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2004
State of the City Address
Where We Are, Where We Are
Going, How We Get There
Thank you for that wonderful introduction. I first want to
thank the Tempe Chamber of Commerce members and Chamber staff; particularly I’d
like to thank Mary Ann Miller, the Chamber President, Eric Emmert, the Chamber’s
Vice President of Public Relations, and Dan Henderson, who put this event
together.
I’d also like to thank Edward Jones for all of that company’s
great work on behalf of our community. Not only has Edward Jones provided
repeated and generous support for the Chamber of Commerce and so many other
great organizations, but Edward Jones staff members have volunteered countless
hours toward community-supportive charities and similar activities. Barb
Kimbrough, though recently retired from Edward Jones, is one example of that
kind of commitment. Barb volunteered enormous amounts of her time to our
community and she continues to do so. Notwithstanding her retirement, Barb
currently is serving as the Chair of the Tempe Town Lake Foundation. The Town
Lake Foundation is charged with raising money to complete the public amenities
that will serve Town Lake. So my thanks to Edward Jones for leading by example.
As you undoubtedly know, we’re doing this a bit earlier than
in past years. Not long ago, I marked 100 days as Mayor of Tempe. In fact,
today marks 127 days, not that anyone is counting. In that time, we have
focused less on action and more on listening, less on immediate changes and more
on assessing the true state of our community from the inside-out. Our Council
has worked to establish priorities and understand better those items that
deserve our immediate attention.
It has proven to be a worthwhile approach. Now after
listening and observing for these 127 days, I’d like to describe for you this
morning an initial assessments about our community; in particular, Where We Are,
Where We Are Going and How We Get There.
A little background may give some insight into the perspective
I have on Tempe. I have spent my entire life as a Tempean. I grew up here and
am raising a family here. Yes, I went to college and law school elsewhere and
worked for a time in other places. But Tempe has always been my home.
Moreover, with my experience elsewhere, now more than ever I am glad I’m
a Tempean. I believe we are on the brink of our greatest age yet. It starts
with the recognition that we have a great base on which to build to our
brightest future. Those who have preceded this Council in office have
established and helped to maintain a unique, authentic community.
In addition, across the Valley, state and country, there is
one adjective I hear more often than any other when folks describe Tempe:
PROGRESSIVE. It’s true, too. As history has shown, Tempeans are not satisfied
with meeting the current challenges at hand; we continually strive for what’s
better. As a community, Tempeans have a reputation for tackling issues head-on
and implementing ingenious and daring solutions.
It is in that time-honored spirit of wanting Tempe to
progress, that I first want to review the state of things in our city.
Let’s start with WHERE WE ARE. More than three years
ago, City employees who were involved in graduate studies asked for thoughts on
the greatest challenges facing Tempe. After some discussion with the group, we
identified three main challenges that Tempe faced at the time; we still face
them today. They are: Need for Economic Revitalization; the Budgetary Stress
Imposed by the Rio Salado Project during its Transition to Success; and
Deterioration of our Neighborhoods.
First, our Need for Economic Revitalization. In March, 2001,
Tempe, like the rest of the nation, entered an economic recession. The
recession lasted 31 months in Tempe. From March 2001 until October 2003, Tempe
suffered a reduction in its sales tax receipts. In the first full fiscal year
of the recession, the fiscal year running from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002,
the Council was able to cut the budget without trimming staff; $8 million was
trimmed from the general fund and capital budgets. Planning at the time
included the next, more severe measures that might need to be taken were the
recession to continue, which it did following the attack on our country on
September 11, 2001.
As a result, in the second full year, with the continuing
decline in sales taxes, the next phases of belt-tightening were imposed. They
required that staffing levels be reduced; more than 70 percent of Tempe’s budget
is salaries, benefits and other staff costs. The challenge was handled without
any layoffs or other systematic terminations. Through hiring freezes, early
retirements and other consensual arrangements, the Council and City Manager were
able to trim staff costs by almost 10 percent. More than 125 full-time
positions were eliminated through attrition and early retirement programs. It
was a bold and effective move that doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
What is interesting to note in comparing Tempe’s revenue
performance and that of the surrounding cities is the differential impact of the
recession on Tempe. While the surrounding communities experienced an average
decline of slightly more than 4 percent in sales tax receipts, Tempe’s sales tax
base declined by almost 12 percent.
If the financial challenge from slowed sales tax growth isn’t
enough, we also face a different loss of revenue because our community’s
population is not growing much. On a relative basis when compared to the growth
experienced in other cities, Tempe is “shrinking.” Accordingly, in another
year, we will actually likely lose a portion of the revenues that we otherwise
receive from the State. The revenue source is called “State Shared Revenues”
and provides all cities in the state with a split of a pool of money collected
by the State essentially on behalf of municipalities. These State Shared
Revenues are divvied up based on relative population; as Tempe’s population
shrinks relative to other cities, our City’s share of that revenue will shrink
too. Now we’re not facing this challenge alone. For example, Phoenix and
Scottsdale will both likely lose some revenues. The last estimate I received is
that Phoenix may lose as much as $27 million and Scottsdale as much as $3
million. Tempe’s loss may amount to $7 million. Not much perhaps when compared
to Phoenix, but as a percentage reduction, Tempe’s will be the largest and,
given our relatively small budget, very painful.
Tempe in such a different
position from our neighboring cities because our surrounding cities have
continued to grow in population. Tempe, as we all know, is landlocked. That
fact is the main source of these financial challenges we face. While other
communities can increase municipal revenue through growth, and at least mask the
financial challenges facing municipal governments, Tempe can not grow itself out
of this challenge. Tempe is the first landlocked, urban community in the
State. It is the consummate example of a municipal canary in the mine shaft.
How Tempe meets these challenges, if managed successfully, and I believe they
will be, will serve as a shining example of how to address population
“build-out” and create a sustainable community.
In my view, Tempe’s geographic limitation is actually one of
our greatest assets notwithstanding the financial challenges it brings. Because
our community’s boundaries are fixed, we know what we are. There is no identity
crisis brought on by not knowing where our boundaries will end. No uncertainty
caused by fluctuating numbers of residents. No wringing our hands over how
we’ll keep up with infrastructure stresses.
Thirty years ago, with great foresight and courage, city
leaders choose not to annex further south. (Some at the time the issue was
being debated point to that “dastardly community,” Chandler, which, in the dark
of night, “snuck” in and blocked Tempe’s opportunity to grow south, rendering
any further debate about the issue moot.) I view that event of one of the great
blessings bestowed on our community. Today we’re just 42 square miles. That
decisive move makes things easier for us in many ways. Yes, we now must face
the financial challenges I described, but our set boundaries keep our community
more closely knit; our residents, from north to south, east to west, are more
likely to know one another and to participate in City life. That tight weave
keeps our community fabric strong.
Then we have a second challenge. And this one really is
closely associated with the first. It is the Budget Stress Caused by the Rio
Salado Project as it Transitions to Success. The Rio Salado Project has
finished its first five years. The investment our community has made has
allowed us to reclaim a huge amount of land for recreation and development. But
we can be honest about this project; it still requires a great deal of care and
attention, and the private sector investment has not occurred as quickly as
originally assumed. That circumstance is strongly related to the fact that the
recession that began in the Spring of 2001 closed the window on the kind of
private development activity that the Project needed and depended on. That
window was then firmly slammed shut on September 11, 2001.
We do have exciting events happening frequently and all around
the Town Lake, which is an increasingly popular venue for major events like
Ironman Arizona, AVP Volleyball, P.F. Chang’s Rock N Roll Marathon and Orange
County Choppers.
While the Lake has become one of the most important
destinations for our region, the recreational aspects of the project don’t pay
the bills. The project requires $3 million a year to run. We must work
diligently to attract the private sector development that will generate the
sales and property taxes needed to fund the project’s operations. The Council
has taken decisive action to assure the transition toward financial stability
will be made. In June, the Council added more than $6 million to the reserve
fund to cover annual operations. At the project’s burn rate, we need to grasp
and implement our solutions to this challenge presented by slower than
anticipated private sector involvement. But we will. I’ll describe that in a
few minutes.
Finally, we must address the stability of our neighborhoods.
Much of Tempe’s housing stock is more than 30 years old. It is sometimes
difficult for homes in older neighborhoods to compete with those brand new
subdivisions built to our south and east. But they do. Tempe has “location” on
its side. Tempe is in the “middle of it all.”
But despite the desirability of these homes, new home buyers
and young families aren’t buying these homes. They are outbid by the
professional landlords. These landlords have found good money in investing in
Tempe homes that they then convert to rental houses, most frequently to house
ASU students. This conversion of single family, owner-occupied homes to student
rental houses is a trend that is picking up speed and now plagues almost every
neighborhood in Tempe. And I do mean plagues. It is not that students as a
group are bad folks. But remember back to your own college days. Few of us
were worrying about mowing the lawn, painting the house or getting the kids to
bed by eight. Of course, the pressures of college life also requires the
occasional “study break,” which, as I recall, regularly involves the flow of
golden, bubbly beverages of one sort or another, loud music and, in a community
as large as this Valley, many cars converging in one location. When that takes
place in an otherwise quiet residential neighborhood, the social response by the
neighbors usually involves our Police Department’s “Party Patrol.”
And at recent interest rates, professional landlords have been
at a competitive advantage when it comes to buying available housing stock.
It’s tough for a young family that might like to buy into Tempe to compete in
the bidding war for a house when the landlord has a large supply of likely
tenants who will pay several hundred dollars a head to sleep (or not sleep)
eight to a home. This cycle also then undermines the success of the small
neighborhood supportive businesses. As families are replaced with college
students, sales of groceries, hardware, housewares, dry cleaning services and
the like fall. Some of these businesses haven’t survived, leaving an excess of
space in our neighborhood strip-malls. The absence of convenient shopping and
services makes a neighborhood less desirable for current residents and likely
purchasers for owner-occupancy as well.
The trend also has meant fewer children to attend Tempe’s
neighborhood schools, which in turn puts pressure on our school districts’
budgets. This too, is a challenge that our community can meet.
So how do we meet these challenges? Where Are We Going
from here? First let’s address how we will reinvigorate our economy. I
start with the fact that Tempe has amazing resources available within its
borders. If we start with our Central City Core, one sees a natural setting
that is tough for any community to beat. We have The Tempe-Phoenix Papago Park
to the north. This nature preserve is one of the nation’s largest natural
settings that is fully surrounded by urban development. For Tempe’s portion, we
have “A” Mountain on the south side, now also a part of the preserve, and those
desert preserves have nestled within them, the Rio Salado Project with its
two-mile Town Lake, surrounded by park land and greenbelts. There is nothing
else like this in the region.
This collection of natural elements includes, like four points
of a “diamond in the rough,” some of the most unique historic elements one can
find. On the far north is the McDowell Buttes with the historic amphitheater
built in the early 1930s. On the east boundary, the Eisendrath House, one of
the finest examples of Pueblo Revival Style architecture in existence. On the
south point, the 1908 Hayden Flour Mill and the silos, built in the early 1950s.
And on the west point, the Phoenix jewel, Tovrea Castle. Throw in for good
measure three golf courses, one Phoenix’s, one Tempe’s and one ASU’s, Native
American treasures in the form of the Rio Loma and Pueblo Grande ruins, the “A”
Mountain petroglyphs and the recent work identifying “Hole in the Rock” as a
site used as a crop and community planning tool, the Historical Society Museum,
a military museum, the award-winning Phoenix Zoo and Botanical Gardens and one
can quickly see that Tempe has a setting that affords one of the most active,
outdoor lifestyles in the region, all within walking distance of our Downtown.
Then within the Central City Core itself we have Arizona State
University on which to build our more robust economy that will sustain our
community long into the future. This institution has been the heart of Tempe’s
economy for more than a century. At ASU we see some of the most active and
visionary leadership in the Country. For Tempe, the timing of Dr. Crow’s
arrival could not have been better. The development of the AZ BioDesign
Institute, the integration of the University into our community, the creation of
a vigorous, robust vision to carry the University to the leading edge of high
tech, bio tech and nano tech research, all of these and the myriad initiatives
of a similar nature provide Tempe with a fantastic opportunity to benefit from
spin-off businesses and the resulting high-end jobs.
The core of our downtown needs attention. In my view we have
allowed REIT driven development to move us away from our authentic roots and
toward a corporatized caricature of the original. But as the corporate stores
move out, rents are moving downward and new “mom and pop” operations are
beginning to take their places. We need to stabilize this sub-economy as part
of our larger program to reinvigorate our economy. To do that we need to
broaden the base of support from its dependence on “destination” visitors with
residential components. Having residents who call downtown home will provide a
base of consumers who can help sustain a downtown grocery, pharmacy, dry cleaner
and similar neighborhood supportive businesses that the west-side neighborhoods
need to improve quality of life. Having residents who call downtown home also
will provide a social fabric that will help stabilize the social environment.
Downtown residents are more likely to frequent restaurants rather than bars on a
regular occasion and they are less likely to resort to the anti-social behaviors
that result from drinking too much beer late into the night. The eyes and ears
of those residents will also help public safety personnel reduce the incidence
of crime and, when crime occurs, increase the likelihood of apprehension of
perpetrators. All of these effects have a stabilizing influence on our Central
Core.
The direction also will lend itself to increases in property
values and the property tax our community depends on. And it is happening now.
We have four residential towers on the boards for the property between fifth and
sixth streets, immediately east of Ash Avenue. We have the Lakeside condominium
projects by Suncor. Can you believe it—the first phase condominium project on
the south shore of the Lake is essentially fully reserved and the average price
for the units exceeds $400 per square foot. You have to get to Vail to find
real estate prices that match these.
We are now in discussions with developers with mixed use
projects that include substantial residential development immediately east of
City Hall, along the east side of College Avenue at Fifth Street and along the
west side of College Avenue at Sixth Street. We have mixed use projects that
include substantial residential on the north side of the Lake, east of Rural
Road and a new developer that just “went hard” of a substantial investment on
the Club Rio site on the west side of Rural Road.
Yes, we still must tie our Downtown’s sub-economy to the
Lake’s sub-economy. To do that, we have reached consensus that we must get the
“wasteland” properties that separate Downtown from the Lake—the strip of Mill
Avenue from Rio Salado Drive to Third Street—under development. These
properties now include the “America West” greenbelt on the west side of Mill
Avenue and the historic, but currently unsightly Mill and Silos on the east side
of Mill. This section of land is the “neck” that will connect the “head” of
Town Lake to the “body” that is Mill Avenue.
This Council knows that and gets it. Maybe I’m too much the
optimist on this matter, but I believe we can solve the current hurdles to the
development of the Mill property in short order with the right attention.
Overcoming that hurdle won’t be cheap, but it will give us our best opportunity
to ignite a full-blown economic renaissance for our Central Core’s economic
development.
And back to our City’s economic heart. Note that the south
shore of the Lake, from the center of “A” Mountain to the parking lot on the
east side of Rural Road is owned by ASU. Fortunately, ASU’s leaders have
initiated a process recently to get its development of that property moving.
So can we take advantage of all of this economic development
activity? Well, if you look down to your place setting for a moment, if you
hadn’t already noticed, you have a small gift from one of our newest long-term
partners who most believed was headed to the west side of the Valley for good.
This community just recaptured the Angels for 20 years, and maybe longer. If we
can renew that relationship when none thought it likely or possible, you bet we
can make this easy stuff happen.
And by achieving this economic renewal we have the tools to
address a substantial portion of our financial challenge. This economic renewal
brings with it the promise of vigorous sales tax growth, reductions in
operations costs spent to run our Central Core and, simultaneously will address
the need to raise the cash-flow needed to sustain the Rio Salado Project.
As part of our economic revitalization, we also need to
rebuild the smaller “business neighborhoods” outside our Central Core. The
aging strip malls and business districts that line our City’s arterial streets
throughout our community need our attention. In my view, we can’t address this
aspect of our economic revitalization without recognizing that we must pay
immediate attention to our neighborhoods’ vitality. And I note that, all my
prior, albeit, enthusiastic description of a need to rebuild our economy, is
merely a means to an end, not the end itself. Our community exists to provide
services to residents; to maintain and improve the quality of life of our
community members. The focus on economic development, and on the Central City
Core in particular, is a matter of necessity. As I described earlier, Tempe
faces financial challenges from the slowed growth in sales taxes and the
anticipated loss of State Shared Revenues. We need to focus our attention on
the opportunities to generate revenue to our City, and do it in a way that adds
to the quality of life of our community, precisely so that we can generate the
resources needed to stabilize our neighborhoods.
And this issue brings us back to one of those dichotomies like
the one presented by the fact that Tempe is land locked. It is presented by the
economic heart that is ASU.
ASU is the initial source of our community’s success and
vitality. It is a great source of the basis for Tempe being, truly, the “Smart
Place to Be.” ASU provides us the mantle of the intellectual property capital
of the State. It makes Tempe the cosmopolitan City that provides unparalleled
opportunities to experience art, theatre, music, and education ranging from
preschool to post-graduate work.
Yet for our neighborhoods, ASU’s amazing growth in Tempe, to
one of the largest campuses in the country, has imposed a demand for student
housing that has not been met by growth in the University’s own housing stock.
That demand has been met in part with the construction of multi-tenant apartment
buildings. But, sadly, as described earlier, that demand also has been met by
the conversion of a substantial portion of our single family, owner occupied
residences into student rental housing, with the resulting deterioration of
neighborhood quality of life, loss of neighborhood supportive businesses and
undercutting of the likely supply of students for our neighborhood schools. So
to reinvigorate our neighborhood business districts, we must concurrently seek
the construction of substantial, quality student housing in and immediately
around ASU’s campus. And such housing must be built with great sensitivity
toward the neighborhoods that abut ASU’s Tempe campus.
Which brings us to my third point. How Do We Get There?
How do we achieve these goals; how do we capture this vision—of a vibrant,
robust, safe and sustainable community; how do we get to this destination for
our community’s brightest future?
We are fortunate indeed. We have new leadership at ASU that
not only is supplying the opportunity to form the leading edge of the vigorous
new economy, but is a leadership that already acknowledges the necessity that
the University be integrated into our community and be part of the solutions to
our neighborhoods’ challenges. The focus of these leaders’ efforts, to build a
new University in many places, brings to the Tempe campus a promise of enhanced
graduate studies and a reduced focus on undergraduate work. The rebalancing of
the student population in Tempe will add to the power of the research and
resulting economic development opportunities AND aid in our effort to reduce the
worst facets of student life in our neighborhoods. Further, these new leaders
have committed to the construction of student housing that will accommodate in
excess of 10,000 students, which concurrently carries the promise that, in the
future, students can reduce their dependence on automobiles and, thereby,
improve our traffic flows in and around the campus.
In honor of the commitment by that new leadership at ASU, it
is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Crow’s representative with us today, Virgil
Renzulli, Vice President of Public Affairs, and Steve Miller of ASU. I would
ask them to stand and receive the applause they so deserve.
Next, I need to reiterate a point that I feel that several of
us have made in the last number of months, but it bears repeating here and now,
especially in light of the honor that has been bestowed on all of us today.
Tempe has many friends in its neighboring communities. We all understand that
Tempe can not succeed in a vacuum. Tempe’s success depends on our surrounding
communities being successful too, just as the success of the other communities
in the region requires that Tempe succeed. We need to put away the competitive
approach within this region, at least as best we are able. Our communities need
also to take steps to prevent others from using our communities against one
another. It was that idea that has given rise to the increasing vigor or
conversations to reduce, through inter-City agreements, be they bi-lateral or
multi-lateral, to reduce the use of sales tax incentives in disingenuous efforts
to pit city against city. Please welcome the Vice President of the Salt River
Pima Maricopa Indian Community, Leonard Rivers; the Mayor of Mesa, Mayor Keno
Hawker; the Mayor of Chandler, Mayor Boyd Dunn; the Mayor of the Town of
Guadalupe, Mayor Vinicio Alverez; and the Mayor of Phoenix, Mayor Phil Gordon.
Thank you all for being here.
Their presence is a demonstration of the mutual commitment
that exists among our communities. Tempe joins these leaders in a regional
approach to economic development. We must coordinate and cooperate on a new way
of doing business. There can be no more of the winner-take-all mentality that
reared its head as a result of development incentives. We should not be
tripping each other to reach the finish line in development races – we should be
crossing the future’s finish lines together.
Finally, I have saved the best for last in describing how we
get to this brighter future. We will do it with a team approach. And that team
is made up of our entire Tempe City Council. It is that team that recently did
what no one thought likely. Ten weeks ago the Angels were heading to the West
Valley. Tempe’s Diablo Stadium faced the possibility that it would go empty.
We would lose the substantial economic value of Spring Training and the huge
infusion of revenues to Tempe charities. It was this team, working together,
that pulled off a leaping catch that brought us this baseball victory, which is
just the beginning.
In your program today we have included a brief description of
the lead role each Councilmember will have in building our future. Each member
of the City Council is chair of one working committee. And each council member
also serves on a second committee.
Council member Pam Goronkin
chairs our Technology Advancement, Tourism and Redevelopment Committee.
This group has a broad-based set of tasks, from improving the quality and
quantity of jobs available in Tempe, to building on our reputation as the Smart
Place to Be. Tempe needs to land the high-tech, bio-tech, nano-tech jobs of the
future – jobs that will be available at new operations like BioDesign Institute
at Arizona State University.
Lest you think our goals are all about money, Tempe schools of
all levels must also be one of our primary priorities. Vice Mayor
Mark Mitchell chairs our Education Partnerships Committee. He will
be shepherding us through some of the most exciting years in recent times. Mr.
Mitchell knows the value of re-committing ourselves to our 125-year relationship
with ASU. The university has a plan to begin its own elementary-level schools
program, which seeks, among other things, to build programs from which
elementary students will graduate fully bi- or multi-lingual. Mark knows that
it is vital to deepen our ties to the Tempe and Kyrene Elementary School
Districts, and to the Tempe Union High School District. Districts like Kyrene
are moving with the times and staring down intense competition for students by
creating an all-new Montessori program, for example. The Tempe Elementary
School District is trying to keep up with an increasingly diverse student
population that speaks 63 different languages. Given this diversity of
language, where better to start a “university” school than in partnership with
the Tempe Elementary School District.
We as a city need to be right there with them, helping each
other wherever possible. We currently have a program for providing police
officers to our schools; we all want to assure our community’s parents that our
mission is to make sure that our schools are the safe havens our children
deserve.
Tempe must continually strive to
provide more responsive, substantive assistance to our residents. To that end,
Council member Ben Arredondo chairs our Neighborhood Quality of Life
and Public Safety Committee. If we are successful in our attempts to create
greater revenue streams for the City of Tempe, our neighborhoods win. More
sales taxes brought in means more enhancements to local parks, to sidewalks and
streets, and many more quality of life indicators. We cannot overstate the
importance of mitigating the impacts of rental properties on our community.
Ben’s committee is charged with working with ASU to encourage its construction
of on-campus student housing and to encourage its expected future policy that
all freshmen must live on campus.
Council member Leonard Copple
chairs our
Transportation Committee. Len and his committee, along with the
City, are anticipating a very big transportation-related development. Light
rail is coming down the tracks very, very soon. Mr. Copple’s committee will
address the traffic and business interruption issues that arise during
construction and keep our community “on track” for light rail. Len’s committee
is also charged with overseeing street and alley maintenance, remedying traffic
congestion and looking at noise reduction. Our bus system is also a major area
of emphasis for the Transportation Committee.
Council member Barb Carter
chairs our
Community Services Committee.
Among other things Councilmember Carter will continue her
oversight of the performing arts center. That committee also will shepherd the
long-awaited North Tempe Multigenerational Center on the campus of Laird
School. For too long on the north end of town, our residents have gone without
the valuable services of such a center. Now generations to come will benefit
from our foresight.
As we hope you have already heard, Tempe’s Diversity
Department was given awards for its ground-breaking work in improving our work
environment. To help continue that great work, Council member Hut Hutson
chairs our Diversity & Human Relations and Resources Committee. Mr.
Hutson’s Committee will also deal with all human relations and employment
matters when it comes to the initial discussion and formulation of policy.
Please join me in giving this Tempe Team a round of applause.
CONCLUSION
So there you have it. A sense of Where We Are, a
glimpse of our vision of Where We Are Going and a statement of our course
for How We Get There. All of this is based on our relationships with our
partners, like ASU, surrounding communities and our work on this Council as a
team.
But it doesn’t stop there. Your help is essential as well.
We really do need the support of everyone in this room. Each of you is a thread
in our community’s fabric; your participation in the process of weaving at our
community loom assures that the resulting fabric will be strong, sustainable and
will endure the continuing test of time. This community’s patchwork quilt is
133 years old. Your help will assure that it will last long into the future.
Thank you for your attention and for your thoughtful
consideration of these ideas. Moving forward, there may be uncertainties and
uncharted terrain. But this we know for certain about Tempe:
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We know who we are.
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We’re the envy of many
communities when it comes to jobs and recreation, citizen involvement and
well-run operations.
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We’re growing up and filling
in.
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We’re a metropolitan
community.
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We’re the Smart, Active
Place to Be, and that’s just the way we like it.
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