A first-year mayor is getting recognition for his emerging leadership as a government official.
Late last month, the Arizona Capitol Times released its 2023 Leaders of the Year awards, highlighting Peoria Mayor Jason Beck as a winner for the “Government” category.
In addition to congratulating Mayor Beck and others who earned recognition under various categories, the Arizona Capitol Times wrote, “These individuals have demonstrated a commitment to serving their communities that are second to none. Their passion and talent have made Arizona a better place for all that live here.”
Since entering office at the beginning of this year, Mayor Beck has proven he is up for the task of leading his city forward, working with the council to keep several of the promises he made during his 2022 campaign. Beck made public safety a key focus of his campaign, and he has delivered on multiple fronts to increase funding and resources for Peoria’s police, fire, and school.
In July, Beck announced that there would be a police presence at all Peoria Unified School District schools during the 2023-2024 year. He added that there would be four new SLOs (School Liaison Officers) and rotating SLOs at every school, that this presence would be expanded to all elementary schools, and that there would be 22 Peoria schools with police coverage and an increase in SLO salary.
The action to provide additional school safety personnel for Peoria schools comes on the heels of an earlier announcement from Mayor Beck on funding for the city’s police pension funding. In a social media post, Beck noted that the Peoria City Council had moved $6 million to the police pension funding, which was now 80% funded – compared to 48% funded in 2020.
Earlier this spring, the mayor highlighted his vote “to approve the Peoria Police Association’s proposal for a wage increase for Peoria Police Officers.” His communication on March 16 stated that the Peoria City Council “unanimously voted to increase police wages by a 10% market adjustment and a one time lump sum payment of $2,500 to go in effect March 18th.”
Beck also revealed that his city had just arranged for the acquisition of land for a new, “state-of-the-art” police and fire station, which would ensure “efficient collaboration between the two crucial services in times of emergency.” Mayor Beck explained that he is “committed to ensuring that Peoria remains a safe and secure place for everyone,” and that he “understands the vital role that our police officers and firefighters play in maintaining this safety.” He expressed his pride in supporting the city’s first responders in “their tireless efforts.”
The mayor’s success at the helm of his city comes as no surprise to those who have interacted with him in the private sector before he entered the political realm. Before taking the oath as Peoria’s chief executive, Beck founded TYR Tactical, which manufactures police and military equipment. Beck has served as the company’s CEO since its inception in 2010, growing his operation into one of the city’s top businesses. In a letter posted on TYR’s site, Beck asserts that “protecting and serving the men and women of U.S. and Allied Armed Forces, as well as Law Enforcement and Federal Agencies, has always been my number one priority.”
At the beginning of March, Beck announced that he had been presented with the Patriotic Employer Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. The honor is a recognition for “contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.” Beck wrote, “Those that have worked at TYR know the intensity in which we focus on perfection of the product and why we say every stitch matters. Every Police Office, Every Soldier and Every Life Matters! It’s what I am proud of TYR’s performance and we are proud of Renato and the many vests that have worked for us in the past and currently working for us now.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s most-recent Republican nominee for state attorney general is taking time away from his legal efforts over the previous election to praise the country’s former president for a major foreign policy success enacted under his administration.
Republican Abraham Hamadeh recently joined with Bryan Leib to co-author an op-ed in The Federalist entitled, “Three Years Later, Trump Deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords.” The piece has generated significant national attention – especially from those who are loyal to the former president and current candidate for the 2024 campaign, Donald J. Trump.
Hamadeh and his co-author first noted President Trump’s “bold decision to keep his campaign promise and move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem” – even when many naysayers doubted the rationale of this action. The writers pointed to those same doubters in the case of Trump’s announcement of the Abraham Accords framework, stating that “they were wrong once again.”
The Abraham Accords were issued in September 2020 by the United States, the State of Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. The agreement was forged with the belief “that the further development of friendly relations meets the interests of lasting peace in the Middle East and that challenges can only be effectively addressed by cooperation and not by conflict;” and with the determination “to ensure lasting peace, stability, security and prosperity for both their States and to develop and enhance their dynamic and innovative economies.”
The parties agreed to multiple points as part of these accords – primarily to the establishment of “peace, diplomatic relations and full normalization of bilateral ties” between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel. In one of the most challenging years for the world in modern history, the Abraham Accords infused sorely needed hope and optimism into the international community at that point in time.
According to the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, trade between Israel and the UAE increased significantly in the aftermath of the 2020 agreement, skyrocketing 82 percent from 2021 to 2022 ($3.37 billion).
The two authors discussed their credentials amid the piece to give readers confidence that they had sufficient knowledge of the situation on the ground in the Middle East. Hamadeh boasted of his service as a U.S. Army Reserve captain and intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia when the countries made history with the accords. Leib shared that he is a Jewish American who “has enjoyed relationships and friendships with Arabs in America and throughout the Middle East.”
Hamadeh and Leib bemoaned President Joe Biden’s missed chance to build on the Abraham Accords, writing, “The Biden administration took great pains not to acknowledge the Abraham Accords in the first year of his presidency, and that has created a chilling effect in the Middle East.” They both predicted that “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is most likely the next Arab-majority country to officially make a peace or normalization agreement with Israel.
They pumped the brakes on this potential accord coming to fruition during the Biden Administration, however, stating that “the leaders and people of Israel and Saudi Arabia may have to wait for Trump to get back into the White House to broker their peace agreement.”
The writers opined that if the American president overseeing the accords was Biden or someone else, “the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation would have already awarded its highest honor for the Abraham Accords,” warning that “its failure to reward these historic agreements and Trump with the honor only damages the credibility of the Nobel Foundation.” They argue that “peace shouldn’t be political, especially in a world where it’s hard to come by.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s housing costs continue to climb at a concerning rate for minimum-wage workers.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its annual report, showing how much renters need to earn to afford a modest apartment in each state across the United States. Arizona checked in with the 12th highest housing wage among all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
According to the report, Arizonans need to bring home $29.93 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental home. Individuals would need to work 86 hours each week at the state’s $13.85 minimum wage to hold onto that two-bedroom apartment – or 71 hours for a one-bedroom rental.
In comparison, Arizona’s neighbor to the west, California, has the highest housing wage in the country. California renters must make $42.25 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental home, and the state’s minimum wage workers ($15.50/hour) would need to toil for 109 hours each week to maintain their living arrangements.
Arkansas took the trophy for the State with the lowest housing wage around the union with a $16.27 per hour rate required to afford a two-bedroom rental home and only 59 hours of employment per week at minimum wage ($11.00/hour).
Arizona has 2,683,557 total households according to the report, and 917,899 of those households classified as renters (34% of households in the state). The percentage of renters in California is 45% of total households, while that number is 34% in Arkansas.
The report shows that the fair market rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Arizona is $1,287 and $1,556 for a 2-bedroom apartment. The median renter household income ($52,391) would support a monthly payment of $1,310 for an apartment.
Addressing the increasing housing costs for the state was a priority for Arizona legislators, though those efforts produced few results. Republican lawmakers were able to strike a deal with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs during the final stretch of the extended session to prohibit the rental tax for Arizona tenants. Arizona Senate Republicans claimed that “approximately 70 municipalities within our state charge this tax,” and that “this tax can cost as much as $200 per month.”
Senate Majority Whip Sine Kerr applauded the signing of this bill, explaining how important the removal of rental taxes across the state would be for countless Arizonans. She stated, “Rental prices aren’t going down anytime soon, and Arizona tenants are agonizing over just how much more expensive it is now to rent an apartment or house than ever before. For Metro Phoenix, June of this year saw the second-highest monthly total of evictions since the 2008 Great Recession. According to Maricopa County records, landlords filed to evict nearly 7000 times last month. We needed to act promptly. This bill will provide some help, and I’m proud the Majority Caucus spearheaded this change in tax policy.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A freshman Arizona Republican Representative scored a victory in his efforts to uphold the interests of hard-working taxpayers.
Last week, Representative Matt Gress issued a press release, announcing that “the Arizona Department of Housing won’t be enforcing a controversial – and very likely illegal – provision in its contract with the City of Scottsdale.”
✅FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE✅ State Representative @MatthewGress Announces Victory in Ongoing Fight Against Scottsdale’s Taxpayer-Funded Homeless Hotel Plan
“This is a victory for the safety and well-being of Scottsdale’s residents, many who staunchly oppose their tax dollars being… pic.twitter.com/Hn37QdHJ7h
Gress’s release explained that the “contract provision would have authorized the City to use the state funds to house homeless people from ‘the zone’ in downtown Phoenix and foreign nationals who otherwise would have been expelled under Title 42 in a hotel close to Pima and Indian Bend Roads.” The release added that “the City was previously awarded a $940,000 grant from the Department of Housing to carry out the terms of the contract,” and that “the Department has now admitted to Representative Gress that, despite the terms of the Contract, it does not intend to enforce the ‘Zone’ or the ‘Title 42’ provisions of its Contract with the City.”
In a statement accompanying his release, Gress said, “This is a victory for the safety and well-being of Scottsdale’s residents, many who staunchly oppose their tax dollars being spent to house homeless from other cities and foreign nationals who should have been deported under Title 42. I maintain serious concerns regarding the city’s intentions to utilize area hotels for this purpose and intend to pursue this matter further. Soon I will announce details of a public subcommittee hearing where I plan to delve more deeply into the problematic approach of converting hotels to housing for homeless.”
This is an important step in the right direction. We need real treatment options for unhoused individuals, not temporary shelters converted from hotel rooms.
I’ll be exploring this topic in an upcoming subcommittee hearing.
On August 3, Representative Gress transmitted a letter to Arizona Department of Housing Director Joan Serviss, expressing his concerns about “significant and unsettled questions (regarding) the validity and enforceability of the Contract” between the City of Scottsdale and the Department. Gress asserted that “nothing in state law or S.B. 1720 (what the Department derived its authority to execute the Contract under), however, authorizes the Department or the City to use state monies to provide housing for foreign nationals who entered the country after Title 42 was lifted in early May.”
The Representative warned that “if the Department enforces this unlawful provision, or if the City attempts to require the hotel to house individuals from the Zone or aliens who have been released under the federal government’s unconstitutional parole program, the City and the Department will be vulnerable to a lawsuit by a taxpayer to recover the illegal payment of public monies.”
Director Serviss responded to Gress on August 18, informing the legislator that “while we stand by the validity of the Contract, we have confirmed with the City that the shelter beds and services provided pursuant to the Contract have not and will not serve those individuals impacted by the Zone and Title 42.”
The issue of temporarily housing foreign nationals in cities around Arizona is not new to the state. In 2021, former Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Acting Director of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, “expressing grave concerns that an ICE contractor has apparently subcontracted with the current owners of a hotel…in Scottsdale to operate a 1,200-person ICE detention facility.” Brnovich noted his disappointment with the federal government over its neglect to confer with his office before executing this contract, highlighting the “important public safety issues involved in locating any detention center in a community setting.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A first-year Corporation Commissioner continues to fight for Arizona ratepayers.
Late last month, Republican Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson issued a press release to announce that he had “amended several provisions in a recent proposal for UniSource Energy’s (“UNS”) Demand Side Management (“DSM”) Energy Efficiency (“EE”) program.” The release explained that these amendments “eliminated or revised several proposals” and “reigned in ratepayer-funded incentives to contractors and sales consultants and focused on prioritizing programs that provided greater value to residential customers and target low-income customers.”
Thompson educated readers on what DSM entailed, writing that “DSM is a ratepayer-funded surcharge that finances Commission-approved EE programs, which are implemented by UNS and other utilities, with the goal of reducing energy load and promoting energy efficiency.” According to Thompson’s information, “the utility spent just over $2.7 million in ratepayer funds on DSM EE programs during 2022.”
The release revealed that the “proposal (in front of the Commission) called to vastly expand the existing UNS EE budget, with nearly $5.8 million in ratepayer-funded programs up for consideration.”
In a statement, Thompson said, “Before increasing ratepayer surcharges to blindly expand energy efficiency programs, it’s important to address inefficiencies in existing programs, eliminate financial rewards for private entities, and ensure residential and low-income customers receive adequate representation in approved programs.”
The Republican commissioner specifically looked for “ratepayer funded incentives weaved throughout the DSM EE programs.” Thompson’s announcement noted that “many of the proposed programs provided incentives and rebates to third parties with financial stakes in the adoption of certain measures or the installation of certain products.” The proposal was devoid of “several incentives and payment reward programs” after Thompson’s due diligence, including:
Incentives to homebuilders to install energy efficient devices in certain new homes
Bonus incentives to sales consultants
Marketing stipends for third parties to promote certain programs
Project incentives to contractors
The proposal had another layer to it, per Thompson, with “the majority of proposed new programs targeting commercial and industrial users.” Thompson was concerned about these programs because “the majority of UNS’s customers are residential and the proposals were of limited value to the public.”
Commissioner Thompson added, “Commissioners must look out for the ratepayer, and we can’t haphazardly spend millions of dollars in ratepayer funds when there are concerns with the way current programs are being deployed. Residential customers shouldn’t be subsidizing purchases for hotel room HVAC units, electric forklifts, appliances for new homes, and truck refrigeration units.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
