I am honored by the trust you have placed in me and thankful for the opportunity to continue to participate in the amazing growth and unparalleled challenge of this City, a city comprised of people who are invariably honorable, decent and supportive.  All of us are fortunate for one another and the values each of us provides to the Goodyear equation.  By values I mean:  a dedicated, experienced, well trained, hard-working staff;  a city council that practices collegiality and respect in its dealings with one another;  a public that is highly educated, insightful and eagerly participates in city governing;  and a strong financial position with adequate bonding authority and excellent cash reserves allowing us the flexibility to quickly respond to those significant opportunities one experiences only rarely, and when experienced, must be exploited.

What Have We Accomplished?

With these values, what have we accomplished, what are our challenges, and where are we headed?  Of our achievements, I will mention only three.  First, our greatest achievement over the past two years was the effort all of us put forth to preserve Luke Air Force Base.   The county, state, and West Valley cities devoted their energies to Luke, but no entity did more than Goodyear.  The unquestioned support of our citizens strengthened the credibility of our Goodyear leadership during untold negotiations with numerous parties and proved to be the foundation for Goodyear’s success.  Secondly, the cost of living in Goodyear was made more affordable by the decision to reduce our real property tax from $2.10 to $1.60.  Lastly, all of us can be proud of the increased level of citizen involvement in city government, homeowner groups and citizen forums.  The citizens have not wasted their time. Not only have you enhanced the quality of life of your neighbors, but also more than 95 percent of the recommendations rendered by a record-setting nine citizen committees were adopted by the Council.

What are our challenges?

I think it important that all of us involved in the governing of Goodyear become known less for our record of success than for our willingness to face challenge.  Of the latter, we have plenty.  The Council and Senior Staff must seek alternative solutions and best practices to slow the escalating cost of doing business, particularly our people-related costs.  Unfortunately, efforts to cut costs are conflicted by a Valleywide shortfall in planners, firefighters and police officers.  Were we not willing to compete for these crucial skills, one could foresee decreases in public safety and development effectiveness.  We can’t afford not to compete.   

Industrial development historically lags in a new growing economy, and it does here.  It is time to remove the lag, and our Economic Development Department has the ability and drive to do just that.  We must seek ways to reduce our fire and emergency response times. The ever-changing dynamics of water will continue to challenge us technically and financially.  Although we have made significant headway in compressing the time to widen I-10, we still aren’t satisfied and will continue that fight.  Challenges oftentimes present us with opportunities.  Such is the case in September as we go to the ballot box and say “yes” to sprinklers in all new homes and “yes” to saving the lives of our residents and firefighters.

Where Are We Headed?

Much will happen in Goodyear in the next two to three years.  Residential permits will rise from today’s annual average of 2500 to 5000 by 2007.  Shopping in 2008 will not even resemble today’s commercial.  We’ll have twice as much park space in 2008.  Physical fitness will move front and center as a priority in the City with private enterprises more than doubling the indoor space reserved for exercise.  With regional partners, we’ll decide when and where to have a police and fire training facility, and plan for an invigorated cultural presence.  El Rio, the river project, is moving forward as a partnership between the City, County and private developers. In ten years, El Rio may be the most significant natural site in the Valley, and the best example of public/private collaboration.  We will continue to press to bring one or more private colleges and a major league spring training facility to Goodyear.   

Our future is exciting, a future laden with exceptional potential and challenge.  Our ultimate size will be at least the existing 120 square miles.  Our population will be eight to 10 times what it is today.  We need to face a difficult question: Shall we begin to act now as if we are a city of 350,000, or shall we gradually grow into it?  For example, do we now change our regulations and ordinances to permit structures such as 10-story buildings that will be expected in a larger city and begin now to finance acquisitions of land, buildings and services expected in a larger city, or do we continue to limit the focus of our laws and rules to respond strictly to the expectations inherent within the existing real time?  The answer to this question gives long- term planning a current consequence. 

What Is Our Mission?

Whether you approach the future aggressively or with gradualism, the objective does not change.  Our mission, yours and mine, is to lay the groundwork, the foundation for greatness.  Those who come later may not appreciate what we did, nor thank us for what we did, but we’ll know that we were the catalyst that raised the expectations and set the standards guiding this city on its path.  Twenty years from today throughout this country, the word “Goodyear” will still evoke thoughts of a blimp and a tire, but then, unlike today, the thought will be a secondary response.  First and foremost, the word “Goodyear” will stimulate thoughts of community, of people, and of city, a city of superb quality in the State of Arizona -- your city.