Finalists announced for redistricting panel s top staffer • Arizona Mirror azmirror.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from azmirror.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Redistricting panel narrows field for executive director
The Arizona legislative districts map as drawn after the 2010 census.
A former staffer of Gov. Doug Ducey, a former chief of staff of the Arizona House Democrats and a former Independent Redistricting Commission employee are among the final list of five candidates vying to be the commission’s executive director.
The finalists include Kristina Gomez, who worked on IRC staffs in 2001 and 2011 and was liked by all commissioners except David Mehl, a Pima County Republican. Gomez was the deputy executive director from the 2011 redistricting cycle and she served in a community outreach role for the inaugural commission.
Phoenix soon may have more shelters for people experiencing homelessness thanks in part to the COVID-19 relief funds provided to the city by the federal government.
In February, the Phoenix City Council voted to set aside $14 million in federal funds to purchase or improve up to four homeless shelters.
This is the first substantial financial commitment for new homeless shelters in recent years.
The shelter money will be awarded to nonprofits through a city application process later this year, but the council made clear that it would like to see smaller shelters committed to helping specialized populations such as older adults, people with medical conditions or veterans.
Updated: Thursday, December 17, 2020 - 7:55am
Despite pleas from some residents, Phoenix will continue closed-door negotiations with the union representing more than 2,600 police officers and detectives.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, known as PLEA, submitted its initial offer to cover the next two fiscal years. Among other things, it asks for a 5% increase in total compensation and the right to purge some disciplinary documents from personnel files.
“I think police have more privileges and protections than any other employee of the city. These inequities have existed for far too long,” said Councilmember Carlos Garcia. “I think it’s important for us to try and find equity amongst these folks and for PLEA not to continue to have privileges, specifically those that help them evade accountability.”