Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 72

NORTH Deer Valley Moon Valley North Central Phoenix Paradise Valley Sunnyslope THE PHOENIX GAZETTE THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Friday, August 17,1990 3S NortimM Wr WMwl QliMlliPfy Mopes for parManlt bey neighborlhioodiefifort park Glendale benefits deal OK'd 2nd ruling sought to silence critics Royal Palm Park Royal Palm II Park 1 BCaminitP las Palmaritas Hill vmmmmmkm. 11; flillll mmSmcanL i Rayal Palm fid. zrtttJ Area to be II developed 1 5 A ml r- Si SS Co. president Tony Calvis. "They were enthusiastic about our plans because they were afraid someone else would come in to develop more densely." The current plan calls for 27 homes on the property.

Zoning in the area would allow for up to 35 homes. However, the neighbors have a different story. Both Kinsall and Gerstman said that everyone contacted on Royal Palm Road and Las Palmaritas Drive has signed their petitions a total of more than 150 signatures. Those petitions will be presented to District 3 Councilman Alan Kennedy next week. Kennedy, neighbors say, washed his hands of the matter after discovering the property already was in escrow.

"Kennedy found out it was in escrow and just walked away," Kinsall said. "He said it was hopeless and there's no money in the parks department." The councilman's staff, however, is See ROYAL, Page 6 By Lisa Davis Staff writer Neighbors of Royal Palm Park have launched a campaign to convince Phoenix to buy a parcel of land adjacent to the park to block a proposed subdivision. But it may be too late. The parcel, which would square-off the L-shaped park at 15th Avenue and Butler Dnve, currently is in escrow for sale to a developer. After the owners of the 11.5-acre property, located at 8210 N.

11th died earlier this year, their heirs put it up for sale. The property was zoned for residential housing, so no public hearing was held. Residents near the north Phoenix park first found out about the subdivision when Of f'j Mayor Paul Johnson (left) shares a Switzer, as they take a dinner break bQ5 A developer met with residents along Royal Palm Road, which would be behind the new homes. "It wasn't a public meeting," said Peter Gerstman, a resident of Las Palmaritas Drive, which would be an entry into the new subdivision. "It was a select group by invitation." Gerstman and other Las Palmaritas residents are armed with petitions against the new homes, saying that traffic would increase markedly on their street, which now dead ends into the property.

"Before we ever purchased the property, we met with neighbors adjacent to it," said Jonathan Wainwright, who is leading the project with Construction John Blackmer Staff photographer laugh with his partner, Sgt. Rick in south Phoenix. movement. He has neither gun nor badge. follows orders from the sergeant in charge, even though this particular man in blue is really the boss.

Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson last Friday joined the ranks of the police force on the swing shift out of the South Mountain Police Precinct, 400 W. Southern Ave. "I wanted them (police officers) to know that their job is important enough that the mayor would come out and find out what it is they do," Johnson says, walking through the streets of south Phoenix. The police work was part of Johnson's Operation Occupation program in which he takes a turn as a city See MAYOR, Page 2 As block mm ttTMMik 16 1I I I I-- (3JQM Mayor initiated as the man in blue I By Susan Felt Staff writer PHOENIX The state Department of Education has found nothing wrong with a $1,000 one-time increase in Glendale Union High School District's employee benefits package. But just to make sure and to answer critics who have called the $1,000 a bonus, the school district has asked for a ruling from the state Attorney General, district superintendent Jerry George said.

Robert Miller, a Republican candidate for the state superintendent of schools post, asked incumbent C. Diane Bishop in July to investigate whether the one-time payment was legal, after a newspaper article described the benefit as a bonus and gift paid to employees in part with money from a override that voters approved in February. "After our internal review, we concluded that we didn't feel there was any discrepancy at all with what Glendale did," said Rfy Borane, deputy superintendent of the state Department of Education. "We found no wrongdoing. As a matter of fact, it was a simple examination.

We didn't find anything complex in it at all. They did everything all right within their purview," Borane said last Friday. The $1,000 was a benefit negotiated in April as part of teachers' contracts for all employees and not a bonus or a gift, both of which are illegal, Borane said. A bonus is money that would be given employees midyear after contracts had already been negotiated, Borane said. Miller said he would withhold further comment on the issue until the Attorney, General's office issues a decision.

Miller received a letter last Friday from Bishop, stating that the department found no "misconduct" on the district's part and therefore would not ask the state Auditor General to conduct an investigation, which Miller earlier had requested. George said the district has opinions from the state Department of Education, from its attorney, Charles Herf, and from The Wyatt a consulting firm hired by the district to assist with its health benefits plan. "I asked Charlie Herf to ask the Attorney General (for an opinion) in order to make it very clear, so there wouldn't be any doubt," George said. "The documents show that this is part of the flexible benefit package and not a bonus and that it was negotiated after an override election that received voter approval," George said. But many taxpayers have been outspoken in their disapproval at the notion that employees in the nine-high school district were paid $1,000 as some kind of bonus financed with money from a $4.3 million override voters passed overwhelmingly in February.

See GUHSD, Page 6 Election coverage As Arizona strains to stretch limited resources to meet seemingly endless needs, it's more important than ever that voters know who the political players are, what interests they represent and what's at stake. To keep you informed, Community will present comprehensive grass-roots coverage of the elections. COMING UP NEXT WEEK: STATE OF THE STATE Voters in each legislative district in Maricopa County speak out on the issues facing Arizona. Our poll presents the results district by district to let you know what your neighbors say are key concerns. AUG.

27-31: THE CANDIDATES Community takes your concerns to the candidates in your district and asks them to respond. part of his day as a policeman, Mayor walk, a weekly ritual of residents In a School insurance pool requires $12,000 extra By Lisa Davis Staff writer lack letters on the side of the police car read, "For Official Use Only." This is about as official as it gets. Outside, the man in blue holds his position at the gate of, the Arizona Department of Transportation maintenance yard, off Lower Buckeye Road and 22nd Avenue, while a police dog circles the interior. The spotlight from a police helicopter searches the dark yard. A burglary occurred earlier, and one man has been arrested.

Radio chatter is unceasing as officers are deployed and the search is coordinated. The man in uniform scans the yard intently, watching for a glimpse of Peter Schwepker Staff photographer No choice but to wade Carrying her shoes, Ann Milllken of Phoenix negotiates high water near Bell Road and 19th Avenue. Her car got stuck In the recent storm runoff so she waded to a friend's house nearby. Community Paul Johnson participates In a south Phoenix area." the same as it would 'be in the private sector," Whitecraft said. In a June evaluation, Whitecraft told Madison School Board Members that the choice was more a matter of philosophy than one of cost.

"The board can either decide to accept the philosophy of a partially self-funded program and, stick with it for a while, accepting the rewards and penalties, or go with the guaranteed cost program provided by CIIA," Whitecraft told the board. The trust originally was established by the state Legislature in 1986 to provid school districts with an alternative to conventional property and jiability insurance At the time, according to the Department of Insurance, conventional insurance was 'much more expensive. The market later softened, making the premiums available from the private sector comparable to those of the trust. The trust was established to provide coverage at consistent rate," so that it might be budgeted more easily. However, in its first examination of the -See INSURETPage 4 i jl i vLi By Lisa Davis Staff writer Participation in a statewide insurance pool established as an alternative to expensive conventional insurance premiums cost at least one school district more this year than the same coverage from the private market.

Last month, Madison Elementary School District paid an additional $12,000 as a participant in the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust after a Department of Insurance examination found the trust to be undercapitalized earlier this year. district received a bid. of $171,589 for its 1990-1991 property and liability insurance coverage from CIIA of Arizona, a private insurance carrier, compared to $183,203, including the additional $12,000 capitalization fee, from the pool. Despite the higher cost, the school board voted to stay with the trust, hoping for a better return in the long run. According to Lee Whitecraft, director of the School Division at Corroon Black; Insurance the district's insurance consultant, coverage was not an issue.

"The coverage (in the pool) is basically; 1.