City Of Mesa Newsroom MesaNow Announces Awards 10 Days After Awards Event

 

Blogger's Notes: Readers can find the entire list of winners here Arizona Forward is an advocate for a balance between economic development and environmental quality, and convenes business, community and civic leaders in thoughtful public dialogue on critical sustainability issues. The Association is a blend of members including large and small businesses, government jurisdictions, the education and non-profit communities, as well as others that share a goal of promoting cooperation to improve the environment and quality of life in our region. They now boast 250+ member companies representing tens of thousands of employees working together to help shape our local communities and move Arizona forward. This prestigious program has grown significantly over the years and now encompasses eight broad categories, including:   Governor’s Award for Arizona's Future (NEWEST CATEGORY!)   Buildings and Structures   Healthy Communities (NEWEST CATEGORY!)   Site Development   Art in Public Places   Energy and Technology Innovation   Environmental Education/Communication SRP Award for Environmental Stewarship  Deemed a “building of the future,” Northern Arizona University’s International Pavilion earned the coveted President’s Award (Best of Show) in Arizona Forward’s 36th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards presented by SRP. Jurists praised the facility as among the greenest building of its kind in the world. Some 100 nominations were received in Arizona’s oldest and most prestigious awards competition, demonstrating not only the priority of green design, but a shared ethic to protect natural resources and build in harmony with the environment. This year’s most popular categories were sustainable communities, historic preservation and art in public places. Three southern Arizona projects earned first-place Crescordia awards, including Tucson Water’s Conservation and Education Program, University of Arizona’s Beyond the Mirage, and Tucson Water’s Advanced Oxidation Process Project. Northern Arizona yielded one Crescordia award for NAU’s International Pavilion, which then went on to take top honors of the evening. A total of 12 Crescordia awards were presented to projects in communities spanning Central Arizona. Crescordia is a Greek term that means, “To Grow in Harmony.” Finalist projects spanned four major counties in Arizona including, Coconino, Pima, Pinal and Maricopa. The following cities and towns were represented: Apache Junction, Avondale, Chandler, Coolidge, Flagstaff, Glendale, Goodyear, Grand Canyon, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Safford, Scottsdale, Sedona, Surprise, Tempe Tucson. Mesa honored for environmental excellence [see image of Dennis Kavanagh below] 09-20-2016 at 6:25:09 PM

Creative use of the natural landscape at a new City park, integrating art with transportation and revitalizing a key part of the City have led to top honors for the City of Mesa at an event known as the "Academy Awards" of the environmental community. Mesa's Desert Arroyo Park earned the coveted Crescordia Award for Site Development for Parks and Trails at the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Awards gala Sept. 10. Meanwhile, Valley Metro's Public Art Program  along the Central Mesa Light Rail Extension earned the Crescordia Award for Art in Public Places and Mesa's Fiesta District Revitalization received a Merit Award in the Governor's Award category. The Crescordia Award (Crescordia is a Greek term that means "To Grow in Harmony") is the top honor in its category and sets standards for the exceptional physical, technical and social development of our state. "Recognition by Arizona Forward is high praise for the vision and hard work by City staff and our partners to create projects that benefit our residents, protect the environment and improve the quality of life in Mesa," City Manager Chris Brady said. Desert Arroyo Park, 9320 E. McKellips Road, is home to a variety of Sonoran Desert flora and fauna. The 58-acre park was developed with input from students at adjacent Zaharis Elementary School and contains desert-centered nodes, walking and biking trails, Wi-Fi access and an outdoor classroom that encourages learning and exploration of insects, birds, mammals and reptiles. Each new light rail station created by Valley Metro in central Mesa provided an opportunity to follow the City of Mesa's vision to celebrate the neighborhoods with public art. For example, at the Main Street/Alma School station, the artist designed a series of metal screens whose patterns are both organic and scientific. At the Main Street/Center Street station, a 50-foot steel sculpture showcases the combination of urban icon, outdoor room and collective silhouette portrait of community. The Fiesta District revitalization along the Southern Avenue corridor. The overall objective was to develop a more balanced multi-modal/pedestrian-friendly environment, encourage private development for long-term economic sustainability, utilize green infrastructure development technologies and aesthetically enhance the District. Arizona Forward, in partnership with SRP, presented the Environmental Excellence Awards, Arizona's oldest and most prominent competition of its kind. It spotlights distinguished projects throughout the state of Arizona that demonstrate a high level of environmental commitment and contribute to the state's overall sustainability. For more information, visit www.arizonaforward.org/events/47. Public Information and Communications Contact: Steve Wright Tel. 480-644-2069steven.wright@mesaaz.gov

A Chance To Brag About Mesa - Nominations Open!

We believe that a nation full of towns that take on small, incremental projects to improve their neighborhoods is a much better model than a nation where the federal government goes trillions of dollars in debt in the hopes of growing the economy through megaprojects.

Do you agree?

If so, you might want to submit a small, incremental project to our infrastructure contest.

THE CONTEST

You’re invited to nominate a project from your town (or a town you’re familiar with) that exemplifies Strong Towns principles including:

• local decision-making and public input
• bottom-up rather than top-down action
• project design that’s built to adapt or change incrementally
• utilizing existing resources, land and infrastructure instead of building from scratch
• true return on investment

We’re looking for homegrown, neighborhood-based small bets. 

For the purposes of this contest, we’re defining an "infrastructure project" as any community investment (public or private) that interacts with the public realm and improves the neighborhood in some way. 
This is part of our ongoing conversation on infrastructure and debt in America.
 

Nominate a project

Once we receive these submissions, we’ll review them as a staff and select the best ones for publication on our website. Then you, our readers and listeners, will get a chance to vote for whichever one that you think most exemplifies Strong Towns principles.

Read contest rules and guidelines, and see project examples here.

How News Becomes News Put Out By The City of Mesa Newsroom | Healthy Worksite [except for stress]

City of Mesa recognized by Healthy Arizona Worksites Program 06-30-2016 at 8:37:05 AM Source:MesaNow The City of Mesa was recognized recently by the Healthy Arizona Worksites Program as achieving the Gold level of excellence in worksite wellness. The Healthy Arizona Worksite Award recognizes employers that are making efforts to positively affect the health and well-being of their employees, their families and their community by implementing comprehensive worksite wellness strategies ... Mesa received this recognition for supporting employee health by the implementation of a comprehensive Employee Health & Wellness Center [read more on the city's $54Million Health Center in Maria Polletta's report included below] City Manager Chris Brady, in the image to the right from the City of Mesa, sports a slight paunch in his city-issued white polo shirt accepting the award for worksite wellness. See a press release included below from healthcare provider's website about issues in the workplace that are created by stress by unclear expectations from supervisors.

One day later The Mesa Independent picked up on the story:
City of Mesa recognized by Healthy Arizona Worksites Program

Jul 1st, 2016 · by Mesa Independent staff report    
The city of Mesa was recently recognized by the Healthy Arizona Worksites Program as achieving the Gold level of excellence in worksite wellness

Almost two months later here's another press release from the city's newsroom: Mesa named as 2016 Health at Work award winner 09-01-2016 at 2:24:30 PM Source: MesaNow     The City of Mesa has been announced a Silver winner of the 12th annual Health at Work Awards, sponsored by ComPsych, honoring organizations which promote employee health and wellness. Winners were selected based on their wellness program's comprehensiveness, delivery, promotion, participation rates and results achieved. According to this press release from http://www.compsych.com/ CHICAGO – Jan. 25, 2016 – When it comes to change in the workplace, employees aren’t as worried about workload as one might think, according to a new Tell It Now(SM) survey from ComPsych Corporation. Thirty-one percent of employees are most troubled by unclear expectations from supervisors, . . According to  Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych. ”Employees are telling us that much of the disequilibrium around change is coming from managers. These challenges have resulted in our training topics of ‘resiliency’ and ‘coping with change’ being by far the most popular,” he added. Employee Survey:  When you experience change at work, what is most stressful for you? 31 percent said “unclear expectations from supervisors” 20 percent said “confusion / conflict between coworkers / departments” 18 percent said “belief that workload will increase or become more difficult” 15 percent said “uncertainty about future / questions about stability of company” 13 percent said “new processes / operating rules / skills needed”  WHY ALL THE BIG NEWSROOM BUILD-UP ABOUT HEALTHY WORKSITES?On September 16, 2016 Your MesaZona featured a post about employee benefits in a video publicly available, with some of the same people used by Maria Polletta in a report from January 19, 2015.Watch this from Mesa City Council Study Session Sept 15, 2016 [24 minutes] 6 views City contributions are going up 8%6 episodes of catastrophic coverage for over $100,000 each in this year-to-date $10 Million draw-down, but fund balance is "healthy" ??? with a little juggling between the calendar and fiscal years"Little early to tell if there will be a reduction in costs"Dave Richins speaks up  Mesa's employee-health center could save city millions Maria Polletta, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:42 p.m. MST January 19, 2015   It starts like this: About five years ago, as Mesa's health-care costs continued a double-digit climb, city administrators began brainstorming more effective ways to protect the health of its workers — and its budget As Mesa heightens its focus on affordable preventative care, employees who haven't sought medical attention in five to 10 years are coming out of the woodwork The city after further analysis was surprised to find that, of the more than $40 million it had been paying annually for employee health care, routine or preventive care was not gobbling up the largest chunk. The majority of the cash was going to "back-end" or critical care, such as overnight hospital stays after a heart attack or specialized treatment following the late discovery of a disease. "Everybody felt as though, if we had some sort of health center upfront, we could detect these kinds of conditions early on," said Gary Manning, Mesa's director of human resources. "If it could avoid even one long-term hospitalization that would cost us tens of thousands of dollars, there was a great deal of savings that you could have there." The city made the concept a reality in October, when it opened a 4,100-square-foot wellness center for its roughly 4,000 employees and their dependents. Monday through Friday, the center at 1121 S. Gilbert Road functions as a primary-care clinic and urgent care for adults and children. The city estimates such early catches could save Mesa up to 5 percent of the $54 million it spends on employee health care annually, or $2.7 million a year. Officials said that estimate was conservative. There's also the fact that the city's much-touted savings are likely a couple of years down the road. Mesa had to fork over about $1.5 million to ready the former pediatric center for use, and it will pay about $1.2 million in annual operational costs going forward. Still, "even if the center just breaks even and pays for itself, I think we're doing wonders," Brady said.

Costs and Benefits

Does the City of Mesa ever do this analysis for either bond debt issues or to justify asking a hike in sales taxes? 

Published on Mar 25, 2013

Views: 2,685

How a local government needs to calculate the REAL benefits of a project when determining if it is financially viable or not.

LISC Financial Opportunity Centers Surpass Other Programs

A New Study Shows LISC’s Financial Opportunity Centers Surpass Other Programs
Posted: 18 Sep 2016 09:00 PM PDT
Blogger Note: One FOC is located here in Mesa @ La Mesita
An independent study has found that Financial Opportunity Center clients, who access a range of services, have more success meeting their financial goals than people in programs offering employment assistance alone. Their gains include landing and keeping a job, growing credit and increasing annual earnings. The research findings will help LISC refine and propel its financial stability work on behalf of low-income Americans.
. . . we have promising new evidence that this strategy works: An independent study by the Economic Mobility Corporation (Mobility) has found that FOC participants have greater success in meeting their financial goals than do people in programs offering employment assistance alone. 

Mapping a Road to Financial Wellbeing

Summary of the Mobility study

Complicated financial picture
Beyond the statistically compelling findings of the study, there are more nuanced lessons to be drawn.
After program entry, for instance, FOC participants’ earnings increased, but financial support from family and friends decreased, as did reliance on unemployment benefits. At the same time, they spent more on basics like rent, utilities and food. So while clients did not experience significant changes in their net incomes, we can see that this is due, in part, to the fact that their expenses before program entry were artificially low. The evaluation also pointed up the challenges clients face in an unpredictable and shifting financial situation. The evidence shows us that they can and do make progress towards financial health by stabilizing their credit and employment, but there is only so much they can do without wage growth. For most FOC clients, poverty hasn’t taken root overnight and it doesn’t get eradicated quickly, either. While Mobility’s findings are extremely encouraging, and tell us we’re backing the right approach, they also suggest that two years is too little to show dramatic changes. And while job retention is crucial, wages for workers with minimal or newly acquired skills are usually too low to bump them out of privation and onto a financial cushion right away. As the study’s authors write, “Given the FOC participants’ limited recent attachment to the labor market, lack of assets, and level of debt when they entered the programs, it is not surprising that helping them achieve financial security and mobility requires a long-term strategy.” Looking ahead Clients need to be engaged and coached over the long term, and that requires on-going policy and funding support for bundled service strategies like FOCs. Clients also need access to higher quality jobs: higher wages, better benefits, steady employment and opportunities for advancement. We will shore up this approach with our Bridges to Career Opportunities program, which connects FOC participants to education, better jobs and greater economic opportunities. The study results demonstrate that, with the right tools, people can take the small, determined steps that turn into solid financial footing.


You can find all the details here

Bureau of Economic Anatysis Released GDP by Metropolitan Area Data Today

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, Tuesday, September 20, 2016

BEA 16—49

Gross Domestic Product by Metropolitan Area, 2015

Professional and Business Services Led Growth Across Metropolitan Areas in 2015

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 292 metropolitan areas in 2015, led by growth in professional and business services; wholesale and retail trade; and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, according to statistics on the geographic breakout of GDP released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Collectively, real GDP for U. S. metropolitan areas increased 2.5 percent in 2015 after increasing 2.3 percent in 2014.

Professional and business services contributed 0.61 percentage point to U.S. metropolitan area real GDP growth in 2015. This industry contributed to growth in 293 of the nation's 382 metropolitan areas. Growth in this industry accounted for more than half of real GDP growth in 32 metropolitan areas, and contributed more than one percentage point to growth in 25 metropolitan areas, most notably in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (2.75 percentage points), the second fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation (8.9 percent).

The wholesale and retail trade industry group contributed 0.40 percentage point to U.S. metropolitan area real GDP growth in 2015. This industry contributed to growth in 335 metropolitan areas and was the leading contributor to growth in 67 metropolitan areas. This industry contributed more than one percentage point to growth in 20 metropolitan areas, most notably in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC (1.44 percentage points).

The finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing industry group contributed 0.39 percentage point to U.S. metropolitan area real GDP growth in 2015. This industry contributed to growth in 246 metropolitan areas and was the leading contributor to growth in 86 metropolitan areas. This industry contributed more than one percentage point to growth in 48 metropolitan areas. This industry also had strong contributions to growth in three metropolitan areas in Florida where total growth was greater than four percent: Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL (3.22 percentage points); Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL (2.91 percentage points); and Punta Gorda, FL (2.39 percentage points).

Although natural resources and mining and nondurable-goods manufacturing were not major contributors to growth for the nation, these industries contributed to strong growth in several of the fastest growing metropolitan areas. Natural resources and mining led to notable growth in total real GDP for Midland, TX (9.4 percent) and Visalia-Porterville, CA (7.6 percent), the fastest and fourth fastest growing metropolitan areas, respectively. Nondurable-goods manufacturing led to growth in Lake Charles, LA (8.3 percent)–the third fastest growing metropolitan area.

Transportation and utilities subtracted 0.14 percentage point from U.S. metropolitan area real GDP growth in 2015. This industry subtracted from growth in 311 metropolitan areas. The largest subtractions occurred in Houma-Thibodeaux, LA (5.50 percentage points) and Homosassa Springs, FL (3.37 percentage points).

Large Metropolitan Area Highlights

• Of the large metropolitan areas, those with population greater than two million, San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX (5.9 percent) and Austin-Round Rock, TX (5.0 percent) were the fastest growing large metropolitan areas. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX was led by a strong contribution from natural resources and mining (2.51 percentage points), while growth in Austin-Round Rock, TX was led by professional and business services (1.57 percentage points).
• The slowest growing large metropolitan areas were Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (1.3 percent) and Cleveland-Elyria, OH (1.1 percent). Growth in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV was restrained by a decline in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (–0.17 percentage points), while durable-goods manufacturing restrained growth in Cleveland-Elyria, OH (–0.32 percentage points).

More metropolitan area highlights can be found on the regional highlights pages that accompany this release.

GDP by Metropolitan Area Statistics

The statistics of GDP by metropolitan area for 2015 are based on source data that are subject to further revision and are limited to 22 NAICS-based sectors. Revised statistics for 2014 are released for 22 NAICS-based sectors and, for the first time, more-detailed 61 NAICS-based subsectors. Statistics for 2001–2013 are also revised. More information on these statistics and the sources of the revisions will appear in the October 2016 issue of the Survey of Current Business, BEA's monthly journal.
Next release – September 2017 for: Gross Domestic Product by Metropolitan Area, 2016

Related Links

• Full Release & Tables (PDF)
• Tables Only (Excel)
• Regional Highlights and Maps
• Uses of Statistics (PDF)
• High-Resolution Map
• Interactive Tables

Jane Jacobs A Legend In Urban Planning > THE PLACE OF POLITICS IN CITY PLANNING

Books

September 26, 2016 Issue

Jane Jacobs’s Street Smarts

What the urbanist and writer got so right about cities—and what she got wrong.
Link to entire review by Adam Gopnik >> The New Yorker



Now, in the year of Jane Jacobs’s centenary, with the biography out there, along with a new collection of her uncollected writings, “Vital Little Plans: The Short Works of Jane Jacobs” (Random House), and an anthology of conversations between her and various friends, “Jane Jacobs: The Last Interview and Other Conversations” (Melville House), it seems fair to pay her the compliment of taking her seriously—to ask what exactly she argued for, and what exactly we should think about those arguments now.
We can love the self-organizing street and believe in low-cost public housing, but it is an illusion to think that the street will naturally create affordable public housing, or that cheap public housing will guarantee a vibrantly self-emerging street.

That’s where planning matters and politics counts. Jacobs seldom gives a good account of the place of politics in city-making. Politics for her is Robert Moses telling moms where the expressway should run. Politics is the planners, and exists as an afterthought to the natural order of cities. And it’s true: politics isn’t a self-organizing system. It’s not a ballet. It’s a battle. But it remains essential to reconcile goods, like free streets and fair housing, that will never reconcile themselves.