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City Page for January 2008

Annual Report

City Sees Major Improvements in 2007

Phoenix is on the move. And never has it been more evident than in 2007.

There were major improvements just about everywhere – downtown where the skyline began taking on a new design, in neighborhoods where residents pitched in to make their areas a better place in which to live and in the far reaches of the city where new homes, businesses, offices and recreational facilities were built.

Among the highlights downtown were Arizona State University growing its campus, opening of the University of Arizona Medical School and the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative, and the start of construction of CityScape, a $950 million mixed-use development of hotels, restaurants, offices, apartments and shops.

Outside of the downtown area, there were the revitalization of Christown Spectrum Mall, the opening of about 1 million square feet of retail space at 35th and Southern avenues, the development of West Gate Plaza, completion of the largest outdoor soccer facility in the state at Reach 11 and the opening of the Pecos Park Community Center.

Also, in other parts of the city, neighborhood groups worked closely with the city to improve their areas by helping to reduce burglaries, assaults, robberies and other crimes, solving serious traffic problems, wiping out graffiti and eliminating blight.

All in all, it was a pretty busy and pretty successful year for the city and its 1.5 million residents.

Among the major accomplishments were:

• The Community and Economic Development Department assisted in attracting 21 businesses to the city, which resulted in capital investments of $108 million and 3,615 new jobs with an average annual salary of $41,545.

• The Aviation Department began a 10-year, $2.9 billion capital improvement program at Sky Harbor International Airport.

• The Information Technology Department established free wireless Internet service at City Hall, Municipal Court, the Convention Center, libraries and other city locations.

• The Development Services Department reduced the time it takes for residents planning home building and improvement projects to get through the plan review process to 28 days from 119.

• Municipal Court improved the time it takes to process cases, resolving 83.4 percent of them within 120 days.

• The City Clerk’s Office introduced electronic voting equipment that allowed voters with disabilities to cast ballots with complete independence and privacy.

• The Convention Center developed a one-point contact system that replaced a procedure that required its clients to deal with several individuals for their convention and conference planning.

• After four years of budget cuts and service reductions, an improved economy allowed the Budget and Research Department to put together a city budget that restored some services that had been cut in past years.

• The Housing Department created 959 units of affordable rental housing and helped 807 families become new homeowners. The Office of Arts and Culture completed seven new projects.

• The Finance Department collected more than $45 million in debts owed the city, the City Auditor helped recover another $2.2 million and the Law Department obtained $756,000 in court judgments against individuals and businesses that owed the city money.

• The Fire Department opened two new fire stations and began construction on three others.

• The Engineering and Architectural Services Department and Downtown Development Office administered design, construction and management of the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.

• The Police Department received 2.65 million calls, including 1.34 million that were made to the 911 emergency number, increases of 3 percent in total calls and 4.7 percent in 911 calls.

• A record 63,700 graffiti sites were cleaned by the Neighborhood Services Department’s Graffiti Busters program.

• More than 350 acres of new parks and preserves were opened by the Parks and Recreation Department.

• The Planning Department was involved in more than 1,300 zoning, planning and other hearings.

• The Watkins Overflow Shelter Program operated by the Human Services Department provided shelter to 788 single women and 499 families, including 2,489 children.

• The Public Works Department stepped up its recycling efforts with a program that included the mailing of information magnet sheets to 350,000 homes.

• Phoenix Transit launched its most extensive transportation improvement program in seven years, adding 3 million miles of new service and 126 new buses to its fleet.

• The Water Services Department delivered more than 120 billion gallons of high-quality water to Phoenix and surrounding communities and treated more than 70 billion gallons of wastewater.

• The Historic Preservation Office reviewed 491 permits in the historic districts and approved 342 through a new over-the-counter process that streamlined and speeded up the design review procedure.

• The Personnel Department completed 35 high-profile manager and executive recruitments and conducted 45 job fairs.

• Intergovernmental Programs successfully lobbied the city’s legislative program at the State Legislature, including preserving state shared revenues and protecting Sky Harbor International Airport.

• The Equal Opportunity Department increased the awareness of fair housing and employment with an outreach program that included 28 workshops that reached more than 1,000 people.

• The Office of Environmental Programs inspected and stabilized 30 vacant lots, provided dust control training for 1,425 city employees and offered technical assistance on pollution prevention to 25 city departments.

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