February 26, 2023 | www.santansun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
COVID’s gone, but millions in relief bucks aren’t BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor
Most Americans look at the COVID-19 pandemic a lot differently today than when it first arrived as those early months were filled with unknowns as fears for the economy grew with business shutdowns. Some of those fears were based in reality. The unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April 2020, the highest it has gone since the Great Depression. The Gross Domestic Product dropped by 32% during that second quarter of 2020. So, the federal government responded by throwing money at the problem. A lot of money. About $5 trillion was shipped to individuals, businesses, schools and local governments to help them overcome the economic fallout of COVID-19. The money was approved with mostly bipartisan support and it did help. The
COVID-19 recession was the shortest in U.S. history, lasting two months, MarchApril, 2020. Chandler received its share of that money – and still has millions of it in the bank. City officials said they received just under $100 million in COVID funds and have yet to spend $46.8 million. Chandler Unified School District got about $83 million and has not spent over $31.5 million, according to a recent report from the Arizona Auditor General. “We did not have a lot of the technologies in place for our employees to work mobile, for the security that you need … for a change that large, and also just communicating with the public through WebEx and Zoom and all the different methods,” said city Chief Financial Officer Dawn Lang. “So it was all hands on deck with our technology team. And it really took a lot
of the funds themselves to get us where we needed to be, and it was a pretty speedy process.” The information technology department received $10.8 million to make the city’s website more mobile-friendly and to beef up security so employees could work safely from home. Lang said it took about a year for the city to be fully ready for remote work and helping citizens connect from their mobile devices. “It was a pretty amazing undertaking, we did have to bring in quite a few contractors to help us get there as well,” Lang said. Most of the money, more than $36 million, went to the city’s Housing Department. It was intended to help those who were most impacted by the pandemic. There were also funds to help pay for utilities, get food to senior citizens and
provide emergency shelter. The city also spent $500,000 on personal protection equipment and another $250,000 to establish four mobile hotspots to help CUSD students connect to the internet to facilitate their remote learning. First responders did not get a lot of direct funds from the government. However, the money freed up by those funds allowed the city to spend about $4.8 million on its police and firefighters in addition to state and federal grants totaling another $814,282. But not all of the money was used strictly on pandemic-related issues. The city manager’s office spent $50,000 of the funds to promote events for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office. The Economic Development office spent nearly $500,000 on tourism See
COVIDon Page 19
San Marcos parents get good news on school’s future BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor
Chandler Unified School District Superintendent Frank Narducci gave some good news to the San Marcos community at a Feb. 21 informational meeting. “As a result of your input, feedback and recommendations and conversations with leaders in this community, we believe the best path forward is to maintain San Marcos Elementary as a pre-K through sixth grade campus.” The “Save San Marcos” signs some people brought would not be needed since the district does not plan to recommend closing the school. However, Narducci made it clear there may come a time when the school could not be saved and asked for the community’s help in making sure they don’t
reach that point. “We know that typically schools with enrollment below 300 students experience increased challenges in providing equitable opportunities for all students,” Narducci said. “For that reason, should the enrollment at San Marcos drop in the 200 range, the district recommendation will be to repurpose the school.” San Marcos had the lowest enrollment of the nine schools that are under consideration for repurposing. Its 2021-2022 100-day enrollment, which is the number the state uses to determine funding since students come and go all year, was 357. The school has a capacity of 840. The meeting was the second at San See
SAN MARCOS on Page 4
Kym Marshall, center, the executive director for student personalized learning at Chandler Unified School District, takes notes as she listens to ideas during a Feb. 21 meeting on how to attract new students to San Marcos Elementary School. (Ken Sain/Managing Editor)
Police union head claims city retaliation BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor
MICHAEL COLLINS
The head of the Chandler police union has filed a legal claim against the city, alleging officials retaliated against him for some of the things he said and did as head of that body. Michael Collins, president of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA), is offering to settle his claim for $470,000. In a statement, the city said, “Since it’s a legal claim and personnel matter, we won’t be making any comments at this time.” The claim was filed with the city on Jan. 31 by attorney Kathyrn R.E. Baillie. In it, Collins claims he was removed
from the city’s Criminal Intelligence Unit as retaliation for comments he made to the media in his role as the leader of CLEA. Collins has worked for the Chandler Police Department for 28 years. “The relationship between Det. Collins and command staff began to change when he started to meet with
the public and the local media regarding the working conditions and short staffing of police officers in Chandler,” the claim says. “As Det. Collins continued to gain media attention and the public began
F E AT U R E D STO R I E S EV lawmaker makes case for teen mental health help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 9 Housing market now for seller, may crush buyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 32 Hall of Fame honors Chandler high school athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 38 Chandler thespians shine in new comedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 40
See
COLLINS on Page 5
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Real Estate . . . . . 32 Business . . . . . . . . 34 Clip-It . . . . . . . . . . 37 Sports . . . . . . . . . 38 Neighbors . . . . . 40 Faith . . . . . . . . . . 46 GetOut . . . . . . . 48 Classifieds . . . . . 49