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In Phoenix, an answer for chain stores and recessions

PHOENIX — A middle-aged man walked in just after Drip Coffee Lounge opened at 7:30 a.m. His drink, a small double-shot café americano latte with organic low-fat milk, was already being made for him by the owner herself, Gina Madrid. They chat briefly in a vernacular that exclusively exists between barista and regular before the local man pays in exact change and walks out.

It was just the beginning of another successful day for the Downtown Phoenix small business model.

“One of the reasons why I opened Drip was because […at chain eateries] you walk away and you feel… ill,” Madrid says as she adjusted the volume on the iPod speakers. Her independently owned cafe has a modern architectural design, and business cards of local artists and entrepreneurs line the front counter.

“When you are providing something good for yourself, that in turn spills over to the people next to you, and so on.”

Independently owned small businesses in the Downtown Phoenix historic districts have thrived in the face of an influx of corporate chains to the city because of their adaptability and willingness to work together.

“When you drive down the street, you’re gonna see the Applebee’s, but you’re not gonna see the Stinkweeds right across the street, or know what it is,” says Kimber Lanning, owner of both Stinkweeds Records on Camelback Road at Central Avenue and Modified Arts, a popular music venue and art gallery on Fifth and Roosevelt streets.

Lacking the financial clout of a large corporation, local entrepreneurs say they rely on adaptable business models to contend in the Phoenix economy.

For example, Lanning has kept her independent record store open for over two decades, battling the ability of national chains to heavily reduce music prices by catering to niche markets like vinyl, used CD’s and obscure musical genres. She even hosts “blues brunches” at the shop with live musical performance on the weekend.

“Every week we reevaluate our budget and say, ‘We need more imports. We need more used,’” Lanning says of Stinkweeds as she jovially rings up a customer and greets him by name. “Whatever it is that we need more of, and we’re able to do that on a week-to-week basis, and the big chains aren’t able to do that.”

Hayes McNeil, co-owner of Royal Coffee Bar on Jackson Street at Second Avenue in Downtown, agrees a limited supply and quick accommodation of regular customers are crucial tactics to a locally owned business’ survival.

“Because we’re small, we’re flexible, and can keep up on our product more,” McNeil says. “If you have multiple stores, especially hundreds of stores, you have one kind of product, one way of doing things. If we want to change the way we’re doing things, we can change in a matter of minutes, really.”

The true secret to survival for Downtown Phoenix small businesses, however, may be their mindset of mutual cooperation.

“All the Downtown businesses have this sort of camaraderie,” Lanning says. “They’re just, like, ‘Yes! We survived the light rail construction, we’re down here, we’re the pioneers, and we’re in it together.’ Everybody’s helping each other.

“So I thought it would be cool to start a website that was just these little businesses that have opened up,” she says. “I just wanted to build some civic pride, let people know that there is cool stuff [in Phoenix]; you just have to look a little bit harder for it.”

Lanning did just that, forming Local First Arizona in 2003, and eventually selling her other Stinkweeds location in Tempe in 2006 to devote more time to the nonprofit’s website. Localfirstaz.org features a database of 1,400 locally owned Arizona businesses and helps them promote themselves and form partnerships.

It is believed to be the largest such merchant coalition in the country.

“[Localfirstaz.com] is really helpful, for sure. It looks professional,” McNeil says. “And that’s why the local businesses work together, because you know, you have to have maybe 20 businesses doing the [advertising] work of one chain.”

Many local storefronts also combine enterprise, sharing space or exchanging products in order to attract customers. For example, Madrid lends her kitchen at Drip to Sam Filicetti, also known as “Sam the Chocolate Guy” and owner of ib2 Designer Chocolates. Filicetti creates his scrumptious confections from behind the café storefront, then distributes his products for sale at Drip and other Downtown Phoenix establishments.

“It’s really nice when local businesses use each others’ products,” Filicetti says, his amicable and goofy personality matching his light-hearted products. “It’s sort of the trend right now, you know, to utilize space more efficiently.

“It’s a great [business model]. It reduces competition: It’s more or less a synergy of people working together to bring together the best products, the best local products.”

McNeil and his partner Vincent Huizar say their similarly symbiotic relationship with adjacent Sweet Pea Bakery. The prospects of cooperation and mutual support were major incentives for Royal Coffee Bar’s current location.

“Obviously baked goods go well with coffee, and they were already here, so it seemed like a pretty good setup,” McNeil says. “The main thing is we serve each others’ products. She (Danielle Librera of Sweet Pea) does all our baked goods for us […] We have people who bring our coffee over there, and then they bring her products over here. We do catering together, and really try to serve on each others’ products.”

“Essentially, we can be in three places at once” by working together and sharing space and products, Madrid says. Her Drip Coffee Lounge also works in heavy partnership with the row of local businesses on Seventh Street north of McDowell Road to “create a destination space” of their grassroots effort.

“My biggest wish is that people come here, to Sheridan Square, and they don’t even know where they’re gonna go,” Madrid says while serving a slowly rising stream of customers. “We all come with our own expertise and our own uniqueness to build something that’s even bigger than ourselves and even more unique.”

The relationship between these small and independently owned businesses and the Downtown Phoenix historic district community extends past detached service and into active membership.

“I think very much that [local businesses] should offer the best customer service, should reinvest in their community—naturally, inherently, do reinvest in their communities, because they hire local CPA’s, local sign makers, local attorneys,” Lanning says. “If I need a carpenter, I’m gonna hire a local guy, whereas all of that would get outsourced at a national chain.”

This reinvestment in the local economy may have resounding benefits for Downtown Phoenix. Shopping local ensures that 45 cents of every dollar spent stays in Arizona, as opposed to 13 cents spent at national chains, according to Local First Arizona’s website.

Many local businesses also take part in community events like First Friday art walks, acoustic concerts and charity auctions. These stores and their owners are fully integrated with Downtown Phoenix and each other, willing to adapt to the changing Phoenix marketplace, because such a business model is best suited for their survival.

Arizona entrepreneurs are not always just a community in the sense of economic cooperation, either; Madrid and McNeil are literally neighbors in the Coronado Historic District.

“Most people who own businesses down here actually do live here,” McNeil says. “I mean, it is our neighborhood.”

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Arizona growth poses religious challenge

PHOENIX — Arizona is set to experience religious growing pains after waves of new residents have made it more religiously diverse than ever.

But the subtle shift in demographics does not necessarily mean Arizonans will practice more religious tolerance, an expert says. If anything, they’ll have to work harder at building a consensus with these new worshipers.

“Religious diversity does not translate into religious tolerance,” says Reverend Jan Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, which brings together Christian denominations and keeps dialogues going with Jewish, Muslim and other faith communities.

“I suspect that the first time a mosque erects a minaret, there will be a neighborhood cry to take it down,” he said. “The only way to work on these issues is to have constructive dialogue between the religious groups, including the young in our schools and all the members of our various congregations.”

The irony is that people who practice an organized religion are moving into a region where being a loyal religious follower appears to be frowned upon.

The percentage of Arizonans who identify themselves as being affiliated with a particular religious tradition held steady at about 40 percent to 45 percent for at least three decades – far lower than the United States as a whole.

About 63 percent of people in the U.S. identify themselves with a religious tradition, according to the Association of Religious Data Archives. That figure falls to about 50 percent in the West as a whole and 45 percent in Arizona. Arizona ranks 41st out of the 50 states in people who identify with a religious tradition, according to ARDA data.

Further evidence of less enthusiasm for religion in the West comes from a Gallup Poll released this past July. In the West, 59 percent of the respondents professed a belief in God, compared with 80 percent in the East, 83 percent in the Midwest and 86 percent in the South. Those who say they believe in a higher power of some sort equal 29 percent in the West, 14 percent in the East, 11 percent in the Midwest and 10 percent in the South. Those who reject belief in God altogether total 10 percent in the West, 6 percent in the East, 5 percent in the Midwest and 3 percent in the South.

“There are several possible reasons for reduced interest in religion in Arizona and the West,” says Stephen Merino, an ARDA research associate who grew up in Colorado. “As the West was being settled, there was no rich religious culture similar to the cultures that came from Europe to the American Northeast and South, so the tradition wasn’t in place. Second, originally the West was settled predominantly by men, who tend to be less concerned than women about establishing and keeping religious traditions. Also, there is that staunch individualism of the West. People often prefer to be left alone instead of affiliating.”

But loyal followers of several religions are moving into Arizona neighborhoods.

Major religious demographic data is collected every 10 years by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies and distributed by ARDA. In 2000, that data showed Arizona’s population was 5.1 million.

By 2006 – the last year for which an estimate was available on the U.S. Census Bureau Web site – the state’s population was estimated to have grown by 1 million people.

Flaaten says the state’s religious profile will have changed even more when the next set of data is presented in 2010 by ARDA. He says some of the new trends will include:

• A greater presence of both Jews and Muslims in the state. Both populations present challenges in developing solid demographic data, Flaaten says, and he believes official counts from 2000 of about 80,000 Jews in the state and 12,000 Muslims could have been low. He says that there has been a strong Jewish tradition in Arizona for decades, so don’t be surprised if there are more than 120,000 Jews and 75,000 Muslims in Arizona in 2010. Part of this growth, he said, is attributable to the general migration of people to the state. Also, he believes better methods will be in place for counting these populations in 2010, so the numbers will naturally increase.
• An expansion of Catholicism. Roman Catholics will continue to make up the largest religious population in the state. Arizona adherents grew from about 485,000 in 1980 to nearly 975,000 in 2000 and should easily exceed 1 million by 2010. The church, which also is the single largest religious body in the U.S., will benefit from the migration of Catholics from other states and particularly from Latin American countries south of the U.S. border, of which many are predominantly Catholic.
• Steady growth of the Mormon faith. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which grew in the state from about 140,000 in 1980 to more than 250,000 by 2000, also will show an increase. This should be attributable primarily to growth in individual LDS families, not by converts.
• A steady decline of Southern Baptists. The Southern Baptist Convention, whose Arizona members numbered nearly 140,000 in 2000 after reaching about 163,000 in 1990, will probably continue to decline in the state. Watch for the rift in social issues to grow, Flaaten says. “This church body is part of the larger group of evangelical Christians, and this group generally is divided on whether Christians should pursue a broader role in society that includes a social justice agenda. Evangelicals, for example, are firmly united in their anti-abortion convictions, but there is an increasing variety of opinions about how to address the whole of life for children once they’re born. Should the church be active in advocating mandatory health care benefits? Should it be fighting for better education systems? Or should it focus on its primary job of preaching the Gospel? As these and other issues develop, they sometimes split churches. This is happening in the SBC, and because it’s not a denomination but rather just an association of congregations, it’s easy for individual congregations to break off and become independent or affiliate with some other group. As a result, membership is declining.”
• A large expansion of Pentecostalism. The Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal church body, nearly quadrupled from about 20,000 to about 80,000 between 1980 and 2000, and Flaaten expects growth to continue. “Many people don’t realize it, but after Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism is the second-largest expression of Christianity in the world,” he said. “It’s especially significant in Latin America. Arizona is attracting a number of people from that area, and the Assemblies of God should benefit from that. Many people want a religion that engages both their mind and their emotions, and this church body will see an increase because of that hunger within people.”
• A plateau and decline in the number of Protestants here. Flaaten expects most denominations within mainline Protestantism to show a decrease in 2010, with the exception of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “The ELCA has been growing, not because of conversions and outreach efforts, but simply because so many people are moving to Arizona from heavily Lutheran states like Minnesota,” said Flaaten, who is himself a member of the ELCA. “For most of the other mainline denominations, the figures probably will hold steady or decline.”

These trends will eventually force Arizonans to become more religiously aware.

“Unless we talk about and to people of other faiths, we will always be suspicious and perhaps fearful,” Flaaten says. “This isn’t difficult, but many of our faith community teachings have an ‘absolute truth’ quality about them, which limits the truth of other believers in God. So we have that obstacle to overcome, but it is possible to create curricula that help us all in the dialogue.”

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Big-box store fight in Chandler postponed

A rezoning request for a controversial commercial retail center in Chandler has been postponed until November.

The Planning and Zoning committee meeting, originally scheduled for Sept. 17th, will be held Nov. 5th, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chandler Public Library.

The center’s developers have drawn criticism for their ties to Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers.

The Riggs Gateway project, to be located on the northeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Riggs Road, has been a heated topic for many Chandler residents.  If the rezoning request is approved any retail business can be built, including Wal-Mart.

Kirk Sibley is president of Riggs Residents for Retail Diversity, Inc., a group opposed to the building of big-box retailers on the property.

Sibley says the projects developers, Diversified Partners, have close ties with Wal-Mart, and have built for them in the past.

His group is not opposed just to Wal-Mart, he says, but to any retail business of that size. They want what they call “neighborhood shopping” and not “destination shopping,” defining “neighborhood shopping” as smaller businesses and restaurants.

In 2004, Wal-Mart unsuccessfully attempted to build in this same location.

City planner Bill Dermody expects a large turnout at the upcoming meeting, with concerned residents ready to vocalize their opinions.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

“Green Jobs” on the way for AZ?

Everywhere you turn, politicians are touting “green jobs” as the savior of the economy and the planet. But are “green jobs” more than just a political catchphrase?

A new report by The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, seems to think so. The report estimates that an investment of $100 billion in renewable energy and other “green” economic sectors over two years would generate two million new jobs.

The report singles out six key sectors for investment:

* Retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency
* Expanding mass transit and freight rail
* Constructing smart electrical grid transmission systems
* Wind power
* Solar power
* Next-generation biofuels

If this sounds like a good plan and you live in the Phoenix metro area, you should stop by the Green Jobs Now rally this Sunday, the 28th. It’s being held at the Glendale Public Library main branch auditorium, at 5959 W. Brown St., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more info, you can contact the Green Party of Maricopa County, which is sponsoring the event: (602) 417-0213, www.maricopagreens.org

Whether you worry about global warming or the fact that our country is bankrupting itself by buying increasingly expensive foreign oil, investment in mass transit and alternative energy cars are the only remedies that makes any sense.

For instance, am I the only one who thinks it’s insane that there’s still no train service from Tucson to Phoenix?

Arizona, with the most sunshine of any state in the union, also has huge untapped potential for solar (kind of a no-brainer, but still). Of course, it’s cheaper to burn coal, but do we need to wait for the polar ice caps to melt and turn Arizona into a coastal state before we cut down our carbon emissions?

JCR

For Mesa family, investigation is still ongoing

MESA — Robert Nathaniel Kirk was known as a guy who stuck up for his friends. His parents believe it may have cost “Nate” his life.

On Aug. 28, 2006, he was found half-clothed in the shallow end of a swimming pool near McKellips and Power roads. Firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene, and Mesa police investigators have closed the case as an accidental death.

But Nate’s parents, Jim and Robyn Kirk, have been working for more than two years to revive the investigation.

They have kept in touch with the Mesa Police Department, posted reward fliers, created websites in memory of their son and conducted their own research to add to the case.

In June 2007, Jim Kirk, Nate’s father, ran small ads in the Phoenix New Times offering a $110,000 reward for any information regarding the death of his son.  Still, no one has come forward.

Jim Kirk also created a page on MySpace dedicated to Nate and the family’s quest for reopening the case.

“Nate was a cautious, sweet, sharing person,” Robyn Kirk says.  “He was your friend, your lover, your all.”

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, PARENTS SAY

Nate was 22 at the time of his death. Mesa police records show he was wearing a “white button-up shirt, a pair of boxer shorts, and a pair of low-top socks” when he was found lying in his family’s backyard swimming pool at 1852 N. Saffron Circle in Mesa. Records also reported no signs of foul play after inspecting the area.

Although there were signs of bruising and scratches on Nate’s body, Mesa police reported them to be results of removing the body from the pool. Autopsy reports later showed he had alcohol and a lethal amount of cocaine in his system.

The body was then sent to the Maricopa Medical Examiner’s Office and inspected by Dr. Ruth Kolmeier, who ruled that Nate Kirk died by accidental drowning.

After receiving the Medical Examiner’s ruling, the Mesa Police Department closed the case and has not taken part in any further investigation.

Nate’s family, however, was not satisfied with the police department’s decision. Robyn Kirk told police she believed foul play was involved.

“It is unusual that Nate had clothes on in the pool, but was not in possession of his phone or wallet,” Robyn Kirk says. “I think he went outside to meet someone.”

Nate was also threatened seven days before he was found dead, according to police records.

“[Nate] was threatened because he stood up for a friend. He was very protective of his friends and family,” Robyn Kirk says. “They told him he was a ‘dead man.’ ”

CASE FAR FROM OVER FOR KIRKS

The Mesa Police Department did follow up with an investigation of the men who had made the comment, but the investigation was concluded in the same day, but police records show that no arrest was made.

The Kirks have been persistent in working to reopen the case. The Mesa Police Department has continued to receive faxed documents from Jim Kirk with information supporting his suspicions of his son’s death, police records show. The family is currently working with attorneys Michael Wicks and Michael Kimmer in another approach to reopen the case of their son’s death.

Still, no further action has been taken. But the Kirks do not plan on stopping attempts to reopen the case any time soon, and will not rest until they find further information on their son’s mysterious death.

If you have any information regarding the death of Robert Nathaniel Kirk, contact Jim or Robyn Kirk at (602) 738-8987 or the Mesa Police Department at (480) 644-2324.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

In Tempe, reactions mixed to Palin’s experience

TEMPE — Alaska governor Sarah Palin accepted the Republican party’s nomination for vice president this week, using more barbs than her running mate and earning a grudging respect and guarded optimism from some locals.

Palin’s acceptance speech was a culmination of her tightly knit family life, cutting out the doubts her opponents brought to the surface, while showing her enthusiastic support for Arizona Senator John McCain.

And with that came the inevitable mudslinging towards the opposing Democratic Party and candidates Barack Obama and his vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden.

“But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform – not even in the state senate,” Palin said, referring to Obama.

She went on to say that Obama’s goals were to increase government size, take more money away from the people and generally reduce the strength of America on a global scale.

If elected on Nov. 4, Palin said she and McCain would lay down more pipelines, build more nuclear plants, create clean-coal jobs, and pursue other alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind power.

The speech garnered a mixed reaction around Tempe and the second largest university in the nation.

“It might be difficult to pass some of the bills that she’s proposing,” says Nedda Reghabi, an Arizona State University economics senior. “I do however think it’s a good idea to start looking into alternative energy sources.”

Palin used her past experiences as mayor and governor in Alaska as examples of her tenacity as a leading official.

She discussed how while seated as Governor she promised an immense ethics reform which eventually became the current law. She also mentioned her success in bringing revenue back to Alaskans when gas and oil prices skyrocketed, vetoing nearly $500 million in wasteful spending, and fostering Alaska’s state budget surplus that could reach up to $9 billion next year, according to the Los Angeles Times .

Tempe Vice Mayor Shana Ellis said that although Palin was a dark horse candidate, she has held an elected office and is qualified to be vice president.

But others say Palin’s experience places her somewhere in between rookie and veteran status. Longtime Valley pundit Richard Herrera, an associate professor of political science at ASU, said that in the event where Palin would have to take over as President, her background suggests she doesn’t have the same experience level as most vice presidential candidates although she is not the least experienced candidate to be chosen.

Valley coffee war deepens, one dunk at a time

PHOENIX — Jason Duffy sips a latte as his staff sets up bakery racks for a new Dunkin’ Donuts shop in northeast Phoenix. In the background, one of his business partners is munching on a blueberry muffin and chattering on his cellphone. He eyes every item on the menu, double-checking how it will appear to customers.

For years, Dunkin’ Donuts was symbolized by the tired little old man who came in at 5 a.m. and muttered, "Time to make the donuts." Coffee-related beverages were a hot ticket but a marketing afterthought.

Now the 58-year-old brand is changing its battle plan. It will focus on caffeine and healthier breakfast sandwiches that feature flatbread, egg whites and turkey sausage. And tomorrow, the company will kick off one of its largest market pushes ever when it opens seven stores Valleywide.

Its five-year plan calls for opening 150 locations in the Valley, Duffy says, even as Starbucks throttles back, shutters 600 locations nationwide and re-shapes its brand.

Duffy and other Dunkin’ franchisees smell a coffee-like opportunity. He points to the company’s 96-percent recognition rate, consumers’ growing interest in tasty, inexpensive coffee and the fact that much of the company’s caffeinated beverages are about 20 percent cheaper than those offered by competitors.

Despite the ongoing economic turmoil and its effect on competitors, Duffy says he likes his chances. His Anthem-based investment group, Olympic Fields Associates, plans to open 19 locations across Phoenix, Paradise Valley and Scottsdale over the next five years. [Duffy is also exploring opening a location inside the new Downtown campus for the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.]

The big dunk in the Valley is part of the company’s larger effort to expand West over the next five years in markets where residential growth has been phenomenal, Duffy says. The Phoenix-Metro area was an obvious choice.

"It’s a top-tier market," he says.

Although the timing isn’t exactly ideal, Duffy says, it’s only a small speed bump in the company’s long-term plan for Phoenix. Paul Travis, a OneAccord partner who focuses on food-service marketing and franchising, says Dunkin’ Donuts may survive and thrive.

"They may not be playing ‘lead’ between McDonald’s and Starbucks, but they have done a decent job competing with bagels and premium coffees," Travis writes in an email. "While they cannot compete on a gross-sales-per-foot basis, they hold their own.

"The soft economy," he adds, "will affect all businesses, but low price point items will always survive — indicating they will be more competitive than Starbucks and other ‘premium’-positioned brands."

Another franchise expert, Dick Rennick, applauded the company’s one-day, multi-opening bonanza but says consumers shouldn’t expect stores to be on every corner in the Valley. Rennick, a 40-year veteran of the franchising industry who has hung out with Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas and McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, says Dunkin’ Donuts is too smart to be the next ubiquitous coffee chain.

"I don’t think you’ll see a Dunkin’ on every corner," Rennick says. "I think they’re learning from the mistakes that others have made before them."

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Court ruling backs independents, paid circulators

PHOENIX — A recent court decision gives non-residents the right to gather petition signatures for political candidates and ballot initiatives.

While guaranteeing Constitutional rights to signature gatherers who are not Arizona residents, some are concerned the ruling may end up spoiling local contests by allowing rich, out-of-state interests to pay circulators who don’t have ties here and hijack the ballot.

Rick Heumann, a Chandler City Council candidate, is one of those concerned voices. He says he has worked on several campaigns advocating initiatives in the past and has seen how “big money” can change the dynamics of voting.

“I have a concern about the whole process,” Heumann says. “It shouldn’t be influenced through money.”

Brewer’s state elections director, Joe Kanefield, says his office intends to appeal the ruling.

FIRST AMENDMENT AT ISSUE

The hubbub stems from a June 9 ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges were responding to a 2004 complaint filed against Arizona elections officials by third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who claimed the 90-day deadline that independent candidates faced for submitting petitions was unfair.

The court agreed. As a result, the state Legislature will have to come up with a new deadline that could improve independent candidates’ chances of getting on the ballot.

But perhaps more importantly, the court also ruled that it is illegal to restrict non-Arizona residents from circulating petitions for presidential candidates and initiatives.

“The residency requirement nevertheless excludes from eligibility all persons who support the candidate but who, like Nader, live outside the state,” Judge Mary Schroeder writes for the court in her summary opinion. “Such a restriction creates a severe burden on Nader and his out-of-state supporters’ speech, voting and associational rights.”

The case could, however, raise questions for Republicans and Democrats because the inclusion of a third-party candidate could take away votes form either party’s candidate. It would also allow non-Arizona residents to circulate petitions, so paid signature-gathering companies will still be permitted to send employees from other states and hire non-residents.

Special interest groups frequently use signature-gathering firms. The court’s decision could effect the upcoming elections because groups with more monetary support will be able to get the required signatures faster and more efficiently, says Patrick Kenney, chair and professor of political science studies at Arizona State University.

“Interest groups have been pushing legislation for years and this [the use of signature gathering firms] is just another venue they use, and it is legal,” Kenney says.

It’s a First Amendment issue. The U.S. Constitution gives the people the right to organize, so there is virtually no way to regulate groups with alternative interests, Kenney says.

Still, Heumann says he prefers organic signature-gathering. He cites his experience with the successful ballot initiative that banned smoking in most restaurants in 2004.

He says the campaign, which was also backed by the American Heart and Lung Association, was a grassroots-type campaign where individuals volunteered to get signatures. “People came and helped out because they wanted to,” he says.

Heumann says he does not support the Ninth Circuit court’s decision because it opposes the original design of initiatives themselves. For everyday people to get something on the ballot takes time and effort, he says.

VOTERS COMPLAIN OF DECEPTION

The issue of paid signature gatherers is a sticky one for state elections officials. Although the court has asserted their Constitutional rights, these circulators are the root of numerous voter complaints come election time, Kanefield says.

He says the majority of complaints are from people who say they were lied to by petitioners. They claim petitioners told them they were signing to support one thing when in reality they were signing something completely different.

“Most people are upset because they feel misled, or that the petitioners are too aggressive,” Kanefield says. “There have also been complaints that petitioners are not disclosing information on whether or not they are being paid.”

In response to those complaints, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office has supported a new law that will require all petitioners to be truthful, Kanefield says. The law sponsored by Peoria Republican Bob Stump Jr. makes misleading voters about what petitions they are signing a class 1 misdemeanor. Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano signed the bill into law this summer.
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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Phoenix merchants hopeful after light rail work ends

PHOENIX — With a collective sigh, Downtown business owners are looking forward to the return of more customers now that light rail construction is wrapping up in their area.

For months, they have been dogged by noise and road restrictions while crews install a billion-dollar mass transit system connecting Tempe to west Phoenix.

Construction on the 20-mile track will continue through the grand opening in December 2008, but it will no longer affect traffic in downtown Phoenix.

Businesses such as the Old Spaghetti Factory are eager to see if the light rail shuttles in new customers. The restaurant, located in Phoenix since 1972, has maintained a steady flow of local customers, manager Adam Wilcox says.

It’s been tough to thrive during the light rail project, he adds, but “we get more complaints about the heat than the construction.”

The restaurant has run a few summer promotions to keep its clientele. They offer free Italian soda on Thursdays to anyone with an ASU ID card. They have also listed their restaurant in brochures of local hotels for a little extra advertising.

Cheuvront Wine & Cheese Bar, meanwhile, has experienced a sizeable decrease in customers. Manager David Jepsen says the restaurant has maintained a good flow of local residents during the hectic construction, but not as many customers from the outskirts. He says he is excited for the light rail to be completed and bring in a new stream of customers.

CVS Pharmacy, at the intersection of McDowell and Central Avenue, has also experienced a small relapse in customers.

“There has been a lot of customer complaints involving how to get out of the parking lot due to all the construction on Central Avenue,” says cashier Margie Loza.

CVS expects a large increase in customers in the next few weeks, once the construction is finished. They too are excited for the increase in business that the light rail should provide. Being a bus passenger herself, Loza said that she is excited that soon she will be able to travel to her necessary destinations more quickly.

The light rail is expected to carry an estimated 5,000 passengers per hour, according to Valley Metro, the county’s transit authority. The trains will operate for approximately 20 hours per day, seven days a week, and are expected to arrive at stations every 10 to 20 minutes.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

A prize-drawing in the carpool lane

PHOENIX — The county transportation authority is trying to clean up the summer air by offering prizes to residents who use alternative modes of transportation through Oct. 10.

Valley Metro’s annual Summer Ozone Contest has run for more than 10 years. It offers gift cards and incentives for people to carpool, vanpool, take the bus, ride a bike, refuel after dark or telecommute to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which help trap ozone particles Valley wide and lead to dirtier air and hotter temperatures.

Winners will be drawn at random each month through September. Residents will get a double entry if they use alternative modes of transportation during high-pollution advisories.

The prizes include:

• a one-night stay at Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort,
• a one-night stay at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs,
• a two-night stay at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Phoenix,
• a $20 gift certificate to First Watch,
• four passes to the Arizona Science Center,
• a $25 gift certificate to Valle Luna Mexican food restaurant,
• a $25 gift card to Claim Jumper restaurants,
• a round of golf for four at The Boulders Resort,
• a $50 gift card to Eddie’s Wildfish Grille in Desert Highlands.

“It is one more way to get people interested in using alternative modes of transportation…it provides interest and excitement,” says Jeff Reid, Valley Metro’s ride share administrative assistant.

Valley Metro hosts various ride share contests throughout the year, including the Valley Bike Month in April, and Ride Share Week in the fall, both which award residents with similar prizes. Local merchants donate them to encourage residents to participate in environmentally friendly habits.

“I wish I would have know about the contest years ago,” says Christine Benson, a Tempe resident since 2004. “I think it’s a great idea. I don’t think people are necessarily going to stop driving to work by themselves, but I do think it is nice to reward those who do try to keep the environment clean.”

To be eligible to participate, contestants must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of Maricopa County. Contestants must also submit an entry during the applicable entry period for that drawing.

Contestants can participate any time before October 10 by entering the date(s) that an alternative mode was used at valleymetro.org. Winners will be randomly selected by Valley Metro administration. The winner will be notified by phone, email or certified mail within 10 days of the drawing date. Submissions are based on the honor system.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

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