Job fair today / P. 3
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Wednesday, March 29, 2023
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Inside This Week
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Passion for golf, excellence drives Foothills GM BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
H COMMUNITY ..... 21 Two local schools presenting live theater.
BUSINESS ......... 36 Pastor marking 20 years leading Ahwatukee congregation.
e’s a resident of the HOA that is built around the golf course where he pursues his passion for a sport he’s played since he was 4. His daughter Whitney – the eldest of his three children and a member of the Desert Vista High School Golf Team – took lessons at the course.
see FOOTHILLS page 4 When he first became general manager of the Foothills Golf Course, Jeremy Strauss discovered in a closet at the clubhouse a framed portrait of him and his wife Hilary on their wedding day at that very facility. Gathered around that picture also are their children, Parker, Bailey and Whitney Strauss. (David Minton/AFN Staff Photographer)
DiCiccio sides with liberals on wage ordinance Homelessness, pay raises in 2023-24 budget ........ page 12
SPORTS ............. 42 Thunder baseball rallies for cancer-stricken team mate. COMMUNITY ............................ 21 BUSINESS ................................ 36 SPORTS ................................... 42 GETOUT ................................... 45 CLASSIFIEDS ........................... 50
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
A
rare alliance between one of Phoenix City Council’s most conservative members and its more liberal wing threw the administration’s spending plans into chaos last week as it voted 5-4 to require contractors on many city projects to pay workers at a rate equal to the region’s prevailing wage for their jobs.
Just weeks before he leaves office the morning of April 17 because of term limits, Councilman Sal DiCiccio joined another outgoing member, Carlos Garcia, as well as Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari and members Betty Guardardo and Laura Pastor in approving an ordinance requiring contractors on certain projects worth over $250,000 to pay the federally determined prevailing wage, overtime and other benefits for the Phoenix Metro region. The ordinance covers “alterations, improvements, repair, maintenance or demolition on any city-owned or leased building on any cityowned land, including any building subject
to a GPLET lease development agreement executed by the city after Dec. 31, 2023 or pursuant to a contract in excess of $250,000.” A GPLET, or Government Property Lease Excise Tax, is a complex redevelopment tool that lowers a project’s operating costs by replacing the property tax with a lower excise tax. Council’s vote on March 22 came during a special and hastily called meeting that was marked by tension as opponents, including Mayor Kate Gallego and District 1 Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, voted against the mea-
see WAGE page 7