Interesting illustration for how the dynamics of one issue - the use of a renewable energy source - moves from educating the public to becoming a public opinion issue that turns through legislative action into the adoption of both national and state policy where finance and tax credit move all that forward. More important to keep it mind is the fact that every kilowatt KW of electricity we get from solar power is one less KW we buy from public utility companies. The same dynamics process for examples where global and national topics impact local issues [yes, we are all connected] can be seen in both affordable housing and diversity/inclusion/equality for all protected classes. Attention and action by citizens and voters who inform and express their opinions to their elected representatives locally in the Mesa City Council, the Arizona Legislature and the U.S. Congress can engage to promote positive benefits.
While solar technologies are changing and evolving at the same time [think about how CFLs and LEDs changed residential and commercial electric-energy consumption for lighting], financial incentives have been approved for a nitty-gritty component: installation of solar energy.
All to the good, right? Yes it creates competition [see previous post on this site from July 23, 2015 where Mesa companies Solar City and Vivint are included] with job creation or job decline depending on whether it's in the old-growth fossil-fuel burning industry or in the new-growth industries for renewable energy. The dynamics go on with state regulatory agencies protecting entrenched interests. Here in Arizona it's the Arizona Corporate Commission [ACC] recently getting shaken up by conflict-of-interest charges. Who's interest you might guess quite quickly - and that's exactly why the public and new-growth industries join forces.
The solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is one of the most important federal policy mechanisms to support the mobilization for solar energy in the United States. The Solar Energy Industries Association [SEIA] successfully advocated for a multi-year extension of the credit in 2008, which provided business certainty to project developers and investors. The ITC continues to drive growth in the industry and job creation across the country. Recognizing the signifance of the ITC, SEIA and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) developed an analysis that explored the enormous impact of the five-year extension - and what happens if we let it expire. Extending the ITC amounts to an additional 69 gigawatts (GW) of solar deployment between 2016 and 2022. Without it, the solar energy industries could lose 80,000 jobs in 2017.
But Hey! take a look at an infographic from Ecova, a total energy and sustainability management company published on December 18, 2015. See >> report from Ecova/Solar TIC The beauty in looking at infographics is that they say a lot without so many words. Pay attention, dear readers, this is important to "get the picture". On December 18th, as part of the Omnibus Spending Bill, Congress extended the 30 percent solar incentive tax credit that was due to expire at the end of 2016. The incentive will now run until 2019, followed by a step down to end at 10 percent in 2022. Analysts at GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association have estimated that the tax credit could increase solar installations by 54 percent over the next five years. The article continues covering issues brought up in previous post here on Jan 01 and Jan 07 2016 and Oct 19, 2015]
"According to a study published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in October, approximately 32 percent of customers using a cash-purchase approach to solar equipment will achieve a breakeven on the capital investment, which currently sits at a median $2.17/W (not including any state or utility incentives). When examining the loan scenario, the figure jumps to 64 percent.
The largest driver in breakeven prices is local utility rates, although building use is also a significant factor. The building types with the highest breakeven price (and therefore the highest potential cost benefit, according to the study) are small offices, warehouses, and schools. Retail establishments, medium and large offices, quick service restaurants, outpatient medical facilities, and supermarkets all see moderate average breakeven prices, and hotels, hospitals, and full-service restaurants tend to see low breakeven prices. Incentives and net-metering regulations also play a factor in the breakeven on solar equipment. Given the number of factors driving the cost benefit of such installations, evaluations should be performed on a site-by-site basis to determine the impact of switching to solar. The extension of this credit for wind and solar companies, combined with falling costs of distributed energy resources (DERs) will continue to keep DERs a hot topic in 2016. Each customer’s energy goals are unique, and warrant their own conversation. . . "
From March 11, 2014 here's a brief 1:31 You Tube Video uploaded for 2014 election campaign for the seat of. Mayor. How is Mesa like John's old truck . . . ??
.... and last year's State-of-the-City address on Feb 3, 2015. It rambles on 57:37, but gets broken up by six videos some featuring the co-chairs of his election campaign. Favorite adjective = great Says at the end he has "limited ability to come up with good ideas" .... needs feedback
The 8th Annual GreenBiz defines the trends, challenges and opportunities in sustainable business now.
February 23, 2016 - 8:00am to February 25, 2016 - 12:00pm
GreenBiz 16 is framed by the State of Green Business report, the ninth annual edition of GreenBiz’s acclaimed accounting of key sustainability metrics and trends. annual accounting of key sustainability metrics and trends. The report, combined with the high-wattage stage presentations, workshops and networking opportunities that have become hallmarks of GreenBiz events, create a powerful event that has become one of the top annual gatherings for sustainability professionals.
The forum will include conversations with C-level execs across a range of functions — CEOs, COOs, CTOs, CIOs, CMO, etc. Conversation will focus on how non-sustainability executives view such topics as Sustainable Supply Chains, Corporate Energy Strategy, Employee Engagement and Retention, Natural Capital Accounting, and Carbon and Water Risk Mitigation. Find out more and register >> Green Biz 16 PHX
Success is all about the power of partnerships — internal, external, supply chain, NGO, public-private, and more.The tasks are simply too big to go it alone.
GreenBiz 2016 brings together GreenBiz Group, The Sustainability Consortium, and ASU's Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives. We leverage our vast networks, insights and domain expertise to bring you the brightest thinkers and most influential leaders. You'll get an unparalleled in-depth look at the key challenges and opportunities facing sustainable business today.
At COP21 in Paris, December 2015 over 100 nations participated and approved a resolution about Climate Change [Ooooh, there's that again] Here are some city-focused highlights from COP21 100RC mayors commit $5 billion to resilience-building On Dec. 2, the inaugural "Resilience Day" at COP21, 100 Resilient Cities — Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, which focuses on improving city resilience in cities across the globe, announced the first round of signees to its 10% Resilience Pledge. Read more >> http://www.greenbiz.com/article/heres-whats-cities-cop21
It's gonna be a sweet 2016. That's the prediction from Bill Jabjiniak, Director for the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development. Sweet predictions are nice, but sometimes things happen that you can't foresee [like the bull market worldwide New Year's stock-plunge erasing billions in seconds] or what you project for capital investment in a given year doesn't deliver those outcomes in that year, or maybe never. Another question: Whose lives are gonna be sweet in 2016? Surely not for the hungry and homeless whose basic needs go unmet with many experiencing food insecurity. [Readers are invited to read a previous post on this site.] Feedback from attending the meeting is provided in this post along with access to a wealth of information readers can use from the The Center for Government.org The EconDev Director's remarks were made this morning to members of the Economic Development Advisory Board at the regular 7:30 a.m. monthly meeting. The EDAB acts as the advisory board to the Mesa City Council on matters pertaining to economic development, including goal setting, strategic planning, marketing and business recruitment, retention and expansion. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of every month.
EDAB Meeting 05 Jan 2016
The membership of the Economic Development Advisory Board includes: nine (9) voting members and up to six (6) ex-officio non-voting members. Three of the ex-officio members shall be the Mayor, City Manager, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce. [the mayor and city manager, and some others, were not present at today's meeting] Three may be City of Mesa representatives that are currently sitting on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board of Directors. List of members, meeting agendas and meetings can be found here >> EDAB webpage
Bill Jabjiniak with some EDAB members leaning in
Jabjiniak briefly went over Greater Phoenix Economic Council [GPEC] activities with more details coming in the first quarter. More time was taken to discuss the continuing economic development benefits from capital investments in H.E.A.T. - Healthcare - Higher Education - Aerospace/Aviation/Defense - Tourism and Technology Mesa's Office of Economic Development is guided by these vital industries of opportunity. [see earlier posts for 2016 trends on December 30, 2015 on this site] A new brochure was handed to EDAB members that answered the question Why HEAT? Building on community strengths, quality infrastructure, talented workforce, projected growth, and global market trends, the City of Mesa is already growing and realizing benefits in each industry [sector] of the local economy". This post is not a "quick jab" at cheerleading [no shaking pompoms] . . . people need to examine the gathering and sourcing of data and question the dependent variables; for example Higher education, with a significant impact on producing the talented workforce that all those sectors want and need to recruit for job-hiring simply cannot deliver the "talented workforce" due to state budget cuts for education.
Janet Woolum with laptop
Also on the agenda this morning were two presentations: - WhatWorksCities - Open Data by Janet Woolum, Mesa's performance administrator who used to work at the AZ Office of Tourism and the Arizona Commerce Authority - Website Analytics by Kim Lofgreen, Marketing and Business Development Manager for the City of Mesa. [There was a You Tube video posted on this blogsite on December 30,2015 uploaded by WhatWorksCities for information purposes]
WhatWorksCities - Open Data Not off to a good start at the meeting . . simple graphs that a savvy secondary-school student could do - like plotting median household income for Mesa and Maricopa County from 2005 to 2015 - showing lower growth than in 2008 - were used to show improved prosperity - Huh? Go figure. In the study of statistics there is a significant difference between the median household income and the average per capita income. Likewise, as one advisory board pointed out, there may be a difference in the number of wage earners living in a household for Maricopa County compared with those numbers in Mesa - important data apparently not discovered. There was no sense of urgency in the room at all when a visual graphic for 2009-2014 with data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey [public sources available online to anyone] showed that in just the last five years Residents of Mesa living below the poverty line increased by 50% . . . Huh? Improved prosperity??Improving people's lives?
[Ms. Woolum entertained many questions and suggestions from advisory board members present about what types of data sources are used and combined in the development of Open Data to help the City of Mesa "elevate and accelerate the use of data and evidence to engage citizens, make government more effective (that is do what works) and improve people's lives".]
WhatWorksCities has been featured in many posts on this blog. Readers are invited to take a look and use the links provided in the posts on this site. Mesa was invited to join in August 2015 with eight other cities. Readers of this blog might want to make sure that both they and the nine leaders appointed to the WhatWorksCities leadership board here in Mesa get familiar with online resources accessed from The Center for Government http://centerforgov.org/
Your Guide to Open Data Free guides created by GovEx staff to help your city leverage the use of data to increase transparency, improve decision-making, and deliver results. Other guides include Benchmarking Discovering Data Getting Meta with Metadata
Website Analytics Kim Lofgreen's presentation to the Economic Development Board 01/05/2016 started off with definitions of analytic terms to track hits on the website for the City of Mesa's Economic Development lead page: http://mesaaz.gov/business/economic-development Data was retrieved for Aug 13-Dec 31, 2015 or 153 days in total. [Information in this post was extracted from a six-page hand-out provided to those in attendance at the EDAB meeting on Tuesday, January 05,2016]
Kim Lofgreen/mesaaz.gov
Space in this post is limited, so let's just take a look at the metrics [the what] provided for the lead page with the link above in the five categories: Business/environment Business districts and maps Newsroom About us Start-up
Some page-view indicators were also provided.
Here are the definitions for terms used:
Pageviews - the total number of pages viewed
Unique Pageviews - the number of sessions during which the specified page was viewed as least once
Average Time on Page - the average amount of time users spent viewing a specified page or screen, or set of pages or screens
Bounce Rate - the percentage of single-page visits [that's visits in which the user left the page without interacting with the page]
The How Much [with numbers rounded-off] It's important to note in measuring the effectiveness of the City of Mesa's Office for Economic Development website that more than half of users visiting the main or lead page Mesas.gov/economic-development/ - 60.58% to be exact - left the page in 1:37 and did not interact with the page. Take a look at the lead page here >> http://mesaaz.gov/business/economic-development [more than half of potential information-seekers were lost] A reasonable question to ask: Is the design of the lead page effective or producing the desired outcomes? Furthermore, for about 15,000 unique page views over the course of 150 days = 100 views per day. When you factor in the percentage who left and made a choice not to interact with the page, that leaves about 62 users per day. Information about Start-Up /start-up/ [a highly-publicized program for helping new businesses] had the least unique page views at 607 with 66.6% [about 470] leaving the page after the longest time spent 2:46 - that adds up to only 137 users in 153 days. Users were somewhat curious about the business environment and the business district maps [again more than left half and didn't interact with the page]. The /newsroom/ was the least accessed with about 1500 unique page views over 150 days, but again with a high bounce rate [57.7%] which means that only about 750 viewers stayed on the page for an average of 1:41 minutes. - an average of only five views per day
The Q4 Economic Reporter Newsletter for Oct-Dec 2015 got 526 unique page views for an average view time of 3:43 [the longest in any item], but again with a high bounce rate = 60.2% where users left the site without interacting with the page.
However, in that stat, the extension /news/ had the significantly lower bounce rate = 8.6%.and there were some page-hit success stories where Infographics were highlighted in both the presentation and table-talk for spikes in use count in four examples: 1. mesaaz.gov/economic/business-district-maps/fiesta-district showing 85 page views on Wed Nov 4, 2015 2. /key industries/medical-devices showing 40 page views from Nov 30-Dec 17 3. /start-up/mesa-sizeup showing 72 page views on Wed September 9, 2015 4. /available-real-estate/mesa-sitesearch showing 72 page views on Wed Sept 9, 2015
No, this is for real - in galaxies far, far away from MotherShip Earth. It comes from one of my favorite sources Aerospace & Defense News
"We don't fully understand why some supermassive black holes are so heavily obscured, or why the surrounding material is clumpy," said co-author Poshak Gandhi of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. "This is a subject of hot research."
The team says that future research will address the question of what causes the unevenness in doughnuts. The answer could come in many flavors. It's possible that a black hole generates turbulence as it chomps on nearby material. Or, the energy given off by young stars could stir up turbulence, which would then percolate outward through the doughnut. Another possibility is that the clumps may come from material falling onto the doughnut. As galaxies form, material migrates toward the center, where the density and gravity is greatest. The material tends to fall in clumps, almost like a falling stream of water condensing into droplets as it hits the ground.
"We'd like to figure out if the unevenness of the material is being generated from outside the doughnut, or within it," said Gandhi. "These coordinated observations with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton show yet again the exciting science possible when these satellites work together," said Daniel Stern, NuSTAR project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
There was an article in Mesa Independent today Mesa City Council members appointed to National League of Cities committees, . . . here's long-time public servant Dennis Kavanagh addressing consequences in immigration and public safety, urging people to put aside partisan rhetoric for immigration reform. It's worth a look-and-listen to a short 04:02 You Tube video uploaded on January 24, 2013 [it's had only 78 views as of today] Yours truly was curious if all the numerous recent appointments made in announcements from the National League of Cities starting off on November 7, 2015 to the leadership board and board of directors had gone from the top national level to local-level city elected officials committee appointments to improve the governance structure of the organization that was subject to complaint.
At the same time, all these new top-to-bottom appointments are targeted at raising the profiles and capacity of city leaders while increasing diversity and growing NLC's membership. Let me digress just a little bit before getting back to Dennis Kavanagh who will be retiring after many years of distinguished service. All the appointments were made after newly-elected President Melodie Colbert-Kean [seen in the image to the right], Missouri's first female African American mayor and the first African American mayor of Joplin,assumed the officeto lead the organization for a one-year term.
She succeeds Ralph Becker, former Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah who was defeated in his re-election campaign. It was reported on November 13, 2015 that The Utah Attorney General’s Office has concluded its investigation into Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s re-election campaign. In a statement the attorney general’s office said it had a panel review a claim that Becker’s re-election campaign had been involved in improperly collecting primary election ballots. Ultimately, the attorney general’s office said it was declining to take action. A campaign spokesman said that their sole intent was to increase voter participation and engagement. Going forward, those involved remain committed to encouraging and facilitating participation in the political process and will continue to do so within the confines of the law.”
It's a big shake-up in Salt City politics. Salt Lake City made history by electing Utah's first gay mayor, Jackie Biskupski, seen in the image to the right. Both candidates were endorsed by She served for 13 years in the Utah House of Representatives, first elected in 1998 despite an avalanche of hateful personal and anti-gay attacks. As with many gay politicians, part of her achievement was that her sexual orientation was not a central issue in the mayoral campaign. Biskupski’s opponent, incumbent Ralph Becker, has also been a staunch LGBT ally—notably, the advocacy group Equality Utah endorsed both candidates in the race.
Mesa City Councilmember and Vice-mayor Dennis Kavanagh was part of a playlist for Local Officials Speak Out on Immigration Reform America's immigration system is failing our cities and our economic future. In this video series, local leaders speak out on the importance of immigration reform for public safety, economic development, tourism, and job growth. The National League of Cities supports the passage of a strong, comprehensive immigration bill that includes resources for cities to integrate immigrants into their communities and provide the services necessary for stable neighborhoods.
Three years later .... nothing.
So, how effective is the National League of Cities?
Immigration reform is still at the center of attention with the looming mass deportation of children and families from Central America and Mexico [some in Mesa] and complicated by the recent so-called "migrant crisis" from Central Asia into Europe. Surely both complex and contentious issues. Let's put that aside right now to take a look at the NLC 2015 Annual Report whose legislative goals were closing the online sales tax loophole, investing in local transport, and protecting municipal bonds - a mixed bag of priorities. Set aside also the online sales tax issue. Locally, both Congressman Salmon and Congress woman Krysten Sinema voted against transportation funding in the big year-end federal budget that was approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
On December 4, 2015 the National League of Cities published this press release: Cities Applaud Congress on Passage of First Long-Term Transportation Bill in a Decade Image to the right of Barbara Boxer D-California, ranking member of Environment & Public Works Committee
On December 22, 2015 the National League of Cities posted another press release Cities Nationwide Join Litigation to Support Implementation of EPA Clean Power Plan Great, right? Another "plan", with litigation to "support implementation for clean power" when both the AZ Department of Environmental Quality [ADEQ] and Maricopa County issued High Pollution Advisories for dirty and unhealthy air - dangerous to health - for the last year of 2015 and the first year of 2016. The source = emissions from burning petrochemicals and fossil fuels that are responsible for over 90% of pollution [prohibiting wood-burning in fireplaces is way off stopping that problem] One can at least hope that the Mesa Councilmembers now serving on committees will start raising and making their voices heard to do more than influence policy in Washington.
Back here in Mesa - that brings us to protecting municipal bonds. Readers can see an infographic to the right for the $256.9 million dollars from bonds by project category here in Mesa to the right [all images used here are from http://www.mesaaz.gov/about-us/city-projects/capital-improvement-programs]
Water and waste water account for more than 50%. Funds for parks have been slashed ... sales-tax revenues are down. We want to find out more about the correct status of city finance in general, so going again to the National League of Cities website there is a resource City Finance Information Page . According to the page Here you will find links to the most recent NLC research reports other material relating to city finances. Looks promising but please notice Recent Commentary and Reports stopped way back on March 9, 2012.
Floating municipal bonds is debt owed by the city, a potential issue here in Mesa where the average citizen may not recognize or know each of us has a per capita debt of $4,530 from taxpayer-approved obligations incurred during the administrations of Scott Smith and John Giles. The image to the right shows the locations of Capital Improvement Projects - notice the big brown square in northeast Mesa. Readers can access specific information from the link included above.
That figure is from FY14 reports from AZ Department of Revenue from a year ago [figure cited of $3,691 on budget on City of Mesa website has not been updated since FY13]. Furthermore, and again from AZDR for FY14 bonding reports, new debt in Maricopa County increased by a whopping 62.7%
President Obama, preceded by the director of the Department of Homeland Security, address the National League of Cities on March 9, 2015 @3:48 p.m.
... and here to finish the post is a link to the NLC's 2015 reported issued on November 9, 2015
Here's the official statement:
"Over the course of 2015, The National League of Cities supported city leaders by connecting them to big ideas, research, grants and technical assistance, and to innovative leaders in the public and private sectors.
The "Year of Connecting" was a year of results, bringing NLC closer to the goals outlined in our strategic plan.
We are increasingly visible in the media, on Capitol Hill and at the White House.
We are helping cities innovate and are raising the profile and capacity of city leaders.
We are working under an improved governance structure and are financially strong"
Another in a series of posts featuring some of the public art on the streets of The New Urban DTMesa, thanks to Valley Metro along the line of the Central Mesa Extension for light rail transit that started on-the-tracks here in August 2015. Major monumental public artworks are in place at the three lightrail stations. "Twilight Garden", an interactive illuminated acrylic sculpture grouping is in place in Morris Park right next to "The Shadow of A Memory", a serious of bright red iron panels. Best to see these up-close and personal, walking or cycling around downtown. Take the time to absorb the environments and "message" if there is one in public art.
Now at the NW corner of Main Street and Hilbert here's a new addition to the urban streetscape: Robert Delgado's "Palo Verde" that wraps around the corner where you can see the ongoing placement of tiles that have photo silk-screened images of the culture and people of Mesa - past and present - from the archives and artist's photos. In the image to the right, taken yesterday, readers can see the meticulous attention to details with tiles marked and numbered to get attached to what was a plain block wall facing east on Hibbert Street.
The installation on the walls is an outline of the Palo Verde tree, native to the Sonora Desert of northwest Mexico and Arizona. The Seri people, an indigenous and native group from Mexico, called the tree ziipxol. They used to grind up the seeds for flour [like native groups with mesquite], boil the green pods with meat, and eat the sweet green seeds as well as the flowers. [411 from plaques]. The art you see here comes from airbrush over photosilkscreen experiments in cut fired tile.
About the Artist Roberto "Tito" Delgado is a Los Angeles native, born and raised in the Koreatown area. After serving three years in the US Army in Vicenza, Italy, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and completed his BA and MFA at UCLA.
He has received several fellowships, including two Fulbrights to conduct research in Mexico and to teach mural painting in Honduras. Tito lives and work in Los Angeles, that he calls "the creative capital of the world and arguably the second largest city in Mexico." His public art commissions have steadily increased in the past few decades. Among his public projects are works for the East Los Angeles Civic Center, the LAPD’s North Valley Police Station [seen in the image to the right "Home Heroes"] , the Atlanta International Airport, the Heritage Square Station on MTA’s Gold Line, the Pico-Aliso Housing Projects in Boyle Heights, and the Federal Courthouse in Pocatello, Idaho. Link to Tito's website >> http://titodelgado.com/Home.htm
"According to a study published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in October, approximately 32 percent of customers using a cash-purchase approach to solar equipment will achieve a breakeven on the capital investment, which currently sits at a median $2.17/W (not including any state or utility incentives). When examining the loan scenario, the figure jumps to 64 percent.
