New Year’s Resolutions

I only get to play “Queen of Arizona” once a year – in this annual January column – and, believe me, I relish it. All year long I save clippings and make notes to myself – often in my car or on the run, so sometimes I can’t even read my own writing. Trust me, though, I take this role very seriously.

For a while, I tried to proclaim how I’d fix the state’s major problems, but the state always has so many major problems. It was a real bummer of a column. Besides, haven’t we elected and hired a whole lot of people to take care of those problems?

What’s more, if you aren’t blinded by just the problems, you can see there are plenty of people doing some pretty remarkable things, and I thought that if I were queen, I’d certainly want to acknowledge them.
So, every January I present a kind of hybrid column that lauds the laudable and slams the slipshod. This year, I’ve amassed 24 items that, if I were queen, I’d proclaim to make the state of Arizona a better place in which to live.

• I’d decree that everyone in Arizona’s public schools learn English. And Spanish. This state has the incredible potential to be fully bilingual, and it would help if we all could speak the two dominant languages of the Grand Canyon State. I wish this were an original idea, but it’s not. I’m borrowing it from my old friend Tony Sommer, who retired from the Phoenix Gazette, but still writes a column every now and then. He wants this dual-language education to start in Kindergarten, and I couldn’t agree more.

• As former Governor Rose Mofford has advocated, I’d give an estate tax break to people who donate organs. I think we should do something special for the people who help give others a new chance at life.

• I’d never have given Donald Trump the zoning to build a multi-story high-rise adjacent to a residential area at 26th Street and Camelback. I’d have insisted that if he wants a tall building, he should construct it where tall buildings belong – Downtown. The City Council is going to regret that decision, which some tried to sell by saying it was a blow against “sprawl.” Gag me. If you look at the split vote, you see that all the outlying Council members from the sprawling districts voted for Trump, while all the urban Council members voted against him.

• I wouldn’t have let America West Airlines throw away its name when it merged with US Airways. Although America West was buying the other airline, it erased its name altogether, so the new combined airline is US Airways. Didn’t anybody ever consider that it could have been renamed “American Airways,” which would have married the two names? You guys should have called me.

• I’d never, ever allow the Arizona Legislature to try and raid the Heritage Fund, which voters approved in 1990 to pay for parks and wildlife programs. Governor Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill last year that would have swiped that money – the 33rd time lawmakers have tried to dip their pinkies into that fund. Hands off, folks. I mean it.

• I’d be more generous with arts programs in Arizona. We only spend 63 cents per person in this state on the arts, and I think that’s way too skimpy. And while we’re at it, let’s tip our hats to the wonderful Shelley Cohn, who retired last year as director of the Arizona Com-
  mission on the Arts. What that woman could do with almost no money… it was awesome, and so is she. Thanks, Shelley.

• I’d decree that more neighborhoods create their own version of Soup Night on West Lawrence Road. Every Thursday, one of the 12 houses on the street makes a big pot of soup and all the neighbors come by. What a lovely way to get to know your neighbors!

• I’d make sure that everyone visits one of Downtown’s most prized possessions – a bookstore! Oh, how that area has suffered without its own place to buy books (al-though it is blessed with the Burton Barr Public Library, which loans them out). But when the Poisoned Pen moved into the Bentley Projects on Grant Street, life got sweeter for the heart of the city. It was particularly significant that the Downtown store was the second venture of the very successful Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale. Thank you, Barbara Peters, for spreading your bookstores around.

• I’d send Jesus Daniel Mendoza on tour around Arizona to show students that continual obstacles can’t stop you if you really want to learn. Jesus spent most of his childhood moving with his migrant farm family. Despite being constantly uprooted, however, he listened when Mama and Papa stressed the value of education. The Alhambra graduate snared a full-ride, four-year scholarship to ASU, where he’s studying electrical engineering. What a role model he could be for so many kids – especially in a state that has the worst dropout rate in the country.

• I’d encourage more Arizona communities to follow Phoenix’s lead and “adopt a village” in need of help. Phoenix is partnering with the nonprofit Food for the Hungry to adopt the Indonesian village of Meulaboh, which was devastated by the tsunami. One-third of its 120,000 residents were killed. Mayor Phil Gordon says he thinks the long-term pledge to help them get back on their feet is the first of its kind by a city.

• If I were queen, I’d have everyone in Arizona visit Release the Fear, a sculpture in a pocket park at Central and Roosevelt. This 24-foot-tall sculpture is made from four tons of melted weapons. It’s a monument to peace and understanding that was created over the last decade by Phoenix artist Robert Miley.

• I’d encourage more law firms in Arizona to get involved in volunteering their talents to community projects. Obviously, Snell & Wilmer believes in the idea, because last March it hosted a fair for professionals interested in learning about volunteer opportunities. Great idea.

• I’d seek out more remarkable women like Mary Peterson, who founded “Maggie’s Place,” which aids pregnant women and girls in crisis. Five years ago, at age 28, this altruistic woman quit her job, moved in with four friends, slept on the floor, and rebuilt a dilapidated home in Central Phoenix that she called Magdalene House. Last year she opened a second house in Tempe, called Elizabeth House. She hopes to expand her compassion nationwide. I predict that some-day the whole country will know how special she is.

• I’d make sure everyone knows how much good the Los Bomberos Program has done. In 1990, when Mary Rose Wilcox was still a member of the City Council, she approached the city’s firefighters, asking if they could help combat the arson problems in some South Phoenix neighborhoods. About 40 of the 50 Hispanic firefighters at the time formed Los Bomberos and started going through neighborhoods, often communicating in “Spanglish” to help the community weed out the problem. The arson rate dropped, but by then, nobody wanted to leave, so they stayed and they’ve continued being a positive force in the community – teaching CPR and water safety, passing out smoke detectors, and teaching people fire drills. They’ve also been a good nudge for the fire department, as they’ve become mentors to help new firefighters, especially minorities and women.

• I’d convince the Collier Co. to donate the land it owns at the northeast corner of Indian School and Central to Phoenix so we could expand Steele Indian School Park, which was created around the old Indian school. The land is vacant, but it is slated for a high-rise someday. Instead, I hope it becomes a part of our new urban park.

• I’d never allow anyone to auction off a live animal at a charity dinner.

• I’d stop all tagging and give these gifted but misdirected artists someplace to show their stuff without defacing our cities with graffiti.

• I’d reopen Union Station for nationwide travel on Amtrak, and I’d create a network of commuter trains for local travel – Wickenburg to Phoenix; the East Valley to Phoenix; Phoenix to Tucson. I’m overjoyed that some people are now exploring this idea, because I’ve lamented for a long time the fact that we’re the only major city in America without any passenger railroads.

• If I were queen, I’d buy everyone in Arizona a ticket to a Cookie Co. production this year, as the troupe celebrates its 25th year. This wonderful children’s theater is an Arizona treasure, and its imaginative plays have long been big hits with the youngsters.

• I’d immediately resume construction of the new building for the Arizona State Archives, which is to be named in honor of the late Polly Rosenbaum. A couple of lawmakers – Russell Pearce and Jim Weiers – want to scuttle the project, and they’re just plain wrong. They want to move the site of the new building so it can cozy up to the Capitol buildings and provide space for lawmakers’ staffs and a parking structure. Hello! The new library doesn’t need any roommates. It’s being built because we don’t have enough space to care for the state’s historical documents. Leave the plans alone, boys.

• I’d sponsor a competition to find some creative way to decorate the Valley’s fire hydrants and water pipes. They’re necessary, of course, but they’re everywhere, and they don’t have to be ugly.

• I’d make sure everyone in Arizona understands that secondhand smoke kills.

• I’d clone retirees like Buzz and Barbara Bradley of Sun Lakes. This couple is not spending their retirement on the golf course. Nope. Instead, they’ve created a nonprofit organization whose volunteers assist home-bound adults. They call it About Care Inc., and it offers services to the elderly and chronically ill, as well as the physically challenged. Wow. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Bradley.I’d bring all of our troops home from Iraq.

Have a great New Year!