Parks and Rec

Parks and Rec!

Yesterday I spent with Tom Ellis, the Parks Director. He is much more friendly and conversational then Ron Swanson. 

We began the day with introductions to what Parks and Recreation does. These are essentially two different entities. The Facilities and Maintenance department and the Recreation and Programming department. The facilities are the folks out there aerating the grass, making sure its green and beautiful, sticking with the Town's strategic plan. They keep the sidewalks clear of debris and weeds out of the grassy fields.

The Programming department put on the classes and activities for all ages. They vary from youth to adult actives and some are in conjunction with the Libraries in the Town. The program guide for the summer has been published and has all the programs from Sports Camps to Zumba and Cooking Classes. There are even senior specific programs at the Senior Center. They were having a BINGO game when I was visiting. That center is so great! There is a dance room with mirrored walls and halls for pool and dominos. They were going to play Mexican Train later in the afternoon. These programs are really meant to act as a complement to the programs provided by the local schools. The end goal for most of these is to begin the program and then pass it along to a non-profit or other entity to continue to run. This seems like a great way to innovate and provide a variety of services for Marana residents.

Tom took me to each of the parks in the Town. We started at Ora Mae Harn Park, which has the municipal swimming pool. I used to swim in HS so it was really great to see where I could keep up that habit in the Town. This was one of the oldest parks and since Parks and Rec values shade the large trees were really helpful in that regard. Later on driving down Camino de Manana I was able to see the bike/walking path where the trees were just planted, with the end goal being a shaded walking area.

When developments are planned they are charged Impact Fees for utilities. The Town has provided the developers with the ability to have those "waived" if they put in a public park that would equal the value of the impact fees. Most of the developers have done this and that is where the Gladden Farms, Continental Ranch and San Lucas parks come from. Each of these has grass and baseball fields, even a concession stand, that can be used by the public. There is a process for reserving fields and ramadas but the cost is minimal. These were great places to have family reunions or kids birthday parties. I spoke with Tom specifically about the landscaping and how to preserve water and open space when building a park. He said that the department tries to balance the green areas for kids to play, since the homes have smaller yards, and only put grass where it has to be, a soccer field for example. He was also very interested in making the areas mixed use. Instead of just having one grassy area for baseball and another for soccer, they parks have started to be designed in such a way that a removable fence can distinguish between the two sports fields.

Crossroads park at Silverbell is an AMAZING park! It shares the area with a library, which has beautiful glass windows that look out onto the Santa Cruz. These are tons of fields and benches, a dog park and some really cool climbing equipment. Tom raced me to the top of this cable cord structure, and I think he let me win. This park also has the remains of an old farm community, which has been fenced off and will have placards in the future describing what is within the fence. I thought it was super cool that not only were these areas preserved, but they are going to be used to educate the community about the area.

What I also thought was really neat was the extensive trail system that is maintained (and improved upon) by the parks department. We went and visited the site of a new trail head up by the Ritz-Carlton that is open to the public. These trails go through Cochie and Wild Burro Canyons, with the longest trail being 6.3 miles. They go all over the Tortolita Mountains and will give great vista views to anyone who wants to go up there. Tom just took a group on a moonlight hike. I can't wait to have some time to check out one of the trails, probably once it gets cooler.

There was so many great parks and activities that I had no idea were taken care of by the parks department. If you have a kid that is interested in a sport have them check out the week long camp that the parks put on. If I was 6-15 years old I would totally want to do the stuff the parks employees are providing!

CIP!!

The Capital Improvement Projects Division is a subsidiary of the Public Works Department. The mission statement is:

The Capital Improvement Program Engineering Division is committed to continuously improving the infrastructure of our Town with the safe and efficient flow of vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic for the Town of Marana’s residents.

Capital Projects are non-recurring (long term) expenditures that are over $100,000 and will last at least 5 years. There have been quite a few in the past few years in the Town including the Twin Peaks Interchange and the expansion of Camino de Manana. Twin Peaks was a collaboration between the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Town and some other entities. I’m sure no one can say that it does not help their drive in some way if they live out here. It connects Dove Mountain and the Continental Ranch area, making Marana more cohesive and I-10 less obtrusive.

I went around in the morning with Scott Leska, an engineer and project manager. He oversees projects that are in construction making sure they are structurally sound. We went to a meeting in the morning about a new capital project investment for the Town. This was just in the simple beginning stages of development and the meeting was meant to be informational to the group could take the next steps towards determining funding and necessity. At this meeting were staff members from Finance, the Manger’s office, Engineering and, of course, CIP. It was just another example of how the different departments across the Town really do work together constantly. This was something that I really was excited to see, and makes me happy being an employee of the Town. Knowing projects bring the various aspects of the Town together so all viewpoints are understood is a great way to conduct government business. I was able to go to a lunch at the Operations Center and chat with some of the maintenance guys. They are the ones out there working on fixing roads and lights and other facilities type problems. They are some of the most important people in the Town. Keeping Marana beautiful (and functioning).

After the meeting, Scott took me on a tour of the large projects that the Town has recently completed. These included Twin Peaks/Camino de Manana, the Tangerine Farms/Road expansion, and the Marana and Sandario Road repaving. We talked about the process from inception (find your totem) to completion. He then took me to chat with Ryan Benavidez, the Assistant Public Works Director.

Ryan was able to give me a great in depth understanding of how a project comes to fruition. It all starts with the TIP, or the Transportation Improvement Plan. This is put together by the Pima Associations of Governments and the Regional Transit Authority. This is a 5-year development plan for all the jurisdictions in the region. This includes Pima County and the Tribes. Ryan will get a Call for Projects from PAG looking for things to include in the 5-year plan that they put out. He then collects projects from various departments and submits them. These projects have usually been discussed and are on the radar, the financing has been drafted and they are now looking to the RTA for assistance. In order to receive funding from the RTA, the project has to be on the TIP. Therefore, the Town can put something on the list and then not receive any funding if they cannot get the right votes. There is only a certain amount of money and it is a zero sum game with the other jurisdictions. Each is guaranteed a percentage, but there can always be something worked out. What I thought was interesting was that the Town (or other jurisdiction) has to put where they are going to get the money. Whether it is from local sources, or HURF (highway user revenue fund), bonds etc…are all included on the submitted project. Usually, some of the funding has to come from the local jurisdiction. There are very few that will be funded entirely by the RTA.

The projects are complied and then sent to several approval agencies, the Transportation Planning Committee and the Technical Management Committee. This review process even includes a public hearing. Here is a flow chart of how the process works.

Ryan and I also discussed how contractors are chosen and how the method changes for different projects. The main two ways are what is called Low-Bid or Construction Manager at Risk. The low-bid process means that the Town has to accept whichever company comes in with a reasonable bid that will complete the project. He said these tend to be used for something that is simple and will not require too many change orders. These change orders drive up the price and the contractor can point out items that require changes from the initial plans, which cost money. An example would be a long stretch of sidewalk would be done low-bid since there would be little chance that anything would need addressing.

The other method, CMAR, is founded on relationships and qualifications. The Town will put out a request for proposals and then review those that are submitted for the best contractor that can do the job. These contractors are usually brought on during the planning process starting at the 30% mark. This allows the engineer and designer to work with the contractor to see if the project can be completed successfully. These contractors and the Town negotiate a Guaranteed Maximum Price and anything that goes over, that is not initiated by the Town, is on the contractor or pay for. This reduces the liability from the Town’s perspective. Camino de Manana only had one change order and it was from the Town. That project was CMAR and was able to save the Town about $1.6 million!

The lesson I learned from the past few days is that it takes a lot to get something built in a jurisdiction. Even thought it seems like things are popping up like weeds, there is a lot that goes into the process for both private and public development. The Town has gotten really streamlined at how the process works and will continue to grow successfully once the economy starts up again.

Permits and Inspections and Planning....Oh MY!

DISCLAIMER: I am really into the things that development services does, I will probably get really excited about telling you what I learned to the point of obnoxious. You have been warned.

The past few days I have been with the great people who make up the Development Services department of the Town. Development Services include those things that make private development possible. While it is different than what I talked with Josh Wright about (he focuses on relationships) it is a vital complement to what Strategic Initiatives works on. This department conducts all the tactical and operational needs of private development. If you want to build something within the Town limits, whether it’s a Wal-Mart or a wall around your house, you have to go through the Development Services folks.

The process starts with the Pre-Application meeting with various members of the Town staff, but an important member of this meeting are the Development Coordinators. These are two ladies who organize the entire process from review to permitting. Now, I thought that you would have to get a permit first to do anything. Actually! You get the permit at the end of the process. This Pre-App meeting informs a builder or developer of what they need to do and bring and provide to the Town in order to complete construction. These meetings set the ground work for the future of the project. After this meeting the developer then does their first submittal of plans. These are taken by the development coordinators and distributed to the appropriate agencies; environmental quality, planning, building, etc...all these agencies or departments have the ability to submit comments back to the developer who then can change and resubmit their plan. After all the groups have put on their stamp of approval then the developer can start the permit application. There are sometimes when the permits are applied for before these things, but not usually and they are not issued without that process.

The permitting system is so vast! You need a permit for everything! Which I'm glad for. I would not want someone to build something next to my house or road or anything without having a professional person review the plans. These plans and permits become public record and Tim Mattix is the Manager of these. Hope Rodriguez showed me the system they use to follow and keep track of the permits from application to final close out. During my time with the Development Services I was able to see this whole process first hand. Tim really wants to make the permit center as business and customer friendly as possible. Making it a one stop shop for anyone who wants to do private business in Marana. This is a really big feat, there are a lot of moving parts that go into these developments and one project can have as many as 40 different permits! I think this is a great way to manage the permit center, especially due to the commitment the Town has made to be more business friendly and accommodating to new development and growth. Good Luck Tim!! If you have a current open permit you can check out the status of that here.

My afternoon was spent with the Planning department. This is also the Zoning department, which is usually how jurisdictions organize, they just do not call is P&Z. I chatted with Brian Varney, a planner for the Town. I was able to look at submitted plans of specific projects. I looked over a commercial development, a master plan type development, a native plants plan, and a residential plan. These were all unique. Brian and the other planners make sure that these design plans fit with the design ordinances and codes the Town has implemented as well as promoting the welfare of citizens.

This was the area that I was particularly interested in. Along with Economic Development and Capital Projects this is the area that has a lot of influence when determining the direction of the Town’s growth. This is the area where plans for new developments get approved in that they meet lighting ordinances and are not designed to just be cookie cutter houses. Marana is really forward thinking in this sense. These regulations apply to commercial and industrial buildings as well.

The planning department also makes recommendations to the Planning Commission who is the advisory group to the Town Council. All development in the Town is approved by the council and the Commission gives them a suggestion as to approve or deny the plans. Once the plans are approved the process moves to the Building Department for the actual vertical construction.

Planning is also responsible for the zoning in the Town. There are specific types of buildings that can be placed in specific regions based on these zones. NERD ALERT! Marana has a hierarchical zoning system. There are three basic types of zoning, commercial, residential and industrial. Within these areas there are different levels High Density Residential, Heavy Industrial etc…If a piece of land is zoned at a higher level a builder can put up anything that is in the lower zoning levels. If a developer wants to change the zoning however, they have to complete a proposal for why and what they are planning on doing with the land if it is rezoned. They also have to show what that rezoning will do to the land watershed and grading etc… This was fascinating, not sure that I can portray it as well; you should talk to Brian about it. Here is a mapof the Town zoning.

I was able to talk to Director of Development Services Kevin Kish for a few minutes to discuss future growth and the General Plan and how development and strategic initiatives fit together to make a better Marana long term. This led into a discussion with Cynthia Ross about the General Plan and long term planning, which she is focused on. We talked about how she put together all the information in that plan, and the way that it has been divided into themes for the Town to follow. This along with the Strategic Plan are the driving force for the growth of the Town. They are both well researched and laid out plans, which provide a resident with the direction the Town is going. Check them out!

The second day I was with the Building Safety Department and went around with George Gleeson doing building inspections. He is given a schedule from the permit department to review a site and decide if it meets the codes. He is the most well versed person I have ever met in how something should be built and what the codes require. Now these codes are practically universal, in case you were wondering because I had no idea. He can look at some construction and know that it is 8 feet long with the right width piping and connections in 2 seconds. It was pretty impressive. So we went to the Sargent building and Lasertel both of which are going to be awesome inside. The new Marana Health Center, that is almost nearing completion. The new Legacy apartments and the remodel of the Target on Ina, most were not finished, but I was able to see the site and how he determines if he is going to approve the work and make it a partial completion or say that its not ready yet.

The second half of the day was spent with the smartest people! They are the plans examiners. Benny Sanchez, Manny Carrillo and Paul Froehlke. They take the plans submitted to the development coordinators and review them to see if they make sense. They look for electric and water connections, if the building has enough power for what the builder intends to use it for, are the lights the correct bulbs…all kinds of things! And they do calculations to make sure that the beams will support the weight of the roof! It’s the hardest job I could ever imagine having. It is super impressive what those guys do each day. They went through, briefly, a set of plans with me so I could see what they look for. We had a nice chat about waste water planning and how that will affect their jobs; should the Town be able to provide waste water services.

Again, spending the time with this department the past few days was overwhelming, but in an awesome way. Seeing how development comes about, and how decisions are made on what something will look like are things that are important to me, and to the health of a Town. By having people that are smart and with it reviewing plans there is less chance that something terrible will happen and that the Town will continue its commitment to community beautification. Thanks for the taking the time to sit with me and talk about what you do and how you do it. I hope that it came across that I was fascinated, and kind of jealous, of the job you get to do each day! I’ll stick with my MPA though.

Lights and Sirens

Sorry for the delay....there is so much to see and learn about in Marana PD! I spent Monday and Tuesday over with them and probably did not even see 2/3 of the great services they provide the Town. I was able to chat with the records department, get a tour of the new police department building (including the Crime Scene Unit), sit in with the dispatchers, ride along with an officer, chatted with the Chief, a Sergeant, a Detective, and the Crime Analyst! Each one of these jobs is vital to protecting Marana citizens and I am thankful for them taking the time to talk with me, and for the fact that they are there at all!

I started the tour meeting with Betty Horrigan who is the Records Unit Manager. She does most of the reports that need to go to the Federal and State governments and to other law enforcement agencies, or just reports that the Town might need. She uses the database that the Town Clerks office has as well to supplement her data. They are working on making this whole process more digital and reducing the need for the large storage space. While, of course, they keep permanent records for homicide cases there are some records that have to be kept for 99 years! Geez, who is going to be around to shred those documents? Betty oversees the clerks who help citizens who come in that need to get their car out of impoundment, get fingerprinted etc… They also answer phones and any questions that might arise. They are the public face of the administrative side of the police department.

I then went on a tour of the new police facility that it attached to the Marana Municipal Complex. (It’s really nice that all the services are located in one central place, Courts, Police, Development Services etc…). I was able to walk through the evidence room and the Crime Scene Unit. The storage system is so organized! Shelf after shelf of case files and evidence that is associated with each one…it would get exhausting trying to keep up, but those men and women over there do a great job.

Then I went up to the dispatch area. There were two dispatchers, Grace and TJ. At first I just sat and watched what they were doing. How the phone calls came in and how they redirected them to either a department or a police vehicle. They are responsible for most all of the calls that come in, not just 911. They respond to the inquiry or problem on the other end and the redirect the best they see fit. They know what questions to ask and what code goes with what problem and then send out the right officer. It was pretty impressive. They have massive computer station with five monitors each on presenting something else, location of the vehicles on patrol, phone numbers, maps of the area; you name it they can find it! They also act as support for the officers on patrol. They can ask to run a license plate or something to find out more information about someone they stopped. They have an awesome system over there!

For the rest of the afternoon I went on a ride-along with Officer Larkin. She is a newer officer, only in the department for 2 and half years, and she was great to talk to. Not only did she answer all my questions, which I’m sure was tedious; she also was able to give me a female perspective, which I appreciated. We talked about how she sees the Town growing and where policing needs are going to be.

We made one traffic stop, a guy was speeding down Tangerine, and we responded to an alarm going off in Dove Mountain at an AMAZING custom home! She told me that she likes to get to know the managers, workers and neighbors of the area she is patrolling just in case anything should happen they know to contact her. It was really reassuring knowing that there are professional and dedicated officers policing the Marana streets, not that there was any doubt of that beforehand!

PHEW! That was just day 1…

One the second day it was much more discussion. I talked with Sgt. Steve Johnson who is an incident committee member, which means he works on emergency management and disaster planning type things. We talked about how the Town prioritizes what types of disasters can occur and how to be proactive should something horrible happen. He also has the responsibilities of a commanding officer of 7-10 patrol officers. This means he handles complaints or disciplinary action that might come arise and reviews their paperwork before it goes into Betty’s storage rooms. He gave me some great advice of how to keep safe in my regular life also. Keep your keys in your hand and get off the cell phone while walking home ladies (and gentlemen).

I next sat with Judy Capen who is the Administrative Manager for the department. She does all the admin things like paying bills and submitting things to the Finance Department, processing time off requests…things like that. She told me about the awesome volunteer program the department has. She said there are about 50 people that are trained and come out to events to help direct traffic, block off roads, fingerprinting, and neighborhood watch programs. They are trained by a sworn officer and are there to help keep their community safe, which I thought was great. Not to mention that they are helping to keep costs down (sorry, that the bureaucrat in me). Judy is also the Arizona Public Safety Retirement Board Secretary and we talked quite a bit about the retirement process and approvals and benefits.

Then came the big time…my sit down the Chief Terry Rozema. We were able to talk about his new plan to move towards more “community policing” meaning that the officers are out and getting to know the managers and workers (nice job! officer Larkin) and beginning in July officers are going to be assigned to the same area when they come to work, to help build up trust between officers and residents should anything happen. He just wants to make “reasonable decisions.” Does what you are asking for, both budgetary and administrative, make sense. This is how I would run a department as well. I think it mandates more accountability and responsibility, which will then increase the service provided. We had a great talk about why we do what we do, and that is to serve the public, whether you are an admin person or a sworn officer, you are there to provide service. Ok, off the soap box.

We talked about the Town’s strategic plan for growth and how policing and safety fit into that, and also about recruiting practices including how to get the best officers to come to the Town. (Why they would not want to it beyond me). He is having a more active role in the day to day of the officers, producing videos that are sent out relaying his message for the department. He is doing all these things, in only 5 months mind you, in order to get the department up to what he thinks it should be. While it is currently great, there is always room for improvement and he gets it.

I spent the afternoon with Janice Moser, the crime analyst and Det. Joe Castillo. Janice has probably the coolest job. She works with data and maps to predict where crime has the potential to happen. She develops targets for prevention and increase patrol in order to reduce crime! She made me want to go back to school and get ANOTHER master’s to do her job. It was really awesome to see her modeling and mapping and charting the crime statistics for the Town. She also helps the detectives searching for suspects and linking them to other crimes, so they can be prosecuted by the County Attorney. She said her job is all about helping to make decisions. Could not be more true! Her maps helped prevent some truck thefts!

Detective Castillo and I sat for a while discussing how his job differs from other sworn officers. He was working on collecting evidence for some sensitive cases in order to bring them down to the Count Attorney to present for trial. They have a hard job getting interview data and searching (using Janice) for suspects. They will not take something downtown unless they are sure the suspect is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They are hard working and have a lot of cases going at the same time, making it that much more difficult.

I just want to say thanks again to the men and women I met in the department. Criminal Justice was not an area that I studied in school and they gave me a crash course in community policing. Public Safety takes up a large portion of the general fund budget and it could not be more worth it to have people like those I talked with.

The Chamber

On Friday I spent the day with Ed, Kathy and Lizzie who are the entire Chamber of Commerce staff! It is amazing the amount of work they have to do and it's just the three of them! The Chamber functions as the Voice of Businesses that are located in Marana or those that want to/already do business in Marana. I got a taste of this at the networking breakfast I attended on Tuesday. The Chamber provides an outlet for the business community to expand and access additional resources. They also put together a review of legislation to show what is important both from the Town's perspective as well as the business community's.

The Chamber works to reach out to businesses after they have decided to locate in Marana. While Josh's department does not actively go recruit businesses, he is involved in the planning before the business has made the decision to locate here, while the Chamber provides resources after. This help includes how to get permits and what contact should be made with the Fire District. It seems like a great relationship between the Strategic Initiatives Department and the Chamber.

The Chamber is run by a Board that is made up of both large businesses and smaller businesses. About half of the board members are small business owners, and that helps to keep balance. They are there to be objective and listen to any issues that arise within the community and present a way to resolve some of the issues, if applicable. There are no term limits and they conduct interviews for finding new members.


There are monthly breakfasts and lunches to bring members together for networking and to introduce new members. They also give Informational Sessions about the community as well as specific business courses. One of the most exciting things is that they plan international trips for the business community to reach out to other nations. They are going to China this year!

While I was visiting I was able to sit in on an advertising meeting discussing some in-kind benefits the Chamber might be able to receive, and was able to work on their website. They are looking to update the website so I sat with Lizzie and talked about how to make sure the sponsors names appear clearly and at the top, and how to reduce the drop downs and make it more reader friendly.

I really enjoyed my time with the Chamber, they are very friendly and very good at what they do. If you ever need any information about something to do in the area check them out! They are also a registered visitors center!

It's the Quality of Life, and it moves us all......

Strategic Initiatives involves several different focus areas in the Town. It was newly created in February and houses Economic Development and Tourism, Intergovernmental Affairs, Special Events, Communications and Marketing, Strategic Planning, Heritage, Arts and Culture, and Performance Management. PHEW!

Josh Wright is the director and he has the special events coordinator, the public information officer and soon to have a graphic designer and analyst all under his department and does all of those jobs! It is pretty impressive!

We started the day at the Kino Pima County One Stop Center that is down on Ajo. This is a resource for people who have either been laid off or are trying to get a new job. They have classes teaching resume building and other general skills including getting a GED. We toured and saw the classrooms, computers and the books of job descriptions, and the people that work with DES to get people their unemployment benefits, or to help them understand their benefits. These resources are two tiered, there are core services that are just for looking up jobs on the computer or resume review, but then they also have a program where it teaches people essential skills for getting and keeping a job. This are services provided for free, and in some cases allows the clients to keep their unemployment benefits while they are getting this training.If you or someone you care about needs these services, check out their website.

The rest of the day I spent with Josh and Adelina Martin, the special events coordinator. Josh and I talked a lot about how the Town has decided to tackle economic growth. The Town focuses on what is termed the “Garden Method,” which means that they are fostering the relationships that currently exist rather than trying to go out and find new businesses. The Town is totally focused on how to keep the businesses that are currently located in Marana, and the best way for them to grow. The goal is these large corporations stay in the Town and keep providing jobs and revenues. The feeling I got today was not really focused on revenues, rather the quality of life. Now, revenues are obviously important, but the driver for economic growth is more closely tied to the quality of life the Town can provide the employees of these large companies. Think about it…..where would you locate your business? In a place that has great economic incentives or a place that has great schools for your kids? These are the decisions that Josh tries to help the businesses make, and the marketing for the Town is much more focused on the “soft” things rather than money.

Marana is the most business friendly jurisdiction I have ever been around! They really want to make the Town a destination for international headquarters. This is really important since NERD ALERT! Businesses bring in homes and people; those people in turn buy homes in the Town and spend money in the Town thus driving up revenues. What I thought was really cool, was the economic incentives are not great, but they are stipulations on what some of those monies can be used for. The Sargent project, for example, had to put their incentive monies into programs that provided internships for local students, or training for their employees, and even for landscaping making I-10 look more presentable. These are ways that these businesses are providing additional benefits to the community in other ways, which is highly innovative and makes the Town much more sustainable.

The end of the day I spent some time with Adelina Martin, and was talked about several of the events that are coming up. Here is a link to the events calendar. There is something most nights and the Star Spangled Spectacular is coming up on July 4! There is so much that goes into planning these huge events, sometimes 800 people come!, and she is the guru when doing anything. The biggest plus is that most of these events are funded through other sources and sponsors rather than the taxpayer dollars. Although, these events are going to be super cool I bet people would be willing to pay for them!Keep your eyes peeled for the Founder's Day Celebration and the Holiday Tree Lighting later this year!

Tomorrow I am off to the Chamber of Commerce, and know that I have all this development knowledge I can’t wait to see how they fit into the whole picture! Clearly, I am huge dork!

The Wheels on the Bus....

I spent yesterday with T VanHook. She is the Community Development Director. She oversees grant funding applications, affordable housing initiatives, annexation, and transit. The department is kept very segmented in that each area is its own distinct entity. Her primary job is to set the goals and objectives and to help the Town with the grant process. Most of the funding is FEMA, Homeland Security, Affordable Housing and HUD, and Neighborhood Services.

There were two projects I worked on with T. The first were several transit issues. The Town is putting in several new bus stops and T is working to get these put in the proper places. We had a meeting with the Operations guys and talked about where, when and how they are going to pour concrete and put up the stops. The U of A School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to create new cool transit stops that creates designs in the shade. The other exciting news is that the Town is unveiling the new shuttle schedule on November 1!! I got to take a look at the draft from the RTA and run scenarios to see where any glitches might have been. It looks like it is going to be really helpful for those trying to get to work before 8am!

The second half of the day I spent working on neighborhood relations stuff. We went to a meeting in Marana Estates to talk to the residents about re-certification as a colonia. The Housing and Urban Development Department establishes the definition of a colonia and the required documentation to be named as such. These areas are set aside and are able to receive specific funding dollars that are not available to larger neighborhoods. There is a lot that goes into this re-certification including photos and history of the homes prior to 1990! We talked with several residents and many of them are walking history books of the area. It was really great to hear their stories and tell tale of who used to live where and how many kids they had and what color their house was.

It looks like in order to get some of the more statistical data required for the re-certification the neighbors are going to complete a survey, and we were able to solicit resident's help to administer the survey. It was really cool to see the neighbors working together to make their community a better place. This meeting was also a time where residents presented any grievances, which in this case were the same issues they have been dealing with for a while. It was nice to go out into the community and talk with people to see what types of services they wanted to have provided. They are not overly demanding (at least not yesterday) and since T knows most of them by name and address, they are more willing to be understanding that the Town is doing the best it can to get these issues resolved.

I spent today with the Court system. This was a bit different than my previous experience with the prosecutor, in that I focused more on what actions the judge was taking. I met with Sandy Celaya who is the Court Supervisor and she oversees all the staff that make up the court office. The clerks, probation officers, and the collections officials all report to her. She gave me a short tour of the court building (which is super nice) and then I went and sat in on the proceedings. The morning was much slower than when I was with the Laine Sklar last week. The cases that the judge did rule on/hear were the same type of crimes; shoplifting, domestic violence and DUI. The judge always made sure that the defendant understood what they were charged with and what the agreed to, if they took the plea agreement. He shows them exactly what the form they are going to sign looks like, and asks any questions from the case file, which I think serves two reasons. It allows him to get the story from the defendant, but also puts that information in the recording. After this, he makes sure they understand what will happen next and gives them their court date. Most of them are so scared/worried that they miss some of what was said. He does a great job of making people feel comfortable while still remaining an imposing figure of the law. This day just reinforced my lesson of do NOT commit a crime, but followed it up with Come to Court!


Today there were two special instances of the court. The first was video court, which is not special to the Town since they hold it often, but is special in the sense that it is a unique way to save money on transporting prisoners and quickening their release. There was only one case today, and it went very quickly. No one wants to spend more time in jail than they have to, I'm sure. The other cool thing about today was the Spanish interpreter that came to court today. The first Wednesday of each month is interpreter day, and the court has had people who speak all kinds of languages come in; Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Polish were just a few that I was told about. The interpreter comes up to the prosecutor and the judge when the defendant's name is called and helps them to understand what is going on. Since the judge is very committed to having them understand what they are charged with and their rights, it was really cool to see this carry across all aspects of the court.

This morning I was able to attend the Marana Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast. This was held at a local restaurant and had business owners and operators from all over the area. I was able to meet some great people and hear about all the different businesses that are present in the Town. After a speech by the sponsor company, each person had to introduce themselves and tell what they did. I thought this was a really cool way to show other people where and who they can go to for specific services. There was a lady who had gotten into a small car accident and she was going to have her car fixed by one of the other members! Marana is so business friendly in policies and codes that this supplement fit in perfectly. I am going over there on rotation on Friday and I am excited to hear more about the projects and events they have planned for the future. This is one area of local government that I am very interested in! I'm starting this area tomorrow by shadowing Josh Wright, the Strategic Initiatives Director. We are going to take a tour of the Pima County One Stop, should be awesome!