Strategic Initiative: Rolling-Five Year Plan

Transparent Budgeting
Last year I introduced a new budget process, one that will focus on our needs and operate much like a zero-based budget. We are well on our way to making that a reality as we move forward with adopting our fist budget using this new more transparent process. I encourage you to join us and keep yourself informed. You will be proud of your community's lean spending and our ability to account for every dollar we budget.

This year's exercise began with a review of our specific needs for next year and our staff and directors actively working together to plan how to spend tax dollars to provide the best services at the best value for our residents. This new process will help guarantee something we have been committed to for a long time in our town, and that is no unnecessary spending, no automatic increases, just specific targeted plans to provide priority services.In other words, this is a strengthening of our commitment to responsible government.I encourage you to stay involved and informed.

Diversity a value: Last Saturday, thousands gathered once again to celebrate diversity in Gilbert and the region at the Gilbert Global Village Festival. We are proud to be home to a festival that celebrates how our differences are strengths and allows us to learn, understand and value different cultures. Thank you to everyone who took part, especially to the parents who are ensuring that our future generations continue to appreciate and seek understanding when they come upon differences. You can learn more and see photo slides here.

May Food Drive Challenge: I often like to end on a note describing our commitment as employees to our community. May is a month that we dedicate to a food drive challenge that we invite you to join us in. The challenge is to collect the food needed by our Gilbert families for food banks that distribute to our area. Starting Tuesday, May 1, and for the entire month of May, we will have donation boxes at every town facility, including recreation centers, libraries, municipal buildings, fire stations, and many businesses who will be joining us in this effort. Thank you for helping us to support our neighbors. You can see a full list of locations and suggested donation items at www.gilbertaz.gov/fooddrive.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Going Green this Earth Day

Strategic Initiative: Livability

As a Gilbert resident and your town manager, I made a commitment this month, one to my family and also to my community - one that we are making as a town as a whole.  I am dedicating this month, as we approach Earth Day, to our Go Green Initiative.

That means paying attention to the fact that I recycle everything I can (check out this great printable graphic).  That commitment means I will give away things I don't want to charity, and enable our neighbors to use those items. There are so many things, big and small, that all make a giant impact on our community and in many cases on our wallets too, as an added personal advantage.

Gilbert offers many free services that can help you also embrace this Earth Day month, from free water audits to help you cut back on landscaping and inside water use, to free blue recycle and compost containers to make it easy to reduce and reuse. I also recommend this page to learn more about how you can go green in your household, and your neighborhood. Just remembering to check on Burn Days before lighting a fire, and avoiding storm water pollution, has a significant positive impact on our community and sets a good example for all of our neighbors.

If I have not caught your attention by mentioning all of the good things that come from our Go Green effort in regard to our health and the good of our community, consider this:  There are some real budget savings.  As one big example, we save about $67 per ton of material that is recycled, as opposed to wasted in a landfill.  That adds up.

We are cutting back on our mileage as well, with new contracts that allow our trash collectors to drive fewer miles. All these savings impact you as residents, who reap the reward of more cost effective services, and the possibility of lower bills. We are working closely with local businesses, with a goal of adding five new businesses to our recycling schedule each week during this month.

Thanks to our water conservation efforts, as a community we have maintained a level water use, as we continue to grow and welcome new families with new water use. We appreciate your contribution.

In Gilbert, we have also cut our costs and our carbon footprint by cutting unnecessary paper use in favor of digital - with efforts such as our Town Clerk's decision to make Town Council agendas and other reports digital, something you can as well, for instance by enrolling in electronic utility services. We also recently added taglines to every email we sent out, reminding our partners to consider saving a digital copy, as opposed to paper. That was one of the ideas stemming from a survey of our staff. They had several other ideas that we will continue to review and implement.

Earth Day Celebration. Of course, the easiest way to join us in our effort is to join us at our annual celebration at McQueen Park Activity Center on Wednesday, April 18.  The event will include information for a variety of services meant for you, as well as a lot of education, fun and games, including crafts, face painting and a visit from Lisa's Creatures, a family of exotic animals children can pet and learn about.

This is an important effort to our community, and one that will help us remain a community that is clean, safe and vibrant - and a good value with the best quality of life.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

The Sixth Initiative

I have spent my first seven months in Gilbert discussing our community's Five Strategic Initiatives and, essentially, developing what we will call our community's Sixth Strategic Initiative. 

What I will call our ‘Unofficial Sixth Strategic Initiative' is to Build a Strong Organizational Foundation.  I have laid out specific organizational initiatives that support this sixth initiative, which in itself is key to supporting our Town Council-approved Five Strategic Initiatives.  Committees of Gilbert employees are currently working toward these commitments.  What our goal is, is to build a strong and sustainable foundation for our organization that develops and supports our leaders and builds pride and trust and success.

One of those organizational initiatives goes to the heart of everything we do, and why we do it - and that is our mission, vision and values statements.  We are currently working with our Town leaders to review and revise what our mission is and what values we support, as we reach for this 10-year vision of our successful future.  That is vital to our success, as it helps to define our culture and how we approach our work.  These statements will ensure that our hiring, performance evaluations and daily activities directly support that vision, which ultimately reflects our Five Strategic Initiatives.

This week I had an opportunity to work with some of the leaders we may see down the road in those 10 years, during Student Government Days at Town Hall.  Twenty-four students shadowed public officials, and then held their own mock student council meeting.  One, Liana Nguyen, shadowed me as Town Manager for the day. 

If any of our initiatives are to be successful, it is critical that we commit to harnessing the talent of our future leaders, and creating a culture that promotes a character of success. The students on the Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee are taking that a step further as they investigate real interactive digital partnerships with local business, to build a strong foundation for their careers, and to support our important business community whose hard work make us thrive.

We also welcome one of our newest leaders, Dana Berchman, who will take on an enormously important task that will support our Sixth, and original Five, initiatives.

Dana will be focused on fundamentally rethinking the role of a communications manager, to emphasize forward thinking, inclusive and visionary strategies, as a Chief Digital Officer.  She will conduct a comprehensive review of the information and data we collect, to develop a strategy to not only make it available, but useful and relevant. She will be responsible for creating a digital roadmap for our Town that efficiently harnesses the power of technology, social media, web 2.0 and mobile platforms to the benefit of our residents and business community.

Gilbert is a land of opportunity, and I am confident that with our strong staff and our residents, we will become that premier community in the nation.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Strategic Initiatives:  Technology, Livability

What is a QR Code?

Those of you I have had the pleasure to meet in person already may have noticed one characteristic in particular:  Yes, I am tied to my cell phone, like many of us these days.  We use them to stay in touch with family and friends, to be reached in emergencies, and to receive important alerts.

Our phones are becoming a very important key to our ability to access and share information.  We know that in the Town, and that is why we are committed to providing easier access to communicate with us, and to receive information that may be important to you, with no effort on your part.

That is where QR, or Quick Response, codes come in.  QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that you scan using a free app on your phone.  They work as links, and take you directly to the mobile Website with information about the topic of interest.  If you already have a mobile app that allows you to scan products and check food prices, for instance, this same free app will scan these codes and make it easy to bookmark and find information that you know you will need or want later.

Gilbert has two QR codes now and plans more.  Our recycling division uses their code in materials they provide, so residents who join us in our wildly important Go Green Gilbert campaign.  You can scan the code and go directly to a page detailing the do's and don'ts of recycling, and other ways to help the town be more environmentally friendly.  Our second code is posted at our development services counters, and is an important tool for our customers to use and provide us feedback, while their experience with planning and development with us is fresh and in real time.  That is a convenient way for you to provide us feedback, and allows us to constantly review for improvements that matter most to our business owners and constituents going through the process.

Report problems easily

Technology in general is changing in Gilbert, in an ongoing effort to be efficient, as cost-effective as possible, and proactive as a service provider. 

We know we are moving in the right direction, just by analyzing results from our past improvements.  Our Fix-It page, www.gilbertaz.gov/fixit, made it easier for residents to report issues directly to the Town using an online form, and saved us about 300 hours of staff work per year, while increasing our response to issues now easier to report by 21 percent.  And that is just the start, because our new mobile app, myGilbert, makes it even easier to report neighborhood concerns.

We have seen other successes, like the elimination of mailing 400 business license renewals due to scanning documents - equating to another savings of 200 hours of annual staff time.  Our police department is moving forward with a  Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety, which uses a smart analysis of real crime rates to provide proactive responses.  Technology has a strong impact in everything we do.

Water Safety Walk
As we approach summer, and my family eagerly awaits their chance to jump into our new home's pool, I want to end this update with an encouragement to consider joining our community and our Gilbert Fire Department as we embark on a Walk for Water Safety on March 31.  We will be handing out materials - with tips that may surprise you, and save a life -  and you can play a big part in keeping our kids safe. I encourage you to learn more at www.gilbertaz.gov/watersafety.

Versus Mesa
I can't, of course, end without inviting you to cheer on Gilbert at the annual Mayor's Cactus League Hotdog Challenge, which takes place on Saturday and involves free fun and games - and a chance to beat Mesa in softball!  Have a great weekend.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Saving Lives a Priority in Gilbert

Eyes have been on federal government in recent days, but as many of us know, it is municipal government that impacts us closest to home.  We have staff who are literally tasked with saving our lives.

We rely on our Gilbert Fire Department to come quickly to rescue our loved ones from medical emergencies and fire, as a key service we provide as a community. And our niche business industry - the medical and life sciences fields - provide us internationally renowned experts who spend their days and nights researching and treating us - saving our lives.

This update looks at the aspects of Gilbert that are focus on saving lives, and how we continue to improve in that all-important task.

Initiatives: Livability, Technology

The Gilbert Fire Department is about to make an announcement that will leap us out in front as leaders in digital technology.  Thanks to a Gilbert resident and Intel Corp. employee who is volunteering to create an application for Gilbert, we are avoiding about $200,000 in cost to upgrade to the most state of the art technology in Electronic Patient Care Reporting.

Later this year, our firefighters will lay down their clipboards, and pick up new electronic tablets.  As another cost-saving measure, one single gateway will provide fast-speed connections to multiple tablets, and the fire vehicle itself for its communications with dispatch.  That means our patients will have automatic records created to share easily with hospitals and enter into our system, and it means staff time and taxpayer dollars saved thanks to the latest efficiencies.  It also means we will now be able to track trends and plan our training and staff for realistic expectations.

It all adds up to saving more lives.

Initiative: Economic Development

We are partners in this effort to save lives in Gilbert, as we continue to watch our medical industry grow and boom.  In February, Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers announced a planned 25,000-square-foot expansion into Gilbert, where they will provide the latest and most innovative treatments for cancer close to home in a state of the art facility.  I thank Sen. Andy Biggs and Rep. Eddie Farnsworth for joining us for this great announcement, and Mayor John Lewis and Councilman John Sentz, himself a survivor treated at the facility, for sharing in this news that will impact our economy, and the lives of our friends and family.

Employees of the Year

Lastly, we recently took time to appreciate our Employees of the Year.  We took time to honor 26 of our hard working employees for shining.  Their successes ranged from a commitment to transparency, to those whose actions at emergency operators helped guide our efforts to protect and provide this key service.  I welcome you to join me in congratulating these outstanding employees.  You can read their success stories here.

Each and every one of these employees, regardless of position, play a role in our priorities - which includes the very important one of saving and protecting lives.  Thank you.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Strategic Initiative - Livability: Leading the Way

Strategic Initiative: Livability

We often hear about Gilbert leading the way.  Once again, we lead the region in new housing permits as we kick off 2012 with 149 new homes.  We are known as one of the best places to live, and one of the safest in the nation.  Our school children lead the way with their test scores, and our families lead the way in our efforts to attract new jobs, thanks to their highly skilled and educated workforce needs and strong character.  This should make you as proud as it does me.

Our Municipal Court

There are also ways we may lead the way behind the scenes, by sharing our knowledge and encouraging regional growth and supportive partnerships.  Our Gilbert Municipal Court is doing just that with a new regional 2012 Ethics Lab for Judicial Employees.  Court staff from here at home, to cities including Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Chandler and Mesa, are converging here to learn and review the Arizona Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees.  This is the kind of effort that makes a difference when you need an advocate the most, someone who acts with the highest level of ethical standards.  I thank our Presiding Judge John Hudson, and his staff of facilitators - Judge Nicole Laurin-Walker and Deputy Court Administrator Susan Holliefield, for being our regional role model and investing our judicial resources in assuring the highest standards, and education as a high priority.

I am going to take the judge's lead, and theme my update along the lines of how we currently, and how we will continue to lead the way to the best service at the best value.  This update features our strategic initiative of livability.

Gilbert public libraries

Another way we lead the way is through our two public libraries, Southeast Regional and Perry Branch - which draw in more than 40 percent of all of the county library service.  Our public libraries are important to us, and we are being thorough as we review our next steps in operating our libraries, now that we are responsible for all of the operations.

We have acquired a consultant with significant experience in library operations, who is assisting us as we review results from our customer satisfaction survey, a business security survey and crime prevention analysis, as well as technical, financial and statistical analysis.  We expect to have an update presented to the Town Council at the March 23 meeting next month, during which time we can begin to work on our long-term operational plan for these important amenities that are widely used by our families.

Fire Department Response

Our Fire Department last week kicked off one of our four primary Wildly Important Goals, in their effort to lead the way in providing the very best service and response times.  They are setting new goals and challenges which won't impact your customer service at all.  Their goals will increase their internal communications, so that, for instance, when they are finished with a call but still assisting family, they log in - making themselves available for a life-threatening emergency.  If they are on a call that is not a life-threatening emergency, they can log that as well, allowing the greatest need to get the care first.  Much of it is already done, but with a few upgrades and tweaks, our fire department will also be better able to track the true time they spend on individual calls as they continue to challenge themselves on giving you the best care when you need it most, where you need it most.

Community Needs

And this is where we join with our partner Gilbert Community Action Network, or Gilbert CAN, to ask for your help in leading the way as we plan for our community needs.  I encourage you to take our online survey and give us the direction we need to assure we are planning for the future and representing our true needs and constituent interests.  You can find the survey on our front page or here.

Celebrating History

As we move forward with exciting innovation, we must never leave our story behind.  As we enter this weekend celebrating Arizona's Centennial with GilbertFest, a music and arts festival, we also watch as our Gilbert Leadership Class XX plans an historic downtown tour.  Our history is rich, and we should look back with pride, as we continue to build our history moving forward.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Strategic Initiative - Be a Technology Leader: Digital Roadmap

This week, I wanted to introduce you to the digital products that we do currently offer as a Town, and that may help make your life easier.  It is important for us all to start to take advantage of the technology we do have, so we can better understand future needs as we focus in on hiring a Chief Digital Officer and moving ahead with a digital roadmap that will open up a new level of access to information.  The majority of today's update features our Strategic Initiative to be a Technology Leader and support our high-quality Livability.

Public Safety:  All of our public safety branches are committed to using the smartest technology to provide the best service in areas that can have significant impact on our lives.  Our Court system uses Full Court Web to make information accessible.  Our prosecutor's office has cut costs in staff time and improved our ability to resolve cases and is dedicated to continuing to improve the process and contact victims faster with their new software.  Our Fire Department is working on a system to allow us to track our needs based on real responses, and use digital reports that more quickly inform caregivers.  Our Police Department is looking at technology to ensure officers are where you need them, when you need them.  We are using technology to ensure we make the right decisions as we plan roadwork - building what we need first, when we need it first. Technology in general is building a stronger, more efficient Town.  While these important improvements may not be a service you can enroll in, you will as a resident appreciate the positive long-term impacts, in the form of better services, better value, to you.

The Clerk's Office is a great example of cost cutting efficiencies that will make it easier for you to be informed.  Using OnBase software, they have digitized public information, making it easier to access and respond to requests on the same day.  They have also taken steps to end the mass printing of Town Council agendas and other reports, and instead provide digital uploads, saving trees and money.  We also now can search agendas as they post online, and more easily track the issues that impact us as individuals. 

This is all an important foundation as we move forward with a vision of being a leader in communicating in high-tech but smart ways that truly allow you to be engaged and informed.  We are currently planning the interview process and will announce once a Chief Digital Officer has been hired.

Here are some other insights and ways that you can be engaged: 

• • Pay and check your utility bills online.  It is efficient and saves the utility system on costs. 
• • Report a variety of issues that impact your neighborhood easily at www.gilbertaz.gov/fixit.
• • Businesses who come in to our Planning and Development services division can soon give us immediate feedback using the QR code at the counter.
• • Our recycling experts also use QR codes on their materials, for easy access to our www.gilbertaz.gov/recycle Website for information on what to recycle, and where.
• • If you have not downloaded our first mobile app, myGilbert, I would highly recommend it, for easy access to contacting officials and quickly and easily reporting almost any concern.

Strategic Initiative: Livability

We will be looking to our community for support, as we look to build a new level of service and become digital leaders.  If our past holds true, I have a lot of excitement about how this is going to work.  Our staff already works closely with volunteers on a regular basis, in areas that involve knowledge, trust and dedication.  Volunteers - our residents - are a key part of what makes us successful. 

Volunteers help our Fire Department, including when our staff recently installed 90 car seats in January. Those seats were installed at a special event on January 21, as well as throughout the month, by parents who are smart to look to our experts who can help ensure your kids are traveling safely. 

We recently began our latest Community Emergency Response Team program.  More than 90 volunteers dedicating every Tuesday and Wednesday for six consecutive weeks to learning how to be there for you in your time of need.  These CERT team members support the Town by helping out victims of a fire, even if it is just by being there, or providing much-needed transportation.  If we have a flood, they hand out sand bags.  We easily can provide more than $300,000 in value of service to our residents on an annual basis, due to the good deeds and ongoing efforts of these good Samaritans.

So I add, simply but importantly, with a thank you.  Thank you to Gilbert staff. Thank you to Gilbert volunteers.  Thank you to constituents.  You are what makes Gilbert special, and provide those qualities that will allow our hard work and future success to truly make this a premier community in the nation.

With that, I must end on proper note, about

Heroism

January ended with a tribute to a local hero whose presence remains large in our community.  January 28 was a day that impacts our community every year.  This year on January 30, officers and staff gathered to remember and appreciate Lt. Eric Shuhandler.  On January 28, 2010, he was killed on a night that he also saved lives of people who may never know it.  He left behind two beautiful daughters, and a family who continues to love him.  His memory is spelled out in our Gilbert Historical Museum, as a special hero whose height matched his humor. 

I never had the opportunity to meet Eric before I moved to Gilbert.  But I have seen the love and admiration, the true and forever impact this hero will have on our community.

To those who love him, Eric's family and friends, coworkers, and to Eric: 

Thank you.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

A Strong Year Ahead

We are looking at a new day in Gilbert, Arizona.

Yes, we are already nationally recognized as one of the best places to live in the nation, and we know we operate at a high level of efficiency that provides a great quality of life for a significant value.

But there is a lot of excitement to come, and 2012 is a great year to start.  Gilbert is at “half time,” you might say.   In regard to residents and actual build out, we are two-thirds there.  But we have a significant milestone that we are focused on achieving, and that is building our economy, and, in turn, building our identity.

Gilbert is full of promise and is not a place that is just home, it is a place with potential for providing high-paying jobs for the visionaries who live here.  This is a community that has a lot of opportunity that we can achieve with some hard work and focus.  That is what 2012 will be about, as we look to implement specific initiatives that I will share with you, and focus on building a strong economy.

The Economy

Let’s start with the economy.  As you know, we have a strategic initiative that we build from our growing identity as home to internationally renowned experts and facilities in the bio-medical and life sciences.  We are fortunate to be home to professionals who make international headlines for their work to save lives.  We have a strong work base of highly educated residents, particularly in the sciences.  We have a General Plan that lays out strategic locations and even provides a vertical overlay allowing for some mid-rises, which are attractive opportunities in appropriate regions for potential employers.  We have boundless potential, and the staff to put in the work needed to see it to fruition.

This year we have seen a growth in the economy, as our sales taxes continue to rise, at a steady pace.  We also saw a significant increase, as you know from my prior updates, in new home permit activity.  We ended the year with 121 permits in December, for a total of more than 1,500 new homes begun and built in Gilbert during 2012. 

The Initiatives

I have spent significant time with our dedicated staff, reviewing how our community can continue to support our quality of life, and get to that next level, and I plan to roll out a series of initiatives in 2012.  I will update you on each initiative as we move forward.  Among the first will be a digital communications plan, and a strategic effort to reach dramatically more residents with news and information about their town.  The Town Council approved a communications manager position last year, and this month we are posting the job listing for that manager who will also serve as our Chief Digital Officer.  I am looking for a visionary leader who has the talent, experience and belief that we can put ourselves on the map as a leader in proactive and engaging communications.  We hope to have this new leader on staff early this year, so we can strengthen our ability to fulfill our promise of a culture that demonstrates the strength in transparent government.

The State of the Town Address

The year 2011 was an important one, and I encourage you to attend Mayor John Lewis’s State of the Town Address, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, January 19, at Town Hall, 50 E. Civic Center Drive, for the annual review of the year and a look forward to 2012.  There will be a reception at 6 p.m. with refreshments.

A Hero’s Welcome

One of the accolades Mayor Lewis will touch on is our Town’s receipt in 2011 of the coveted Freedom Award, signifying our support for our staff members who are sent abroad to serve our nation.  On Thursday, January 12, we will honor one of those staff members, Army Captain Edward Miller, who is also a Gilbert Police Officer, and recently  returned home from Iraq.  I encourage you to join us in what has become our hero’s welcome, at Town Hall, 50 E. Civic Center Drive.  You can nominate your own Gilbert hero upon their return, at www.gilbertaz.gov/operationwelcomehome.

Gilbert Giving Back

Lastly, I wanted to end this week’s update with a thank you for your involvement in our community, and best wishes for the new year.  Our staff truly considers themselves part of a community family.  Over the holidays, the Gilbert Fire Department and Gilbert Police Department collected thousands of toys to distribute to our local children.  We thank you for your support in those efforts.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Smart Planning a Priority

This week, we received news that our Town continues to grow at the fastest rate in the region, and, in fact, has received 41 percent more new home permits as of this November compared to this time last year.

We continue to be growing strong as a destination for new families, which is why I want to focus this update on our Infrastructure Strategic Initiative.  This strategic initiative goes to the heart of our history as a community that has made forward-thinking and smart planning a priority.  That focus allowed our Town to stay ahead of the needs of a community that during the prior decade was one of the fastest growing in the nation, as we also created a beautiful and recognized character that we all now enjoy.  Infrastructure, which includes the focus on green and sustainable practices, remains a key priority as we look to build out the final third of our community and maintain our current quality.

Intersection Master Plan

Our staff recently launched the Intersection and Circulation Improvement Master Plan, which is an important strategic effort that will use our traffic retiming modeling software to prioritize our future intersection needs. Using this software, we will review the traffic flow, any changes in flow, safety factors and the General Plan for upcoming and real changes in use. What that means, is that you can expect your intersections to be maintained, and upgraded, as needs arise based on real-time data that has a direct impact on your lifestyle and the safety in intersections. This is an important project that you will see continue on a five-year basis, and will include a look ahead to the next year, as well as a look out to 20 years. The software we are using for this master plan was funded largely by grant money, and was originally used in a traffic retiming project that we completed earlier this year, and which has dramatically improved our traffic flow.

Green Initiatives

Gilbert's Strategic Initiative which promotes a strong infrastructure makes clear that we also want to focus on green, sustainable practices. That is why I wanted to highlight a few big projects that stand out, and have even received national attention.

Gilbert is building Fire Station 10, which will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Gilbert.  That is a big step for us, and demonstrates our commitment to sustainability.  This project takes creative steps including using solar panels that will reduce utility consumption by 40 percent, as parking lot shade structures.  The building will be complete next summer, and was largely funded from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.  Its primary function is to maintain our important life-saving response times, which goes to our Livability Strategic Initiative.  As we build, we remain committed to sustainability, and hope to set an example by committing to recycling at least 95 percent of all the products that would normally be waste on a construction site - including concrete, metal and wood that is now still used.  We will keep you posted as this structure, near Guadalupe and McQueen roads, breaks new ground in our Town. 

The Town was visited in November by elected officials from across the nation, who toured the Neely Wastewater Reclamation Facility Solar Power System as part of a National League of Cities' Congress of Cities mobile workshop tour featuring sustainable infrastructure and forward-thinking solutions. Through the use of more than 8,000 photovoltaic tracking solar panels installed above water recharge beds at the facility, this solar power system will off-set more than 86 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the life of the system and will generate over 4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually. The energy generated will offset approximately 40 percent of the Neely Wastewater Plant's electrical power needs, and the agreement locks in predictable utility costs for the next 20 years, for an estimated $2 million in savings. Gilbert is dedicated to continuing to seek green initiatives such as this nationally recognized model, which provides cost-savings thanks to a smart public-private partnership involving SPG Solar, Arizona Public Service, Integrys and Severn Trent. These projects also maintain our commitment to be good stewards of the environment.

Partnerships, like that at Neely, are an important piece to successful and smart management of a community.  Another partnership currently underway in the Town is our grease drive with REV Biodiesel, a Gilbert company that is the largest biodiesel producer in Arizona.  We have partnered to collect grease at all of our fire stations, which REV Biodiesel has the capacity to manufacture into biodiesel.  We also collect cooking grease year-round at our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, so please help us turn your cooking grease into a healthy, environmental friendly commodity.

Fireworks on New Year's Eve and Day

As we prepare to celebrate our New Year, it will be the second holiday since Gilbert allowed some forms of 'fireworks' on the days of December 31 & January 1. Fireworks allowed in Town on these days, on private property with the property owner's permission, include hand-held sparklers, snakes, wheels and pinwheels.

Fireworks are not allowed in public parks, for safety reasons. We are very fortunate to be able to celebrate in this traditional manner in our community, so let's enjoy the provisions we do have and come together to make sure we are doing so in a safe and considerate manner, something that should come easy in a community know for its family-friendly nature.

Please don't try to use fireworks that are not legal. Fireworks that are unsafe and are not legal at any time include bottle rockets, fire crackers, roman candles and M-80s, or any others that rise into the air and explode. The user of fireworks are liable for any damages they cause.

Happy New Year

That takes me to the meaning behind this upcoming holiday itself. This year has been one of new starts for the Town of Gilbert, as we move in a positive new direction, strategically focused on our goal of being a premier community in the nation, and growing our recognition as efficient, low cost and high quality. I am very grateful for this community, including both the Town residents and the Town staff. I thank you for your engagement and support of the Town. We could not operate as we should without an informed and interested community.

Due to the holidays, Friday, January 6 will be our next Manager's Update. In the meantime, I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year.

~ Patrick Banger, Town Manager

Gilbert Celebrates New Gains

This week, Gilbert staff gained another walking distance lunch spot when BoomBozz opened its doors in Gilbert Town Square at Gilbert and Warner roads.

We welcome the new business, as we do all of our businesses, who all play a large role in our success as a community. BoomBozz is just one of many positive gains we are seeing in Gilbert today.

I have promised to focus on our Strategic Initiatives in my updates, and this update is featuring the economic development of today, as we look ahead to a bright boom.  Our burgeoning medical industry is a key component to our future build out success, but another key component to that success, as well as our quality of life, is the success of our small business, retail and our tourism economy.

That is why I wanted to share with you three great updates as we grow as a community, and strengthen.

The first is the plan by Marriot to open our sixth hotel near the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. Marriot is working closely with the center to support the outpatient guests at this facility, which is the only treatment center of its kind in the entire western United States. This symbiotic relationship demonstrates just how big an impact Banner MD Anderson, which opened in September at Higley Road and the U.S. 60, is having on our community, and will continue to have. They are an enormous economic engine that will continue to attract new opportunities, and support our economy, while also supporting our ability to provide our families with world-class health care.

We also greet Marriot as they plan their future construction, and provide new tourism opportunities for our community. We certainly have the unique destination spots, from shopping centers and shops to restaurants and recreation, to host guests who we also welcome.

Our town will also be among the first to gain a new kind of shopping place, as WinCo Foods prepares to build off the Santan Loop 202 Freeway, at Pecos Road and Market Street. The grocery store lauds the fact that it is employee-owned and promises discount prices on healthy food.

I can't give an update on some of the upcoming action in our economy without mentioning the wonderful new additions to our downtown Heritage District. To name two, Art Intersection offers an authentic art gallery of the caliber that deserves note, and a visit, and we watch along with you as Postino's Wine Bar makes progress on Gilbert Road with a planned opening by early Spring.

Of course, I can't mention the medical industry without thanking those who have invested in our community, and who bring us honors on a regular basis by way of their talent and their will to cure, heal and care for all of our families. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center announced just this week yet another accolade among the many, as they received accreditation from the American College of Radiology for both Ultrasound, including vascular, and Computed Tomography, including cardiac. The facility is internationally regarded for its research on treating heart disease.

As I feature highlights from our economy, I should also point out that we continue to experience growth in new homes. This year to date we have received permits for more than 1,400 new homes. That is a 35 percent increase in growth compared to this time last year. Our community remains the fastest growing in the region. We are grateful to the builders who are bringing to our community new growth. That is a great sign, as people continue to want to live in the Town of Gilbert.

All of this healthy growth would not be possible if not for the hard working Gilbert Staff, and for the supportive community. Thank you.

Strategic Initiative: Smart Infrastructure

We also have some road improvements underway that I wanted you to know about, that support our effort to plan smart and provide a strong infrastructure. On Monday, Nov. 28, we began road improvements from Val Vista Drive to Recker Road and Higley Roads, between Riggs and Mews Road. That effort includes widening various sections to three lanes in each direction, raised medians, bike lanes, curb and gutter, sidewalk, landscaping and traffic signals. We expect this to be completed by the end of the year.

Another project we expect to see begin early next year will improve Higley and Baseline roads, including widening to three through lanes, a left turn lane and a bicycle lane in each direction, raised and landscaped medians, right turn lanes where needed, and water and sewer lines. Our staff will do their best to communicate and make the progress as smooth as possible as we improve these roadways to support our future travel.

Strategic Initiative: Livability

Lastly, it is important to me to highlight our Town staff's commitment to this community. Our Gilbert Fire Department joined in on several holiday drives supported by our staff during this season, and drove 60 full Thanksgiving meals to families in our community. This was made possible thanks to the donations collected during Halloween fundraisers held internally.

Thank you for continuing to be interested and involved in the community.

~ Patrick Banger

Building a Strong Foundation

On Thursday night, I completed the first three months as Town Manager by addressing the Gilbert Town Council and sharing my vision for a strong foundation that will support our Town's five Strategic Initiatives. We are already a strong and efficient government. My focus is on establishing a strong basis to support our future and take us even farther. As now the seventh largest community in Arizona and 97th in the nation, we have nearly doubled in size as a community in just one single decade, and have one-third of our community left to build. We have a bright future, but there are some steps we need to take now to ensure that we are all supported as the large complex organization that we are, as we move forward sustaining ourselves as the premier community in the nation.

The Town Council provided me with clear objectives for my first 90 days. Those centered around:

• • Familiarizing myself with the organization, community & region, through meeting key community leaders and understanding the current issues we face.
• • Addressing specific areas of improvement and need in our organization.

The Five Strategic Initiatives adopted by the Town Council are the basis for our decision making as we prioritize and plan our future. They feature areas that will lead to our long-term sustainability and success as a community:

• • Community Livability
• • Be a Technology Leader
• • Rolling 5-Year Balanced Financial Plan
• • Proactively Address Infrastructure Needs
• • Economic Development with a Primary Emphasis on Bio/Med-Life Sciences

During the past 90 days, Gilbert staff has taken some initial steps to provide further definition and identification of key projects that will help us achieve these goals, and will continue to do so on a regular and on-going basis.

Before I outline some of the improvements, it is important that we celebrate all of those accomplishments that we are already achieving that position us to be the best. We have so much to be proud of in Gilbert, accomplishments that we simply could not have achieved without a dedicated, hard working staff committed to being the best, and a community that truly values their Town and their neighbors. We have already accomplished many great achievements that cause us to stand out nationally;

• We have been named a Most Livable City, and are regularly ranked as among the Best Places to Live in the nation by multiple organizations.
• We also rank as the safest community in Arizona, and the 5th in the nation.
• We are one of the best places to raise a child, as well as to retire.

The list just goes on, from our parks gaining national attention to our planning and design regularly highlighted.

So herein lies the challenge: How do we now take this nationally recognized community to the next level - recognized as the premier community in the state, the nation and even internationally. We have the leverage to achieve even greater things yet. Gilbert and this region have the great assets we need for success. The question is: How do we leverage and maximize those assets as we build out that final third of our community and develop our industry, creating a lasting and sustainable community that will always be Clean, Safe and Vibrant?

The starting point is obvious, and that is with our organization. We have achieved a lot. We are lean, hard working, talented and smart. Our staff is easily our best asset. It is key that we reinforce our internal structure.

Just as important is that we proactively engage our highly educated and engaged community - our businesses, and our residents, as we look to get to that next level. It is attainable. There is no maintenance mode in life, our choices are to move forward - or fall behind. Gilbert is ready to leap ahead, and the entire community will be part of this effort, involved in every step. We cannot do it without your support, and you will see our strong commitment to leading the way in operating in the most open and transparent environment.

A quote by William James has been my inspiration, and I hope will be yours, as we step forward on this mission: "Begin to be now, what you will be hereafter."

A fundamental change you will see us roll out will be in our communications plan. Our new focus will be sending a strong message that we are an open, transparent and responsible government, and to do that we will need a new digital roadmap that pushes us forward as the leader in data sharing and proactive communications. That will also include efforts to engage the talents out in our community as well. I look forward to sharing more details with you as we move forward. Gilbert information and communications belong to us all, and we will make a strong statement to that effect.

There has been a strong focus on history during the past week, as we celebrated a visit by the Union Pacific Centennial Train, and then last night celebrate the Mayor's History Awards; you can watch both at our State Centennial Celebration web page. It is a perfect theme as we move forward, and prepare to write the next chapter of a remarkable history.

Patrick Banger

• • Town Manager's 90 day Presentation

Smarter, Faster, Cheaper Case Studies

• • Helping Cities Survive and Thrive in a Age of Increasing Demands and Shrinking Resources: City of Houston
• • An Operations Efficiency Benchmarking Study of 100 American Cities

Welcome to the second Manager's Update

This update kicks off a new feature, where I will tie in our Town's five Strategic Initiatives to our efforts as I engage you on our current events. The five strategic initiatives approved by the Town Council guide our priorities as we look to our future as a premier community in the state. They focus on areas that hit close to home: community livability, being a technology leader, smart budgeting, strong infrastructure and economic development.

Strategic Initiative: Community Livability

As the parent of a seven year old, and two older daughters, I understand the importance of the community programs that we offer in our Town, and I wanted to start this update with some news about the success of our Fall Music and Halloween Festival held on Saturday, Oct. 29. Our families are our number one priority, and as the Town Manager, helping ensure you have places to go with your family that offer a safe atmosphere and a healthy outlet is a priority. This year we drew together about 8,000 of our residents for a fun and healthy time in Freestone Park. I also wanted to share a few photos of the highlights, which this year included a Stingray tank and aquarium, a pony ride, and even five children's authors. In our effort to always make our successes bigger, this year we also sold discount tickets online for the first time, and expanded the hours significantly. We changed the entry and the parking to make it easy to arrive and join in on the fun. Thank you for being active in our Town, and if you attended please take a moment to answer our poll about what you thought of the changes.

Strategic Initiative: Proactively Address Infrastructure Needs

Infrastructure: Our Town has a remarkable character and infrastructure, particularly when you consider that we were the fourth fastest growing community, of more than 100,000 residents, in the nation last decade. Smart planning with a uniquely small staff to resident ratio is the heritage we live daily as we enjoy our quality and low cost lifestyle. Now it is time to plan for the next phase, to ensure that we maintain our beautiful character. Strong infrastructure planning is one of our five Strategic Initiatives, and we have a high-tech solution that also takes into account another Strategic Initiative to be a technology leader. The Infrastructure Assessment and Replacement Plan combines the efforts of our streets, water, wastewater and technology services staffs. The first phase of this comprehensive infrastructure replacement and repair plan will be complete by the end of this year, focusing on our water infrastructure. This plan is a tool that will help us to project what our infrastructure needs are. With this smart plan in place, you can expect Gilbert to be as beautiful 100 years from now, as it is today.

Strategic Initiative: Be a Technology Leader

Safe streets: In another effort to maintain our safety with a high tech approach, our Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety is on track to start early next year. The use of this less expensive and more sophisticated software will make our streets safer, and ensure that our public safety officers are deployed right where they are needed the most, when we need them most. Gilbert Police Chief Tim Dorn states it best: "Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) is a law enforcement operational model supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the United States Department of Justice. DDACTS expands upon the intelligence-led policing philosophy currently in use by the Gilbert Police Department by integrating location based crime data and traffic crash data to establish effective and efficient methods for deploying resources. Technology is utilized to identify areas that have high incidences of crime and traffic collisions. Traffic enforcement and patrol resources are then allocated into these areas to conduct high visibility traffic enforcement operations in order to detect and deter criminal activity and to reduce traffic collisions through increased citizen contacts. Citations, arrests and enforcement action is taken when criminal activity is identified or when hazardous traffic violations are observed. Positive citizen contacts are made for minor violations such as equipment violations, which will provide officers with an opportunity to provide citizens with information on how to report suspicious or known criminal activity. Partnership with the community is an important component of this program. The primary goal of DDACTS is to reduce traffic collisions and to identify persons who utilize vehicles and our roadways to facilitate criminal activity.

The application of high visibility traffic enforcement is a proven and effective countermeasure that addresses both crime and collisions. The reliance on technology and data provides a scientifically based method to deploy police resources while respecting the constitutional rights of our citizens."

Thank you for staying actively engaged in our Town. We are committed to operating an open, transparent government that responds to your needs. Have a wonderful weekend.

Patrick Banger

Welcome to the Gilbert Town Manager's Update.

I begin this first Manager Update not long after my 60-day anniversary with the Town of Gilbert. I truly appreciate the welcome I have received from throughout this community. I have felt an instant connection to Gilbert, which is now officially my home. I am honored to have this opportunity to work for the community that I know is and will be the premier community in Arizona, and in the nation. 'Gilbert is the place where we plan to retire one day . This is the community where my wife, Belinda, and I are raising our youngest daughter. Good government must be open and transparent.

We have a lot to be proud of in Gilbert.

First steps: Two of my first actions as Town Manager were strengthening our current budgeting process, and restructuring our economic development division to emphasize the importance of building a strong economy to sustain our quality of life, and maintain our great value. This is an important time in our growth and how we build our economy now will guide the kind of quality of life we have well into the future. I have reorganized our Economic Development Division to report directly to the Town Manager, and I will work closely with our four member staff to be strategic in planning for our future. It was also important to me to establish a new Gilbert-focused and needs-based annual budget that takes a transparent look at every dollar we spend each year to ensure we are operating as efficiently and responsibly as we can and attributing every dollar invested to a need. You can expect an open and transparent process as we move forward with preparing the next budget.

Saving: It is important to me to feature our Town's ongoing efforts to save you money and to operate with the best practices and at utmost efficiency. Having a level of transparency through this update ensures to you that we always are looking for better ways to do things, and you will see what those are - a report card, in a sense. One recent success was a savings of $26.2 million from paying off two bond issues eight years early. Paying off our bonds early is a standard method for Gilbert to keep our total costs low on projects, and then have the ability to reinvest in additional important infrastructure. That kind of fiscal responsibility also recently earned us an increase in some of our credit ratings, which opens the door to even more savings and opportunities for smart investment in our community's future.

Safety: I also want to keep you up to date on regular events that impact our community. Public safety is a top priority in our Town, and it is due to the diligence of our officials and our residents that we are regarded as among the safest communities in the entire nation.

Our Fire Department recently demonstrated the impact that our highly skilled team of 150 volunteers provides our community on a regular basis. Fifteen members of our Community Emergency Response, or CERT, team were called in to action to assist in a search for a missing child in Glendale. This is a great example of our commitment to support our entire region. We, in fact, just graduated the largest CERT class in our history, adding 40 new volunteers who are ready and eager to help their neighbors, from checking smoke detectors to helping during emergencies.

As we speak, Fire Station 10 is under construction near Guadalupe and McQueen roads. The station, when it opens in the summer of 2012, will not only support our goal to maintain the response times you expect when there is an emergency, but it will also stand out as an environmentally friendly Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design structure. One highlight, for instance, will be solar panels providing parking shade while they power the facility. We are committed to finding smart ways to support our environment as we cut down on utility expenses

Our Police Department Counseling Office also recently improved our services, by streamlining the process for recording case notes in such a way that eliminates the need for note taking and allows more time counseling and caring for our citizens. This improvement will also make the court process more seamless, making it easier to search and find information.

I appreciate you joining me for this first update, and I look forward to communicating with you on a regular basis. I encourage you to remain engaged in your Town.

Patrick Banger