Developers looking to build in the Phoenix area may soon be mandated to install art.
The Phoenix City Council may vote on a draft of the proposed ordinance in the spring.
Phoenix City Council’s Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee discussed the creation of an “Art in Private Development” ordinance last week.
The city’s outgoing Arts and Culture Director, Mitch Menchaca, presented the proposed ordinance. Menchaca said developers would be made to allocate a percentage of their project’s construction costs to original, site-specific art.
Menchaca was hired earlier this month by the Greater Columbus Arts Council in Ohio to be its CEO and president. They reportedly will be paying Menchaca “double” what he was paid by the city of Phoenix.
Sedona, Scottsdale, and Tempe all have variants of public art in private development requirements.
Sedona passed its requirement in 1995. Developments exceeding 5,000 square feet of gross floor area and expansions of existing structures over 2,500 square feet of gross floor area must have art.
Scottsdale passed its requirement in 1985. Planned block developments in the downtown area must have art approved by the Scottsdale Public Art Board.
Tempe passed its requirement in 1991. City-wide developments over 50,000 square feet must either install art approved by the Tempe Arts and Culture Department or contribute fees to the Tempe Municipal Arts Fund.
Per the Public Art Archive, at least 18 states have municipalities with public art in private development requirements.
Currently, the city of Phoenix has an incentive program which rewards businesses that install art with earning density or height bonuses and an alternative to meeting standards.
Catrina Kahler, ArtLink Inc nonprofit CEO and Democratic donor, expressed support for a mandate. ArtLink is behind monthly events to support local artists downtown such as the popular First Fridays.
“This risk is low. The return on investment is very high,” said Kahler. “We are in competition with many other cities, not only across the Valley but across the nation. People have choices about where to live, no matter what sector they engage in in terms of their employment, they want to live in a city that’s creative, thoughtful, and beautiful.”
Phoenix Committee Alliance’s advocacy director Patrick McDaniel also expressed support for the mandate.
Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien indicated support for a proposed ordinance, and that she would like more private developer input prior to establishing the ordinance.
“One of my frustrations with being in the northwest part of the Valley is that the only places we can have art is where something is done with city dollars and we use one percent, which means it might be at a water facility. And not that that’s not a great place but it’s not a place where we see a lot of people hang out,” said O’Brien. “And so my desire to have you all here today was to look at what our options are. It’s important to have art everywhere in our city as we are bringing in more businesses and more people, and we want to continue to do that. Art creates culture. And culture creates community. Art should be throughout our city.”
Councilwoman Debra Stark said she would support a city-wide ordinance but, like the vice mayor, requested the council engage further in talks with the private sector.
Councilwoman Laura Pastor also expressed support for sourcing more funding for the maintenance of existing art installations, possibly within the proposed ordinance.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
It pays to know the guys making the laws from the highest offices in the land.
Senator Ruben Gallego used his voting power to protect the business interests of a longtime friend — fellow Harvard University graduate and prominent Democratic donor and activist Joe Sanberg — interests which would turn out to be fraudulent.
In August, Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud perpetrated through his online financial services company, Aspiration Partners. Sanberg admitted to defrauding over $248 million.
Senator Ruben Gallego fought for the success of Sanberg’s company while in Congress.
When he was still a congressman in 2023, Gallego voted to protect against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) limitations that would have impacted Aspiration Partners. The financial services company was uniquely focused on progressive environmental and social causes, including investing in fossil fuel alternatives and selling carbon credits.
Months before that vote, Sanberg gave Gallego a positive endorsement in The Hill. FEC records show Sanberg donated just over $13,000 to Gallego’s campaign from 2014 to 2017.
“The thing about Ruben is he knows exactly who he is,” said Sanberg. “This campaign isn’t about any individual personality.”
In 2015, the two men also launched a political action committee to help elect progressive Latino candidates — LLEGO-PAC, short for Latino Leaders for Equality, Growth, Opportunity, Progressive Action and Change.
Gallego praised Sanberg as “a thought leader” and “progressive leader from day one,” and credited the financial services CEO for being the one who “recruited” him into the Democratic Party. The senator was even a part of Sanberg’s wedding in 2021, per social media posts reported on by Fox News.
“He convinced me to get more involved in politics, and has been a good guiding post for me since then,” said Gallego.
Just a few years ago, Sanberg was shopping himself around to the media as a potential Democratic candidate for president. The Atlantic published one such feature of Sanberg in 2019.
In 2021, Aspiration disclosed in its annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing that 70 percent of its revenue came from ESG services.
Senator Gallego began banking with Aspiration in 2017 and then acquired a non-public stock in the company in 2019.
However, Gallego failed to report that purchase for three years, per Fox News reporting.
Aspiration came on the progressive venture capital scene in 2013 as an “environmental” bank with a “conscience,” the brainchild of co-founders Sanberg and Andrei Cherny, the latter Arizona’s former Democratic Party chairman, congressional candidate, and a Clinton administration speechwriter.
Cherny left Aspiration in mid-October 2022, two years after Sanberg later admitted to prosecutors the company turned fraudulent.
In 2021, Sanberg went into talks with the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team about a four-year, $48 million endorsement deal to sponsor one of their players, Kawhi Leonard.
Many have come to view the endorsement deal as a workaround to the NBA salary cap — a view bolstered by comments from those within Aspiration — though the Clippers have denied this speculation.
Following Sanberg’s arrest and pleading, Aspiration rebranded as GreenFi.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Glendale City Council hired Gilbert’s town manager, Patrick Banger, who created the town’s censorship department.
Banger will receive base compensation of $400,000, subject to adjustments based on factors including performance, the market, and cost of living. This makes Banger one of the highest-paid administrators in the Valley, not including the other perks that come with the position.
The city’s human resources and risk management director, Jim Brown, said they settled on Banger after undertaking a “nationwide search.” The current city manager, Kevin Phelps, intends to retire.
Council member and Alhambra Elementary School District member Jose “Lupe” Conchas Jr. said Banger aligned with their values of commitment to growth and serving residents with distinction. Councilmember Bart Turner, who has been accused of walking in lockstep with Conchas, was reportedly advocating “hard” for Banger.
“This vote isn’t just about selecting a new city manager, it’s about the future of Glendale for the next decades to come,” said Conchas. “I’m confident that Mr. Banger’s leadership will help us continue the path forward.”
Banger will assume the city manager position on January 12 of next year. Banger will depart Gilbert after 15 years with the town.
Banger beat out one other top candidate, Vicki Rios, Glendale’s assistant city manager and a longtime resident. Rios is credited with the city’s “dramatic financial turnaround” after she saved the city from bankruptcy upon entering the administration in 2013 by refinancing debt and building up cash reserves.
Behind the scene, conservative council members and city residents have vowed to keep Banger in line when it comes to aligning with Glendale values — and not importing those of New York.
AZ Free Newsreported last year that Banger credited former Democratic New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as his inspiration for town management, and caused his creation of the Office of Digital Government (ODG).
“One of the things that I’d been doing for quite some time is following what Mayor Bloomberg was doing in New York,” said Banger.
ODG was a department within Gilbert that monitored the online speech of employees and elected officials to ensure alignment with progressive ideologies. Department salaries cost the town over $1.1 million annually.
The former lead of ODG hired by Banger, Dana Berchman, resigned following reporting on ODG activity. Berchman now runs a communications firm, Oh, hi! Communications.
While managing Gilbert, Banger oversaw a $2.2 billion annual budget and nearly 2,000 employees. Banger is credited with generating nearly $400 million in investments and over 700,000 square feet in new construction in Gilbert.
While all those benefits to Gilbert were felt, residents may be more quick to recall Banger’s leadership during the “Gilbert Goons,” a group of mostly wealthy teens who committed a series of crimes and terrorized the community from 2022 onward that ultimately resulted in the murder of a boy in 2023.
The Gilbert Goons and their Halloween murder quickly became a national story, with much scrutiny over the city’s handling of the teens’ crimes leading up to the murder.
ODG control over city communications led to what former employees and residents believed to be the cause of delays and scarcity in communications on the Gilbert Goons.
Banger is also president-elect of the Arizona City/County Management Association. He was formerly chairman of the Maricopa Association of Governments Management Board and an Honorary Base Commander at Luke Air Force Base.
Before taking over as town manager for Gilbert in 2011, Banger’s roots were in Missouri, where he was a consultant, home builder, city administrator, and city financial analyst.
Watch Glendale City Council discuss and vote on Banger’s hiring here:
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
House Speaker Mike Johnson scolded Arizona’s Democratic congressional leaders for their recent “publicity stunts” for fellow Democrat and Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva.
“It is no surprise that another Democrat politician from Arizona is trying to publicity stunt,” said Johnson. “I’ve explained this a thousand times: we are going to swear in Grijalva as soon as we get back to legislative session. So my advice to all the Democrats in Arizona is to tell their two senators Kelly and Gallego to do their job and open the government so we can do business.”
Senator Ruben Gallego issued a response that took offense, primarily, with Johnson not knowing his name. Gallego accused Johnson of being a “pedophile protector,” alluding to the push to release the Epstein files.
“It’s Gallego, not Gallegos or Gallegos, it’s Gallego,” said Gallego. “The fact is, you’re a pedophile protector. You’re protecting the pedophiles on the Epstein list, there’s just no denying that. And your idea that somehow us trying to make sure that 24 million Americans do not have their insurance rate premiums doubled is stopping you from doing your job is just pathetic bulls***.”
Gallego asked why Johnson wouldn’t swear Grijalva in when he swore in Republican representatives outside of session.
Kelly said Johnson’s reason for not swearing in Grijalva — requiring Democrats to end the shutdown — was a “lame excuse.”
“He doesn’t like losing the one-seat majority,” said Kelly.
We’re tired of Speaker Johnson’s lame excuses. It’s well past time to swear in Rep.-Elect Grijalva so Southern Arizona can have someone fighting for them in Congress. pic.twitter.com/PcCvNvyvMK
Johnson has stated publicly that he supports the release of the Epstein files, but has voted against measures that would potentially expose the identities of victims.
Grijalva would provide the vote needed to release the Epstein files under a bipartisan discharge petition that would release the files with limited redactions.
The government shutdown has gone on for over two weeks now and is quickly headed for three weeks.
On September 25, six days before the government shut down, the Arizona Chamber issued a statement urging Congress to pass a continuing resolution.
Chamber President and CEO @dbseiden: Congress must act swiftly to avoid a shutdown and protect economic momentum. Full statement ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ExAWyJPCkx
Likewise, five days before the government shut down, state legislative leaders issued a letter urging the U.S. Senate to pass a short-term continuing resolution.
The White House maintains a government shutdown tracker that includes estimated losses over time.
The projected impact to GDP for Arizona amounts to about $300 million per week, totaling $1.3 billion per month. At over two weeks into this government shutdown, projected GDP loss has swelled to over $600 million.
The estimated unemployment increase amounts to about 1,000 workers. Around 58,000 federal workers are working without pay or furloughed, which accounts for nearly two percent of the state workforce.
Once 30 days hits, the SNAP benefit losses (federal food assistance) will impact nearly 890,000 enrollees, of which 344,000 are children.
Small Business Administration loan delays amount to about $76 million. The federal contract spending cut amounts to around $560 million.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Over 80 of the top University of Arizona (U of A) professors pushed leadership to reject President Donald Trump’s higher education compact.
At the beginning of this month, the Trump administration sent universities across the country the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to encourage certain reforms in exchange for preferential federal funding. One major contentious point of the proposed compact would prohibit hostility to conservative viewpoints.
“To advance the national interest arising out of this unique relationship, this Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education represents the priorities of the U.S. government in its engagements with universities that benefit from the relationship,” read the compact. “Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than those below, if the institution elects to forego federal benefits.”
The proposed reforms touch on improving equality in admissions, stabilizing the marketplace of ideas and civil discourse on campuses, ensuring nondiscrimination in faculty and administrative hiring, enforcing institutional neutrality on societal and political events, raising and standardizing student academic performance standards, establishing equal treatment of students, reducing the educational costs, and reducing foreign influences.
In response, 80 Regents Professors at U of A issued a letter to university President Suresh Garimella requesting denial of the compact. The professors said the compact contained “significant legal and practical flaws” which would threaten U of A’s academic freedom, institutional independence, and legal integrity.
The Regents Professor designation is an exclusive honoring of “faculty scholars of exceptional ability” with both national and international distinction in their respective fields. It is a recognition of the highest academic merit for faculty members who gave unique contributions to U of A through teaching scholarship, research, or creative work.
Their letter questioned the compact’s ambiguity, specifically the vagueness of the alleged benefits and preferential federal funding universities would receive. The professors stated multiple times that the compact offered no insight on how it would be operationalized and enforced.
“Without clarification, UA thus could be ceding authority over internal operations and academic policies for no enforceable, concrete new benefits,” said the professors.
U of A was one of nine institutions to receive the proposed compact, and the only one in Arizona. The others were Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.
These nine universities received the letter because the Trump administration judged them “good actors” based on their having “a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education,” per senior White House advisor May Mailman.
The Tucson City Council sent a similar message to U of A. The council passed a resolution urging the university president to reject the compact.
Garimella said in statements to the media that he and the Arizona Board of Regents are reviewing the compact together to determine a response.
These are the following Regents Professors who signed the letter opposing the compact (not listed: two anonymous signers):
John J. B. Allen, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience;
Sama Raena Alshaibi, art professor; co-director of the Racial Justice Studio, and Regents Professor;
J. Roger P. Angel, Regents’ Professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences, Steward Observatory astronomer, director of Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab;
Neal Armstrong, director of SPECS, Regents Professor (Emeritus) for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Regents Professor (Emeritus) for College of Optical Sciences;
Victor Baker, Regents Professor of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Geosciences, and Planetary Sciences;
Carol Barnes, Regents’ Professor of Psychology, Neurology and Neuroscience; Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Learning and Memory in Aging; Director, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute; Director, Division of Neural Systems, Memory and Aging;
Chad Bender, Astronomer, Steward Observatory;
Thomas Bever, Regents’ Professor, Linguistics, Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, BIO5; Co-Director, Center for Consciousness Studies; Director, Cognition and Language Laboratory;
Ronald Brieger, Regents Professor and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona; Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Mathematics; Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics & Data Science; School of Government and Public Policy;
David D. Breshears, Regents Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources and the Environment;
Judith L. Bronstein, University Distinguished Professor; Joint Professor (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology);
Judith K. Brown, Regents Professor, Plant Sciences; Research Associate Professor, Entomology; Professor, Entomology / Insect Science – GIDP;
Gail Burd, Senior Vice Provost; Office of Academic Affairs, Teaching & Learning; Distinguished Professor, Molecular & Cellular Biology;
Hsinchun Chen, Regents Professor of MIS; Thomas R. Brown Chair in Management and Technology; Director, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; Director, AZSecure Cybersecurity Program;
Peter Chesson, Regents Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology;
Albrecht Classen, University Distinguished Professor of German Studies;
George H. Davis, Regents Professor (Emeritus) of Structural Geology; Provost Emeritus;
Alison H. Deming, Regents Professor of English; Agnese Nelms Haury Chair of Environment and Social Justice;
Celestino Fernandez, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Sociology;
Price V. Fishback, Regents Professor; APS Professor of Economics;
Robert B. Fleischman, Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics;
Robert Glennon, Regents Professor and Morris K. Udall Professor Emeritus;
John Hildebrand, Regents Professor Emeritus of College of Neuroscience;
Malcolm K. Hughes, Regents’ Professor Emeritus for the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research;
Chris Impey, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy; Astronomer, Steward Observatory; Associate Co-Department Head;
Takeshi Inomata, Regents Professor for the School of Anthropology;
Josephine D. Korchmaros, Director of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW);
Mary Koss, Regents’ Professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health;
Etta Kralovec, Regents Professor of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies;
Diana Liverman, Regents Professor for the School of Geography, Development, and Environment;
Sallie Marston, Regents Professor Emerita for chool of Geography, Development, and Environment; Co-Founder and Consultant, School Garden Workshop;
Oscar Martinez, Regents Professor Emeritus, History Department;
Toni M. Massaro, Regents Professor of Law Emerita; Milton O. Riepe Chair in Constitutional Law and Dean Emerita; Executive Director of the University of Arizona Agnese Nelms Haury Program;
William (Bill) McCallum, mathematics professor;
Daniel McDonald, Director, Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research; Extension Specialist, Financial Literacy;
Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist and director of the Planetary Image Research Laboratory;
Juanita L Merchant, Associate Director, Basic Sciences, Cancer Center; Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, College of Medicine; Regents Professor of College of Medicine;
Pierre Meystre, Regents Professor Emeritus of Optical Sciences;
Roger L Miesfeld, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Barbara Mills, Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Anthropology; Curator Emeritus of Archaeology, Arizona State Museum; Professor Emeritus, American Indian Studies;
Lynn Nadel, Regents Professor Emeritus of Psychology;
Alan C. Newell, Mathematics professor;
Mimi Nichter, Professor Emerita of Anthropology;
Janko Z. Nikolich, Professor, Basic Biomedical Sciences; Associate Dean for Research and Partnerships; Regents Professor; UA College of Medicine-Phoenix;
John W. Olsen, Research Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies;
Jeanne E. Pemberton, Regents Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Ian Pepper, Director, WEST Center; Regents Professor, Environmental Science;
David A. Pietz, Regents Professor; UNESCO Chair in Environmental History; Director, School of Global Studies;
George Rieke, Regents Professor for Lunar & Planetary Laboratory;
Marcia J. Rieke, Professor, Astronomy; Regents Professor; Astronomer, Steward Observatory; Endowed Chair, Dr Elizabeth Roemer – Steward Observatory;
Robert Robichaux, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology;
Jerzy W. Rozenblit, University Distinguished Professor; Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Raymond J. Oglethorpe Endowed Chair; Professor of Surgery; Professor of the BIO5 Institute;
Steven Schwartz, Regents Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Beverly Seckinger, Distinguished Outreach Professor in the School of Theatre, Film & Television; former director of the School of Media Arts; Executive Committee of the Human Rights Practice graduate program; founded U of A LGBTQ+ Institute;
Chris Segrin, Regents Professor, Steve and Nancy Lynn Professor of Communication;
Thomas E. Sheridan, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology; Research Anthropologist, Southwest Center;
Kathy G. Short, Regents Professor, Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies;
Kelly Simmons-Potter, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, College of Engineering; University Distinguished Outreach Professor; Director AzRISE, the Arizona Research Initiative for Solar Energy; Professor of: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Optical Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, and Indigenous Food, Energy and Water Systems Graduate Interdisciplinary Program;
Marvin Slepian, Regents Professor and Associate Department Head, Clinical & Industrial Affairs, Biomedical Engineering; Director, Arizona Center for Accelerated Biomedical Innovation; Regents Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology; Regents Professor of Medical Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging; Regents Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
David H. Soren, Regents Professor of Anthropology and Classics;
Sally J. Stevens, Distinguished Outreach Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies; Research Professor with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women;
Mary Stiner, Regents’ Professor Emeritus, Anthropology; ASM Curator Emeritus, Zooarchaeology; Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences;
Peter A. Strittmatter, Regents Professor Emeritus of Astronomy;
Tom Swetnam, Regents’ Professor, Emeritus of Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research;
Bruce E. Tabashnik, Regents’ Professor & Department Head of Entomology;
Vicente Talanquer, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Leslie Tolbert, Regents Professor Emerita of Neuroscience;
Rebecca Tsosie, Regents Professor and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law;
Todd Vanderah, Co-Director, MD/PhD Dual Degree Program; Department Head, Pharmacology; Director, Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center; Professor of: Anesthesiology, BIO5 Institute, Neurology, Neuroscience – GIDP, Pharmacology and Physiological Sciences – GIDP;
Marcela Vásquez-León, Professor, Anthropology; Research Anthropologist, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology; Director, Center for Latin American Studies;
Donata Vercelli, Regents Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine; Director, Arizona Center for the Biology of Complex Diseases; Associate Director, Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center; Professor of BIO5 Institute and Genetics GIDP;
Robert A. Williams, Jr., Regents Professor, E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law;
Rod Wing, Director of Arizona Genomics Institute; Professor, Plant Science; Bud Antle Endowed Chair For Excellence, Agriculture & Life Sciences; Professor of BIO5 Institute and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology;
Connie Woodhouse, Regents Professor Emerita of Geography, Development, & Environment;
Jiang Wu, Regents Professor of East Asian Studies;
Dennis Zaritsky, Deputy Director, Steward Observatory; Regents Professor, Astronomy;
Ofelia Zepeda, Professor, American Indian Studies and Linguistics; and
Lucy M. Ziurys, Regents Professor, CBC and Astronomy
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
