Chandler Delivers

Strengthen Police and Fire Response Times - I led the charge to hire more Chandler police officers. Today, for the first time, we are a fully manned police force. Now we’re working on ways we can allow our police officers and firefighters to have a little bit more vacation or family time and have backups when an officer is out for medical reasons.

Solving Crimes Faster - Through my efforts with my fellow council members, Chandler will soon have its own forensic lab. This lab will allow our police officers to solve crimes quicker without having to subcontract time-sensitive work out to other cities who place their own priorities higher than ours.  

Better Ambulance Service - I will ensure we fully implement our firefighters taking over operation of our crucial ambulance services. Not only will it make our services safer and more responsive, but it will be a revenue generator for our city. Rather than private ambulance companies collecting fees, we Chandler firefighters will bill insurance companies directly.

Enhanced Public Safety - Community Safety goes beyond the typical concept of police and fire services, while obviously involving much that our city first responders offer. It includes:

• School Safety - I’m proud of leading a program – the School Education Engagement (SEE) program – to bring retired police officers into our schools to educate students on numerous modern challenges that kids face. In its second year after a successful pilot, Chandler has grown the program from two to three officers who meet 6th graders where they are and provide the tools they need to navigate challenges of things like social media, drugs, and peer pressure. Students and parents alike have appreciated this program and its ability to help students make informed choices and build relationships with our public safety officers. As mayor, I will continue seeking innovative programs like this to keep Chandler kids safe.

• Addiction and Mental Health - Community Safety also stands for working with addiction, homelessness, domestic violence, and mental health service providers. Chandler addressed some of this with our firefighter crisis response team and the mental health response team in our Police Department, but there’s more to do. 

• Wider Partnerships - We need to strengthen city public safety agencies AND work with non-profits - which are able to leverage federal, state, and city dollars - to help Chandler be an even safer city. 

This is an area where Chandler has developed a strong background over the years but one needs constant attention in several key areas:

Attracting International Investment - Our semiconductor industry is ripe for continued expansion through more investments from global technology companies. Recently, Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan opened or expanded facilities in Chandler. We should continue working with our current semiconductor tech industry partners to assure on-going investments in infrastructure helps Chandler attract additional semiconductor related companies.  

For over thirty years, I worked in the high-tech industry, developing business plans and growing businesses around the world. I speak the language of large technology companies and have the unique background necessary to understand their global dynamics. In that global environment, I’ve seized multi-million-dollar business opportunities from San Diego to Singapore. I'll put that experience with large, complex projects to work for Chandler.

Small Business Support – Having a global mindset doesn't mean we should neglect the backbone of our economy... locally-owned small businesses. I, along with other members of the city council, invested in the ASU Innovation Center, a collaboration between Chandler and ASU. This partnership has paid dividends by helping our small business owners and our young entrepreneurs grow and gain the experience and education needed to make their businesses flourish. I will continue seeking innovative partnerships to help our local businesses, and the families that run them, thrive.

Direct Partnerships With Businesses - Working with the Chamber of Commerce is a huge and essential element for the city. As mayor, I plan on expanding that partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and other small business development organizations on which we've relied for many years. We should continue to rely on them to do things that they do best while we focus on city government. 

Workforce Development – I will implement a comprehensive workforce strategy. We need to enhance partnerships and integrated solutions with the business community, labor organizations, and Chamber of Commerce. We need to directly connect our high schools and community colleges to workforce development programs so our students get the experience they need to be successful in today’s, and tomorrow’s, job market. 

Streamline Planning Process - We also need to streamline our internal processes to ensure that our economic development team works together with our planning and zoning team to easily and quickly issues permits with the least amount of government red tape as possible. We took a stab at that a few years ago and this year we’re making our second attempt. I’ll continue to work to minimize governmental obstacles without jeopardizing quality and safety.

Art and Entertainment Defines a Community - We should focus more on the arts and entertainment opportunities. By working with the Chandler School District, we can create a more robust Chandler Art Center that can allow for more entertainment opportunities and provide additional revenues for both entities. We are reimagining our AJ Chandler Downtown Park to be more open, shaded, and inviting to all for more entertainment opportunities.

Stable and Clean Neighborhoods - We need to continue cleaning up our neighborhoods and ensure that neighbors are helping themselves keep our neighborhoods clean and safe. For those who do not live up to the standard we expect in Chandler, we need to work with them to make sure they do so that other owners in the area feel confident. We’ve made great strides on affordable housing, but we need to do much more. 

Sustainable Community - Chandler was one of the first communities to invest in solar energy at our downtown municipal facilities; we expanded solar energy throughout all our city buildings, airport, and our wastewater treatment plant. This will amount to millions of dollars of electrical savings per year. We converted our streetlights to LED bulbs, saving close to a million dollars per year in electric costs. We need to investigate new cutting-edge technologies like cool pavements. 

Housing for All – As mayor I will continue to concentrate on improving housing affordability city wide by encouraging compatible infill projects for new housing. I will also redevelop existing public housing sites to provide housing affordability options for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and families. We need to expand our relationship with non–profit organizations (such as Habitat for Humanity) to build additional affordable and middle housing in Chandler. See additional details of my plan in the section below!

My Housing for All Plan will specifically:

• Work with the financial institutions, realtors, and mortgage community to find creative ways to increase sales to first-time home buyers by providing down payment assistance via grants, non-profits, and private sector funding that will be paid back over a short period of time.  

• Work with home builders on infill and redevelopment projects to build new for sale homes for middle housing markets, first time buyers, and homes for those who desire to downsize.

• Accelerate the downtown home project – build new for sale homes for the middle housing market on the approximately 40 undeveloped properties in downtown Chandler with public land trust and private funding.

• Complete Chandler’s Villas on McQueen (157 units) affordable workforce housing development and accelerate the second phase of The Haven on Hamilton St. (over 250 units) by utilizing private funding and government grants/funding sources. We will get Phase 3 and 4 completed.

• Work with our schools and churches to increase housing affordability projects on their land because of school closures or excess vacant property. 

• Continue to seek innovative ways to develop housing. For example, I led the city’s initial discussions with Chandler Unified School District to potentially upzone its old bus depot for housing development. I will seek ideas and input from all Chandler residents on creative ways to make homeownership a possibility for all.

Our Future Water Supply - I’ve worked for many years to ensure agreements with water providers and other users will guarantee Chandler has redundant and diversified water supplies. Our water supply is so precious that we sued a water provider who was not delivering on their promises. I’ll take whatever action necessary to maintain Chandler’s water supply.

We’re drilling new wells and increasing our conservation efforts in every way possible. We’ve been doing this for a long time, but we’ve developed an even more intensive program over the last few years. We need adequate new supplies and we are working to build a new dam with SRP and are building the new infrastructure needed to store water from our Central Arizona Project (CAP) allotment directly into our underground reservoir. We’re replacing aging pipelines to ensure that our water system is built for the future. As Chandler’s representative to Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) committee, I have firsthand knowledge of what’s happening with our water supply.

Chandler is well positioned to ensure clean, safe water and an assured water supply by using smart conservation technology and converting turf to desert landscaping. We are leading the state in these important areas and are prepared for potential cuts to water allocations.

Schools as a Center of Community -Families are the heart of Chandler, and our award winning schools attract and keep growing families here. I’ve sourced ideas from families across Chandler and around the country, and they believe that schools serve as a centerpiece of communities.

As Chandler Unified School District rebuilt Galveston Elementary, the city worked with the neighborhood to update its infrastructure and park, making the area safer and more livable. Chandler is implementing a similar program while rebuilding Hartford Elementary, and should continue this type of neighborhood development.

Schools and neighborhood developments that include day care, afterschool programs, and recreational community uses are all on the table. And, of course, any neighborhood development plan must include additional affordable homeownership opportunities to continue to attract new and growing families.

On the city council, I supported a marketing campaign that encouraged families with school-age children to move to and stay in Chandler. If we do not have neighborhoods to support them, we will face declining enrollment and school closures in the next few years. As mayor, I will keep our schools strong- we owe it to our children.

Partnering for Foundational Education - Chandler Unified School District works with Read On Arizona, a statewide program that ensures our young students are able to learn to read and stay at grade level throughout their education. It also partners with arts organizations to use art as an education and community too, bringing student-led art projects to our parks and city properties. Chandler should continue to seek trusted and proven methods to make sure our students have the best educational opportunities available.

Partnering for Workforce Development - In addition to foundational education, Chandler must continue preparing its students for the workforce. We need to enhance partnerships and integrated solutions with the business community, labor organizations, Chamber of Commerce and our high schools, as well as our community colleges, to develop long-lasting programs so our students could get the experience they need to be successful in the job market.