol test results. They are a bit high which I partially attribute to the orgy of fat I are over the Thanksgiving weekend. Nonetheless it is a serious issue and one I am not taking lightly. So I am going to get back into the serious cycling I was doing last spring.

First thing is that I needed a new training program. I want something simple but tough and most critically FREE. Its crazy how many people are trying to sell training programs online. Guess what? I aint buying your program. If I am going to pay you it will be to coach me, and I aint hiring you as a coach till I see your training program. So I found Jesper Therkildsen who writes Training4Cyclists.com and he has this 12 hour a week Training program which is just what the doctor ordered (man I crack myself up).

Yes a 3 hour ride is a long ride, but the better way to look at it is that you will get to see lots of country side. Now leaving the house at 5pm Dec 4th might seem suicidal but I have the fortune of living in Phoenix AZ and its in the 60′s here now. So besides rush hour traffic and a little darkness it is perfect riding conditions.

Then the sunset happened:

nov and dec 2008 207

nov and dec 2008 209

nov and dec 2008 212

Then I got to Ahwatukee and entered Never Never Land:

After Ahwatukee I was heading home on Ray but realized I wasn’t going to hit my 3 hour mark so I doubled back to Kyrene and up to Guadalupe to get home in 3 hours and 47 miles covered:

Here is the route.

Canvassing for Obama in Chandler AZ

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So I finally got off my lazy butt and got involved with the effort to make change happen in the country that I love. Last Saturday I went to Chandler Arizona and met with a bunch of really enthusiastic Obama Supporters and Canvassed Democratic Voters to sign up for Mail In Balloting. It was one of the more rewarding things I have done in many years and I am ready to do it again.

Some neat Statistics that I overheard:
-80% of voters registered for Mail In Ballots actually vote, compared to 40% or worse for regular registered voters
-When there is a record number of voters actually voting Democrats win the elections.

Here are some pictures, it was a lovely beautiful day:
get out the vote
canvasing chandler
political action women

Please ask the Governor to Veto HB2017!

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From the Sierra Club:

Please ask the Governor to Veto HB2017!

Thank legislators who supported Clean Cars and Clean Air.

There is still one more vote to be counted relative to HB2017. That is the Governor’s. While she has been extremely supportive of the Clean Car Rule and very engaged in the Western Climate Initiative, I think it is important to let her know that there are lots of people out there who support a veto of HB2017.

Please take the time in the next couple of days to send Governor Napolitano a quick note asking her to please veto HB2017 Now: greenhouse emissions; regulations; fuel economy. This bill sends the message that Arizona does not want to do its part to clean up the air or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. That is the wrong message to send.

If it becomes law, HB2017 will undercut “Clean Car” and clean air programs and significantly restrict Arizona’s ability to participate in regional efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions as well as other pollutants.

You can contact the Governor at azgov@az.gov or go to http://azgovernor.gov/contact.asp and type in your message. Call 602-542-4331 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-253-0883. You can also contact the governor via mail at: The Honorable Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona, 1700 West Washington, 9th Floor, Phoenix, Arizona 85007 or by fax at 602-542-1381.

Also, please take the time to thank the following legislators, all of whom voted against HB2017 and all of whom recognize the importance of taking actions to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the legislature is acting irresponsibly as a body, these individual legislators stood up and did the right thing. I have included their email addresses for your convenience. Please thank Representatives: Ableser eableser@azleg.gov, Bradley dbradley@azleg.gov, Brown jbrown@azleg.gov, Cajero Bedford ocajerobedford@azleg.gov, Chad Campbell chcampbell@azleg.gov, Chabin tchabin@azleg.gov, Farley sfarley@azleg.gov, Gallardo sgallardo@azleg.gov, Garcia mgarcia@azleg.gov, Hershberger phershberger@azleg.gov, Lopes plopes@azleg.gov, Lopez llopez@azleg.gov, Lujan dlujan@azleg.gov, Miranda bmiranda@azleg.gov, Pancrazi lpancrazi@azleg.gov, Prezelski tprezelski@azleg.gov, Schapira dschapira@azleg.gov, Sinema ksinema@azleg.gov, Thrasher jthrasher@azleg.gov, Tom atom@azleg.gov, Ulmer ulmer@azleg.gov, and Young-Wright nyoungwright@azleg.gov.

Representatives DeSimone and McGuire were absent. Everyone else voted for the bill.

If you would like to contact representatives who supported the bill and express your disappointment or dismay, you can find contact information for all legislators by clicking on HOUSE or paste this website into your browser http://www.azleg.gov/memberRoster.asp?Body=H or you can call (602) 926-4221 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask to be connected to House members’ offices.

Thank you for taking action on this important issue!

Sandy Bahr

Conservation Outreach Director

Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter

202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Phone (602) 253-8633

Fax (602) 258-6533

sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org

Want Clean Air? Get out of Phoenix

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Besides not being able to get to work and setup a Budget for Arizona the State Legislators also want to repeal what little work they have done this year. Most notably is the Clean Car Program and the ability for Governor Napolitano to participate in the Western Climate Initiative. This is really an offense to all intelligent citizens in the State of Arizona. You are doing yourself and injustice by not calling your legislator and complaining about this. Use this site to find your Legislator and call them immediately to stop HB2017.

From the Sierra Club:

May 12, 2008

For Immediate Release: Contact: Sandy Bahr (602)253-8633

Diane E. Brown (602)318-2779 (c)

Arizona Legislature Seeks to Thwart Clean Air and Clean Cars Efforts

Today, the Arizona legislature passed HB2017 intending to put the Clean Cars Program on hold and also make it impossible for the Governor to effectively participate in the Western Climate Initiative. This effort comes less than a week after the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council voted in favor of the Clean Cars Program citing the legal authority for Arizona to proceed once the federal government acknowledges the right of the states on this issue. In passing the Clean Car Standards, Arizona joins 13 other states, over a third of the U.S. market.

The Clean Cars Program known for limiting health-damaging pollution from automobiles and paving the way for the widespread introduction of technologies such as hybrid-electric and fuel-cell vehicles, direct-injection engines, advanced transmissions, improved air conditioning systems, and other technologies with the potential to reduce pollution, previously received a unanimous recommendation from the Governor’s Climate Change Advisory Group (CCAG). The CCAG was comprised of diverse stakeholders including utility, business, public health, environmental, tribal and other leaders.

Aside from the stakeholder process, over 75 small businesses and organizations from across the state have stated their support for the Clean Cars Program in Arizona. In addition, thousands of Arizonans have written letters, signed postcards and sent emails to urge the advancement of the Clean Cars Program.

“There are only two options for a state: either the federal standard or the clean car standard. The clean car standard results in cleaner air and lower total transportation costs,” stated Jeff Schlegel, Arizona representative for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP). “The federal standard results in dirtier air and higher total transportation costs due to higher fuel use and gas prices. It is time to stop the delay tactics and move the clean car standard forward in Arizona.”

“Republicans for Environmental Protection does not believe that good policy is made when the sole intention is to thwart action by agencies previously given legislative authority to act,” said Tina Beattie, Arizona coordinator for Republicans for Environmental Protection. “We also are concerned greatly by removing Arizona from the Western Climate Initiative as Arizona’s economic interests need to represented within the region.”

“Through their vote to put the Clean Cars Program on hold, the legislature failed to see the warning signs of global warming in our state and ultimately took a wrong turn,” stated Diane E. Brown, Executive Director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG). Brown pointed to the auto industry as leading the charge against the Clean Cars Program in Arizona and states across the country and added, “The auto industry needs to shift gears from spending money on lawyers and lobbyists trying to halt clean air improvements to putting cleaner vehicles on the roads to reduce the brown cloud, decrease asthma attacks and provide some relief to consumers at the gas pump.”

“If we leave it to the big utilities and the auto manufacturers, who brought this bill to the legislature, Arizona would just sit on its hands relative to cleaning up our air and reducing the emissions that contribute to global warming,” said Sandy Bahr, Conservation Outreach Director for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “Fortunately, most Arizonans and the governor support a different strategy – our health, our economy, and the future of our children depend on us acting now to address these critical issues.”