Here In Mesa AZ > Hyper-Local + Global News: MD Helos

MD Helicopters delays MD6XX certification to 2020
28 February, 2018
SOURCE: FlightGlobal.com
By Stephen Trimble | Las Vegas
"MD Helicopters (MDHI) has delayed certification for the 2.5t MD6XX civil helicopter at least two years to focus the small manufacturer's resources on delivering a surge of orders from military customers, says chief executive Lynn Tilton.
The delay comes only a year after Tilton unveiled a mock-up of the MD6XX and promised to complete certification by the end of 2018.
That timeline became unachievable as MDHI copes with new orders by at least three foreign militaries for the armed version of the MD530 light-single. The Mesa, Arizona-based manufacturer is expected to deliver 30 helicopters by the end of this year, including the first five by the end of May, Tilton says.
Additional orders by Kenya and Lebanon have added to the backlog for the MD530, but require additional certifications that have consumed the engineering department, Tilton says.
"We just didn't have the resources" to make progress on the MD6XX, she says. "We're not stopping it. We’re excited about it, but in the end I just couldn't do it all. . . "
READ MORE > Flight Global 
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For readers of this blog: Please use the SEARCH BOX in the upper left corner for information that has been posted here Boeing, Patriarch Partners CEO Lynn Tilton, the MD530 or the armed-version MD6XX
Images are included in all the posts

Bob Worsley: Caught In The Middle > Public Trust or Private Profit?

Conservative and religious for sure (or so he says) . . .does Mesa Mega- 

Millionaire Bob Worsley have "Clean Hands" as a Private

Real Estate Developer at the same time holding public office?

Mesa Mega-Millionaire and Arizona State Senator, who 's political career got launched with controversy back in 2012 [see this report by EVT managing editor Jim Walsh 02 May 2017 ], got caught up in, along with his campaign consultant /business partner Kent Lyons (who's involved with Worsley on a risky speculative real estate deal here in downtown Mesa), "in a good old-fashioned Arizona dirty politics story" and sex-scandal in the Arizona State House written about and published online by Phoenix New Times reporter Ray Stern on February 24,2012 [you can Stern's story here .]

One more controversy broke out in public on Monday at a Mesa City Council session where Worsley came out from his behind-the-scenes schemes as a broker of real estate deals and as an investor in different holding companies and LLCs, registered here in the State of Arizona and in the State of Delaware,  for the purchase of multiple properties here on Main Street.

All the "deals" and real estate schemes to stuff the pockets of the FOG (Friends of Giles) on the back of already-overburdened Mesa taxpayers for the radical transformation of downtown Mesa into a "satellite campus" for ASU were resoundingly defeated and rejected by voters two years ago.
Was Mesa Mayor John Giles totally tone-deaf on this issue two years ago???
Has he NOT learned anything on-the-job that taxpayers just SAY NO to more debt?
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Underlying all this is a BIG QUESTION that comes back-to-bite: Is Bob Worley double-dealing using his public office for his own private gains and profits? And/or for the financial benefits of the close cohort of his "friends-and-family" or undisclosed special-interest business connections?

DOES BOB WORSLEY HAVE "CLEAN HANDS"?



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Let's get down to the real Nitty-Gritty

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It's one thing to be a private money-making mega-millionaire but it crosses-the-line of the integrity entering public elected office when you use your public office to enrich yourself or stuff money into- the-pockets and bank accounts of your close cohorts. 
At the minimum it's a violation of public trust  in good honest, open, transparent and accountable government - it might be, separate from that, possible crimes and misdemeanors that need to get help up to public scrutiny and the attention of any public-interest investigations.
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Let's get back to some of the details in Jim Walsh's article from May of last year:

REJECTED by voters

1. ASU
Worsley said in February that > . . "he would not vote for a state budget that does not include a $1 billion, 30-year bonding plan for state universities intended to make Arizona a technical growth center similar to Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; or Palo Alto, California. . . I look at every single bill and I say, ‘What is the right thing to do?”’ Worsley said.
Mesa Mayor John Giles is effusive in his support for Worsley and the billion-dollar ASU boondoggle
Though it is a top legislative priority for Gov. Doug Ducey, some conservative Republicans oppose the plan – much to Worsley’s dismay."
He gained public office receiving a call to run from "friends" here in Mesa Worsley, 61 at the time, never looked like anything but a conservative Republican businessman, living in East Mesa, volunteering with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in leadership positions. . . It was through this work as a branch president of a Mormon congregation, . . that Worsley was confronted with a difficult decision he viewed as a moral dilemma.
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That's about as far in these emerging controversies as your MesaZona blogger wants to go today while he aggregates a data bank closet-full of information to collect the loose threads,, connect-the-dots and get right down to the real Nitty-Gritty.
You, dear readers, can watch all the action when the curtains got pulled back on Monday at the Mesa City Council Meeting: the entire 117 session can be seen and heard below
[other links to excerpts are provided after this upload]

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Background information:
According to publicly-sourced information, on June 27, 2017 a company CH Mesa Holdings LLC was registered marked THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT OF GOOD STANDING  in the State of Delaware after [it might be assumed] by Bob Worsley to start acquiring land after he received "inside information" from Mesa Mayor John Giles that he had the votes on his council* please see notation about Arizona Open Meeting Laws below to pass pending ASU agreements (Item 12-a)  through the Mesa City Council. On 27 Feb 2018 this in fact was considered.
* It is clearly a violation of the OML for councilmembers to discuss among themselves anything to do with items on the meeting agenda regarding how they think or might vote.    
See >   Bob Worley, who represented himself as a state elected representative for "most of the city" in his public life, said at the same he has a private financial interest in real estate speculation with the group he's associated with who spent  $20M - his own money or their money? - on " a bet" buying up real estate gambling that real estate prices and investment profits could skyrocket, knowing from "insider information" that ASU would get approved by the council.

Two years ago Mesa taxpayers REJECTED a hefty $102M hit out-of-their-pockets that proposal that hinged on a tax increase that could have only enriched "special-interests"  - Mesa is already a tax-burdened city with the average per capita debt for every man, woman and child over $3,700.
Voters in Mesa didn't get tricked by a bogus $500,000 Yes1Mesa privately-financed Public Relations campaign >
They JUST SAID NO THEN, and it's the same-old scheme this time around wrapped-up and packaged differently.
It's turned into a hornet's nest as you can see-and-watch in uploaded video.
Who might get stung trying to steal from the poor and give to their rich friends-and-family who have dominated the political machine here in Mesa for generations? Giles and Worsley have put themselves on-stage together in public, taking the heat from some fellow Mesa City Councilmembers and the public, who certainly got involved in very lively discussions and comments.
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This year's tax-increase for a ballot item yet to be presented for consider in November 2018 General Election is tagged with price tag of tentative estimate of $75,000,000 bucks and has been been "re-packaged" in a media propaganda blitz for not just ONE BIG Pie-In-The-Sky schemes for the benefit of high-risk speculative real estate gamblers, but four, all speculation in risking real estate bets to benefit private wealth on the backs of public taxpayer money (with no cost-benefit analysis) that would, according to comments made by District 2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker add another $154 to the ever-increasing Debt-Service on Municipal Bond Obligations that has increased 48% exponentially in the last 10 years for a whopping GRAND TOTAL = $1,700,000,000  
Needless to say financial disclosures for the mayor, every single member of the six-member City Council and with full disclosure of any previously undisclosed "friends-and-family" or undisclosed business would be helpful and in order to respond to public concerns and interest in open, transparent and government - and that goes for the partners, managers, or managing agents of any of the holding companies, REITS or LLCs associated with Bob Worley to find out if their are conflicts of interest - he can't it both ways.
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Let me make clear that D2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker was the first to respond quickly to an email inquiry for financial disclosure since he's a guy who has been criticized often who drives Lamborghinis and Bentleys to City Hall . . . If anyone wants to question the integrity of Jeremy Whittaker and ask Where are his millions coming from? he's open and honest about that, yet some more questions might arise about "gifts" from ASU appearing on Financial Disclosure Forms for either Mr. Whittaker, Mr. David Luna (District 5) or Mr. Kevin Thompson (District 6).
Has their objectivity on the issue of ASU been compromised by "gifts" from ASU that could sway or influence their votes?
Mesa City Council member Christopher Glover , who represents downtown here in District 4 rarely makes comments about anything at either council study sessions or regular meetings.

 







 

Another Downtown Transformation in "The Old Donut-Hole" You Can Believe-In

It explains actions taken by the Mesa Council in the last two years to rubber-stamp approval for actions using public taxpayer monies to promote the private personal gains of real estate developers:



An aerial view shows the buildings that Caliber, The Wealth Development Company

purchased and will redevelop in Mesa. They are outlined in red.

A few months ago your MesaZona blogger asked a question at one of the early morning meetings of the City of Mesa's Economic Development Advisory Board about "rumors" that multiple downtown properties had been purchased in a package-offer with "unknown developers". The inquiry went un-answered until this public announcement yesterday.

A fog of non-disclosure covered any details of the multiple-purchase deal offer to swoop-up 8 parcels in once package at the $1M per property take-it-or leave-it offer, except for the response that these were "private transactions". Owners of the one-story historic buildings decided to cash-out at that time for the proffered going-price . . . Just yesterday there was a public announcement in a media release in AZ Big Media that reveals "the game-plan" for that one-time fixed-price offer real estate package-deal done months ago, clinched by "insiders" and their deep-pocketed cohorts.

It's the grunt-groundwork private-investment real estate speculation here in the downtown historic district with sidewalk frontage on both sides of Main Street along the line of Valley Metro's Light Rail Central Business Extension opening service in August 2015 two years ago. Caliber’s $7.625 million purchase consists of eight historic buildings along Main Street between Country Club Drive and Center Street, connecting the properties to the entire Valley - or at least the few miles between Mesa Drive to Downtown Phoenix through Tempe.

That helps explain nearly all the actions by Mayor John Giles and the entire Mesa City Council Council to rubber-stamp and unanimously approve that can benefit a close cohort of undisclosed business connections as well as "family-and-friends" in the political machine controlling this city for generations while claiming some public benefit yet to materialize in the grand Pie-In-The-Sky proposals plopped-down and defeated two years ago to transform downtown into a satellite ASU campus that devoured downtown Tempe. This year and this time around, it's a rehash of the same game-plan using city-owned parking lots leveraged as land-banks offered in two locations to ASU for the city to finance - by taxpayer-guaranteed Municipal Bond Obligation debt-service obligations - "educational facilities" to spur private real estate speculation based on attracting about 1,000 ASU students riding on the back of a boom in student housing construction and related activities. 1,000 students in no way makes "a boom". Benedictine University here for five years has succeeded in finally enrolling 500 students with a 56-unit residence hall, where John Giles said it would be 24/7 street activation/retail shopping bringing "night-life" downtown. That's not the case.

Caliber buys up buildings to give Downtown Mesa a makeover

Above: Timothy Sprague, managing member of Habitat Metro; Jennifer Schrader, president and co-founder of Caliber, The Wealth Development Company; Mesa Mayor John Giles; and Roy Bade, executive vice president of commercial acquisitions Caliber, stand on Main Street is the soon-to-be-revitalized Downtown Mesa. (Photo by Mike Mertes, AZ Big Media)Real Estate | yesterday | Jesse A. Millard

Here we go again, dear readers, with another one of those Spoon-Fed news stories where Mesa Mayor John Giles is featured up-front and center. He's come out in public standing in the middle of Valley Metro's Light Rail tracks with some people from a wealth development company: 

"For years, Arizona’s cities have been revitalizing their downtowns by bolstering the arts, installing public infrastructure like the light rail and enticing a plethora of unique, private development projects. It’s no question that Downtown Mesa has been on the receiving end of these efforts, as light rail and the Mesa Arts Center have transformed the area. Now, Downtown Mesa is set to receive another transformation after Caliber, The Wealth Development Company purchased 100,000 square feet of property in the heart of downtown.

Caliber’s $7.625 million purchase consists of eight historic buildings along Main Street between Country Club Drive and Center Street. The buildings are just a short walk from the light rail, connecting the properties to the entire Valley. 

Blogger Note: Wealth for who?

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The article from AZ Big Media brings up a very salty and salient point about the role that John Giles has played for years behind-the-scenes when this curtain is pulled open by his own statements taking credit for another "make-over" and "another transformation" here in Downtown Mesa - Is this The Golden Rule he likes where those who have "the dough" and the gold rule making all-the-money in real estate speculation?

Once again, Mesa Mayor John Giles is excited to see Caliber’s plans for Downtown Mesa

. Giles has played a role in much of the public investment into Downtown Mesa since he was a councilman in the late 1990s, paving the way for private investment like this.

 

HERE'S THE GAME-PLAN:

"Giles says it’s great to see private investment from Caliber that will help further transform the Downtown Mesa area, making it more attractive for future employers and private investment."

 

"Caliber’s developments could also bolster Mesa’s efforts of bringing ASU into Downtown Mesa as well, Giles says.

Readers of this blog might like to note that Mesa taxpayers REJECTED the goofy public relations fiasco when the mayor put himself on center-stage with ASU mascot "Sparky" making underhanded gestures to sell a scheme, backed by over $500,000+ bucks in private special-interest monies that turned out to be a major screw-up to finance over $100,000,000 on the back of taxpayers for the personal gain of his "friends-and-family" undisclosed business connections.

He says economic developers have to make areas around universities attractive for students, and public investment on things like the light rail and the Mesa Arts Center are one part of that."

"Giles remembers when Downtown Mesa was “embarrassing” due to the area’s ghost town atmosphere, but he worked to bring the $100 million Mesa Arts Center and the light rail, both of which made a dramatic change to the area."

Didn't Giles once say that Downtown Mesa was just like that old television comedy Mayberry RFD?

. . . and now as quoted in the article he sets the stage for a new role as creator of this environment. What a dude!

 

Giles says. “We set this stage now, for creating this environment people want.”

Giles says it’s great to see private investment from Caliber that will help further transform the Downtown Mesa area, making it more attractive for future employers and private investment.

Caliber’s developments could also bolster Mesa’s efforts of bringing ASU into Downtown Mesa as well, Giles says. He say economic developers have to make areas around universities attractive for students, and public investment on things like the light rail and the Mesa Arts Center are one part of that.

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READ MORE > Caliber buys up buildings

 

 

 

Mesa: Tech EnVisioning + Re/Generating "The Old Donut-Hole"

One of your MesaZona blogger's take-aways from the presentation by The Brookings Institute for the so-called "Rise of Mesa's Innovation District" is that while there might be "silos" that could somehow be individually successful, somehow they weren't all connected in ways that work for everybody.
Can we agree on that as a starting point?
Furthermore, there is no "core" here in Mesa holding it all together by magnetic attraction - instead we have centrifugal forces driving growth outside what used-to-be the center.

It's once again that unclear "Vision Thing" where we can agree on some of the paths to follow for endless promised possibilities perhaps leading to the New Zion - the promised land of Good-and-Plenty promulgated by early Pioneers from Utah who incorporated this city in 1878.
More than six generations have passed since then, from a small group of like-minded families numbering about 300 laying out a grid-structure with 1.25-acre homesites in the Original One-Square Mile where 12-oxen teams determined the width of the streets, taming the water resources of earlier cultures in the Salt River Valley.

Harnessing energies to build agricultural wealth was turned into the boom-and-bust cycles in real estate fortunes in the post WWII 1950's with millions invested in infrastructure expansion for miles of highways and freeways for an ever-expanding car-driven suburban culture  - to what is now again an accelerated fast-growing fast-changing landscape where demographics, ways of thinking and technology are rapidly transforming everything around us where we live.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
Let's recognize and acknowledge we find ourselves NOT in an Urban-Suburban divide but rather in growing networks of connected nodes and hubs and intersections that are connected in real-time - where are we going? And How do we "get there"? 
Hang on for a good ride > Future Shock on the way-forward

Let's take a look at - not at Salt Lake City or Provo, Utah - but San Francisco for what is called the maddening gap between how that place functions and how inventors and engineers there think it should. 
Many there (and now here in Mesa) have become enamored with the same idea:
What if the people who build circuits and social networks could build cities, too?
Wholly new places, designed from scratch and freed from broken policies.
Is that where want to be?

Could this be the so-called "Salvation Train" for cities like Mesa that seem to have gotten on-board for /startup/tech/innovation districts where ASU can be only game in town?
Transformation we can believe in?
_______________________________________________________Start-Up/Tech/Innovation
Tech Envisions the Ultimate Start-Up: An Entire City

Silicon Valley wants to save cities.

What could go wrong?

By Emily Badger 24 Feb 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — " For all the optimism, innovation and wealth that are produced here, the Bay Area can also feel like a place that doesn’t work quite right . . .

Last October, Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company, announced it would team up with a government agency in Toronto to redevelop a stretch of the city “from the internet up.”

For others in tech — intrigued by word of a proposed smart city in Arizona, a big Bitcoin land grab in Nevada, a special economic zone in Honduras — fantasizing about newly built cities has become a side gig. They dream of utopias with driverless cars, radical property-ownership models, 3-D-printed houses and skyscrapers assembled in days.

While some urban planners roll their eyes, it is true that America’s cities have always been built on someone’s hubris . . . if you take literally the economist Ed Glaeser’s assertion in “Triumph of the City” that cities are our greatest invention, it ought to be possible to reinvent them. . .  

. . . But it is hard to overstate the degree to which these tech entrepreneurs are looking at the world in ways that would be almost unrecognizable to anyone already working on urban problems. . .

The model cities Mr. Huh and others in tech describe are not so different from what many urbanists want. They aspire to tame NIMBYism and private cars. They want to create walkable neighborhoods, albeit around hyperloop lines that would travel faster than any bullet train. They’re focused on affordable housing, although the shortage of it looks to them less like a matter of policy than a problem that better construction technology can solve.

READ MORE > https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24

 

Take-Aways From: 8 Essential Qualities That Define Great Leadership

People who show great leadership qualities can inspire many others to accomplish amazing things.
That's the story by Kimberly Fries, published on Forbes  08 Feb 2018 @ 01:47 AM
You, dear readers, can keep in mind that every one of these qualities is absolutely essential to great leadership.  
How would YOU rate the leadership inside City Hall?
1. Sincere enthusiasm
True enthusiasm for a business, its products, and its mission cannot be faked. Employees can recognize insincere cheerleading from a mile away. . .
2. Integrity
Whether it’s giving proper credit for accomplishments, acknowledging mistakes, or putting safety and quality first, great leaders exhibit integrity at all times. They do what’s right, even if that isn’t the best thing for the current project or even the bottom line. . .
3. Great communication skills
Leaders must motivate, instruct and discipline the people they are in charge of. They can accomplish none of these things if they aren’t very skilled communicators. Not only that, poor communication can lead to poor outcomes. Leaders who fail to develop these skills are often perceived as being weak and mealy-mouthed, . .
4. Loyalty
The best leaders understand that true loyalty is reciprocal. Because of this, they express that loyalty in tangible ways that benefit the member of their teams. True loyalty is ensuring that all team members have the training and resources to do their jobs. . .
5. Decisiveness
A good leader isn’t simply empowered to make decisions due to their position. They are willing to take on the risk of decision making. They make these decisions and take risks knowing that if things don’t work out, they’ll need to hold themselves accountable first and foremost. . .
6. Managerial competence
Too many organizations try to create leaders from people who are simply good at their jobs. . . On the other hand, being good at one’s job doesn’t prove that someone possesses the other competencies they need. For example, can they inspire, motivate, mentor and direct? . .
7. Empowerment
A good leader has faith in their ability to train and develop the employees under them. Because of this, they have the willingness to empower those they lead to act autonomously. . .
8. Charisma
Simply put, people are more likely to follow the lead of those they like. The best leaders are well-spoken, approachable and friendly
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Every one of these qualities is absolutely essential to great leadership. Without them, leaders cannot live up to their full potential . . .organizations must learn the best ways to identify and also to develop these necessary traits in existing and emerging leaders.

Kauffman Foundation: The 9th Annual State of Entrepreneurship Address

The Livestream of the 2018 State of Entrepreneurship Address

Go to this link to sign up > https://www.kauffman.org

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018

Washington, D.C.

9:15 - 10 a.m. EST

This is how we work toward a new, inclusive and empowering economy.

 

"Too many are left out of our economy. The long-term decline in entrepreneurship has dragged down productivity, wages and living standards for all Americans. Put simply—fewer startups mean a lower quality of life. We need to eliminate barriers for anyone who has an idea to start and grow a business, and we need to redefine the meaning of "entrepreneur."

Featuring speeches by:

• Wendy Guillies, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Victor W. Hwang, vice president of Entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Janice Omadeke, founder and CEO of The Mentor Method

The Kauffman Foundation also recently conducted a national survey of more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, and the analyzed results will be released in conjunction with the State of Entrepreneurship address on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Encourage Policymakers to Champion All Entrepreneurs

Mesa: BIG LEAGUE DREAMS Not Making The Cut For Mayors Challenge 2018 Champion Cities

What's the problem here in Mesa when Mayor John Giles constantly calls himself "a cheerleader", standing on the sidelines saying he's "All-In"?? For sure it was way-too-easy to get re-elected running un-opposed due to the fact that the community is not-engaged and not-involved - a failure he admits in public - and he can call on his close cohorts in the old-boy Cronies' Political Machine-Monoply that has controlled this city for generations.

Along with 40 other mayors he was "sent back to school" for three days last July by Bloomberg Philanthropies Leadership School @ Harvard (seen in the image to the right)
The City of Mesa joined Bloomberg's WhatWorkCities initiative back in 2015, widely promoting any progress that could be made for open, transparent and accountable government, appointing a dysfunctional Leadership Board and renegotiating the contract for development of the Open Data Portal . . . no wonder since far too many things are done behind closed-doors with undisclosed special-interests and business associations where the community is not involved.

Has getting sent back-to-school - and taking a lot of notes, as was reported -  improved John Giles' "game" or leadership skills to meet the challenges of leading this city after a third year holding the seat of mayor inside City Hall?
Or just more Jive from Giles?
Your MesaZona blogger can't answer those questions for you - you, dear readers can judge his performance in-office:
Is your quality of life better or improved? Better off today?

2018 Champion Cities

Phoenix made the cut.

The 35 cities selected as Champion Cities in the 2018 Mayors Challenge hail from across the United States. They are currently participating in a 6-month testing phase where they will conduct public prototypes of their ideas.

The topics addressed by the Champion Cities offer a snapshot of the top challenges faced by U.S. leaders. Climate, Health, and Jobs emerged as the most popular topics as cities look for unique ways to reduce carbon emissions and create renewable energy options, confront the opioid crisis, and prevent arrested youth from re-entering the criminal justice system.

Click here for a full list of Champion City ideas. 

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press releases • Feb 21, 2018

Bloomberg Philanthropies Selects Top 35 Innovative Urban Ideas as Finalists in 2018 Mayors Challenge

35 Cities to Embark on 6-month Testing Phase in Competition for Grand Prize

As Part of the Bloomberg American Cities Initiative, Challenge Will Invest $17.5 Million in Grants and Technical Assistance to Discover Innovative Solutions to Urgent Local Issues

NEW YORK, February 21, 2018 – Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced the 35 Champion Cities in the 2018 U.S. Mayors Challenge, a nationwide competition that encourages city leaders to uncover bold, inventive ideas that confront the toughest problems cities face. These 35 urban innovations rose to the top of a competitive pool of more than 320 applications. The Champion Cities will now begin a six-month testing phase where they will conduct public prototypes of their ideas with grant funding of up to $100,000 per city, a new addition to the competition this year.
The Mayors Challenge returns to the U.S. as one of the first investments in the Bloomberg American Cities Initiative, an effort to help U.S. cities generate innovation and advance policy.
“We received hundreds of bold and creative ideas from cities around the country in response to the 2018 Mayors Challenge, and these 35 really stood out for their potential to improve people’s lives,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term Mayor of New York City. “The next six months are a great opportunity for the cities to test their ideas and make them even more innovative and effective.”
Today’s announcement marks the beginning of the six-month “Test, Learn, and Adapt” phase of the competition. In mid-March, core teams from each of the 35 Champion Cities will come to Bloomberg Philanthropies Ideas Camp in New York City where they will receive expert coaching and feedback from the other cities in the competition on ways to strengthen their ideas. Next, all 35 cities will receive up to $100,000, as well as personalized support from innovation experts, to test and begin building support for their urban innovations. A new part of the Mayors Challenge, the “Test, Learn, and Adapt” phase aims to help cities test core components of their ideas with residents, improve and refine their ideas, and develop a plan for implementation and impact measurement.
Cities will refine their ideas during this process and submit a new application in August 2018. In October, five winners will be selected from the 35 Champion Cities. Four will receive $1 million awards and one will receive a grand prize of $5 million to bring their ideas to life.
The 35 Champion Cities performed the best against four key criteria: Their idea’s vision, potential for impact, implementation plan, and potential to spread to other cities. A prestigious selection committee co-chaired by Former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Former Xerox Chairman & CEO Ursula Burns, and comprising distinguished policy experts, artists, academics, business executives, and social innovation leaders, assessed the applications.
“The 35 Champion Cities are committed to using creativity and innovation to address the nation’s most pressing challenges,” said Ursula Burns, former Xerox Chairman and CEO. “I am eager to see how these cities assess and refine their ideas during the testing phase.”
“The 35 Champion Cities submitted proposals that demonstrate their ability to tackle important issues in innovative ways,” said Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan. “I look forward to hearing more about their commitment in the next phase of the competition.”
The topics addressed by the Champion Cities offer a snapshot of the top challenges faced by U.S. leaders. Climate, health, and jobs emerged as the most popular topics as cities look for unique ways to reduce carbon emissions and create renewable energy options, confront the opioid crisis, and prevent arrested youth from re-entering the criminal justice system.
The 35 Champion Cities of the 2018 Mayors Challenge are: Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Boulder, CO; Cary, NC; Charleston, SC; Chelsea, MA; Cheyenne, WY; Coral Gables, FL; Danbury, CT; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Durham, NC; Elk Grove, CA; Fort Collins, CO; Georgetown, TX; Grand Rapids, MI; Hartford, CT; Huntington, WV; Ithaca, NY; Lafayette, LA; Lincoln, NE; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Miami/Miami Beach, FL; Moreno Valley, CA; New Rochelle, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Princeton, NJ; South Bend, IN; Vallejo, CA; and Washington, D.C.
For more details on the Champion Cities’ proposals go to: http://mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org/2018-champion-cities/.
The 2018 Mayors Challenge builds on the success of previous Bloomberg-sponsored Challenges in the U.S. (2013), Europe (2014), and Latin America and the Caribbean (2016). Previous Mayors Challenge grand prize winners include São Paulo, Brazil with a program to increase farmers’ income and reduce urban sprawl; Barcelona, Spain for work to create digital trust networks that support at-risk elderly citizens; and Providence, RI, for a program to measure and reduce the “word gap” among low-income children during pivotal brain development years.
For more information, visit mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org and @BloombergCities on Twitter and Instagram.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies works in over 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $702 million. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.
Media Contact
Bloomberg Philanthropies, Courtney Greenwald, (212) 205-0361, courtney@bloomberg.org

 

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Tonight's City Council Meeting > Item 12-a Proposed IGA

Please notice that this Item 12-a is probably the most consequential item for this year's Mesa City Council and both residents and taxpayers here in Mesa.
Basically it's a re-hash of what voters and taxpayers REJECTED in the last election saying no to borrowing more than $120,000,000 in taxpayer-financed Municipal Obligation Bonds. Mesa is already a tax-burdened city.  

PLEASE NOTICE ALSO:  There are no dollar amount$ - that's million$$$$$$ of dollar amounts presented in the IGA for a phased-in approach to the same plan promoted by a $500,000+ privately-financed Public Relations blitz spearheaded by Mayor John Giles and a close group of cohorts to benefit their private special-interests  in real estate speculation on the backs of taxpayer debt.  
That point is very clear with the provision that hand-in-hand with the tax-payer debt obligations to appear on the November ballot, there's commitments by the City -???- for five more speculative developments.
Tonight's Mesa City Council meeting might be an excellent opportunity for certain councilmembers - including the mayor - to recuse themselves due to perceived conflicts-of-interests involving "family-and-friends" or undisclosed business associations.  
The Intergovernmental Agreement is more than 20 pages long - Get deep into it, please
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File #:

18-0235

Type:

Resolution

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council

On agenda:

2/26/2018

Title:

Approving and authorizing the City Manager to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Arizona Board of Regents for, and on behalf of, Arizona State University for the development, operation, and maintenance of educational facilities in downtown Mesa. (Citywide)

Attachments:

1. Presentation, 2. Resolution, 3. IGA

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INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF MESA, ARIZONA,
AND
THE ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS
 
This Intergovernmental Agreement (“Agreement”) is made to be effective as of _____________, 2018 (the “Effective Date”) between the City of Mesa, Arizona, an Arizona municipal corporation (“City”) and the Arizona Board of Regents, a body corporate, for and on behalf of Arizona State University (“ASU”).  Each of City and ASU may be referred to in this Agreement as a “Party,” or collectively as the “Parties.”
RECITALS
 As background to this Agreement, the Parties recite, state and acknowledge the following, each of which is a material term and provision of this Agreement:
A. As part of its downtown redevelopment and revitalization, and the creation of its innovation district and innovation studios (“Mesa Innovation Studios”), City has been encouraging and promoting the presence of post-secondary education uses and facilities.
B. ASU is a comprehensive public research university and, in connection with its mission as a leader in academic excellence and accessibility, desires to locate, develop, operate and maintain certain post-secondary education facilities in downtown Mesa as described in this Agreement (“ASU Facilities”).
C. City has located areas within its City Center area (“City Center”) that are appropriate for, and will support, the ASU Facilities.
D. Both City and ASU recognize and acknowledge the benefit to each arising from the location, development, operation and maintenance of the ASU Facilities at the City Center.
E. The Parties previously entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement dated June 9, 2016 related to the development of the City Center (Maricopa County Recorder Document No. 2016-0439048) (“2016 IGA”) which the Parties agree is terminated upon execution of this Agreement.  
F. The Parties are authorized to enter into this Agreement by the provisions of ARS § 11951, et seq.  

{00267270.1} 2
AGREEMENTS
1. Identified Property:  City and ASU have identified potential building sites for the ASU Facilities within the City Center, depicted on the attached Exhibit A. 
2. Property Ownership:  City shall own all land and improvements for the ASU Facilities developed and constructed and which are leased to ASU as further provided in this Agreement except for the ASU Developed Facilities (as defined herein) which shall be owned by ASU.  
3. Financing:  The financing for the ASU Facilities, Public Infrastructure (as defined herein) and other City Center improvements (collectively, but specifically excluding the financing of the ASU Developed Facilities, “Financing”), including the amount of any Financing, and any debt service shall be determined by City in its sole discretion. 
City will seek to obtain Financing for the ASU Facilities, Public Infrastructure, and other City Center improvements through municipal bond financing; however, if City is unable to obtain such Financing, either Party may terminate this Agreement in accordance with Section 14.  For any financing done on a tax-exempt basis, the bond financing documents and Lease will contain appropriate covenants and agreements from all necessary parties that to the extent practicable pursuant to state law, they will make such certifications and elections that may be required or permitted by law and will comply with all federal laws in effect upon issuance and thereafter adopted which apply to the tax-exempt bonds and which exempt


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