Valley Metro Light Rail > July 27,2015 Economic Development Along The Line

NEW LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Everybody Benefits from Public Transportation
PHOENIX, AZ – From restaurants to residential development, more than $8.2 billion in private and public capital investment has been built near the initial 20-miles of light rail that extends from Phoenix and Tempe into Mesa
See more details below in this post with a link to look at the whole report - with some great graphics to put facts and numbers into prospective.
Tuesday on Phoenix kicked off a multiple-day promotion campaign for the public about the economic and quality-of-life benefits of public transit, 




Some details: Economic Development along 20-Mile Light Rail Number of Projects:  204 

• Capital Investment – Private:  $5,989,639,864
• Capital Investment – Public:  $2,241,737,632 
• Total Investment:  $8,231,377,496 
• SF Commercial/Office: 10,327,168 
• SF Public:  938,737 
• SF Education:  4,698,902 
• SF Residential:  5,666,863
•  # Residential Units:  15,328 
• # Affordable Units: 1,300 
• # Hotel Rooms:  2,948

 - See more at: http://www.valleymetro.org/pressreleases/detail/everybody-benefits-from-public-transportation#sthash.XKFddNkh.dpuf

Economic development within one-half mile of the system has been stimulated by ridership that has exceeded original projections. 

Valley Metro began compiling development activity since construction started in 2005 as part of an economic development database. 

• The original $7 billion investment had included projects that were proposed. 
• The updated $8.2 billion includes projects completed or under construction. 

With the 3.1-mile Central Mesa Extension set to open in less than four weeks, there is an added $90 million in private and public development that occurred since construction began in June 2012.
 - See more at: http://www.valleymetro.org/pressreleases/detail/everybody-benefits-from-public-transportation#sthash.XKFddNkh.dpuf

News and opinion on an

American Fundamental - our infrastructure

- See more at: http://tinewsdaily.com/#sthash.XJda4JHd.dpuf

Both the mayors of Phoenix and Tempe had good things to say, according to an article
Phoenix-Mesa light rail line spurring local investment 
by Transportation Infrastructure News Daily Reports | Wednesday, Jul 29, 2015 @ 7:07pm
“Big things are happening in Phoenix because of light rail, and big things are going to continue to happen,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said. “Light rail has been transformative for our downtown and our economy. With it we’ve linked jobs, education, arts and culture in a way that would not have been possible otherwise.”
“Investment in transit does more than improve neighborhoods; it improves lives,” Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said. “More than $3.4 billion has been invested in Tempe around light rail since construction began in 2005. Everyone benefits from public transportation.” - See more at: http://tinewsdaily.com/stories/510630735-phoenix-mesa-light-rail-line-spurring-local-investment#sthash.CTxSZ80h.dpuf

The cities of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa have taken action to encourage development near the Valley Metro light rail line. There has been a substantial increase in development activity that has occurred or been proposed since the opening of the 20-mile starter line in December 2008.
Learn more about economic development and read the July 2015 report with this link >
Valley Metro Economic Development Brochure 

Future Transit Corridors 
The Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan calls for 46 additional miles of light rail/high capacity transit corridor in addition to the initial 20-mile line. The 66-miles of transit improvements will be built using local, regional and federal funds. 
Seven light rail extensions are planned or are under construction that will expand the system by 2034. 
Valley Metro also offers transit options including alternative transportation programs for seniors and people with disabilities, commuter vanpools, online carpool matching, bus trip mapping, bicycle safety and telework assistance.
 - See more at: http://www.valleymetro.org/pressreleases/detail/everybody-benefits-from-public-transportation#sthash.XKFddNkh.dpuf

08/22/2015 > Everything for Everybody Morning > Afternoon + Night

Readers can go to previous posts for information and links for events and activities being planned by Valley Metro starting at 8:00 a.m. for official ceremonies at City Hall Plaza and the Main/Center Street Light Rail Station.
From 9-12 commemorative passes for light rail transit will be handed out at each station where different themes are planned with fun activities for all ages. Go to valletmetro.org for more details, with lists of nearly everything that downtown offers for shopping, eats, and services including free admission to museums and discounts.

The City of Mesa Arts & Culture establishment has a full schedule planned in/around Mesa Arts Center, at all the city-owned museums [with free admission], and On/Off Main Street Keep your eyes footprints on the sidewalks leading the way to the museums and eyes open on Dinosaur sculptures

Other "City of Mesa entities" like the Downtown Merchants Association, VisitMesa, and the Chamber of Commerce are all working together to highlight attractions.

The Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation NEDCO, RAIL, and many more community partners and individual business owners will be promoting and showing all that downtown Mesa offers along the path of light rail transit: from Country Club/Main to Mesa Drive/Main all afternoon - there will be "cool zones" to chill out and water available under the shade. Check out the new decorative asphalt stamping in all the crosswalks and intersections where you'll also see many bronze sculptures all over the place on the sidewalks that residents and visitors have enjoyed for many years.
Bronze plaques in many locations - especially the Heritage Wall at City Hall Plaza - give you brief glimpses of Mesa history throughout the years of its history and you can envision the New Urban Downtown Mesa transforming and regenerating right before your eyes!

From 6-10 p.m. - after seeing the sights and sounds, shopping, eating/drinking, walking around and enjoying yourself with friends and/or family, get ready for more community-organized events in the spirit of 2nd Friday Nights Out celebrating our desert nights, Mesa's creative spirits and businesses open late On/Off Main Street

 

Art Shows.  Live Music  Street Vendors & More

[If you are interested in participating as a vendor or a performer for the Main Street Night Market Celebrations, please hit this link for an application  or contact David Crummy

dcrummey@nedco-mesa.org

RAIL: Getting On-Track in Downtown Mesa for Retail, The Arts, Innovation & LiveAbility

 

The future of lightrail transit for the Valley Metro Central Mesa Extension will soon be  NOW starting on Saturday, August 22, 2015 @ 09:00 a.m. 

The opening of lightrail in Phoenix three years ago brought in about 30,000 people. 

Stats like that probably are not going to racked up here on opening day, but the city Arts & Culture Department, NEDCO [Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation], The Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Office, individual business owners, and a group called RAIL are all on-board and on-track to encourage and bring more people into downtown Mesa with a no-emission quiet technology people mover: Light Rail

Don't want to panic anyone, but just wondering if there will be more riders arriving at the four downtown stations on Main Street or more riders leaving Mesa to head into Phoenix? 

The tracks run in two directions, right?

What Does Transit Mean to You?

Press Release from Valley Metro
Tuesday 21 July 2015

Discover Businesses Along Light Rail

MESA, AZ – Support local businesses that will soon be just a train ride away. On Thursday, July 30, more than sixty businesses along the Central Mesa and Northwest Phoenix light rail extensions will be under one roof. The public will have an opportunity to meet with local business owners and find out about the shops, restaurants and museums they’ll soon be able to visit via light rail.The Central Mesa extension opens Saturday, August 22 and the Northwest Phoenix extension is anticipated to open spring 2016.

Valley Metro Press Release

This event is brought to you by Valley Metro and Friends of Transit and presented by Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs
Click for company website: http://goodmanschwartz.com/

Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs provides services in Arizona in four major areas: 

• state government relations and lobbying, 
• municipal government relations and lobbying, 
• community outreach and 
• issue campaign consulting . . . 

Recognizing the significant impact that public opinion can have in the government decision making process, the firm has established an effective community relations practice designed to operate independently or in conjunction with a traditional lobbyist effort. Specifically, the firm has designed techniques in which communities and other impacted parties can be mobilized, through community outreach, coalition building and grassroots mobilization efforts, 
to shape public policy by managing public opinion.

Notes from MesaZona: PUBLIC OPINION COUNTS
For instance in getting funding for public transit and infrastructure approved by helping to shape public policy

Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs provides services in Arizona four major 

As many public policy isstely .

Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs provides services in Arizona in four major areas:  state government relations and lobbying, municipal government relations and lobbying, community outreach and issue campaign consulting.Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs provides services in Arizona in four major areas:  state government relations and lobbying, municipal government relations and lobbying, community outreach and issue campaign consulting.

MAC > Central Mesa Light Rail Extension Opening Celebrations: Thanks to Casey Blake, PR @ Mesa Arts Center

Media Contact:
Casey Blake
Director of Public Relations
480-644-6620
casey.blake@mesaartscenter.com

With Valley Metro as the lead, many entities immediately sprang into action to plan events, activities and festivities for August 22. The City of Mesa’s Arts and Culture Department – which includes Mesa Arts Center, Arizona Museum of Natural History and i.d.e.a. Museum – is planning quite a few activities for the community celebration around the arrival of Light Rail, which will supplement the activities of Valley Metro, other City of Mesa entities, and numerous community partners creating festive events at each of the four new stations in Mesa. Everything listed below is subject to change and more activities will likely be added leading up to the event date. 

At Mesa Arts Center on the morning of August 22: 

·         Community Art Project:
Mesa Arts Center’s 10^th year logo will be made into a colorful work of art by the community throughout the morning’s festivities. A metal instructor at Mesa Arts Center is creating a giant metal framework. Everyone will be invited to add colorful pieces in a pattern on the metal sculpture. The materials are waterproof and washable so that the community-made art piece can stay through Mesa Arts Center’s annual Season Kickoff Festival scheduled for Friday, September 11. 

·         Outdoor Entertainment:
Mesa Arts Center will provide performances for the duration of the festivities on August 22, within view of the Center St. Light Rail station on the campus. The lineup of performers is still being finalized but will likely include a variety of performing arts genres, several founding resident companies from Mesa Arts Center, and other performing artists. 

·         Studio Art Demonstrations:
Mesa Arts Center’s studio art teachers will be at the north end of the MAC campus demonstrating ceramics, throwing a pot on a wheel and glass flame working. 

·         The Gift Store, Mesa Arts Center’s Artists Cooperative Gallery:

The Store itself will be closed but artists from the Co-op will set up a pop-up gallery on the north end of campus. Items will be available for viewing and for purchase. 

·         Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (closed August 17 – September 10):
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum must close from August 17 through the second week in September in order to deinstall the current exhibitions, perform maintenance and repairs, and install five new exhibitions for public opening on September 11. Museum admission is always free, as is the Season Kickoff Festival event on Friday, September 11. 

Arizona Museum of Natural History (AZMNH) plans for August 22:

·         AZMNH will be open for free on August 22 from 9 a.m. to noon.
·         Before August 22, dinosaur footprints will be painted from the Center street station leading to the entrance of AZMNH.
·         AZMNH will place two large dinosaur models on the streets for the festivities. One near Main and Center and one near Main and Macdonald.
·         Near the dinosaur models, AZMNH staffers will have tables with a demonstration or activity for passersby to try.

i.d.e.a. Museum

·         The Museum will be open for free on August 22 from 9 a.m. to noon.
·         Before August 22, parent and child footprints will be painted from the Country Club station leading to the entrance of i.d.e.a. Museum.
·         Costumed storybook characters inspired by the current “Once Upon a Time” exhibition at the Museum will be engaging visitors at the Country Club Station and on Main Street.
·         The Museum will have a sit-on Wooden Elephant for photo opportunities, and a hands-on art activity for visitors.

Please Keep In Mind: Both Arizona Museum of Natural History and i.d.e.a. Museum will promote special Light Rail rider offers during the first month of Light Rail into downtown Mesa. 

More information will be made available as we get closer to the date.

10th Year Anniversary + Season Kick-Off Festival: At Mesa Arts Center we are fortunate that the launch of Light Rail in Mesa is happening right before the beginning of our 2015-16 season, during which time we will be celebrating our tenth year at One East Main Street in downtown Mesa! It all begins with our Season Kickoff Festival on Friday, September 11, 6-10 p.m.

World Famous Theater on Main Street > Creative Placemaking

A World Famous Theater here on Main Street in downtown Mesa?

The image to the right shows The Nile Theater days before it's grand opening in 1924. 

The top floors were offices and the side establishments are stores. Theater owners often created other form of use for the venue to continuously generate income.

What was true then is the same now: Lo-Fi Coffee is open in the sidewalk level front on Main Street, now serving more than freshly-brewed coffees and vegan baked goods - it has a liquor license.

Back in the 1940's it attracted crowds of kids standing in line for Saturday afternoon movies in the old image to the right
 . . .  fast fwd to 2015
this was the crowd waiting to get into The Underground today Sunday, July 27 - with people arriving from the parking lot and standing in line on McDonald Street under the shaded portico  wrapped around the corner all the way to Main Street.

It was the only location downtown drawing people to a show. Your MesaZona blogger was stopped by a cyclist, apparently surprised to see so many people, asking "What's goin' on?"

A change in shows taking place, with equipment being wheeled out while the crowd of ticket holders waits patiently in line to get in the door.

Some people might call this "alternative" or "rad" culture or "Millennial", but those labels miss the point that for creating a new urban downtown Mesa it's important to embrace everyone and be all-inclusive.

Contrast this to the Mesa Arts Center today taken about the same time just after noon.

There was no one

Associated Press Via YouTube > Huge 411 Dump

An exciting new level to digitize and democratize information

Forget About "Star Wars" > Solar Power Industry is Heating Up in Arizona & Mesa

Believe it or not, a Lehi Utah-based company has been acquired for $2.2 Billion

SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), the world's largest renewable energy development company, Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR), a leading provider of residential solar systems in the United States, and TerraForm Power, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, TerraForm Power) (Nasdaq: TERP), an owner and operator of clean energy power plants, today announced that SunEdison and Vivint Solar have signed a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which SunEdison will acquire Vivint Solar for approximately $2.2 billion, payable in a combination of cash, shares of SunEdison common stock and SunEdison convertible notes.

See Business Wire News Release from 20 July 2015 Business Wire News

Keep in mind that Solar City, founded in 2006 by Tesla Master-mind Elon Musk, has had a Mesa location for a number of years and might have mixed feelings about this market acquisition.
Apple's new global command center has promised to be reliant on renewable energy so time will tell who wins out as the provider. 
Money Flow Index reports that Shares of SolarCity Corporation appreciated by 5.37% during the last five trading days but lost 4.06% on a 4-week basis. SolarCity Corporation has dropped 6.31% during the last 3-month period . Year-to-Date the stock performance stands at 3.52%.

Chance Allred Vivent VP Sales

Yesterday Zacks Equity Research http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/182796/solar-etfs-in-focus-on-sunedisonvivint-dealhad this to say: As per the terms of the deal, Vivint shareholders will receive $16.50 per share in cash, shares, and convertible debt – a 52% premium to Vivint’s closing price of $10.88 a share on Friday . . . With this transaction, SunEdison will enter the residential solar market, where Vivint is already a top player. Vivint’s solar systems are quite popular among households as it allows homeowners to lease its systems rather than buying them outright . . . "

Some Arizona utility regulation issues are still to be worked out with assessing a new valuation on leased and financed systems..

Vivint Solar opened offices in Mesa in June of last year and operates in eleven other states. Vivint made the decision after the net-metering compromise last year, with the Arizona Corporation Commission deciding to impose an extra $5 fee per month, instead of the $50-$100 Arizona Public Service Co. was proposing.

Computer World http://www.computerworld.com/article/2950587/sustainable-it/sunedison-drops-22b-to-acquire-vivint-solar.html also made the acquisition announcement, noting that Hewlett-Packard had signed a 12-year power purchase with SunEdison ..... 

New Cities Summit 2015 Jakarta: Highlights Film

Back To The Future: Discover Mesa All Over Again

Valley Metro is shifting gears and getting a big advert campaign on-track and online [maybe "jump-starting" to use one of Mesa Mayor John Giles favorite words, but we're dealing with a new no-emission and quiet technology here and now, not a crank-up car]
Link to click >
 Central Mesa Lightrail Opening Celebration

Plans are already in the works for expanding Valley Metro farther east to Gilbert Road 
[See image to the right]

What a Great Day for Downtown Mesa!
Who's to say how many people might be in downtown on Saturday August 22nd??
Thousands? Valley Metro won't estimate a certain number - just that it's difficult to predict, and they are planning and preparing for a good crowd and plenty of activities for all ages.
Commemorative passes, good for lightrail transit only, will be handed out at all stations from 9 - Noon
Valley Metro trains will run on a normal Saturday schedule with the Central Mesa Extension opening at 9:00 a.m.
On Saturday night, the last full trip of the day begins at 2 a.m., arriving at the opposite end of the line at 3 a.m. Sunday morning - that's according to this link from Friends of Transit Light Rail Schedule
A lot of people might be wondering when the last lightrail train will be leaving downtown

The Downtown Mesa Association is working to plan related promotions on Main Street with some Facebook postings at this early time for Night Market.

NEDCO will soon be announcing what it has been collaborating with its community partners for transit-oriented economic development, arts and culture and Creative PlaceMaking all around the New Urban Downtown.

Individual businesses have agreed to open early and stay open late - your MesaZona blogger talked with the owners of Gotham City Comics & Coffee who will be having artists creating illustrations on-site all day.

In addition to the link to Valley Metro Opening Celebrations above, Corinne Holliday and Rob Antoniak sent an email on Friday 25 July saying that  

It will be blocks of family fun. 

There will be music, food, local vendors, face painting, band performances, games, selfie stations, free museum admission and much more. 

Valley Metro has sent out a vendor application to all stakeholders from Dobson to Horne; Broadway to University, requesting any interested business or organizations return to Corinne Holiday by July 31, 2015.  

Holliday, Corinne <cholliday@valleymetro.org> 

That application can be found here: http://www.valleymetro.org/images/uploads/prop_photos/CME_Station_Celebration_Participation_Guide-Application_FINAL_071615.pdf


Valley Metro events are from 8:00 to 1:00

Afternoon and night time give light rail transit users and residents to turn Main Street into a pedestrian zone > find your reasons to walk-see-enjoy

Station celebrations will include:  Family fun, Music,  Food, Cool zones, Cultural experiences and Local vendors

Each station will have it’s own unique theme: 

Alma School/Main Street  Discover Education 

Country Club/Main Street Discover Community 

Center/Main Street Discover Downtown Mesa 

Mesa Drive/Main Street. Discover Mesa’s History

Watch Out for Guardian Angels on Main Street: Are These Characters The Right Choice for a Lightrail Safety Campaign??



Guardian Angels Campaign Urges Safety Around Public Transit

Valley Metro Guardian Angels/Image from Moses Inc.

Valley Metro needed a fun way to speak to their riders about the safety rules without being morbid, boring or condescending . . . OK, your MesaZona blogger gets that - and the importance of diversity -  but this visual concept seems like the illegitimate offspring of Men In Black and the models from Victoria's Secret + it's way off appealing to the demographics of both the people who live in downtown Mesa and the people who might want to visit downtown Mesa.
There are certain safety precautions to learn and practice with approaching light rail stations and using lightrail transit, but these three characters are way off the mark as representatives of safety education for transit. Sorry, but these angels are scary, lurking and watching, with one peeking over dark glasses to get a look. BAD MOSES

One version  of the purple sidewalk stickers on Main Street

With  Light Rail trains getting ready to roll into and out of downtown Mesa on August 22, 2015 Valley Metro is continuing a ridership safety campaign with stickers on the walkways at street intersections and mid-block crosswalks along the path of the new 3.1 mile extension of light rail stations on Main Street.

They thought the perfect vehicle for relaying their cautionary messages would be guardian angels with a little bit of 'tude, according to the agency's website.

Here's one of the sidewalk stickers on the north side of Main Street - it's conveniently below eye-level for approaching the crosswalk just east of the Center Street Station.

Moses Inc is the agency of record in a press release dated from January 2014 for a multi-million dollar five-year contract to help market lightrail, bus service and other transportation solutions in the Valley for safety education and business outreach to increase ridership.
The three characters might have worked for the opening of lightrail transit in Phoenix back in 2014, but it's questionable if they appeal to either downtown residents or visitors . . .  if an ad agency is getting paid "multi-millions" [according to their own press release] somebody from the ad agency should at least have gotten together with the biz development folks on Main Street to get to know what might work better > a friendly message perhaps?

$6.5 Million Dollar Land Buy for Multi-Tenant Light Industrial Project @ US60 & Mesa Drive

Metro Commercial Properties and Principal Real Estate Investors Announce Mesa Light Industrial Development

July 15, 2015

by RealEstateRama

-  Please take notice of the figures on the map for the average cars per day
See more at: http://arizona.realestaterama.com/2015/07/15/metro-commercial-properties-and-principal-real-estate-investors-announce-mesa-light-industrial-development-ID0930.html#sthash.JpWsGxsD.dpuf

Infill location and freeway infrastructure were the selling points here for this development 

Tempe, AZ – July 15, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — On Thursday, July 9, 2015, Metro East Valley Holdings, LLC, a joint venture between Tempe based Metro Commercial Properties, Inc., and a private REIT managed by Principal Real Estate Investors, Des Moines, IA, completed the purchase of 21.5 acres of land fronting the US 60 Superstition Freeway in Mesa, Arizona, for a planned four building light industrial development.

The seller in the transaction was PuppyFeathers, LLLP, an entity controlled by Craig Berge, also president of Berge Ford, Inc. The site located at 614 – 720 East Auto Center Drive, is immediately east of the Berge Ford dealership with frontage on the south side of the U.S. 60 at Mesa Drive
. 

The $6.5 million land sale was brokered by Kurt Saulnier, Ken McQueen and Chris McClurg of Lee and Associates Arizona.

The 21.5 acre site was formerly zoned for automotive dealership use. The team at Metro Commercial Properties, led by veteran zoning attorney Mike Withey of Withey Morris, completed a re-zone of the site on February 23, 2015, to allow industrial uses for the proposed multitenant light industrial project.

Upon receipt of permits with the City of Mesa, construction is scheduled to commence in August 2015.


Image below shows benefits of location in the Southeast Valley - and that's just above the borderline with our biggest trading partner and neighbor Mexico.

Channel Change-Up: Scouting News > Boy Scouts of America

Update on Adult Leadership Standards

July 13, 2015 by Newsroom Blog

Please see update from Wednesday 15 July 2015 with "a little wiggle room"  . . . keep in mind the Bill of Rights is still for everyone with a separation of Church & State

That's the balanced news from the official Boy Scouts of America newsroom. Then here on MesaZona an excerpt from The Mormon News Report . . . other media news outlets get onboard

Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee adopted a resolution amending the adult leadership standards policy. The resolution was unanimously adopted by those present and voting . . . This resolution will allow chartered organizations to select adult leaders without regard to sexual orientation, continuing Scouting’s longstanding policy of chartered organizations selecting their leaders. The National Executive Board will meet to ratify this resolution on Monday, July 27
http://scoutingnewsroom.org/blog/update-on-adult-leadership-standards/.

To the Left an old poster with Bill of Rights From Mormon News: Yesterday, the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America unanimously approved a resolution that would end the organization's "blanket ban on gay adult leaders and let individual Scout units set their own policy on the long-divisive issue," according to a report by the Associated Press (via ABC News). Buzzfeed received a copy of the memorandum sent to regional and area Boy Scout leaders, which included more details about the individually chartered troops: "No local council may refuse to process or approve a charter application or in any way limit the participation of a Scouting unit based on the chartered organization's exercise of its right to select adult leaders as provided in this resolution."

Image from Mormon News

Obviously, with the huge LDS influence on the Boy Scouts of America, many were waiting for the LDS Church's response to the resolution - and respond they did.
Mormon Newsroom has the release, which reads “As a chartering organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always had the right to select Scout leaders who adhere to moral and religious principles that are consistent with our doctrines and beliefs. Any resolution adopted by the Boy Scouts of America regarding leadership in Scouting must continue to affirm that right.”
Mormon News Report 14 July 2015

Update from Wednesday 15 July [Italics for emphasis]
We're getting more news behind the details on the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to possibly end the ban on gay adult leaders within the organization. David Crary of the AP (via the Salt Lake Tribune) writes "The BSA's executive committee unanimously approved a resolution that would let individual Scout units set their own policies on the long-divisive issue. So church-sponsored units opposed to the change could maintain the prohibition. "This is a compromise the LDS Church will be able to live with happily," said Kendall Wilcox, a gay Mormon and a member of the interfaith committee of Scouts for Equality that has been pushing for reforms. "This is good for all of us."" On Monday, the BSA said the resolution was approved Friday by the 17-member executive committee and would become official policy if ratified by the organization's 80-member National Executive Board at a meeting July 27. The National Executive Board includes two high-level Mormon officials: apostle Jeffrey R. Holland and LDS Young Men President Stephen W. Owen. The resolution allows local Scout units the ability to select adult leaders without regard for sexual orientation, while also allowing units to continue the ban. According to the BSA statement "This change allows Scouting's members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families...This change would also respect the right of religious-chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own."