The Phoenix Central Neighborhood Association was created to begin a dialogue with residents, property owners and those who hold a business license within our geographical boundaries of Indian School and Thomas roads and 7th Avenue and 3rd Street about business, crime, education, entertainment, politics, sports and transportation issues happening within our neighborhood.
Peggy Neely is no stranger to attracting businesses to Phoenix. During her time on the city council, Neely was a strong leader in job creation, attracting regional and national headquarters to Phoenix including companies such as Republic Services, Mayo Clinic Hospital, W.L. Gore and Associates, American Express, Axway, APL, Ryan Companies, and Penske Automotive Group/Chauncey Ranch Auto Boutique. These businesses have created thousands of jobs in Phoenix.
“Peggy Neely is the ‘jobs candidate.’ When it comes to breadth and depth of experience in attracting jobs or boosting economic recovery, Peggy is the best candidate on the ballot,” said Daniel W. “Buzz” Gosnell, President, Woodbine Southwest Corporation. “Her track record proves that she has what it takes to bring businesses to Phoenix, restore local jobs and position our city for economic prosperity.”
During her time on council, Neely reached out to business owners on a regular basis making sure that the city is a help – not a hindrance to doing business. In addition to successes in attracting new businesses, she also helped existing and small businesses expand.
“Peggy is a competitive and caring person. When we were looking to relocate our corporate office and national customer service center, Peggy was front and center in advocating for Phoenix. In the end, she was instrumental in making certain that we landed in Phoenix,” said Tod Holmes, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Republic Services, Inc. “She understands the importance of expanding the job base here in Phoenix and importantly, she knows what it takes to create jobs and the role of city government to work with businesses. Equally important, she continues to be an advocate for the business community as we continue to work to add more jobs in the Phoenix market.”
Neely launched a comprehensive jobs plan as part of her vision of the “Phoenix We Want.” She explained, “Phoenix should no longer accept a back seat in the area of public policy. It must lead. It must lead in quality economic development focused on high income jobs that are as diverse as our city. The most critical need is a plan to diversify our jobs base. We can’t rely on construction alone to fuel our future. Instead, we must help existing businesses expand and then work with them to leverage new relationships with companies looking to relocate.”
Neely’s Jobs Plan
Build a Business Reputation – We should build a world reputation in one or more business sectors. In addition, we should cluster economic development efforts on growing areas such as biomedical, healthcare, solar, and other industries to diversify our economy.
Attract high-wage employers – Develop policy and tools to attract high-wage employers to invest in Arizona. Efforts such as a uniform sales tax could benefit businesses and reduce bureaucracy that limits their ability to expand.
Develop each area to its full potential – I believe in growth with a purpose, but not growth for growth’s sake. Just as the village concept serves our diverse planning needs, we must create a similar approach for business development that clearly outlines the businesses and opportunities we agree would best fit each area of the city.
Expand our tourism opportunities – While downtown is still an important destination, we must also promote the rest of Phoenix as a tourism attraction rich in recreation amenities like golf, hiking, biking, parks, soccer, world-class resorts, and breathtaking open space.
Protect key revenue generators – We must continue to support our key sources of revenue such as Sky Harbor Airport. In addition, we cannot stand idly by as other states seek to lure our spring training baseball teams from Phoenix. They generate much-needed annual revenue that cannot easily be replaced.
Transform Phoenix into a major industrial and shipping hub – Phoenix should spearhead a regional taskforce to foster a Mexican deep water port alternative to Los Angeles allowing goods to be shipped to Phoenix for distribution across the country. Mexico is Arizona’s number one trading partner – efforts such as this and others should be implemented to strengthen that relationship.
Make Phoenix business friendly – All City of Phoenix departments should be customer oriented to help citizens and businesses alike. A Jobs Task Force could meet quarterly with business and development leaders to hear their concerns and ideas about how to make Phoenix more business friendly.
Emphasize shopping in Phoenix – I will work with business owners and the leaders of the “shop local” efforts to ensure that residents understand the added value of spending their money in the city.
Attract venture capital and foreign investment to Phoenix – I want to develop a plan to encourage business beyond the incubation stage by finding innovative ways to lure more venture capital to our community.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, Phoenix voters will decide several ballot measures and cast ballots for a new mayor and council members in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. There also will be a Special Vacancy Election for residents in District 2 to elect a councilmember to serve the remaining two years of the term.
For this election and future city of Phoenix elections, traditional polling places are being replaced with Voting Centers located throughout the city. With Voting Centers, voters are no longer restricted to casting their ballot at one assigned polling place. Voters can vote at any of the 26 Voting Center locations – making it more convenient to vote closer to your work, school, home or along your daily commute.
Voters also will have three days to cast their vote, making it more flexible and accessible. The Voting Centers will be open from:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27;
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29;
6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30 (Election Day).
The voting process itself will be the same. Voters will still need to bring the same forms of identification they would normally bring to a polling place, and they will continue to vote on paper ballots that will be placed inside a locked ballot box. It’s important to note that Voting Centers are only being used for city of Phoenix elections, which include Mayoral and Council elections, Bond elections and other Phoenix ballot items. Voting centers will not be used in elections for federal, state or county offices or ballot measures.
The last day to register to vote is Aug. 1.
The popular early voting by mail program will not change and voters on the Permanent Early Voting List will begin receiving their ballots around Aug. 4. Early ballots can be mailed or dropped off at any voting center, and the last day to request an early ballot by mail is Aug. 19.
Voters can find a map of voting center locations as well as lists of acceptable identification forms at phoenix.gov/election.
For additional questions on voting centers, their locations or the upcoming election, call 602-261-VOTE (8683) or TTY 602-534-2737 or email elections@phoenix.gov.
Source: City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters touts Neely’s leadership and ability to make hard choices.
During her time on the Phoenix City Council and in her service in the community, Peggy Neely has gained a reputation of being woman of her word – a strong leader who is willing to make the hard decisions. She is dedicated to doing the right thing even when it has meant doing the hard thing.
In this watershed race for Mayor, leadership will make the difference on where Phoenix will go and type of city it will become. Former United States Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters is supporting Peggy Neely and encourages Phoenix voters to learn more about her strong leadership.
Mary Peters, a fourth generation Arizonan, served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. Prior to her appointment, Peters served as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration from 2001 to 2005. She also headed the Arizona Department of Transportation from 1998 to 2001, where she started her career as an administrative assistant 16 years earlier. Throughout her career, Peters, has been a champion for more responsive and smaller government focused on delivering maximum value for taxpayers.
“I appreciate the kind words from Secretary Peters,” concluded Neely, “I am inspired by her hard work and dedication to doing the right thing. As I have said before, it is time for leaders to listen – to work with the citizens of our great city to chart a course for a prosperous future.”
As we celebrate Flag Day, we not only honor the flag, but we also honor what the flag stands for. The integrity of our American freedoms, including the right to vote, must be protected.
Last October, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruled against Prop 200 – Arizona's law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and provide ID at the polls. Their ruling was based on the fact that the National Voter Registration Act doesn’t require proof of citizenship to register to vote!
Just last week, the Federal Government through the Department of Justice has joined in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case against Arizona. Once again, the State of Arizona is under attack from the Federal Government for taking a stand against illegal immigration and doing the job that the Federal Government refuses to do.
These voter requirements were passed overwhelmingly by the Arizona voters in 2004 – and ensure the integrity of our voting system. Requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and providing voter ID at the polls are part of protecting our freedoms – just as is the demand that our borders be secure. The Federal inaction is bad enough – their interference in the state’s actions is even worse.
Phoenix should be using its influence as a leader in the southwest to do more to demand border security and enforce our immigration laws. As Mayor, I would work with the Governor, Attorney General, Mayors and others to demand that the Federal government do its job to ensure that our border is secure and protect the integrity of our right to vote.
The August Election marks the first election cycle where Phoenix will be utilizing “Voting Centers” to cast ballots for the Mayor and City Council races. In addition to voting by early ballot, Phoenix has consolidated 128 traditional precincts into 26 voting centers that can be used by any registered voter in Phoenix – voter ID requirements are still in place. Click here to see a map.
Unemployment Insurance Extension Under Consideration
The Governor has called the legislature into its third special session today to consider a 20-week extension of the state's unemployment benefits. Because Arizona's unemployment rate has fallen below a level that is established in state law, the formula would need adjustment if the state is to provide another 20 weeks of this benefit. A supermajority of support from each legislative chamber is needed to enact an emergency clause in order to secure the funds immediately. Although action is needed by Saturday, June 10 in order to avoid disruption, the U.S. Department of Labor has stated that it could immediately provide retroactive payments when the state takes action. Both chambers convened today but adjourned until Monday without taking action.
State Budget Deficit Continues To Shrink
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee, a legislative agency that provides budgetary support to the state legislature, released information earlier this week indicating that state tax revenues continue to grow. In May, year-to-date tax collections were $251.9 million above budgeted forecasts. If this trend continues, the fiscal year could result in an $80 million shortfall instead of the $332 million gap that was previously calculated. June could provide more answers since it is a key month in which corporate and individual income taxes are collected.
The City of Phoenix is in the final stages of budget preparation for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The next step is a series of Community Budget Information Sessions, where departments will provide information on the availability of budgetary and financial records, budget process, city property tax, employee pay and an Innovation and Efficiency update. Here is the information:
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 11:30 a.m. Burton Barr Auditorium 1221 N. Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85004
Source: Councilman Tom Simplot, Councilman, City of Phoenix District 4
Peggy Neely is no stranger to attracting businesses to Phoenix. During her time on the city council, Neely was a strong leader in job creation, attracting regional and national headquarters to Phoenix including companies such as Republic Services, Mayo Clinic Hospital, W.L. Gore and Associates, American Express, Axway, APL, Ryan Companies, and Penske Automotive Group/Chauncey Ranch Auto Boutique. These businesses have created thousands of jobs in Phoenix.
