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Notes for January 2008

Annual Report

City sees major improvements in 2007
Major Accomplishments
Awards

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.

Construction also continued on the Convention Center, Sheraton Hotel, light rail and several high-rise condominiums and other residential properties.

Much went on outside of the central business district as Fight Back organizations and other neighborhood groups worked closely with the city to improve their areas by reducing burglaries, assaults, robberies and other crimes, solving serious traffic problems, wiping out graffiti and eliminating blight.

There were big-time developments throughout the community, too, some that impacted the entire city and others that were significant to neighborhoods and specific sections of the city.

Notable among them were the revitalization of Christown Spectrum Mall at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, the opening of about 1 million square feet of retail space at 35th and Southern avenues, the development of West Gate Plaza at 35th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, the opening of the Maryvale YMCA at 67th Avenue and Indian School Road, completion of the largest outdoor soccer facility in the state at Reach 11 on Deer Valley Road and start of construction of a baseball spring training facility at 107th Avenue and Camelback Road that will host the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.

Other improvements were the opening of the Pecos Park Community Center, a 38,000-square-foot facility that offers multiple municipal services ranging from recreation facilities to renewing business licenses to paying city utility bills. The city also accelerated the development process for two police precincts, one in west Phoenix and the other on the northeast side of the city and introduced a long-awaited bus route on Greenway Road.

The mayor and City Council also moved swiftly to head off potential problems by strengthening the city's prostitution laws, making it a crime to send text messages while driving a car and providing funding for homeless programs year round.

They had their eye on the future, too, and adopted a five-year economic development plan designed to keep the city on the move. The plan emphasizes creating and retaining high-quality jobs, fostering an environment for entrepreneurial growth, revitalizing urban areas, expanding the city's revenue base, developing and retaining qualified talent, enhancing the quality of life of residents, improving foundations of economic vitality and planning and strategizing for the future.

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

Browse through this report and read in more detail some of the hundreds of improvements and developments that helped make 2007 an extremely successful and exciting year for everyone in the city of Phoenix.

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Major Accomplishments

• 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 and add a few new ones as well. The budget restored operating hours at libraries, swimming pools and community centers that had been reduced; increased shelter capacity for homeless families; added programs and food services for seniors; expanded the abatement of graffiti; and improved transit services.

• The Finance Department collected more than $45 million in debts owed the city for sales taxes, water bills and other debts, an increase of about $4 million from the previous year. The City Auditor identified and helped recover more than $2.2 million in money owed the city, including $755,000 in rental car underpayments and $650,000 from a natural gas fueling agreement.

• The Law Department secured $756,000 in court judgments against individuals and businesses that owed the city money and collected $238,000 in prior judgments. It also seized $327,000 in currency, 245 vehicles and 147 firearms through the use of drug asset forfeiture laws.

• Municipal Court improved the time it takes to process cases, resolving 83.4 percent of them within 120 days and 92.6 percent within 180 days.

• The Prosecutor's Office substantially reduced the city's jail costs by expanding coverage of the Initial Appearance Court at the jail to seven days a week.

• The Sonoran Preserves was expanded with the acquisition of about 1,000 acres near the Dixileta Drive extension and Seventh Avenue. The property was purchased by the Parks and Recreation Department at a State Land Department auction.

• The City Clerk's Office introduced electronic voting equipment that for the first time in a city election allowed voters with disabilities to cast ballots with complete independence and privacy.

• The Convention Center developed a one-point contact system for its clients that replaced a cumbersome procedure that required clients to deal with several individuals as they planned the various activities associated with their conventions, conferences and other events.

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

• The plan review process for homeowners planning residential construction and improvement projects was reduced by the Development Services Department to 28 days from 119 days. The sharp reduction was the result of adding staff, improving training and dedicating a staff person to review structural plans.

• Staff from the Library Department implemented a new workflow process in its busy support services unit, which resulted in a 40 percent increase in productivity and quicker access to new materials for customers.

• 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.

• Through various loan programs and partners, the Housing Department created 959 units of affordable rental housing and helped 807 families become new homeowners.

• The Office of Arts and Culture, which managed 40 public art projects during the year, completed seven new projects, including artwork for the Camelback Pedestrian Underpass at 24th Street, the Westside Community Center and the Cesar Chavez Plaza.

• The Fire and Police departments joined with the Maryvale Partners in Action and the Family Advocacy Center to implement a Crisis Response Unit to help victims of domestic violence and other crimes in the Maryvale area.

• The Equal Opportunity Department partnered with several city departments, private businesses and others to increase awareness of fair housing and employment. Its outreach program involved 28 presentations and workshops that reached more than 1,000 people.

• The Fire Department opened two new fire stations and began construction on three others. In addition, it strengthened its firefighting and emergency medical services by adding 10 new pumper trucks, seven ambulances, five brush trucks and an airport foam crash truck.

• 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 Film Office played a major role in the film industry pumping a record $54.4 million into the local economy, a 55 percent increase over the amount invested a year earlier.

• The Aviation Department began a 10-year, $2.9 billion capital improvement program at Sky Harbor International Airport that includes the starter segment of the automated train and development of a new 33-gate West Terminal.

• The Street Transportation Department installed 140 more traffic signal pre-emption devices at intersections throughout the city. The devices change traffic lights as fire, police and other emergency vehicles approach them.

• HOPE VI continued to add more rental and homeownership units during the year by completing 65 percent of the project's 136-unit third phase. It also prepared land for the 86-unit fourth phase and acquired the final properties for the fifth phase.

• The Downtown Development Office furthered the city's relationship with Arizona State University, which completed the renovation of the University Center and the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation buildings and began construction of the School of Journalism and Taylor Street Mall streetscape project.

• The Engineering and Architectural Services Department and Downtown Development Office administered design, construction and management of the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, which is expected to bolster the city's convention business when it opens in December.

• Phoenix Workforce Connection's special programs that encourage young people to further their education and provides them with work experience attracted 117 participants.

• Know99 Television, the city's educational television network, established a journalism internship program with Arizona State University. The interns produced 60 stories about youth and education and helped with a video about drugs that was distributed to Phoenix schools.

• The Youth and Education Office raised $30,000 for the Principal for a Day program, which involved businessmen and women serving as principals at 146 schools.

• 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.

• The City Council adopted 32 annexations, increasing the square miles of the city to 516.17 and adding $1.2 million in assessed property value.

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

• The Planning Department was involved in more than 1,300 zoning adjustment, board of adjustments, planning commission and zoning hearings. It also conducted background research and met with applicants for 264 pre-application requests and conducted hearings for 93 planning hearing officer requests.

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

• Heat Relief Network distributed about 200,000 bottles of water to help keep homeless people safe during the hot summer months.

• Intergovernmental Programs successfully lobbied the city's legislative program at the State Legislature, including protecting state shared revenues, continuing funding for the University of Arizona Medical School downtown, preserving local economic development and eminent domain authority and protecting Sky Harbor International Airport.

• The Neighborhood Services Department hosted the first celebration of neighborhood organizations, "Taking It to the Streets." About 1,500 people attended the event, which included the presentation of awards to neighborhood Fight Back and other groups.

• The Public Works Department stepped up its recycling efforts with a "Recycling Changes Everything" program. It included the mailing of information magnet sheets to 350,000 homes, media advertising, billboards and truck signs.

• PHX 11 began producing its first live, call-in program, "Phoenix Working for You." The quarterly programs feature representatives from city departments taking telephone calls from viewers seeking information on various issues such as neighborhood code violations, blight, graffiti, Block Watch activities, the dangers of distractive driving and car theft. The television station also produced seven on-location City Council policy meetings.

• Several city departments continued to work together on the West Phoenix Revitalization Area project. Housing began adding more than 1,700 units of affordable rental housing to the area; Neighborhood Services initiated a proactive program to educate residents on eliminating blight; Historic Preservation applied for historic preservation zoning for Cartwright School; Library conducted a series of workshops for teachers on literacy training; Arts and Culture was involved in the design of four bus shelters.

• 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, creating new local routes on 32nd Street and Greenway Road, and starting two free neighborhood circulators, one in Maryvale and the other in Sunnyslope.

• The Water Services Department completed the construction of the Lake Pleasant Water Treatment Plant, which is delivering high-quality water to the city's water distribution system via a new 8.5-mile transmission main.

• Sister Cities participated in more than 70 exchanges and other activities, including programs in youth and education, disabilities awareness, sports, arts and culture and economic development.

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

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

• More than 120 billion gallons of high-quality water was delivered to Phoenix and surrounding communities and more than 70 billion gallons of wastewater was collected and treated.

• The Library Department opened Cesar Chavez Library in southwest Phoenix, broke ground for Agave Library in northwest Phoenix and secured land for another library in the northeast part of the city.

• More than 350 acres of new parks and preserves were opened by the Parks and Recreation Department, including Indian Bend Wash Park, Dove Valley Park, Reach 11 Sports Fields, Laveen Farms and Winifred Green Park.

• The Library Department's summer reading program attracted 46,000 children, a 42 percent increase from the previous year.

• The Fire Department developed a partnership with the Maricopa County Health Department to provide funding for the Baby Shots program that firefighters have been conducting for many years.

• The Neighborhood Services Department began a grocery cart removal program that in the first month of operation removed 1,141 carts from neighborhoods.

• The licensing services staff in the City Clerk's Office assisted 9,000 walk-in customers and handled 10,782 telephone calls.

• Visitors to the city's libraries checked out 14.9 million books, films and other items, an increase of 13.3 percent from the previous year.

• The Public Affairs Bureau of the Police Department's Silent Witness program received 27,811 tips, which resulted in 160 arrests that cleared 334 felony cases.

• The Citizens Offering Police Support (COPS) program provided the Police Department with 35,000 hours of volunteer service, resulting in a cost savings of $500,000.

• The Parks and Recreation Department staff coordinated 180 volunteers to remove more than 1,000 bags of glass from Piestewa Peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserves.

• More than 275 new bus shelters were installed and 242 existing shelters were upgraded to better serve the disabled.

• Master plans were completed by the Aviation Department for the Phoenix Deer Valley and Phoenix Goodyear airports.

• More than 200 young people applied for the Outstanding Young Man and Young Woman awards, triple the number that took part a year ago.

• The Police Department's new 104,000-square-foot Crime Laboratory was completed, giving city law enforcement authorities a state of the art facility that will help them solve crimes.

• The Development Services Department opened the Office of Customer Advocacy to provide development assistance and case management for business customers new to land development and the building permit process.

• The Water Services Department formed a partnership with Gateway Community College that will allow city employees to obtain college credit hours for some higher-level training classes that the department provides as part of its Operations & Maintenance Technician Training Program.

• Municipal Court installed equipment and connectivity to display Photo Red and Photo Speed videos and photos in select courtrooms to assist defendants and judicial staff during civil traffic proceedings.

• Head Start staff joined with the Arizona Center for Responsible Fatherhood and introduced a male involvement program that Head Start fathers life skills and parenting class and job readiness and placement services.

• The National Explosive Detection K-9 Teams assigned to the Sky Harbor International Airport resolved more than 600 suspicious item incidents. Without their presence, these incidents would have led to evacuations of the airport.

• The Police Department's new 104,000-square-foot Crime Laboratory was completed, giving city law enforcement authorities a state-of-the-art facility that will help them solve crimes.

• The Development Services Department opened the Office of Customer Advocacy to provide development assistance and case management for business customers new to land development and the building permit process.

• The Water Services Department formed a partnership with Gateway Community College that will allow city employees to obtain college credit hours for some higher-level training classes that the department provides as part of its Operations & Maintenance Technician Training Program.

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Awards

The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area won honors from several national and local organizations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the project its Planning Team of the Year award, while the Maricopa Association of Governments gave it its Desert Peaks Award for Public Partnership. Also, the project won the Environmental Excellence President's Award and two Crescordia awards from Valley Forward; an Environmental Stewardship Award from the Salt River Project; and the President's Medal for Social Embeddedness from Arizona State University.

For the 17th consecutive year, the city's budget won the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. The budget books were reviewed by a panel of judges from around the country.

Phoenix received the International City/County Management Association's Certificate of Distinction for the sixth year in a row.

The Burton Barr Central Library won the Distinguished Organization Award from the Arizona Humanities Council; Cesar Chavez Library won a Distinguished Organization Award from the Arizona Humanities Council; Cholla Library won a Design Excellence Award from the American Society of Interior Designers; Cesar Chavez Library earned Design Excellence and Best of Show awards from the International Interior Design Association; Desert Broom Library won a LEED-Certified rating from the U.S. Green Building Council; and Palo Verde Library received the Architectural Innovation Award from the Western Maricopa Coalition and the Arizona Republic.

PHX 11 won nine Telly Awards, which honor the best local and regional cable television programs, commercials and video and film productions. Two PHX 11 productions also were nominated for Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards.

The city won the Governor's Preservation Award for its converting of the former Phoenix Union High School to the University of Arizona Medical School.

The Convention Center won a Bronze Adrian Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International for promotional advertising.

The Housing Department received four awards in housing and community development from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

To read about other awards the city has won, visit phoenix.gov and click on City Recognition on the left side of the page.

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