STSN May 17-June 6, 2014 Book

May 17 – June 6, 2014 www.SanTanSun.com

Tax decrease highlight of 2014-15 Slip, slop, slap summer proposed budget sun safety BY JOAN WESTLAKE

BY TRACY HOUSE

The Chandler City Council is hosting a series of public meetings in May and June to review and adopt the City’s proposed 2014-15 budget, which begins July 1. Neighborhood parks, repaving roads, added fire and police personnel as well as a decrease in City property taxes are some of the notable items in a budget that is 2.5 percent lower than the previous year’s. “The proposed budget represents what I believe is a very prudent spending plan for the coming year,” Mayor Jay Tibshraeny said after the May 2 budget and capital improvement program City Council briefing. “We are able to balance the needs of maintaining our infrastructure while delivering quality services and accelerating the projects residents are asking for. Additionally, our ability to lower the city portion of the property tax rate will help to offset rising property values.” Budget Manager Greg Westrum elaborated that at the May 2 meeting. He said the City will proceed with a proposed property tax decrease of 9.22 cents per $100 of assessed value, reducing the primary rate from .3292 cents per $100 to .2992 cents per $100 and the secondary rate from .9422 cents per $100 to 88 cents per $100. The General Fund is the main focus of the budget meetings. It supports many priority services including police and fire, libraries and maintenance of streets, parks and other infrastructure.

Public forums on budget schedule Chandler City Council Chambers, 88 E. Chicago St. • Budget amendment discussion with the city council: 7 p.m. Monday, May 19 • Tentative budget adoption by the city council, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22 • Public hearing regarding the adoption of the final 2014-15 budget, 2015-2024 CIP and 2014-16 property tax levy with vote on final budget and CIP adoption, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12 • Property tax levy adoption by the city council, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26.

Neighborhood parks priority With six years of experience working with Chandler’s budget, Westrum says this proposed edition reflects a process that began two years ago when the City was able to start moving out of economic belt tightening. As the fiscal recovery emerged, Chandler residents communicated that they wanted a renewed focus on creating parks and other neighborhood enhancements. SEE TAX DECREASE PAGE 6

Living in the Valley of the Sun has a lot of perks—mild winters, outdoor activities year round and on average, more than 200 clear and sunny days a year. But those clear blue skies are also cause for precautions and a growing number of cases of skin cancer are reported each year. May is Skin Cancer Awareness month, and according to information from the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. And while that may seem frightening living in sunny Arizona, skin cancer is also one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Dr. Catherine Chen-Tsai of East Valley Dermatology offers some suggestions and safeguards against the sun’s harmful rays based on the American Cancer Society’s Slip! Slop! Slap! awareness campaign.

Slip! Chen-Tsai says to slip into the shade and sun protective clothing. “A lot of the kids will wear a very thin white T-shirt, but that only gives the equivalent of an SPF 3. A lot of people don’t know that…a thin T-shirt only gives you a low protective shield and so what we advocate is for people to wear a thicker cotton weave or to put some kind of a pigment into their shirt, like pink or green or blue and that will increase the SPF factor.”

6-year-old girl supports others with Teddy bear program BY MEGHAN MCCOY

Six-year-old Charlotte Gould’s birthdays have turned into something bigger than opening pretty packages. When she celebrated her first birthday, her parents encouraged friends and family to make donations to a local charity that helps children, like Charlotte, who were born with a cleft lip and palate. “On my birthday, I don’t get presents. TEDDY BEARS: Born with a cleft lip and palate, Charlotte I get donations to buy presents,” Gould was given a Teddy bear Charlotte says. for support. She and her family She buys Teddy bears for children like recently started the Charley her. Her quest began when Charlotte Bear Hug Program. Submitted visited a team of surgeons and therapists photo

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at St. Joseph’s Hospital, including Drs. Stephen Beals and Patricia Glick. She was given a little Teddy bear by the Cleft Palate Foundation. “It became her best buddy,” Nicole says. Brown and furry with little stitches on his face, “Charley,” as she calls it, kept Charlotte company at night. Charlotte curiously asked why the bear had stitches, which led to a conversation about cleft palates. Charlotte replied that all babies should have a bear and thus the Charley Bear Hug program was born.

SLIP! SLOP! SLAP!: Before the kiddos head into the summer sun don’t forget to have them slip into protective clothing, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat. STSN photo by Tracy House

Slop! She explains this is basically putting on sunscreen. “The SPF on the bottles only addresses UVB, which is the burning rays... Just last year the FDA started measuring for UVA effectiveness in sunscreen.” Chen-Tsai says to look for ‘Broad Spectrum’ on the label, right beside the SPF. It will say ‘Broad Spectrum’ if it is UVA protection. Chen-Tsai continues if the bottle doesn’t have Broad Spectrum labeled it is inadequate for UVA. She also explains that the sunscreen should be SPF 30 and to read the label to look for zinc oxide and titanium. Don’t just buy a sunscreen because it has a SPF 60 to 120 which could have added chemicals, such as octocrylene, that could cause an allergic reaction.

CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION AND CHIHUAHUA RACES

FANCY DRESS: Cherry dressed to impress and took the crown as Queen Chihuahua. STSN photo by Tim Sealy. See more photos on page 51

SEE TEDDY BEARS PAGE 5

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Way cool things for Chandler teens to do this summer. . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 J2 Media ‘makes television’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BUSINESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 17 Students head to Odyssey of the Mind competition . . . . . . .YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 27 ‘Godmothers’ deliver kitchen creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . . . . . . .Page 45 Dance Studio 111 celebrates two decades of success. . . . . . . .ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 57

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Pre-Season Tune-Up

CLIP-IT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Center Section

More Community . . . . . . 1-16 Business . . . . . . . .17-26 Youth. . . . . . . . . . .27-41 Opinion. . . . . . . . 42-43 Neighbors. . . . . . 44-52 Spirituality . . . . . .53-56 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . .57-63 Directory . . . . . . 64-65 Classifieds. . . . . . 66-67 Where to eat . . . 68-70