3 New Faces On The Mesa City Council

DO YOU KNOW WHO REPRESENTS YOUR INTERESTS IN YOUR DISTRICT ???

This is a post to promote and encourage the residents of Mesa to get-to-know the three newly-elected members to the Mesa City Council.
Who's who?

Mayor & Council
Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.
Mesa's councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members being elected every two years.
The mayor is elected at-large every four years.
The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis.
The vice mayor is selected by the City Council.

The Mesa City Council believes that its people, not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process.
Whether it is through neighborhood meetings, advisory boards and committees, telephone calls and letters, or email, the Mesa City Council sets policies based on the input and needs of its citizens. 

 Office of the Mayor & Council

PO Box 1466
Mesa, AZ 85211Hours of Operation: M-Th 7am-6pm

Contact Information:

Phone: 480-644-3000

Email: Council@mesaaz.gov 

Media Contact for Mesa City Council:

Randy Policar
Phone: 480-644-4750
Email:  randy.policar@mesaaz.gov

 

MAYOR JOHN GILES

Link to official page on city's website here

John Giles was elected the 40th Mayor of Mesa, Arizona in August, 2014. He was re-elected in August 2016 and will begin his first full four-year term in January 2017.

Mayor Giles is committed to taking Mesa to the next level with his NextMesa vision.

Office of the Mayor
P.O. Box 1466
Mesa, Arizona, 85211

Contact Information
 480-644-2388

 

John Giles outlined his vision for what's next here in Mesa at the State-of-the-City 2017 on 31 January where photographer Ivan Martinez captured this unforgettable image of him leading the Mesa High School Marching BandEmail

Chief of Staff:  Ian Linssen
480-644-3002Email

Media Contact: Melissa Randazzo, Mayor's Office for Public Information
480-644-3219Email

 

DISTRICT 1 MARK FREEMAN
Link to official page on city's website here
Link to D1 Newsletter for February 2017 here
Elected to the Mesa City Council in August 2016, Mark Freeman began his first term representing District 1 in January 2017. His term on the Council runs until January 2021.

Office of Councilmember Mark Freeman

Phone: 480-644-4002
Fax: 480-644-2175
P.O. Box 1466
Mesa, Arizona 85211-1466
Email: District1@mesaaz.gov

Council Assistant
Alicia White
480-644-5296Email: alicia.white@mesaaz.gov 

DISTRICT 2 JEREMY WHITTAKER
Link to official page on city's website here
Elected to the Mesa City Council in November of 2016, Jeremy Whittaker began his first term representing District 2 in January 2017. His term on the Council runs until January 2021.

Office of Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker

Phone: 480-644-5295
Fax: 480-644-2175
P.O. Box 1466
Mesa, Arizona 85211-1466Email: District2@mesaaz.gov

Council AssistantBlaise Caudill
480-644-5295Email: blaise.caudill@mesaaz.gov

 

DISTRICT 3 RYAN WINKLE

Link to official page on city's website here
Elected to the Mesa City Council in August 2016, Councilmember Ryan Winkle began his first term representing District 3 in January 2017. His term on the Council runs until January 2021.

Office of Councilmember Ryan Winkle

Phone: 480-644-3003
Fax: 480-644-2175
P.O. Box 1466
Mesa, Arizona 85211-1466
Email: District3@mesaaz.gov

 

Council Assistant Jared Archambault
480-644-6275
Email: jared.archambault@mesaaz.gov

Connecting on Social Media

Topic	Sites
City of Mesa (general)
Mayor John Giles
Mesa City Council Office
Councilmember Mark Freeman - District 1
Councilmember Ryan Winkle - District 3
Councilmember Chris Glover - District 4
Vice Mayor David Luna - District 5
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6
Mesa City Manager Chris Brady

 

 

Mesa City Council Sub-Committees

Sub-committees meet with appropriate department staff about issues that have developed in the respective department which impact either the department directly (i.e. a new fire engine for the fire department) or residents and businesses (i.e. sewer hook-up).

Audit, Finance & EnterpriseCouncilmember Mark Freeman, Chairperson
Councilmember Chris Glover
Vice Mayor David Luna
City Manager Chris Brady, Ex Officio
Staff Liaison: Michael Kennington
Attorney: Jim Smith

Community & Cultural Development Councilmember Ryan Winkle, Chairperson
Vice Mayor David Luna
Councilmember Kevin Thompson
Staff Liaison: Natalie Lewis
Attorney: Alfred Smith

Economic Development Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker, Chairperson
Councilmember Chris Glover
Councilmember Ryan Winkle
Staff Liaison: Bill Jabjiniak
Attorney: Jim Smith

Public Safety Councilmember Chris Glover, Chairperson
Councilmember Mark Freeman
Councilmember Kevin Thompson

Staff Liaison: John Pombier
Attorney: Alfred Smith

Sustainability & Transportation Councilmember Kevin Thompson, Chairperson
Vice Mayor David Luna
Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker

Staff Liaison: Kari Kent
Attorney: Jim Smith

Regional Agency Board Assignments

Gateway Airport Authority Mayor John Giles

Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) Councilmember Kevin Thompson

Valley Metro Regional Public Transit Authority (RPTA)
Metro RailCouncilmember Chris Glover

Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Committee Assignments
Regional Council Mayor John Giles

Transportation Policy Committee Mayor John Giles

Human Services Coordinating Councilmember Ryan Winkle

Economic Development Vice Mayor David Luna

Other Committee Assignments

i.d.e.a. Museum Board of Directors Vice Mayor David Luna Arizona Museum of Natural History CouncilmemberJeremy Whittaker Chamber of Commerce Councilmember Kevin Thompson City Benefits Advisory Committee Vice Mayor David Luna Councilmember Ryan Winkle Downtown Mesa Association Councilmember Chris Glover East Valley Partnership Board Mayor John Giles Mesa Arts Center Foundation Board Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker Mesa Sister Cities Councilmember Ryan Winkle Mesa United Way Councilmember Ryan Winkle Self Insurance Board of Trustees Councilmember Mark Freeman Visit Mesa Board Councilmember Chris Glover

From Democracy Now! > An Overlooked Chapter In American History

"Decade of Betrayal": How the U.S. Expelled Over a Half Million U.S. Citizens to Mexico in 1930s

Story on February 28, 2017

Watch on > Democracy Now

Watch Full Show 

Francisco Balderrama

professor of American history and Chicano studies at California State University, Los Angeles. He is co-author of Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930's
 

President Donald Trump is slated to give his first presidential address to Congress today. Democratic lawmakers have begun giving their tickets away to immigrants as a protest against Trump’s push to increase deportations and to block residents from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Well, this is not the first time people of Mexican descent have been demonized, accused of stealing jobs, and forced to leave the country. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, more than a million people residing in the United States were deported to Mexico—about 60 percent of them were U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. We speak to the preeminent scholar on this often overlooked chapter of American history: Francisco Balderrama, professor of American history and Chicano studies at California State University, Los Angeles. He is co-author of "Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s."

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Please check back later for full transcript.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Glenn Greenwald's Take-Aways from a NYMag Story

The New Yorker’s Big Cover Story Reveals Five Uncomfortable Truths About U.S. and Russia 

February 28 2017, 7:14 a.m.

Source: The Intercept

Glenn Greenwald

Beginning with its cover image menacingly featuring Putin, Trump and the magazine’s title in Cyrillic letters, along with its lead cartoon dystopically depicting a UFO-like Red Square hovering over and phallically invading the White House, a large bulk of the article is devoted to what has now become standard – and very profitable – fare among East Coast news magazines: feeding Democrats the often-xenophobic, hysterical Russia-phobia for which they have a seemingly insatiable craving. Democratic media outlets have thus predictably cheered this opus for exposing “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence on the presidential election.”
1. Obama and Clinton have radically different views on Russia

   [includes a video of CIA former director Mike Morelli]

2. The risk of a new Cold War is very real and very dangerous

   [includes a video of Nom Chomsky]

3. The U.S. media refuses to say if the U.S. interferes in Russia’s domestic politics

4. The U.S. Government still has provided no evidence of its theories about Russian hacking

5. Fixating on Russia continues to be used to distract from systemic failures of U.S. elites

    Using Russia – yet again – to whitewash our own sins and systemic failures is bad enough.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t lead the two countries back into a protracted and devastating Cold War or, worse still, direct military confrontation. With tensions rising and rhetoric becoming harsher and more manipulative, both of those outcomes are more likely than they’ve been in many years.

Contact the author:

Glenn Greenwald✉

glenn.greenwald@​theintercept.comt@ggreenwald

Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group 2016 Highlights + Updates

Published on Feb 6, 2017

Views: 2,034

2016 was an exciting year for Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group with numerous launches, tests, and production milestones. Highlights include launches of Antares and Pegasus, significant rate increases for composite parts, and the final qualification test of the solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System.

Updates included from Businesswire

27 Feb 2017
Orbital ATK Artillery Precision Guidance Kit Surpasses 10,000 Units Delivered

Innovative Technology Transforms Conventional Artillery Projectiles with Precision Capabilities

 

28 Feb 2017

Orbital ATK’s Board of Directors Expands Share Buyback Plan and Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend

Board Approves $200 Million in Additional Share Repurchases Through March 2018

Total Repurchase Authorization Since February 2015 Merger Reaches $450 Million

Quarterly Cash Dividend Increased 6.5% to $0.32 per Share

 

Activities of the MAG Economic Development Committee || February 7, 2017 Meeting

Retrieved from email inbox sent 15 hours ago
...some extracts and insert box with all topics and links

Message From the Chair
Scottsdale Mayor W.J. “Jim” Lane
Cyber security and advanced computer technologies have been recognized by state and local governments as an industrial cornerstone for the Arizona economy. I was pleased that the EDC had the opportunity to welcome and listen to Mark Beariault with the Kudelski Group at our February meeting. In today’s global economy, companies like Kudelski are playing a crucial role when it comes to addressing complex security issues and identifying solutions for business and government.  As we continue to locate these firms−especially on the global scale−our region is positioning itself to be on the map in the cyber security sector. As we listened to an enlightening presentation regarding Kudelski’s decision to locate its North American headquarters to Phoenix, it was affirming to hear how Kudelski valued our region for housing prices, education and being family friendly.
As an indication, Mr. Beariault noted how many of his company’s employees were inquiring about transferring from their Bay Area office to their Phoenix location because of young families’ desire to find better housing value and access to great education. MAG’s data analytics confirms through the MapLit viewer that we do have many areas with excellent education throughout the region and state. Together with our excellent vocational, community college and higher education programs, global and domestic firms are recognizing the importance of quality of life factors for their workforce. As our communities and region look to market ourselves for business attraction, we should continue to keep in mind these factors, which positively differentiate us from our peer markets, to close the deal.
I also was impressed listening to how cities have reengineered their processes to streamline communication and project management. The City of Surprise provided great insight into how embedding a communication process among finance, economic development and community development has enabled better cross-department partnerships and successful projects throughout their city. These types of best practices are examples of how cities in our region are working to be more proactive and operate more efficiently as public organizations. Kudelski and others in the past year, are affirmation that our economic development partners are advancing a business friendly and business minded environment, I have no doubt that our region is poised for tremendous near- and long-term economic success.

Sun Corridor Exporting Initiatives
Exports play a crucial role in growing the economy and leading the region to be more prosperous and resilient. An export recognition program is being planned as part of the Joint Planning Advisory Council (JPAC), with a focus on the Sun Corridor. MAG staff provided an overview on this initiative. Through this initiative, JPAC will partner with economic development leaders to host the Sun Corridor Export Recognition Program this spring. This program will invite businesses to be recognized for their exporting successes at an event being marketed as the Sun Corridor EDGE (Economic Development for the Global Economy). In addition to recognizing successful exporters, EDGE will feature speakers renowned for their expertise in international trade.

Update on Outreach for Regulation A+
At the January 2017 Economic Development Committee meeting, Chris Loeffler, CEO and co-founder of Caliber - The Wealth Development Company, presented on the benefits of Regulation A+ (Reg A+). Reg A+ is a new federal legislation tool that levels the playing field for small businesses that want to grow and access capital from individual investors. Reg A+ allows private companies to raise up to $50 million from the public. At the request of the EDC, MAG staff is working on how to get this information out to the community to enable more businesses to utilize this tool. MAG staff will be moving forward with the suggested opportunities that include working with the Sun Corridor Export Recognition Program, the Arizona Business Incubation Association, and the Arizona Technology Council to inform the business community on the Reg A+ tool.

Update from the Arizona Commerce Authority
Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) staff noted that the first series of the CEO Forums recently concluded. This forum was held during the Phoenix Open, which provided a great opportunity to showcase the region. ACA also reported that CEO Sandra Watson and Governor Doug Ducey attended the Phoenix Suns game in Mexico City and had the opportunity to meet the new Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico. ACA’s five-year anniversary is coming up, and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis is being developed, which will be utilized to establish the next five-year plan.

Next Meeting
The next meeting of the EDC will be on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at 11:30 a.m. at the MAG Office, 302 N. First Avenue, Phoenix, second floor, Saguaro Room.
The EDC E-Update is a monthly electronic newsletter providing information about the activities of the MAG Economic Development Committee. For questions regarding this e-mail, or to be removed from the distribution list, contact Denise McClafferty or Alana Chávez Langdon at (602) 254-6300, or via e-mail at dmcclafferty@azmag.gov or alangdon@azmag.gov.

The EDC E-Update is a monthly electronic newsletter providing information about the activities of the MAG Economic Development Committee. For questions regarding this e-mail, or to be removed from the distribution list, contact Denise McClafferty at (602) 254-6300, or via e-mail at dmcclafferty@azmag.gov or Alana Chávez-Langdon at (602) 254-6300, or via e-mail at alangdon@azmag.gov.

In This Issue:

Message From the Chair Economic Growth Through Cybersecurity International Headquarters Report on the City of Surprise Communication Among Departments Sun Corridor Exporting Initiatives

Update on Outreach for Regulation A+ Update from the Arizona Commerce Authority Update from the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Next Meeting

New $10 Raspberry Pi Zero comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Still tinier and cheaper than the flagship, the Raspberry Pi Zero goes wireless.

Jon Brodkin - 2/28/2017, 2:00 AM

The newest member of the Raspberry Pi product line costs just $10 plus tax and includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability.
The "Raspberry Pi Zero W" is an updated version of the Raspberry Pi Zero. While it lacks some niceties, like Ethernet and a full-sized USB-A ports, it's smaller than the flagship Pi and a fraction of the cost. The original Raspberry Pi Zero was released in November 2015 at a price of just $5/£4. The new Pi Zero W is almost identical to the original, but doubles the price to $10 and adds a wireless chip that supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (2.4GHz-only) and Bluetooth 4.0.The Zero W also has a new case with three interchangeable lids, one that's solid, one with a hole for GPIO pins, and another with a hole for the camera module. There was no word on case pricing yesterday, as the Pi Foundation doesn't control case prices the way it does with the computers themselves.
The Pi Zero includes a full-size GPIO header but maintains its slim profile because it doesn't come with pins, which can be soldered on by the user. The Zero can handle the same types of projects as the original Pi, but its small size can be an advantage if you want to build a tiny robot (see page 24 in this issue of MagPi) or other small systems.
Listing image by Raspberry Pi Foundation
Extracts from Ars Technica

Official Photo for Mesa City Council Released

Mostly 'Shades of Gray' again in the line-up for members, three new and three old

Members starting their last terms in office are:
Chris Glover
David Luna
Kevin Thompson
Members starting their first terms in office:
Mark Freeman
Jeremy Whittaker
Ryan Winkle

Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.
Mesa's councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members being elected every two years.
The mayor is elected at-large every four years. The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis. The vice mayor is selected by the City Council.
The Mesa City Council believes that its people, not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process.
Whether it is through neighborhood meetings, advisory boards and committees, telephone calls and letters, or email, the Mesa City Council sets policies based on the input and needs of its citizens. 
Source: http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall/mayor-council

The three new Mesa City Council members were sworn-into-office back on January 11, 2017 in this image from City Manager Chris Brady's Twitter account
For City Council Agenda & Minutes go here

Links to individual pages:
Mayor John Giles
Councilmember Mark Freeman - District 1
Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker - District 2
Councilmember Ryan Winkle - District 3
Councilmember Christopher Glover - District 4
Vice Mayor David Luna- District 5
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6



Events In March

• City Council Study Session
  03/02/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee Meeting
  03/06/2017 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
• City Council Meeting
  03/06/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
• City Council Study Session
  03/09/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Study Session
  03/16/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Meeting
  03/20/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
• City Council Study Session
  03/23/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Study Session
  03/30/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• Community and Cultural Development Committee Meeting
  03/30/2017 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Meeting
  04/03/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
• City Council Study Session
  04/06/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• Community and Cultural Development Committee Meeting
  04/06/2017 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Study Session
  04/13/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Meeting
  04/17/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
• City Council Study Session
  04/20/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Study Session
  05/04/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Meeting
  05/08/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
• City Council Study Session
  05/11/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Study Session
  05/18/2017 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
• City Council Meeting
  05/22/2017 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM