"As a resident of Buckeye for ten years, our family has dedicated themselves to serving people, because people are the priority. We love Buckeye and have worked passionately for the residents over the past four years, but there is still work to be done. We need to continue our economic growth, create more jobs, support our schools and keep public safety our top priorities. Development is coming and we need leaders who are educated and experienced to ensure smart growth for the future"
Working for Buckeye
PUBLIC SAFETY
With a husband for a firefighter, you not only work for the city of Buckeye, you become a part of it. For over a decade, our family has volunteered at countless United Buckeye Fire Charities events. My husband and I spearheaded Turkeyfest, an annual event that provides a holiday meal for over four hundred familiies for the last seven years. Our family loves giving back to the community and participating in events.
I supported the pilot program, the Buckeye Paramedicine program. Currently, this program has helped hundreds of patients lower medical costs and get immediate help that has been life-saving in many cases. The program provides follow-up medical support once discharged from the hospital. Not only is it a benefit to the patient, it has helped reduce hospital re-admission rates from 18% down to 3%. This program has gained statewide and nationwide attention.
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I voted for the new Public Safety facilities at Sundance Crossings. After years of sitting vacant, the city was able to acquire Sundance Crossings and part of that included building the new Police Substation and Public Safety offices. Before this was built, fire and police office personel were spread between several buildings in the city. The sub-station also allows for quicker response times and additional space for police officers to complete their paper work.
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Under my watch as Vice Mayor, we have been able to lower our violent crime rate, again, to one of the lowest in the state. With our great police staff, Buckeye was named one of the Safest Cities in the state of Arizona. We need to continue to fund our public safety programs including the Paramedicine program. This fall we will open a new fire house. In the future we need to ensure that all of our fire personnel are in adequate stations.
EDUCATION
With a young family, we are incredibly active in our schools, our church and sports programs. I have held multiple positions within our school parent teacher organization. I volunteer with our school music program, as well as the girls volleyball team. During my tenure on the council, I have created programs like Buckeye Read On, which has helped adults and their children learn to read together at no cost. This is part of the state-wide initiative driven by the Virginia G. Piper Foundation. This program has helped unite the education leaders, community leaders, and business leaders here in Buckeye. We have brought programs such as Raising a Reader to our local schools and libraries. We provided books at the Buckeye Superheroes Back to School Drive. Recently we acquired six My Little Libraries, that will be distributed to different areas of the City. In addition, we are hosting a book drive with the partnership of Abrazo hospitals to help push our Buckeye Reads initiative later this summer.
Through my partnership with the State led program AZSci-Tech Festivals, we have been able to support the efforts of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), again at no cost to our residents. I sit on the committee for the largest event in Buckeye, the Buckeye Air Fair that promotes education and family fun. Our Buckeye SciTech event has been highlighted as a Signature Event in the AZSciTech brochure for the last two years. We also host several smaller events during the months of February and March. The last piece to this program is highligting our elementary school science projects. For the past two years, we have highlighted student projects from the Buckeye Elementary School District as well as the Liberty School District. We award prizes and certificates, and acknowledge each child at a council meeting.
A great accomplishment is implementation of the Buckeye Youth Council. Alongside two of my fellow councilmen, we launched the Buckeye Youth Council just two years ago. I have championed this group and helped teach high school students the importance of leadership and civic ownership by taking pride in their community and traveling all over the state to represent Buckeye.
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I will continue to forge forward with these programs including new partnerships with Experience Matters for deploying volunteers into our school systems and seeking out more grant opportunities. We are kicking off a pilot program in the Buckeye Elementary School District as well as one Litchfield School located in Buckeye. Help me make sure these programs do not stop due to change in leadership.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
When elected in 2012, Buckeye was still going through the great recession. Businesses were wary of building and home builders came to almost a halt. During that time, the council and staff focused our attention on infrastrcuture, smart as policies, and good planing. We began laying a good foundation that is now leading to the successes we see today. In 2012 the voters approved a $28 million dollar water bond. To date, nearly $20 million dollars of infrastructure has been placed in the ground. In 2015, after two years of negotiations, the city purchased Global water company. It is only because of the foresite and planning over the last four years that we now have our first major development Cardinal IG. This is just the tip of the iceburg! Development is here and we need to ensure we grow wisely. We need experienced leaders in place to continue with our strategic planning to ensure the safe and continued growth. One of the items that developmers and business people look to when selecting a community is stable leadership. I can provide that stability.
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I strongly believe that Buckeye is an incubator to some amazing entrepreneurs and new business opportunities, which is why I brought the Alexandria project, now know as the EON program to our new Coyote Branch Library. This program has seen more than 60 business owners and has helped launch 12 at no cost for the participants. They have been able to meet successful business owners and public figures who have taught real-life business coaching. I am currently working on a pulic-private partnership opportunity to bring a new facility to Buckeye. Help me help our entrepreuners succeed.
For all of my involvement in the business and education committee I was named to the 2015 Phoenix Business Journal 40 Under 40 in last year's class. I am a graduate of Leadership West Class 20, and during my time there, my team initiated a campaign to grow the West Valley. The program was called Shop, Give, Serve. This program was a finalist for the Best of the West Awards as well as being the recipient for the Innovations in Government Bright Ideas Awards through Harvard University.
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In 2014 the council voted on the creation of the new Development Services Department. With this, it allows the city to hold more control over our future growth. The creation of this department has allowed for development to become more streamlined. This decision enabled us to land deals such as Tom Jones Ford, Holiday Inn express, Culver's, and our newest development Cardinal IG. In addition to the Development Services, the city is currently going through a complete system overhall. Within the next 9 months, all city departments will be on a new software system called Tyler. This will allow for us to communicate with our entire business directory, create better efficiencies, and reduce redundicies. This system will also allow us to create new opportunities for clients and residents in service areas such as water billing, permitting, and plan review.
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RESPONSIBLE GROWTH
During the early 2,000's Buckeye experienced an unprecedented time of growth. It grew in land mass to over 600 square miles. During that time, Buckeye was not prepared for the growth it experienced. Over the last four years, we have focused on putting policies in place that made Buckeye enticing as well as responsible. We encourage infill growth, rather than continued sporatic growth.
As we grow, council policy has also been to protect and preserve those traditions and values that are part of our heritage. That is why we built Skyline Regional Park and began the White Tank Mountains Conservancy. This will allow us to protect our mountain ranges for generations to come. As a council, we also began the Gila River Restoration and El Rio Design. Both of these programs help us focus on restoring our Gila River, creating a continuous design concept through three cities, and will allow us to provide unique business opportunities. We have continued to fund our downtown Catalyst Program, streetscape projects, and street art (coming soon). In addition to these projects, we continue tradition with our Glow on Monroe Parade, Buckeye Day's Events, Helzapoppin Rodeo, Halloween Festival, Melodrama and more. Most of those traditions are nearly 50 years old or more! By electing me, I will ensure that we continue to grow smartly, while protecting our natural assets.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
New Amenities
Sundance Park
Coyote Branch Library
Downtown Library Renovation
Buckeye Museum Renovation
Public Safety Admin Building
Fire House 703
Fire House 704* (August 2016)
Monroe Streetscape
Downtown Street Art
Enterprise Resource Program
Newly Designed City Webpage
Skyline Regional Park
Creation of White Tank Mountains Conservancy
West-Mec Buckeye Campus (school)
Painted Desert Montessori School (Aug 2016)
Odyssey Sienna Hills School (Aug 2016)
BESD - Riata West (2016)
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New Programs:
Buckeye Marathon
Buckeye Read On
Buckeye SciTech
Catalyst Grant Program
Fitness in the Park
Farmer's Market
Parks and Recreation Masterplan
White Tank Mountains Conservancy
Gila River Restoration
El Rio Design
Paramedicine Program
Police Body Camera Program
Passport Processing
Salary Restoration
Marketing Department Creation
Social Media Sites
Town to City
Economic Development Webpage
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Over 80 new businesses have opened in Buckeye since 2012
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Culvers
Wing Stop
Jimmy John's
Valero Gas Station
Native New Yorker
Firehouse Subs
Tom Jones Ford
Goodwill
Holiday Inn
Aaron's
Federico's
Buckeye Xtreme Paintball
Abrazo Emergency Facility
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Brake's Plus
Discount Tire
Liberty Taxes
Verrado Coffee
Quick Trip
Tractor Supply
Rancheros
Cafe 25:35
To The Limit Printing
Tata and Nana's
Carniceria Expansion
Cardinal IG
The Vic
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Join the Yes4Hess Team
Westpark
Buckeye, AZ 85326
Tel: (623) 826-4813
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