Inside Tucson Business 03/30/12

Dicey dateColdwell Banker’s cut at housing stats show uneven improvement

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Sunrise for solarCounty sets incentives for utility scale solar plants

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Lunching withlegislatorsASBA’s update was a steady diet of proposed laws

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Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area

WWW.INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM • MARCH 30, 2012 • VOL. 21, NO. 44 • $1

MARKETING ACE

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New study tests Tucson mobile phone carriersInside Tucson Business

A new independent study done this month of mobile phone perfor-mance in the Tucson region from the consumer’s perspective shows that providers are improving reliability and speed but Verizon Wireless is, in many cases, the best performing ser-vice in the market.

RootMetrics, a company head-quartered in Bellevue, Wash., said it conducted almost 10,000 tests in the market then sorted the data to deter-mine which carrier provided the fast-est and most reliable data network, the fewest dropped and blocked calls and the fastest text service. Th e com-pany also gave an overall RootScore Award winner to the carrier that

achieved the best combined score.Verizon was at the top with an

overall combined score of 92.1, fol-lowed by AT&T at 73.5; Sprint at 49.9, Cricket at 46.0 and T-Mobile at 43.6. RootMetrics says its overall scores are accurate to varying degrees within 2.9 to 5.9 points, depending on the num-ber tests that were conducted.

In specifi c areas:• Data: Verizon scored an 88.9, far

outdistancing second-place AT&T’s score of 47.0. RootMetrics said Ve-rizon’s network download speed was 1.9 times faster and uploads speeds were more than 3 times as fast as its closest competitor. For reliability, AT&T’s extremely low failure rate of just 0.9 percent made it the best. At the other end of the spectrum, T-Mobile’s

failure rate of 27.7 percent was one of the highest RootMetrics said it found in any of its tests in any market.

• Call performance: Th ere was no clear-cut winner with all fi ve carriers delivering statistically equal perfor-mances on tests of either dropped calls or outgoing calls that couldn’t be placed.

• Text: Fewer than four points separated the top three but Verizon at 98.5 edged out AT&T at 96.8 and T-Mobile at 94.8. In its tests, Root-Metrics said at 4.6 seconds, Verizon had the fastest median receive time for texts, followed by 5.6 seconds for T-Mobile, 6.0 seconds for AT&T, 27.7 seconds for Cricket and 68.3 seconds for Sprint.

As part of its ongoing research,

RootMetrics invites mobile phone customers to download a free app from its website — www.rootmetrics.com — that will allow it to continue developing data on mobile phone coverage. Tucson is one of 49 mar-kets the company has conducted its research.

RootMetrics previously conduct-ed research in Tucson in November. In the intervening four months, tests show both Verizon and AT&T have increased their speeds, T-Mobile’s re-liability and speed have declined and this time, Cricket was added.

Julia McGavran, a spokeswoman for RootMetrics, says she anticipates the company will return for anoth-er month of tests before the end of 2012.

D&H Air’s creative partnership with Ace Hardware is

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2 MARCH 30, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS

An essential tool for small businesses to help manage everyday expenses, the Wells Fargo Business Platinum Credit Card also offers:

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Get a 0% introductory rate when you open a new Business Platinum Credit Card

Credit decisions are subject to credit qualification. Offer valid from January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012. New Business Platinum Credit Card accounts submitted and approved during the promotional period will receive the introductory rate of 0% for the first nine billing cycles. The 0% introductory rate applies to purchases and balance transfers for the first nine cycles as long as the customer does not default under the Customer Agreement. Each Balance Transfer transaction will be assessed a 3% fee ($10 minimum and $75 maximum).© 2012 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. (710226_04420)

MARCH 30, 2012 3InsideTucsonBusiness.com

Public Notices 6Arts and Culture 7 Briefs 8 Inside Media 11 People in Action 12 Profile 13 Lists 14-17 Finance 18

Real Estate &Construction 19Biz Buzz 20Editorial 20Classifieds 23

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CARTOONISTWES HARGIS

County creates solar power incentive district

By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business

Continuing on eff orts to promote alter-native energy production, Pima County has created a solar-power incentives dis-trict.

Called the Renewable Energy Incentive District (REID), the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved the plan March 20, identifying specifi c regions of the county suitable for utility scale solar arrays and of-

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fers inducements to encourage their use. “It’s important that these were areas

that we’ve made as shovel-ready as pos-sible,” said Arlan Colton, planning director with Pima County Development Services.

Colton said sites had to meet certain criteria for inclusion in the REID, which include being at least fi ve acres in size, not lying within existing conservation areas, sit outside of operating mine areas, not

Solar energy lags in U.S., interest among Americans falls By Jessica TestaCronkite Newes Service

PHOENIX — Th e U.S. market for solar energy has grown substantially but still has a long way to go, accord-ing to Jon Wellinghoff , chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-mission.

While Arizona is a natural place for solar development, the state ranks third behind both California and New Jersey. Further, on a global scale, Germany produces more solar power in a month than the United States does in a year, Wellinghoff said.

“We should be ashamed of our-selves if we don’t develop it the way that we should,” Wellinghoff said at the Arizona Solar Summit, which at-tracted industry leaders and policy makers to the Arizona Biltmore this week.

He said the federal government and emerging technologies will play key roles in helping solar compete against coal, oil and gas for custom-ers.

Once it becomes a more equal player in the market, solar power can be integrated into the U.S. elec-tric grid — an essential step for utili-ties to start taking solar seriously, Wellinghoff said.

He pointed to eff orts to bring the price of solar energy down, such as

SEE COUNTY | PAGE 6SEE INTEREST | PAGE 6

Davis-Monthan wins award

as best in the Air ForceDavis-Monthan Air Force Base is the

winner of the 2012 Commander in Chief’s Installation Excellence Award.

Th e award, announced Monday by Sec-retary of Defense Leon Panetta, goes to the best installation of each branch of the ser-vice and brings with it a $1 million prize to be used for quality of life improvements.

D-M beat out Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, La., in the fi nal competi-tion that included a visit by judges Jan. 11-14.

As for what will happen to the $1 million, Col. John Cherrey, commander of the 355th Fighter Wing which operates D-M, will so-licit ideas using a three-step process:

• Each of the base’s 71 private organiza-tions registered with the 355th Force Sup-port Squadron, will be given a chance to nominate one quality of life enhancement.

• Each submission will be rated using an objective “bang-for-the-buck” scale that will determine how many people will be able to take advantage of the project for the amount of money spent.

(For example, if the same 10 people would use it each day for a year, the “bang” would be a 10 rating but if 492 people were to use it over the course of a year, the bang would be a 492, according to Lt. Col. Kjall Gopaul, 355th Mission Support Group dep-uty commander.)

• Th e entire base will vote online.Th e results of the process will be used by

a team of senior base leaders to formulate recommendations from which Cherrey will make the fi nal determination by May 30.

“I’m extremely proud of the 355th Fight-er Wing and the entire Desert Lightning Team for earning this great honor,” Cherrey said in a statement. “Th is award is a re-sounding confi rmation of our ongoing com-mitment to the care and development of airmen and their families as a top priority at D-M.”

Th e CINC IE award, as it is known, was created by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to help promote innovative and creative ways of enhancing base-level services, fa-cilities and quality-of-life.


Non-traditional marketing heats up for D&H Air, Ace HardwareBy Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

About three years ago, Brett Wright started tinkering around with the idea of doing something unconventional to grow his air conditioning business. He dreamed of having an innovative busi-ness-to-business program to compliment his traditional “old school” marketing.

As the idea bounced around, employ-ees and friends tossed in their sugges-tions. Wright’s company, D&H Air Con-ditioning & Heating, 3629 N. Oracle Road, has a 53-year legacy as a local company, so there was pressure to partner up lo-cally to benefi t the local economy.

Wright also was told to make it fun.As he pondered the possibilities, he

began to brainstorm about connecting with Ace Hardware. Although Ace is a national company, each store is owned locally. Th ere are 24 stores in the Tucson region, owned by six people who work to-gether as an ownership group to promote the Ace brand.

In October 2009, Wright put together a formal presentation and made his pitch to the Ace owners.

“Basically, the pitch was this: We’re a long-established company in Tucson that provides great customer service and high-quality products. You too, Ace, is well established with quality customer service and products. To compete with the big box stores, let’s set up a formal partnership to off er local heating and cooling to Ace customers so they will not have to go anywhere else,” Wright re-called.

Under the off er, D&H would provide in-store displays for each Ace outlet. Lennox products would be featured to capitalize on their high, brand name rec-ognition. Since so many variables go into selecting the right product, Ace employ-ees would not have to “make the sale.” In-stead, interested customers would simply fi ll out a form and have Ace fax it to D&H or customers could call themselves.

D&H would then go to the customer’s home for a free evaluation. Ace custom-ers would receive special discounts. D&H would participate in Ace Hardware’s marketing and ad mailers.

“Customers get a sense of double con-fi dence, to get air conditioning products backed up by D&H and also by Ace. In eff ect, guaranteed satisfaction at two dif-ferent levels,” Wright said.

Th at December, the ownership group accepted the proposal.

As news of the deal worked its way up the corporate ladder at Lennox, the reac-

tion was mixed. Th e partnership was widely celebrated but the displays were an unex-pected challenge.

Th e unique exhibits had to be designed and custom-built specifi cally for Ace Hard-ware. Each display had to be lightweight and moveable, fi t on an end cap at each store, and be attractive. Wright wanted a stripped-down display using only the outer hull of a condensing unit and furnace, with no heavy mechanical parts inside.

Once on the sales fl oor, the shells would look like actual equipment.

“Lennox didn’t know how to do it, no one had ever done this before,” said Wright.

Yet the merchandising idea was so strong, Lennox executives had their factory engineers fi gure out a way to get it done. Th e pieces were shipped to D&H where em-ployees assembled the fi nal displays.

In March 2010, D&H began placing the exhibits that often included a life-sized, cardboard cut-out of celebrity spokesman Dave Lennox.

Wright said the non-traditional market-ing program has been successful. Ace Hard-ware customers have a dedicated fax and phone hotline to D&H that “is just like the Batphone. It rings, we scramble,” he joked.

On the serious side, the joint venture has generated new business. Although no fi nancial or trade secrets were disclosed, the Ace arrangement has enabled Wright to add eight part- and full-time jobs. Overall, Wright has 35 employees and the partner-ship “has given them added job security and a great sense of community.”

D&H was founded in 1959 by Arthur Du-Hamel, Wright’s grandfather. Wright grew up in the business, “digging ditches and working in the shop before studying busi-ness at the U of A,” he said.

Wright bought the business in 1987 and believes D&H may be Tucson’s oldest family owned air conditioning business.

Contact reporter Roger Yohem at

[email protected] or (520) 295-4254.

D&H A/C and Ace Hardware have a successful, non-traditional marketing partnership. Shown are Ace salesman Dan Nichols (left) and D&H owner Brett Wright.

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Alarm fees start Sundaybut city isn’t ready

A new security alarm fee inside the Tuc-son city limits is supposed to take eff ect Sunday (April 1) but if you’re a business owner or resident who hasn’t paid up, not to worry — city offi cials are still putting to-gether the details.

Under the new fees approved by the City Council, alarm owners will be charged a $20 annual fee to register their security alarms.

Th e city also is assessing a false alarm fee. Th ere is no charge for the fi rst false alarm, provided the alarm is properly regis-tered, but after that there is a $100 per inci-dent charge up to seven false alarms.

Under the new plan, Tucson Police can refuse to respond to non-registered alarms or alarms that have exceeded the seven false alarms limit.

It’s estimated there are 50,000 security alarms in the city and the fees could bring in $1 million per year. Tucson Police say they receive more than 18,000 security alarm calls per year and respond with an offi cer to more than half of them.

Th e council voted 5-2 to establish the fees. Councilmen Paul Cunningham and Steve Kozachik voted against them.

Tucson Realty’s Eagle Peaknoticed for foreclosure

A planned custom home development on the far northeast side near Reddington Pass, owned by affi liates of Tucson Realty & Trust Company, has been noticed for a fore-closure auction in June as the result of de-faulting on a $3.1 million note.

Eagle Peak LLC owns the 141-acre site located north of East Reddington Road along North Camino Cascabel. Th e Eagle Peak ownership group is comprised of Tuc-son Realty & Trust, Amos Group LLC, and Eagle Peak of Wisconsin Inc., according to public records.

George “Hank” Amos III, as president/CEO of Tucson Realty & Trust and a princi-pal in the Amos Group, is well-known in the local real estate and business community.

Th e development, also known as the Es-tates at El Sereno, features 42 platted and engineered lots.

Tucson Realty had tried to sell the prop-erty that once was listed for sale at $4.6 mil-lion. Th e community was marketed as a “rare” custom home neighborhood in the Tanque Verde School District with “spec-tacular” mountain and city views.

Th e benefi ciary is Hedberg Revocable Trust, Lake Geneva, Wis.

Th e trustee’s sale is being handled by the law fi rm of Lewis and Roca and is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., June 20 in the fi rm’s offi ce, 1 S. Church Ave, Suite 700.


ASBA legislative update lunch turns into an unscheduled and heated debateBy Hank StephensonInside Tucson Business

What was billed as a mid-session legis-lative update took a turn toward being an on-stage impromptu political debate.

But that was fi ne by Rick Murrya, the new CEO of the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA), which put on the event at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa, the fi rst of what he hopes will be an annual event.

Th e idea is to give members of ASBA a chance to hear lawmakers report on what’s happening in the fast-paced session. Mur-ray said the fact that it turned into a debate with Senate President Steve Pierce, R-Prescott; Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson; and Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, all on stage at the same time answering questions gave the audience insight to what goes on at the state Capitol.

“It was a great discourse in regards to the diff erent opinions on how small busi-ness should be treated in Arizona,” Murray said. “Our members want to hear what those legislators in Southern Arizona want for the businesses in Southern Arizona, and I think we got to hear that on several diff erent levels.”

Th e event began with time to mingle and then a formal lunch. After the plates of chicken and asparagus on a bed of mashed sweet potato were cleared from the table, Farley, the House Assistant Democratic Leader, took the stage.

Farley, an artist who owns his own busi-ness, spent his time at the mic blasting the GOP majority for not hearing business-friendly bills that were introduced by Democrats including one he had intro-duced, in favor of measures introduced by Republicans. He also took shots at the lack of cooperation between members of the two political parties in the Legislature.

“Th e conservative Arizona Republic columnist Bob Robb recently praised (the House Democrats’) budget as the best one out there and urged Republican leader-ship to work with us to pass a bipartisan budget,” Farley said. “So how about it, Sen-ator Pierce?”

Pierce chuckeled at his seat. Later, dur-ing his turn at the mic, he responded to some of Farley’s accusations.

“Th ere are 90 members in the Legisla-ture, you have to realize, and any one of them can introduce any bill that they want — even if it’s wanting to change the color of the sky,” Pierce said. “And we don’t have any bill killed.”

Pierce went on to talk about the impor-tance local control in government and the troubles faced by rural Arizonans. He then

opened a question and answer session with the audience – inviting Melvin on stage to help fi eld the questions.

Farley, seizing his opportunity, hopped up on stage with the two Republicans pro-voking a debate with the senators on sub-jects including the benefi ts of prison labor and funding for the University of Arizona.

After about 10 minutes, Pierce excused himself from the stage, saying he had an appointment to keep in Phoenix. On the way out, within earshot of a reporter, Pierce said to his traveling entourage, “Th at Far-ley is a piece of s--- for getting up on the stage like that.”

Afterward, Farley said he was surprised at Pierce’s reaction – the two had always worked well together in the past, and Far-

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ley didn’t think he said anything off ensive. Th ough he admitted he was goading Pierce.

“Maybe he’s angry that I listed some of the worst bills that he says are just coming from factions, but in fact are some of the central tenets of some of his most power-ful members,” Farley said.

Murray hadn’t heard Pierce’s comment but said he thought the senate leader had a good time. He said he hoped there were no hard feelings between the lawmakers, and that the debate made the event a suc-cess for ASBA members.

“It was fun, it made for a nice, open ex-change and really gave us an idea as kind of a microcosm of what happens at the leg-islature,” he said.

Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, above, and Senate President Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, below, were among the speakers at a recent Arizona Small Business Association luncheon.

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This Week’s Good NewsDoubly good for D-M

Double good news for and about Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. First, it won the award as the best base in the entire U.S. Air Force. Sec-ondly, a new economic impact analysis of the base shows its being here put $1.6 billion into the Tucson region’s economy for the fi scal year end-ing Sept. 30, 2011.

Th at fi gure includes the amount contributed by military retirees but even if those were taken out, the impact would still be $1.1 billion. Th e analysis also showed the base employed 3,194 civilians and created about 4,538 jobs in the Tuc-son region.

The Tucson

INSIDERInsights and trends on developing and

ongoing Tucson regional business news

By any other name Nobody should sneeze at the creation of 400

new jobs but just in case you were wondering, in most any other industry the new OptumRx pharmacy service center announced March 22 would be categorized as a call center. Th e phar-macy industry doesn’t use the term “call cen-ter.” Th e reason is the people answering phones are called “technicians” and bona fi de phar-macists must be on duty in case a customer has a question.

Beyond that, the Food and Drug Adminis-tration requires pharmacy service centers be located in the U.S.

It comes down to the bottom line. Th e Tuc-son region is one of the most effi cient places to locate a pharmacy service center. Th ere is a large, service-oriented, multilingual workforce and given the parameters costs here are some of the lowest in the nation.

OptumRx offi cials say the average mini-mum salary of the new jobs is $37,000 a year. Th at’s good pay in Tucson.

No ‘pink slime’ In the debate over the ground beef additive

called “pink slime” — a product produced from trimmed remnants of other beef products often treated with ammonia — several supermarket chains, including Safeway and Kroger, an-nounced they would no longer carry meat con-taining it.

But what’s a chain like Bashas’ to do? “We didn’t make any formal announcements about removing additives from our ground beef be-cause they were never there in the fi rst place,” said Kristy Jozwiak, director of communica-tions and public aff airs for the Chandler-based chain, in an email. She added, she hoped news media outlets wouldn’t imply “our absence from your news reports” meant their stores would continue to carry the product.


Correction

A proposal in the state Senate (SCR 1031) that would require voter reauthorization of taxing measures was approved in the Senate by a vote of 21-9. Due to an editing error the vote total was wrong in a story taht appeared in the March 23 issue.

BANKRUPTCIESChapter 7 - Liquidation Ideal Steel Detailing LLC, 6194 E, Mining Camp St., Apache Junction. Principal: Francisco R. Rodriguez. Assets: $1,855.99. Liabilities: $199,539.33. Largest creditor(s): Internal Revenue Service, $94,966.44, and Wells Fargo, Los Angeles, $92,079.52. Case No. 12-05874 fi led March 22. Law fi rm: Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, Tempe

Chapter 11 - Business reorganization DI Safford LLC, 450 Entertainment Ave., Safford. Principal: Mary Louise Krieg, manager/member. Estimated assets: More than $1 million to $10 million. Estimated liabilities: More than $1 million to $10 million. Largest creditor(s): Not fi led. Case No. 12-05951 fi led March 23. Law fi rm: Mesch Clark & Rothschild

DGMLK LLC, 415 Highway 70, Safford. Principal: Mary Louise Krieg, manager/member. To be jointly administered with DI Safford LLC (Case No. 12-05951). Estimated assets: More than $1 million to $10 million. Estimated liabilities: More than $1 million to $10 million. Largest creditor(s): Not fi led. Case No. 12-05952 fi led March 23. Law fi rm: Mesch Clark & Rothschild

LIENSFederal tax liens Susan C. Sehn MD, 11400 W. Rudasill Road, Picture Rocks. Amount owed: $44,661.56. Cowboy’s Sweetheart LLC and Ellen Stateler, 4729 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 267. Amount owed: $6,421.02. St. Jude Plumbing Inc., 2226 N. Camino Emiliano. Amount owed: $1,147.49.Farwest Development & Construction of the Southwest LLC FDC, 2231 W. Ina Road. Amount owed: $19,494.07. Sonoita Fuel Stop and Bradley Haber, 3270 Highway 82, Sonoita. Amount owed: $1,560.00. Ferriset Construction & Development LLC and James C. Summerset, 8987 E. Tanque Verde Road 390-375. Amount owed: $13,687.98.Strategic Marketing & Communications Services Inc., 10700 N. La Reserve Drive 1206, Oro Valley. Amount owed: $22,807.00. Ground Effects Landscaping Inc., 107 W. Sahuaro St. Amount owed: $6,654.85. Independent Nursing Service and Rebecca Rendon, 2641 W. Calle Paraiso. Amount owed: $14,901.73.

State liens (Liens of $1,000 or more fi led by the Arizona Department of Revenue or Arizona Department of Economic Security.)Jacks LLC, 8195 N. Oracle Road, Suite 105, Oro Valley. Amount owed: $34,181.02. Meyer’s Creative Concepts Paint & Body LLC, 2550 E. Grant Road. Amount owed: $16,381.26.

Release of federal liens Select Development & Construction Inc., 5401 S. Arcadia Ave.Caring Hands Corner Luxury Adult Care Home Inc., 4644 E. San Carlos Place SEl Dorado Restaurant Inc., 1949 S. Fourth Ave., South TucsonAcademy Del Sol and Academy Del Sol Inc., 8379 W. Avecenna St.Tucson Frame Service Inc., 3565 N. Romero RoadGTL Properties LLC and Charles W. Testino Jr., 6650 N. Oracle Road, Suite 100Pro-Tech Fire Systems LLC and David A. Francis, 9558 E. Calle CascadaNeet Cleaning Services and Neet LLC, 21 W. James L. Sullivan St., VailDay Star Service Co. Inc., PO Box 12441, 85732Ron’s Maintenance and Darlene Jones, 2059 W. Noreen St.Motto Productions Inc., 135 W. Council St.Linex of Tucson LLC, 275 E. Fort Lowell Road, Suite 1Taqueria Porfi s, 3553 S. 12th Ave.Jade Concrete Inc., 512 E. 28th St., South TucsonSkin Care By Design LLC and Michael W. Bailey, 8921 N. Shadow Rock Drive, Marana

PUBLIC NOTICESPublic notices of business bankruptcies, foreclosures and liens filed in Tucson or Pima County and selected filings in Phoenix. Addresses are Tucson unless otherwise noted.

within park lands and are at least 300 feet from residential structures, among other standards.

“We wanted to make sure we were in-centivizing sites that we weren’t going to have issues with,” Colton said.

Th e incentives that the county plans to off er, once the ordinance takes eff ect in late April, mostly include streamlining the per-mitting process for applicants.

Th e county would also waive the $15,000 fee charged for accelerated plan processing and not charging roadway development impact fees.

Incentives would be open only to those interested in developing photovoltaic solar farms or other technologies that can dem-onstrate that they don’t require excessive water usage.

All told, the county has identifi ed more than 100 parcels that it’s determined would be suitable for solar power generation sys-tems. Each is at least fi ve acres but many are much larger.

Th e identifi ed properties lie throughout the county, with several large parcels north of Duval Mine Road west of Interstate 19 near Green Valley. Other sites are located north of Valencia Road and Interstate 10, south of the Arizona State Prison on Wilmot Road and on the northwest side off of Twin Peaks Road east of Sandario Road.

Inclusion of the properties in the REID

area does not require them to be used as solar farms. Instead, it simply adds them to a list of locations suitable for such uses, Colton said.

Property owners and neighbors were notifi ed of the intended designation while county offi cials worked to create the ordi-nance.

“We’re certainly supportive,” said Joe Salkowski, Tucson Electric Power spokes-man.

Salkowski said the power company worked with the county on writing some of the rules for the ordinance. Energy gener-ated by the solar farms would be distribut-ed back into the TEP power grid, aiding in the company’s state government mandate to have at least 15 percent of its power gen-eration originate for renewable sources by 2025.

Salkowski said the company would pay the solar-farm operators for the energy through “power purchase agreements” es-tablished on an individual basis.

TEP usually puts out a call for such agreements with requests for proposals through the Arizona Corporation Commis-sion, Salkowski said.

“It’s generally more expensive than fos-sil fuel based energy,” he added.

While the individual power purchase agreement details are not public, Salkows-ki said the average cost to generate solar-

based power per kilowatt hour was about 10 cents. Traditional coal or natural gas power costs about four cents per kilowatt hour.

TEP makes up the cost diff erence in costs for solar-power generation through surcharges to customers, Salkowski said.

Th e power company serves about 305,000 residential customers. By 2014, TEP plans to produce or purchase more than 200 megawatts of solar-generated power, the equivalent annual usage for 32,000 homes.

It already buys solar power from several solar generating facilities with plans to pur-chase from others.

A recently approved 25-megawatt plant on Tucson’s far southwest side that can provide enough power to meet the an-nual needs of about 4,000 homes will rank among TEP’s suppliers along with similar facility in Avra Valley on the far west side.

“Th ere’s been some interest,” Colton said of the newly passed ordinance. And not just in the solar-power world, but among other area municipalities.

Colton said the incentive district was likely the fi rst of its kind in the state.

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara at pmc-

[email protected] or (520) 295-4259.

silicon cell research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“We have a tremendous opportu-nity here in the distributed area to move ahead,” he said.

Wellinghoff also praised innovation in such projects as Arizona Public Service’s federally funded solar neighborhood in Flagstaff , as well as eff orts from the U.S. Army to reach net zero power use at base housing.

Meanwhile, he said, the U.S. market for solar energy grew 67 percent from 2009 to 2010.

“Th e growth is unparalleled in any oth-er energy resource that I’ve had an expe-rience with over the last 35 years that I’ve been involved in the energy fi eld,” Welling-hoff said.

Consumers have generally supported solar development, but Wellinghoff said there are some concerning signs of waning public interest.

A recent Pew Research Center study asked 1,503 people what was more im-portant to them: developing renewable energy or expanding traditional energy sources, like oil and gas. In March 2011, 63 percent responded in favor of renew-

COUNTY | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

INTEREST | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3ables. Th at number dropped to 52 percent in March 2012.

“To do the kinds of things I’m talking about, we’re going to need public support,” Wellinghoff said.

In a panel after Wellinghoff ’s address, Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy, said it’s important for solar development com-panies to look, walk and talk like conven-tional energy companies in order to raise public and industry awareness.

“Th e more we make solar energy look mainstream, the more mainstream it be-comes,” he said.

HOW AMERICANS SEE SOLAR Support for alternative energy varies according to Pew Research Center study done this month.• 49 percent of men and 54 percent of women support alterna-tive energy over oil, coal and gas. That’s down 63 percent of men and 62 perecent of women who said the same in 2011.

• 15 percent fewer people be-tween the ages 50 and 64 support alternative energy this year versus in 2011, the biggest decline of any age group. The smallest decline was in people between the ages of 18 and 29, which was down 7 percent.

• 53 percent of people living in the West support alternative ener-gy, which is down from 73 percent a year ago.


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with their photography. The work, largely created in the 1960s and 1970s in Southern California is iconic and groundbreaking. The show will be up through June 17 and is free.

At the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River road, an exhibit of mixed media works by Carol Ann and Shirley Wagner is on display through April 12.

FilmFilms opening this weekend include

the Snow White-ish comedy and Julia Roberts film “Mirror, Mirror,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” with Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, and the big budget 3D Greek mythology sequel “Wrath of the Titans,” starring Liam Neeson and Sam Worthington.

At the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, the film “In Darkness” begins this week. This is a tale of Jews hiding in the sewers of Poland during World War II. The film was Poland’s entry at this year’s Academy Awards for best foreign film, and this is the first time it is being shown in Tucson.

Contact Herb Stratford at herb@

ArtsandCultureGuy.com. Stratford teaches

Arts Management at the University of

Arizona. He appears weekly in Inside

Tucson Business.

HERB STRATFORD

ARTS & CULTURE

The Tucson Museum of Art’s annual Crush Wine and Food and Art Festival takes place this weekend. At 6 p.m. tonight, more than 150 wines will be available for sampling along with food from some of Tucson best restaurants at the Crush party in the courtyard of the museum, 140 N. Main Ave.

There will also be a silent auction.The party moves to Loews Ventana

Canyon, 7000 N. Resort Drive, on Saturday night for a special dinner along with a live auction of artwork and one-of-a-kind experiences. Tickets are $90 for tonight’s event and $225 each for the dinner. Buy them online at www.TucsonMuseumOfArt.org .

Theater“Radium Girls” continues through

April 8 at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. The play tells the true story of radium factory workers who fell ill after painting watch dials. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays. Buy tickets online at www.BeowulfAlley.org.

ArtThe Center for Creative Photogra-

phy, 1030 N. Olive Road on the University of Arizona campus, is hosting an exhibit titled “Speaking in Tongues: Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken.” The exhibit marks the first major exhibition of Heinecken’s work, from his archive, which is housed at the center. The show examines how the two artists bridged modernist and post-modernist trends

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tucson Museum of Art’s Crush fundraiser is this weekend


GET ON THE LISTNext up: Banks, Credit unions

Inside Tucson Business is in the process of getting data for the 2013 edition of the Book of Lists. Categories that will be published in upcoming weekly issues of Inside Tucson Business are:

• April 6: Landscape architects, Swim-ming pool builders

• April 13: Banks, Credit unions• April 20: Largest employers in Southern

Arizona• April 27: Architectural fi rms, Interior de-

sign fi rms, Engineering fi rms• May 4: Defense contractorsIf your business fi ts one of these catego-

ries, now is the time to update your profi le. Go to www.InsideTucsonBusiness.com and click the Book of Lists tab at the top of the page. New and unlisted businesses can cre-ate a profi le by following the directions.

Th e Book of Lists is a year-round reference for thousands of businesses and individuals. To advertise your business, call (520) 294-1200.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 6 Tucson fi rms are named Innovation semifi nalists

Six Tucson fi rms are among 25 semifi -nalist companies that stand to receive thou-sands of dollars in state grants as part of the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Innovation Challenge.

Th e semifi nalists, which represent a range of types of companies, were chosen by judges from across the state who looked at factors including their technology poten-tial, management and the ability to create jobs.

Th e 25 fi rms will be pared to a list of fi -nalists this month and the winners will be announced in May. Th e winning companies will receive between $100,000 and $250,000, out of $1.5 million the ACA has allocated to the challenge. Th e plan is to off er a second Innovation Challenge in the fall.

Th e Tucson semifi nalist fi rms are:• Acudora Inc., 4380 N. Campbell Ave.,

Suite 204

• Discern Science, 6918 Gleneagles Drive

• DMetrix, 9030 S. Rita Road, Suite 389, in the University of Arizona Science Tech-nology Park

• Earth Knowledge, 500 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 150

• HJ3 Composite Technologies, 2440 W. Majestic Park Way

• MD24 House Call, 3444 N Country Club Road, Suite 200

Th e other fi rms from across the state that are also in the running are:

• Agave Semiconductor, Phoenix• BCR Diagnostics, Chandler• Care H2 Energy Systems, Scottsdale• Cummings Engineering, Chandler• Desert Dog Marketing, Phoenix• ECOmplete, Chandler• IPO Solutions, Phoenix• Kutta Radios Inc., Phoenix• MaxQ Technology LLC, Tempe• MedApps Inc., Scottsdale• Pathogene LLC, Flagstaff • Phocus LLC, Scottsdale• PureTech Systems Inc., Phoenix• Securecomm Inc., Gilbert• Serious Integrated, Chandler• Solar Pool Technologies Inc., Phoenix• Sycara Inc., Scottsdale• WholesaleFund, Phoenix

TELESERVICES Afni call center seeksto hire 150 employees

Afni will hold a job fair Tuesday (April 3) looking hire more than 150 call center em-ployees.

Th e company said the “customer care consultants” will answer inbound phone calls from customers of Afni clients to help with product and service questions, billing issues and selling additional services.

Th e job fair will be from 3 to 7 p.m. at Afni’s call center at 5320 N. La Cholla Blvd. Applications can also be submitted online at www.afnicareers.com/tucson. Afni has four call centers in the Tucson region.

BRIEFSRETAILRoyal moving Kiadealership in April

Royal Kia, which since 2002 has been at 4635 E. 22nd St., is moving in April to 4333 E. Speedway into the facility that once housed Tucson’s original Buick dealership.

Royal offi cials said they intend to keep a dealership on 22nd Street but haven’t come to a fi nal determination on what it will be.

Th e Speedway location had been known as Royal Buick until 2009 when, as part of a reorganization of its car lines and dealer-ships, General Motors dropped Pontiac and Saturn and consolidated Buick and GMC at nearby Quebedeaux, 3566 E. Speedway. Since then Royal has been selling used cars out of the Speedway location. Meanwhile, it subsequently received a Buick, GMC and Cadilllac franchise on Tucson’s westside, 815 W. Auto Mall Drive.

TRANSPORTATION Enjoy gas at less than $4 a gallon while you can

Pump prices for gas continued inching upward this week, according to AAA Ari-zona’s weekly Fuel Gauge report, with signs prices are headed to record high prices.

Th e auto club says the average in Tucson this week was $3.73½ per gallon for regu-lar, less than 12 cents a gallon short of the region’s record high of $3.85 per gallon set June 20, 2008. Last week’s average was $3.72 per gallon and a month ago, it was $3.52 per gallon. Tucson still enjoys the lowest aver-age price in Arizona but so far the highest price, $3.99½ per gallon, hasn’t topped $4.

Nationally, AAA says customers in 10 states and the District of Columbia are pay-ing more than $4 per gallon, topped by Ha-waii at $4.55 per gallon and Alaska and Cali-fornia at $4.32 per gallon. Th e other states where gas is more than $4 per gallon are Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Washington.

IHS Global Insight this week warned that gas prices could double if Iran acts to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes

about 17 million barrels of oil, or roughly 20 percent of the world supply.

HEALTH CAREUA medical center getsgoggles for child MRIs

Th e University of Arizona Medical Cen-ter, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., is the fi rst hospi-tal in Southern Arizona to have special MRI goggles for pediatric patients to wear during MRI exams.

Th e goggles, called “Cinemavision,” pro-vide an alternative to sedation. Th ey are in-tended to set young children at ease while undergoing MRI procedures.

Th e time required for the MRI procedure can last as long as 90 minutes. For the scan to be accurate, the patient must lie still, re-lax and breathe normally. Children often cannot tolerate the loud clicks an enclosed MRI setting.

Th e specially designed goggles and ear-phones allow patients to enjoy movies, tele-vision programs and music.

Private donations provided for the Cin-emavision goggles.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Grubb & Ellis sale getsbankruptcy approval

BGC Partners Inc. says it anticipates closing soon to acquire the commercial real estate fi rm Grubb & Ellis after receiv-ing bankruptcy court approval for the ac-quisition. Grubb & Ellis fi led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.

Once the sale is completed, both Grubb & Ellis and Newmark Knight Frank will be owned by BGC Partners.

Th e Tucson offi ce of Grubb & Ellis was established in 2008. Separate from the bankruptcy issues, the Tucson offi ce is in the process of moving to 3709 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 135, from its current location at 3333 E. Speedway. Th ere are 15 people in the Tucson offi ce.


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NEWSFOCUS ON NONPROFITS

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona has ‘gift’ for philanthropyBy Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Outside Arizona, Tucson has a reputa-tion for its weather and being a retirement city with a major university. To insiders who live here, the Old Pueblo has a more meaningful reputation. Among its citizen-ry, Tucson is known as a caring, giving community.

Th is philanthropic legacy dates back to a time when fi ve local business leaders wanted to expand the pool of charitable givers. By growing the base of donors, they knew there would be more money available to better the community.

Buddy Amos, Jim Burns, Jim Click, Ed Moore and Granger Weil formed the Greater Tucson Area Foundation in 1980. To better refl ect its regional reach, it became the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) in 1997.

“Since they were running businesses, they were getting all these solicitations. Th ey saw the need to start a community foundation so there would be somewhere else to go, to promote greater philanthro-py,” said Clinton Mabie, president and CEO of CFSA.

Today, the foundation has grown into a charitable clearinghouse that typically awards between $6 million and $8 million a year. On behalf of individuals, families, estate planners, fi nancial advisors, organizations and businesses, CFSA is part advisor, educator, tax consultant, conduit and administrator to those who “gift.”

Mabie characterizes CFSA as a “one-stop shop for managing philanthropy.” Th e mission of his 10-person staff is to inspire and support donors making a diff erence.

“Th is is a complicated business, with a lot of partnering and education. Because we are a public charity, donors get the highest tax deduction possible by law,” Mabie said. “For a professional advisor, we are here to help. For individuals, we are donor-centric, turning their passion, no matter what that is, into investments in the community. Th at’s our role, to make that happen.”

CFSA makes it happen primarily through a network of affi liates and support-ing organizations that are part of the foundation. Th e Santa Cruz Community Foundation, Oro Valley Community Foundation and Stone Canyon Community Foundation are affi liates.

Supporting organizations maintain their own identity, such as the Th omas R. Brown

Family Foundation. Th ey do their own grant-making and receive all the tax benefi ts. CFSA handles all the administra-tive services.

Other supporting organizations include the Zuckerman Community Outreach Foundation, Melody S. Robidoux Founda-tion, Knisely Family Foundation and the Howard V. Moore Foundation.

For donors seeking advice on how to gift or what programs to support, CFSA provides free, confi dential counsel through its Center for Planned Giving. Th e center’s professionals are impartial and will guide and refer “to whatever is best for them. It’s up to the donor, totally customized,” said Mabie.

For example, CFSA is exploring options for a client who wants to help young people in the juvenile justice system. As they “age out” of the system, there are no services to help them transition back into the commu-

nity.“Th is donor wants a program for those

people. We convened the community players to see if we can come up with a plan for the donor to get that done,” said Mabie.

Regardless of the cause, a donor’s desires are never judged. At his prior post in Chicago, Mabie had a large endowment “to support the bettering of relationships between cats and dogs.” Another was to support public participation in the sport of curling.

“Th ose are someone’s passions. Our business is to honor their intent,” he said.

Typically, most foundations oversee funds for more obvious needs like educa-tion and basic human services. Over the years, CFSA has helped manage the distribution of some $100 million in charitable donations. It currently adminis-ters about 500 funds, some over $1 million with numerous at the $10,000 minimum.

Contact reporter Roger Yohem at

[email protected] or (520) 295-4254. Focus

on Nonprofi ts is a regular quarterly feature of

Inside Tucson Business. Email suggestions

for future articles to [email protected]. Th e

next Focus on Nonprofi ts column is scheduled

to appear in the June 29 issue.

BIZ FACTS

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona 2250 E. Broadway(520) 770-0800http://cfsoaz.org/cfsa/

As CEO, Clinton Mabie runs the foundation as “a one-stop shop” for managing philanthropy.

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Saving kids lives with freeswim lessons this summer

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, drowning is the second most common cause of injury in Arizona. Parents can combat this deadly trend by ensuring their children learn to swim by the age eight. In response to this startling statistic, the YMCA of Southern Arizona is off ering “All Kids Swim,” a program that will teach an estimated 1,200 children how to swim, and will provide valuable water safety lessons.

All Kids Swim gives the Y an opportunity to make a “splash” and meet its mis-sion by providing free or low cost swim lessons in partner-ship with the City of Tucson, Pima County and Marana.

Summertime means pool time for many kids, as they venture to their favorite spots to swim, play and create lasting memories. Whether it’s the pool, beach, water park or lakefront, YMCA of Southern Arizona reminds the community to keep safety fi rst when in or around the water. With this in mind, the Y off ers swim programs that teach water safety skills and give kids and adults the chance to explore the many health benefi ts of swimming.

“It’s important to make sure children are confi dent in the water to ensure they have a fun and safe experience,” said Barb McFarlin, aquatics director at the North-west YMCA. “Th e Y encourages all kids and adults to learn how to swim. It’s never too late. Basic swimming skills and water safety practices save lives every day.”

Swimming is a fun and enjoyable activ-ity for children, and it has many health benefi ts, as it’s a fun and easy way to stay physically active and improve strength, fl exibility and stamina. Once children know how to swim, they are positioned to continue this life enhancing physical activity for the rest of their lives. Knowing how to swim is the best measure to ensure water safety and prevent future drowning.

Th anks to our generous sponsors, Tuc-son Medical Center for Children, Safe Kids Coalition and Wells Fargo, this program will be provided free, subject to a $10 reg-istration fee. Each child will receive a free swim cap with registration. Th e Y is part-nering with the City of Tucson, Pima Coun-ty and Marana to off er the All Kids Swim program at three pool locations; in Jesse Owens Park, 400 S. Sarnoff Drive at Broad-way; Ora Mae Harn District Park, 13250 N. Lon Adams Road, Marana; and Mulcahy YMCA at Kino Community Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way. For details, check our website — www.TucsonYMCA.org/social/sec-ondGradeSwim.cfm — or call aquatics di-

rector McFarlin at (520) 229-9001 ext. 111. When in and around water, the

Y recommends these safety precau-tions for children and adults:

• Only swim when and where there is lifeguard on duty; never swim alone.

• Adults should constantly watch children in and near the water. If multiple adults are in the vicinity, designate a “water watcher” so everyone knows who is “on duty.”

• Inexperienced swimmers should take precaution and wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal fl oatation device (PFD) when in, on or around the water.

• Children who are begin-ners should stay within arm’s reach of an adult in the water.

Teaching children to swim is part of our commitment to Social Responsibil-ity. All Kids Swim participants will ben-efi t from a strong sense of achievement from meeting their goals and develop positive relationships with others in the process. Let’s all work together to strengthen our community to ensure that no child drowns this summer!

Contact Dane Woll, president and

CEO of the YMCA of Southern Arizona, at

[email protected]. His Getting Fit

column appears quarterly and is next

scheduled to appear in the

June 29 issue.

GETTING FIT

DANE WOLL

all kids . It’s never nd water day.”able activ-health

ay to stay rength,ildren itioned

physical Knowing

e to ensure drowning. sors, Tuc-

n, Safe Kidsprogram a $10 reg-

eive a free Y is part-

Pima Coun-ds Swim in Jesse

e at Broad-k, 13250 N.Mulcahy er, 2805

ur website al/sec-quatics di-

column appears quarterly and is next

scheduled to appear in the

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MEDIATucson group buying Azteca America TV affi liate for $810,000 By David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business

Tucson’s Azteca America TV station, KUDF 14, is being sold for $810,000 by Dallas-based Una Vez Mas Holdings LLC. Th e buyer is listed as LM Media Group, a Tucson-based company whose president is Rodolfo Martin Velez Gonzalez. Attempts to reach the company this week were unsuccessful.

It’s unclear what LM Media Group has in store for the station. As part of its application with the Federal Communications Commis-sion to transfer ownership, the sellers and buyers have signed an agreement to tempo-rarily continue with Azteca America program-ming and that could be extended.

Under various call letters, channel 14 has been on the air as a low power station in Tucson since 1989. In its history it has been an affi liate of Telemundo, an English-language station showing mostly religious programs and an outlet rebroadcasting programming from a station in Hermosillo, Sonora. Una Vez Mas has operated it as an Azteca America affi liate since November 2005.

In addition to its over-the-air broadcasts, KUDF’s programming is currently being carried on Cox cable channel 61, Comcast channel 13, and Dish Network channel 14.

Establish in 2001 and based in the Los Angeles area, Azteca America is a subsidiary of TV Azteca, Mexico’s second largest media conglomerate after Televisa.

Names in newsKGUN 9 has found its

replacement for sports anchor Dave Silver. His name is Jason Barr. Last year he earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina and before that he spent fi ve

months as a reporter and news anchor for the NBC affi liate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and 2½ years as a weekend sports anchor and reporter for the CBS affi liate in Norfolk, Va. His career also has included stops in Albany, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt.; and Wilmington, N.C. His fi rst day on the job at KGUN will be April 5. Silver left in January after 29 years at KGUN and is now associate director of regional development at the University of Arizona Foundation.

Some staff changes took eff ect this week on KVOA 4’s early morning “Tucson Today.” Samantha Ptashkin is assigned to the “breaking news” desk where she is responsible for keeping viewers updated on developments of high-profi le news stories. Ptashkin joined the KVOA news staff in February from KMSB 11 when owner Belo Corp. shut down its news operation and turned it over to KOLD 13 under a shared services agreement. Ptashkin had been KMSB’s weekend news anchor. Before coming to Tucson, she had been a reporter at the NBC affi liate in Rockford, Ill., and is a journalism graduate from Northwestern University. Another change has Nichole Szemerei now doing in-studio traffi c reports. She had been a fi eld reporter. Szemerei is a journalism graduate from Arizona State University and worked in Billings, Mont., and Rockford, Ill., before coming to Tucson. Th e one other change at KVOA had former traffi c reporter Larissa Wohl moving to fi eld reporter.

Pay to read online Star Th e Arizona Daily Star will begin charging

for digital content but it remains to be seen

exactly how it will work because the com-pany’s newspapers are studying several pay models. Th e decision to start charging for content was announced at parent company Lee Enterprises’ annual meeting this month.

A test last year at six Lee Enterprises newspapers in Montana and Wyoming used what’s called a metered paywall in which online readers could view a certain number of articles at no charge before being asked to pay. As part of the test the number of free views varied between 15 or 20 page views and pricing varied at the six newspapers. One thing they had in common is that even subscribers to the print newspapers were charged, though at a discount rate.

Mary Junck, CEO of Lee Enterprises, said at the shareholders meeting that digital revenue was not impacted by the decision to charge for online content.

Offi cials at the Star have acknowledged the it will start charging for digital content but a decision hasn’t been announced as to how it will work or a timetable set for launching it. Lee Enterprises said some of its 52 newspa-pers will start charging within three months.

Tucson connections Peak Broadcasting, the company run by

Todd Lawley who ran Citadel Broadcasting

Group’s Tucson stations and worked for Clear Channel radio here, is out of bankruptcy, less than three months after fi ling for Chapter 11. Basically, the former lenders are now in control of the company and are keeping Lawley in charge of the group which runs stations in Fresno, Calif., and Boise, Idaho.

Another transaction in the works is a radio station in Wickenburg and it involves Mike Barna, who for almost three years after the late Phyllis Ehlinger died in 2006 ran her radio station KSAZ 580-AM and was part of a group that made an unsuccessful attempt to buy it.

Since leaving the Tucson market Barna has been running KSWG, which broadcasts on 96.3-FM in Wickenburg with a signal that reaches into portions of the Phoenix area and now he is in the process of ac-quiring the station. Th e purchase price is listed as $480,000 of which $300,000 will be used to settle with an investment fi rm.

Interestingly, the station’s format is classic country which it promotes as “Real Country,” the same format Barna was us-ing at KSAZ before leaving in early 2009 and the station subsequently fl ipping to its current Spanish Christian format.

Contact David Hatfi eld at

dhatfi [email protected] or (520) 295-4237.

Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.

BARR

PTASHKIN

SZEMEREI


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PEOPLE IN ACTION

invited and demonstrate exceptional contributions and professional achievements in two of the four prior areas.

PROMOTIONS

Steve Dean has been named executive vice

ELECTIONS

Critical Path Institute (C-Path) has announced the election of four board members to serve three-year terms. Joining the board are D. Craig Brater, MD, dean Indiana University School of Medicine; Samuel Broder, MD, executive vice president and chief medical offi cer of Celera Genomics; James C. Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization; and Richard T. Myers, Jr., regent with the Arizona Board of Regents. Current board member, Peter B. Corr Ph.D., of Celtic Therapeutics,

LLLP, was named chairman of the board.

Kate Sheppard,

Ph.D., RN, FNP, PMHNP-BC, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, has been elected a fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). The AANP fellowship program was established in 2000 to recognize nurse practitioner leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through nurse practitioner clinical practice, research, education or policy. To be considered a nurse practitioner must fi rst be

president and Chief Credit Offi cer of Western Alliance Bank, the largest locally-owned bank in Arizona. The bank operates in Arizona as Alliance Bank of Arizona. Dean was formerly senior vice president and commercial real estate manager of Alliance Bank

STEVE DEAN RICK VAUGHAN

of Arizona. Dean has more than 15 years of fi nancial experience with a strong background in commercial real estate lending and development as well as business and commercial banking. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in economics and received a masters in economics from the University of Washington.

NEW HIRES

Rick Vaughan has joined simpleview as vice president of sales and marketing. Vaughan brings more than 34 years of experience in the tourism

industry to simpleview. He has held executive positions with global hotel brands such as Westin Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International. Most recently, Vaughan served as the senior vice president of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB), an independent, non-for-profi t organization dedicated to promoting Southern Arizona as a convention, visitor and fi lm production destination.

KATE SHEPPARD

Now your business can tell Inside Tucson Business about new hires, promotions and special awards online. Go to www.insidetucsonbusiness.com and click the “People in Action” button. From there you can submit your announcement and we’ll publish it online and in print.

{TELL US ONLINE}


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Children’s Museum is a giant playhouse for Tucson ReadBy Christy KruegerInside Tucson Business

Imagine going to work each day in a giant playhouse, where kids laugh and enjoy learning about everything from gardening to biology and technology. Th is playhouse is the Children’s Museum Tucson, housed in the former Carnegie Library. Its head funmaster is Executive Director Michael Luria, who formerly ran the popular foothills restaurant Terra Cotta.

Luria believes his change from restaura-teur to running a nonprofi t wasn’t such a big leap. “Th ere are similarities,” he said. “It’s about guest services. You succeed or fail on your merit.”

He joined the Children’s Museum board of directors in 2003 and became president in 2006. When the previous executive direc-tor left in late 2008, Luria stepped into the position on an interim basis. As it turned out, Terra Cotta closed at the end of January 2009.

“After some soul searching, I put my name in the hat for the position,” Luria recalled. “Th e museum was my philan-thropic passion. In April 2009 I started full-time as executive director.”

Created by Cele Peterson, Dorothy Finley and Evelyn Carswell-Bing, the Children’s Museum has come quite a distance since opening in 1986 in a one-room building at Fort Lowell Park. In 1991, after the down-town library moved out of the historic Carnegie Library building, Children’s Museum Tucson took over the space and has remained ever since.

Th e organization had been going through some tough times when Luria joined the board of directors. But he helped get things on the right foot again and now says the facility is hardly recognizable from its old form.

“In the last three years we’ve completely transformed the museum,” starting with the exterior, Luria said. On the wish list for years was the plan to tear down a large masonry wall blocking the beautiful façade of the 1901 building. “In 1997 a bond package was passed to remove the wall. In 2008 it happened. It only took 11 years,” he said. Th e grounds have a more spruced up appear-ance now, as well, with the City of Tucson maintaining the lawn and fl owerbeds.

Perhaps the greatest transformation has come in the way of the hands-on exhibits, which are central to CMT’s mission of providing fun learning experiences for children and families. Th ese exhibits are possible thanks to numerous partners and grants.

“Th is past November we opened Bodyology with a $170,000 investment. It’s a holistic approach to health and wellness, with a playhouse, orchard, juice bar and grocery store. TMC (Tucson Medical Center) is the primary funder for that

exhibit,” Luria explained. Blue Cross and Dairy Council of Arizona are among other Bodyology sponsors.

“In May we’re opening the largest exhibit ever — Investigation Station, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) exhibit using a $236,000 grant from Angel Charity.”

Tucson Electric Power has been the biggest supporter since 1986, Luria added. “Th ey fund school tours, and they gave us a grant to improve the Electri-City exhibit,” which teaches the uses of electricity and how to conserve resources. Cox, another corporate partner, is the exclusive sponsor of Techtopia, a digital trip through bugs, shadow mosaics and reading.

“Corporate partners engage with us because of philanthropic desires,” Luria emphasized. “From the business side, we have 130,000 kids and their families, and the businesses have an opportunity to connect with them.”

In addition to having their names on the walls of rooms they sponsor, partners have a chance to personally interact with visitors. For example, during Science Sundays in the summer, partners are sometimes on hand to distribute informa-tion, such as coloring books, appropriate to the week’s topic.

Children’s Museum Tucson’s Kevin Mills designs, builds and maintains many of the exhibits, but it’s too big a job for one person, according to Luria, so they also contract out-of-town companies for much of the work.

Museum staff members organize dozens of programs and events for the kids, often

BIZ FACTS

Children’s Museum Tucson200 S. Sixth Ave.www.childrensmuseumtucson.org(520) 792-9985

inviting downtown businesses to collabo-rate. Janos Wilder, owner of Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, helped the children build their vegetable garden, and for a recent Science in the City he made liquid nitrogen ice cream to the kids’ delight.

Short-term goals for the museum, Luria said, include more renovations and increasing the emphasis on science and technology programs. “Next year we have ambitious plans. One section of the museum not touched in awhile — the art studio and music room — we’ll improve.

We’ll expand the education program to move more into STEM. We’ll do a school tour around it next year.” Luria also plans to continue developing relationships with the business community.

Personally, he feels the museum is a wonderful backdrop to carry out one’s work. “Th e best part,” he said, “is if you’re having a bad day, you walk into the museum and interact with the kids. It’s a great time; it’s very rewarding. Everyone on the staff has a passion and commitment to who we serve.”

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The Children’s Museum Tucson opened in 1986 at Fort Lowell Park. It has been downtown since 1991.






FINANCEYOUR MONEY

Communicating with bank is key

commercial loan modifi cationsWhile the market remains soft and some

businesses continue to struggle, recognizing the value of a trustworthy alliance with your bank is crucial. Consider a banker to be a member of one’s business management team and utilize their expertise to help address a downturn in business operations as soon as the trend emerges. Your bank may be willing to modify existing commer-cial loans to restructure debt and improve cash fl ow. Early recognition of fi nancial trouble and communication between the borrower and the bank is the fi rst step in navigating the process. A bank’s preferred solution on a problem loan is to negotiate a plan of action to try to protect both parties from possible loss. Th is partnership is vital to reach a favorable solution.

Loan personnel are responsible for continuously monitoring business loans to discover and manage potential complica-tions. Loan review is important in early discovery of troubled loans however, lenders also rely on their personal relation-ship with the borrower to predetermine hardship. When communication with a borrower deteriorates, so often does the performance of the loan. Loan personnel are trained to detect any unexplained change in the borrower’s attitude and decreased communications, which are often interpreted as an indicator of fi nancial diffi culties and potential loss.

Additional signals that reveal problems to a banker include late or missed loan payments, overdrafts on deposit accounts, cancellation of insurance on collateral, management turnover and reluctance to provide timely fi nancial statements. Other, more obvious, signs include deteriorating trends in fi nancial condition, worsening accounts receivable or accounts payable timelines and tax levies.

Larger banks typically assign problem loans to a separate department to manage — often in a diff erent state — but commu-nity banks place a higher value on their relationships with their customers and generally allow the banker who originated and maintained the loan to spearhead modifi cation recommendations. Th erefore it benefi ts a business to build a partnership with their banker before problems arise by maintaining frequent and frank contact in good and bad times.

A loan restructure plan must be approved by the bank and legally docu-mented as a modifi cation or forbearance agreement. Th is sets forth a new repayment program with loan covenants and estab-lishes requirements for the borrower to provide frequent fi nancial reports for the bank to review. A written business turn-around plan may be required, along with

updated collateral appraisals.

It is important to note that providing timely and accurate fi nan-cial statements to the bank is essential to any modifi cation request, as banks have regulatory

guidelines to obtain consistent updated fi nancials on modifi ed loans. Without current fi nancials the bank could be required by regulators to downgrade a loan relationship to a “substandard” classifi ca-tion — even when the borrower can pay on time — which may hamper negotiations. Th e best practice is to provide the bank full fi nancial disclosure, along with all request-ed information, although a borrower’s instinct may be to avoid providing unfavor-able fi nancial data to the bank. Th is could be a costly mistake.

Problems with secured loans may arise from inadequate collateral. When the market value of certain types of collateral declines it may create an inadequate loan-to-value ratio. Banks may require a new appraisal or collateral evaluation, and may also require additional security if it is deemed the value of the primary collateral has declined since the inception of the loan. Another remedy may be to provide the addition of personal guarantees to improve the bank’s exposure to loss.

Th e earlier the bank is aware of a problem loan, the more likely a modifi cation agreement can be reached. Communica-tion with the bank is key. Loan modifi ca-tions focus on the borrower’s ability and willingness to repay, and analyze their economic incentive and use of other assets to provide ongoing support in the relation-ship. If a borrower is reluctant to communi-cate with their banker, the problem can be unnecessarily escalated as the bank may deem itself insecure and a modifi cation program may not be an option.

Get to know your banker and keep them apprised of your business. Above all, treat your commercial banking relationship as a valued partner in your business life and turn to your banker for advice and guid-ance when diffi culties arise.

Contact Teresa M. Nowak, senior vice

president for Commerce Bank of Arizona, at

[email protected] or (520)

325-5200. Commerce Bank is a locally-owned

community bank specializing in serving

small- to mid-size businesses in Arizona.

TERESA NOWAK

TUCSON STOCK EXCHANGEStock market quotations of some publicly traded companies doing business in Southern Arizona

Company Name Symbol Mar. 28 Mar. 21 Change52-Week

Low52-Week

HighTucson companiesApplied Energetics Inc AERG.OB 0.08 0.07 0.01 0.04 0.89CDEX Inc CEXI.OB 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.10Providence Service Corp PRSC 15.90 15.55 0.35 8.35 15.94UniSource Energy Corp (Tucson Electric Power) UNS 36.50 36.18 0.32 32.96 39.25

Southern Arizona presenceAlcoa Inc (Huck Fasteners) AA 9.83 10.27 -0.44 8.45 18.47AMR Corp (American Airlines) AMR 4.88 0.48 4.40 0.20 6.96Augusta Resource Corp (Rosemont Mine) AZC 2.88 2.82 0.06 2.65 5.58Bank Of America Corp BAC 9.75 9.82 -0.07 4.92 13.88Bank of Montreal (M&I Bank) BMO 59.70 59.16 0.54 51.83 66.64BBVA Compass BBV 7.86 8.53 -0.67 7.02 13.01Berkshire Hathaway (Geico, Long Cos) BRK-B* 81.78 81.21 0.57 65.35 86.91Best Buy Co Inc BBY 26.62 27.14 -0.52 21.79 32.85BOK Financial Corp (Bank of Arizona) BOKF 56.63 57.09 -0.46 43.77 59.59Bombardier Inc* (Bombardier Aerospace) BBDB 4.18 4.18 0.00 3.30 7.29CB Richard Ellis Group CBG 19.99 20.75 -0.76 12.30 29.88Citigroup Inc C 37.06 37.80 -0.74 21.40 46.90Comcast Corp CMCSA 29.92 29.71 0.21 19.19 30.41Community Health Sys (Northwest Med Cntrs) CYH 22.16 23.04 -0.88 14.61 41.09Computer Sciences Corp CSC 30.52 30.86 -0.34 22.80 51.43Convergys Corp CVG 13.37 12.71 0.66 8.49 14.63Costco Wholesale Corp COST 90.62 90.64 -0.02 70.22 91.78CenturyLink (Qwest Communications) CTL 38.65 39.52 -0.87 31.16 43.49Cvs/Caremark (CVS pharmacy) CVS 44.60 44.91 -0.31 31.30 45.88Delta Air Lines DAL 10.00 9.74 0.26 6.41 11.60Dillard Department Stores DDS 62.84 63.14 -0.30 37.87 64.50Dover Corp (Sargent Controls & Aerospace) DOV 61.57 62.62 -1.05 43.64 70.15DR Horton Inc DHI 15.91 15.74 0.17 8.03 16.45Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) FCX 37.36 39.80 -2.44 28.85 58.75Granite Construction Inc GVA 29.09 29.11 -0.02 16.92 30.49Home Depot Inc HD 49.91 49.79 0.12 28.13 50.35Honeywell Intl Inc HON 60.75 59.47 1.28 41.22 62.28IBM IBM 207.29 204.69 2.60 157.13 208.69Iron Mountain IRM 28.60 29.15 -0.55 27.68 35.79Intuit Inc INTU 59.51 60.12 -0.61 39.87 62.33Journal Communications (KGUN 9, KMXZ) JRN 5.47 5.52 -0.05 2.69 6.07JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM 46.27 45.12 1.15 27.85 47.80Kaman Corp (Electro-Optics Develpmnt Cntr) KAMN 34.26 34.66 -0.40 25.73 38.40KB Home KBH 9.29 11.31 -2.02 5.02 13.12Kohls Corp KSS 48.97 48.74 0.23 42.14 57.39Kroger Co (Fry's Food Stores) KR 24.19 24.28 -0.09 21.14 25.85Lee Enterprises (Arizona Daily Star) LEE 1.23 1.15 0.08 0.49 3.47Lennar Corporation LEN 27.67 26.62 1.05 12.14 28.28Lowe's Cos (Lowe's Home Improvement) LOW 31.22 30.86 0.36 18.07 31.49Loews Corp (Ventana Canyon Resort) L 39.63 39.34 0.29 32.90 44.46Macerich Co (Westcor, La Encantada) MAC 56.98 56.57 0.41 38.64 57.29Macy's Inc M 40.04 40.47 -0.43 22.50 40.74Marriott Intl Inc MAR 38.05 37.88 0.17 25.49 38.83Meritage Homes Corp MTH 28.79 27.72 1.07 13.68 29.32Northern Trust Corp NTRS 47.53 47.40 0.13 33.20 52.57Northrop Grumman Corp NOC 0.71 60.83 -60.12 49.20 70.61Penney, J.C. JCP 36.17 36.86 -0.69 23.44 43.18Pulte Homes Inc (Pulte, Del Webb) PHM 9.48 9.39 0.09 3.29 9.69Raytheon Co (Raytheon Missile Systems) RTN 52.52 51.50 1.02 38.35 53.00Roche Holdings AG (Ventana Medical Systems) RHHBY 43.98 43.92 0.06 34.02 45.65Safeway Inc SWY 20.17 21.04 -0.87 15.93 25.43Sanofi -Aventis SA SNY 38.79 38.68 0.11 30.98 40.75Sears Holdings (Sears, Kmart, Customer Care) SHLD 68.99 76.69 -7.70 28.89 87.66SkyWest Inc SKYW 11.29 11.18 0.11 10.47 17.15Southwest Airlines Co LUV 8.36 8.32 0.04 7.15 12.87Southwest Gas Corp SWX 42.59 42.40 0.19 32.12 43.64Stantec Inc STN 31.85 31.88 -0.03 20.96 32.79Target Corp TGT 58.16 57.57 0.59 45.28 58.95TeleTech Holdings Inc TTEC 16.01 16.09 -0.08 14.10 22.39Texas Instruments Inc TXN 33.33 33.61 -0.28 24.34 35.98Time Warner Inc (AOL) TWX 36.29 35.76 0.53 27.62 39.24Ual Corp (United Airlines) UAUA 21.89 20.56 1.33 15.51 26.84Union Pacifi c Corp UNP 107.91 112.31 -4.40 77.73 117.40Apollo Group Inc (University of Phoenix) APOL 38.54 43.23 -4.69 37.08 58.29US Airways Group Inc LCC 7.79 7.63 0.16 3.96 10.35US Bancorp (US Bank) USB 31.82 31.54 0.28 20.10 32.23Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) WMT 61.19 60.56 0.63 48.31 62.63Walgreen Co WAG 34.75 33.54 1.21 30.34 45.34Wells Fargo & Co WFC 34.47 34.02 0.45 22.58 34.59Western Alliance Bancorp (Alliance Bank) WAL 8.71 8.83 -0.12 4.44 9.20Zions Bancorp (National Bank of Arizona) ZION 21.80 22.07 -0.27 13.18 24.92Data Source: Dow Jones Market Watch

*Quotes in U.S. dollars, except Bombardier is Canadian dollars.


INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage breaks down monthly housing data to get as detailed as any examination but February’s numbers are yet to fi nd solid evidence of a trend, though it appears the markets are starting to regain their footings.

By jurisdiction, the highest inventory of homes during February was in the city of Tucson with 3,595 listings. Th at is down 16 percent from January’s 4,277 homes and a 40 percent decrease from 6,022 units in Feb-ruary 2011.

February home sales totaled 764, up 9.1 percent from 700 sales in January and 14 percent higher than the 669 sales in Febru-ary 2011. And in a sign the market is stabiliz-ing, homes sold faster. Inside the city, the average number of days on market was 98, down from 105 days in January. In February 2011, the time was 104 days.

Th e February median sales price was $118,875, down 8.6 percent from $130,000 in February 2011. In January, the median was $120,000. Average sales prices inside the city were $153,727 for January; $166,357 in February; and $178,322 for February 2011.

In Marana, February inventory totaled 245 units, down 34 from January and 97 fewer than a year ago. Th ere were 35 homes sold, 12 more than in January but four fewer than in February 2011.

On average, homes in Marana sold after 133 days on the market, signifi cantly longer than the 94 days in January. One year ago, the marketing time was 139 days.

Selling prices in Marana were mixed, ac-cording to Coldwell Banker. Th e February median was $200,000, up 11.7 percent from

$179,000 in January and 22.7 percent higher than $162,979 a year ago.

In contrast, the average sales price de-creased. For February, the average was $196,981, signifi cantly lower than $216,423 in January. In February 2011, the level was $241,674.

To normalize the mix of high-end and low-end sales, such as the range of houses that sold last month in Marana, Coldwell Banker calculates the selling price per square foot. President Malcolm MacEwen describes this analysis as “a better indica-tion of true property values.”

In Marana in January, the selling price per square foot was $95 and dropped to $90 in February. It was $102 per square foot in February 2011.

In Sahuarita, the region’s third-largest submarket, February inventory totaled 149 homes, down from 168 units in January. Compared to February 2011, the inventory plunged 44 percent from 264 listings. Th ere were 33 sales in February, 36 sales in Janu-ary and 37 in February 2011.

On average, homes sold in Sahuarita in 127 days in February, 95 days in January and 101 days in February 2011.

Regarding prices, the February median was $145,000, down 4.9 percent from the January level of $152,500. Compared to Feb-ruary 2011, the value was up 14 percent from $127,000. Th e average sales price was $154,306. Th at value in January was $162,475 and a year ago, was 6.9 percent higher at $144,368.

Th e consensus among housing experts is that prices will likely drift down and up until the fourth quarter when the last of the fi ve-year adjustable rate mortgages are due to reset. Many of these mortgages were blamed for the housing market meltdown in the fi rst place.

HSL buys more apartmentsHSL Properties has acquired the 238-

unit Bear Canyon Apartments, 9055 E. Cat-alina Highway, for $23.2 million. Th e Class A, 19-building complex is on 13.5 acres.

Th e seller was Arbor Bear Canyon Hold-ings LLC, Uniondale, N.Y. Th e complex was built in 1996 and features two swimming pools, garages and a fi tness facility.

Th e acquisition brings Tucson-based HSL

Sliced, diced data show mixed improvement

THE PULSE: TUCSON REAL ESTATE

3/19/2012 3/12/2012

Median Price $127,500 $135,175Active Listings 5,977 6,000New Listings 363 388Pending Sales 477 495Homes Closed 224 266Source: Long Realty Research Center

WEEKLY MORTGAGE RATES

Program Current Last WeekOne

Year Ago12 Month

High12 Month

Low

30 YEAR 4.13% 4.375%APR 4.13% 4.375%APR 4.95% 4.95% 3.88%

15 YEAR 3.63% 3.875%APR 3.63% 3.875% APR 4.22% 4.22% 3.16%

3/1 ARM 3.00% 3.375%APR 3.00% 3.75% APRThe above rates have a 1% origination fee and 0 discount . FNMA/FHLMC maximum conforming loan amount is $417,000 Conventional Jumbo loans are loans above $417,000

Information provided by Randy Hotchkiss Peoples Mortgage Company, 3131 N. Country Club Suite-107 Tucson, AZ 85716. (520) 327-7600. MB #0115327. Rates are subject to change without notice based upon market conditions.

3/25/2012

Properties’ holdings to 40 apartment com-munities in Arizona, making it the largest owner of apartment properties in the state. Th e fi rm headed by Humberto Lopez, also owns and operates four hotels in Arizona. Th e purchase was structured through HSL Bear Canyon Apartments LLC.

CBRE top brandCBRE Group Inc. (CBRE) has been named

the Top Global Brand in commercial real es-tate by the Lipsey Company, an industry pro-vider of professional development services. Th e honor is based on over 50,000 surveys of commercial real estate professionals who scored various companies on their brand recognition and reputation.

CBRE’s Tucson offi ce is at 3719 N. Camp-bell Ave. and has 125 employees.

Lundeen top agentLaurie Lundeen, with Coldwell Banker

Residential Brokerage’s Green Valley offi ce, has been honored with two top sales awards. She was the company’s 2011 Top Producer in Southern Arizona and the 2011 Top Agent for the Green Valley/Sahuarita Association of Realtors.

Since joining the Green Valley offi ce in 2002, Lundeen has been one of Coldwell

Banker’s top producers. She is a member of the Green Valley Association of Realtors and the multiple listing services of both Green Valley and Tucson.

Sales and leases • Ricisaar Investments III LLC pur-

chased a 2,553 square-foot restaurant build-ing on 25,500 square feet of land at 4105 N. Oracle Road for $420,000. Th e seller was R.R. and A.Y. Long Family Trust, repre-sented by Tony Reed of Long Realty. Th e va-cant building previously housed a Long John Silver’s restaurant. Th e buyer was rep-resented by David Hammack and Rick Bo-rane, Volk Company Commercial Real Es-tate.

• Stewart Title purchased a 5,800 square-foot offi ce building at 7042 E. Broadway for $240,000 from the Frank and Betty Dunlap Trust, represented by Rick Kleiner, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services. Harvey Morkda, Harvey Morkda Realty, represent-ed the buyer.

Email news items for this column to

[email protected]. Inside Real Estate &

Construction appears weekly.

Coldwell Banker’s in-depth reviews indicate that the housing market is seeing uneven improvement.

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Th e other morning at a breakfast a friend was commenting on the talk by Grady Gammage Jr. at the Tucson Metro Chamber’s March 15 Outlooks event. “Phoenix can’t remember anything,” Gammage was quoted as saying. “Tucson seems to have the opposite problem, you don’t forget anything.”

Th at’s when my friend say “we still have people grumbling over some houses that were torn down for the Tucson Convention Center” and that was 40 years ago.

I realized that I’m one of those people still grumbling. But it’s not about the houses. Th ose houses, mostly in barrios, were torn down as part of urban renewal in the 1960s to make way for the TCC, which opened in 1971. In the 1960s I was just a kid and didn’t even live in Tucson full time, so my recollections are a combination of how my aunts and uncles and other relatives who lived here felt and what I’ve come to know as an adult.

One of my aunt’s favorite restaurants was El Charro Café and she was upset when its location on Broadway fell victim to urban renewal though she loved to go to the Court Avenue location until the day she died.

So people — even Tucsonans — do get over these things.What they aren’t getting over is the monstrosity that replaced

the houses, the Tucson Convention Center, which has been a white elephant from the day it opened.

It’s not just the lifeless gray concrete architecture denoting that it was designed in the 1960s; it’s that the facility is not functional. Th e arena gets used only about 50 days a year and 15 to 20 of those days are for games of the University of Arizona hockey team. Outside of that, the Jehovah’s Witness convention uses it for two weeks each summer, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show occupies for a couple of weeks in February and, most years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus stops in for a few days in July.

Th at’s it. And the city subsidizes the TCC to the tune of about $5 million a year. We taxpayers would be better off if the city would stop throwing good money after bad on the thing, try to squeeze every last drop out of it for a few years, then blow it up and get rid of it. In the meantime, plans could be developed for something that would really work to either spur on convention business, if that’s what Tucson can get, or to satisfy a realistic goal for what can happen downtown.

Th ere’s hardly anything about the TCC worth salvaging, save maybe the interior space of the Music Hall, which is at least acoustically sound.

Th e argument isn’t so much the barrio that was destroyed. Most of us weren’t around to have a good idea of what it was like before it was torn down so we don’t miss it.

Gammage is right that Tucsonans can get stuck trying to save the past to the detriment of looking to the future, but it’s not hard to forget the waste that is the TCC. It’s not like we’re talking history.

Contact David Hatfi eld at dhatfi [email protected]

or (520) 295-4237.

EDITORIAL

DAVID HATFIELD

BIZ BUZZ

We can’t forget, butit’s not history

EDITORIAL

Don’t mess with RTA moneySteve Kozachik has been a refreshing breath of fresh

air in the two years and four months he has been a Tucson city councilman. He has been right to raise questions and, in so doing, been a driving force changing some of the ways of City Hall for the benefi t of taxpayers. But he couldn’t be more wrong with his latest challenge.

Kozachik wants to tap some of the $2.1 billion in money voters approved in May 2006 as a half-cent sales tax hike for the 20-year Regional Transportation Authority and divert it to fi xing potholes and repairing transportation infrastructure.

According to an article in the March 23 issue of Inside Tucson Business, one of his fi rst targets is the Regional Transportation Authority’s plan to widen Broadway from Euclid Avenue to Country Club Road. He says traffi c fl ow data from studies done 24 years ago haven’t panned out and the widening is no longer justifi ed.

Kozachik wants voters to be able to rethink and stop some of the new projects and then be able to use the saved money for such things as fi xing existing roads.

Such a notion has so many things wrong with it that it’s diffi cult to list them all.

• For starters, the regional transportation plan was an extraordinary coming together of interests. Over the past 40 years there have been countless plans that never came to fruition and at least three that were rejected by voters. The combination of projects for roads, public transportation and bikes and pedestrians was approved by 58 percent who said yes to the half-cent sales tax.

• The Tucson City Council voted unanimously in 2005 on the city projects to be included in the plan. If there were issues with any of the projects that was the time to raise questions. That’s precisely why the Pima County Board of Supervisors didn’t include building a

bridge across Sabino Creek on Snyder Road, much to the chagrin of residents leaving east of the creek. There was even an unsuccessful campaign to have all voters reject the regional plan because the bridge wasn’t included. No other project in the plan came close to being scuttled then, nor should it now.

• There are items each of us as individuals might dispute in the transportation plan but none of use should be entitled to remove any of them — even if the modern streetcar is looking more to be a dangerous and expensive boondoggle.

• The regional transportation plan was about expanding capacity. Maintenance and operations are the responsibilities of municipalities and other jurisdictions. Just because those entities may not have spent their money wisely is no cause to change the plan.

• Th e Regional Transportation Authority, which is charged with implementing the transportation plan, has done a remarkable job of staying on task and delivering projects as promised. Perhaps City Hall is so unaccus-tomed to keeping promises the bureaucrats never expected it could be done.

• Failing to maintain roads isn’t something new for the city and allowing it to divert money from other sources would only enable it to continue to the subter-fuge.

• Keeping a promise to voters. Local governments haven’t always kept their promises to deliver on bond issues approved by voters. Granted, local offi cials have made a concerted eff ort to change that in the last few years but now is no time to go back to the days when the vote of the majority could be changed on a politician’s whim.

For all the light Kozachik has been able to shine into the crevices of decision-making at City Hall, this latest idea would be a step back to the ways of the old days.


THE DEBATE: HEALTH CARE IN THE SUPREME COURT GUEST OPINION: CON

‘Obamacare’ gives Congress license to micromanage every facet of our livesTh e U.S. Supreme Court this week heard

arguments on what may be the most important constitutional case in a generation. Some of the nation’s top attorneys are debating the Patient Protection and Aff ordable Care Act, often called “Obamacare.”

Th e eventual ruling could chart the boundaries of federal power for generations to come — not only for health care, but across the policy spectrum.

A major focus of the Supreme Court hearings is the individual mandate — the law’s require-ment that almost all Americans who aren’t covered by employers must purchase a health-care plan, whether they want to or not.

Th e plaintiff s — including 26 states as well as individuals and businesses — argue that Congress has no authority to force people to buy insurance. Most Americans agree: A recent Gallup poll found that 72 percent — including 56 percent of Democrats — consider the mandate unconstitutional.

Obama administration attorneys counter that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, known as “the commerce clause” — giving Congress power to “regulate commerce among the several states” — is more than expansive enough to validate the mandate.

Th ey rely on a list of Supreme Court precedents that stretch the defi nition of “interstate commerce” pretty far.

In the 1940s, the court allowed Congress to

punish a farmer for growing wheat on his own land for his own use, on the theory that wheat prices would be affected if everyone did that. In the 1960s, the court classified civil rights laws as “regulations of commerce” even when they involved businesses that did practically no interstate business. And in 2005, the court ruled that Congress could prohibit someone from growing marijuana in her yard for her personal medical use, because federal laws against drugs are a kind of economic regulation.

Still, the court has never held that the federal government may compel people to participate in commerce. And this is what makes the individual mandate unprecedented: Never before has Congress presumed to order average Americans to purchase a good or a service in the marketplace.

Simply from the standpoint of semantics, the law’s defenders face a challenge. As ordinarily understood, the word, “regulate,” implies rules for activity that people have freely chosen to engage in (running a business, for instance). Th e word doesn’t imply forcing people, say, to start a business in the fi rst place.

Likewise, “commerce” implies economic

activity — but someone who fails to buy health insurance is not engaged in economic activity.

Beyond these disputes over defi nitions lies a fundamental question about the extent of federal power: If Congress can force us to buy health insurance, what can’t it order us to buy?

Practically any individual decision to buy something, or not to do so, has some theoretical eff ect on the economy as a whole. And if that’s all that’s needed to justify federal intrusion, limitless dictates could be imagined. For example, what’s to stop Congress from forcing us to buy spa memberships — or electric cars — in the name of making us healthier or more fuel-effi cient, consumers?

As Federal District Court Judge Henry Hudson, who ruled in favor of Virginia’s challenge to the individual mandate in Decem-ber 2012, put it: The argument for the mandate’s constitutionality “lacks logical limitation.”

Remarkably, the Obama administration has never off ered a principled explanation of how to square the mandate with constitutional principles of limited federal government.

Instead, Americans are offered more semantic games. We’re told the mandate only moves forward a purchase that would have happened in any case. People will now pay up-front for health care that they would have eventually paid for, on their own, when they received it.

But again, this is a rationale without “logical limitation.” Some version of this argument could

be off ered for practically any kind of forced purchase. If Congress commands you to buy something because lawmakers deem it “good for you,” then almost by defi nition, it’s some-thing you might have bought on your own, eventually — so, voila, the mandate isn’t really a mandate at all!

Bottom line: Upholding the individual mandate would set a treacherous precedent by licensing Congress to start micromanaging every facet of our lives.

Striking down the mandate, on the other hand, could pressure Congress to fi nally get creative about reforming America’s ailing health care delivery system. With the mandate off the table, Congress could be forced to de-empha-size rigid bureaucratic prescriptions in favor of market-based reforms to expand competition and consumer choice.

So this case is not just a pulse check for constitutional principles of limited government. The health of health care could also be on the line.

Timothy Sandefur is a principal attorney with

Pacifi c Legal Foundation which, along with the

Cato Institute and other limited government

advocates, submitted a brief urging the Supreme

Court to hold the individual mandate unconstitu-

tional. Sandefur is also the author of “Th e Right to

Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law”

(Cato Institute, 2010).

GUEST OPINION: PRO

Individual mandate in health care law: good for freedom, bad for free-ridersBy John E. Schwarz

At the heart of this week’s U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health-care law, is the “individual mandate” requiring every American to purchase health insurance. Its critics say the mandate violates basic constitu-tional principles of individual freedom and limited government.

Opponents ask: If the federal government has the power to compel all Americans to purchase private health insurance, why couldn’t it require every American to purchase broccoli and other foods it deems healthy to reduce health care costs?

Th ey claim that if government has the authority under the interstate commerce clause to penalize even inaction — in this case, the decision not to buy insurance — there is eff ectively no limit on what government could require. As Judge Stanley Marcus of the 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals asked: “If they (the federal government) could compel this, what purchase could they not compel?”

Th is idea has great currency in opponents’ circles, but its rationale is utterly fl awed.

Why? Because of “free-riders.” A free-rider is a person who benefi ts from something without paying for it, meaning somebody else

must shoulder the cost. A primary aim of the insurance mandate is to prevent free-riders who receive health-care services but do not pay for them because they lack adequate insurance coverage.

In the health-care market, the only recourse that free-riders leave providers is to withhold their services in what are typically emergency circumstances — the very instances in which we all agree services should not be denied. It is often impossible, in any case, to determine whether individuals who are in severe pain or delirious can pay or not. Current law in fact, does not permit providers to deny medical services in these circumstanc-es. And beyond these logistical and legal obstacles, most providers are also reluctant to deny care for humanitarian reasons.

Free-riding, in turn, shoves the free-riders’ costs onto others through higher prices. Th is problem is so substantial that in 2009, Newt Gingrich castigated individuals who didn’t purchase health insurance yet could aff ord it, calling them free-riders and saying that they ought to be required by law at least to post a bond.

An insurance mandate aimed at stopping free-riders is in complete harmony with a free market. Indeed, the mandate is essential for a free market to be able to operate properly,

which is why the Heritage Foundation, a fi erce advocate of the free market, was among the fi rst to propose mandating the purchase of health insurance as a solution to both the free-rider problem and rising health care costs.

Other markets — like the ones for broccoli or spinach, or the vast majority of markets for other products and services — don’t normally face free-ridership issues at the point of service. Nor does free-ridership result from “inactivity” in these other markets the way it does in the health care market. Th ese distinctions provide clear grounds for diff erentiating the mandated purchase of health insurance from the myriad other purchase options individuals have within other markets.

Th us critics need not worry that the health care mandate represents a “potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority” as articulated by the 11th Circuit Federal Court, which ruled the mandate unconstitutional in August 2011.

Should the Supreme Court rule the insurance mandate to be unconstitutional, the mandate’s opponents will hail its decision as a victory for both freedom and limited govern-ment. Th e opposite will be so.

Th e court instead, will have ruled for the one-sided autonomy of free-riders and rejected the freedom of providers, taxpayers

and consumers, subjecting them all to what is essentially a form of stealing.

Providers will be legally required, not to mention under the infl uence of professional obligations going back to the Hippocratic Oath, to deliver services to the free-riders without knowing or often even being able to determine whether they will be compensated.

To have to work without compensation is a core characteristic of forced labor. Th e providers then will be forced to fi nagle third-party consumers and their insurers — innocent bystanders — to pay for the free-riders’ costs by charging them higher prices.

If this is a victory for freedom, it will be for a fraudulent anything-goes notion of freedom that is amoral.

And if this is a victory for limited govern-ment, it will be so only in the false sense of a government rendered so impotent as to be incapable of protecting its own citizens from free-riders.

John E. Schwarz is distinguished senior fellow at

Demos, a public policy organization in New York,

and professor emeritus of government and public

policy at the University of Arizona. He is writing

“Common Credo: How Both the Left and the

Right Have Led America Astray,” to be published

in March 2013 by W.W. Norton.

TIMOTHY SANDEFUR


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OPINIONBUSINESS INK

Are you tired of how Tucson is being Portland-ized? Here’s an issue Imagine Greater Tucson

will never ask about: How satisfi ed are you with the Portland-ization of Tucson? Are you tired of Portland, Ore., being idolized as the city that Tucson aspires to become?

Th e ideology connection is pretty clear: both cities are islands of liberalism in otherwise fairly conservative states.

Many of Portland’s traits infatuate Tucson’s bureaucrat copycats. To start with the obvious, Portland has a modern streetcar system that serves downtown.

Th e real cost of Portland’s trolleys, infrastructure and tracks can be hard to gauge since much of it was taxpayer subsidized through government grants and tax gimmicks. But based on various public records, the consensus puts the initial cost at $25 million per mile.

For $200 million, Tucson’s streetcar system will cost $50 million per mile. When subsidized by taxpayers, perhaps every city is entitled to pricey public transit.

We have family in Portland and they have quit riding the streetcar for one simple reason: public safety. With groups of friends, they used to take it downtown as patrons of the performing arts and to other civic events.

Although they personally have not been victims, they know of people who have been robbed and assaulted on the streetcar on their way home by roaming gangs, meth-

heads and the homeless who come out after dark.

Vandalism, shoplifting, theft and other crimes increased along the Portland route, so Tucson can expect that, too.

It’s a scenario for trouble. Instead

of stealing an old Ford F-250 from a parking lot by the Rialto Th eatre downtown, car thieves can hop on the streetcar to the University of Arizona Medical Center where the parking lot choices include a new Lexus, Mercedes or BMW.

Tucson also is obsessed with Portland’s urban planning process. Th at’s how Imagine Greater Tucson came to town. Don’t be fooled by the sophisticated marketing about community visioning and regional planning. Th e real goal is to put urban growth boundaries in place.

Under Oregon law, every metro area has a growth boundary. Public policy is jammed with restrictive water and land use regulations. Pima County already has its Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan in place but that doesn’t go far enough to satisfy the no-growth lobby.

So Tucson wants to copy what Portland did.

Imagine Greater Tucson hired Frego-nese Associates of Portland whose presi-dent once was that city’s planning director. With a heavy emphasis on compact development and buff ers, he wrote most of the region’s growth plan.

What else can Tucson copy from Portland? Portland is bike-friendly and building

bike lanes everywhere. Tucson, too.Portland’s city council is perceived as

progressives, mostly because there are so many political extremists there who elect them to offi ce. Tucson, too.

Both cities have large environmental activist groups, social activists and younger alternative-culture folks. Unfortunately, their weak job skills leave them unem-ployed, un-employable or under-employed. Th ey compete for crummy jobs that reward them with a “livable” minimum wage.

Oregon’s minimum wage is the second highest in the nation, at $8.80 an hour. Statistical economic research has conclud-ed the net impact has been lost jobs. Business owners simply do more with less: they get by with four baristas instead of six.

As of January, Portland had a relatively high unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. Tucson’s was too, at 7.9 percent. In Arizona, the $7.65 minimum wage is 40 cents more than the federal mandate.

And since Tucson glorifi es Portland,

that city’s drug reputation can’t be ignored.Portland is known as the heroin capital

of the Northwest. It scored national fame with 111 heroin overdose deaths in 1999. And although deaths have dropped since, Portland still had the nation’s highest per capita rate of heroin deaths in 2009.

Portland also has a meth problem. Tucson, too. Th at’s why copper theft is so epidemic.

To pay for more Portland-like interven-tion programs, free needles and drug rehab services, Tucson city council would probably have to take money away from its $40 million subsidy to SunTran.

Had enough?Th ree years ago, BusinessWeek ranked

Portland as the “most unhappy” city in America. Th at honor was based on high rates of crime, unemployment, depression, suicide, divorce, and gloomy weather.

Portland sounds pretty messed up and miserable, which makes all this copycat scat pretty misguided and unappealing. A more admirable goal would be to uphold Tucson’s unique high standards instead of importing Portland’s inferiorities.

Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@

azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254. His Business Ink

appears biweekly and weighs in on local

political, social and business issues.

ROGER YOHEM

Who will win the CD 8 Republican primary?

Jesse Kelly 72%

Frank Antenori 12%

Martha McSally 9%

Dave Sitton 7%


PUBLIC NOTICENotice is hereby given that the City ofBenson, Arizona will receive sealedproposals for Municipal Legal Ser-vices until 3:00 P.M., local time, Mon-day, April 16, 2012, when they will beopened by the City Manager’s officeand City Clerk’s office.

All proposals must be directed to thefollowing address: City Clerk, City ofBenson, 120 W. 6th Street, Benson,Arizona 85602, or hand delivered tothe City Clerk’s Office at the sameaddress. All proposals shall be clear-ly marked “SEALED PROPOSALFOR MUNICIPAL LEGAL SER-VICES” on the lower left hand of thesealed envelope.

The City is not responsible for thepre-opening of, post opening of or thefailure to open a proposal not proper-ly addressed, submitted or identified.

Scope of work may be obtained fromthe City Manager’s Office, at theaddress named above, Mondaythrough Friday, 8:00 A.M. through4:30 P.M.; phone # (520) 720-6324,fax # (520) 586-3375, or [email protected].

The City Manager of the City of Ben-son reserves the right to reject anyand/or all proposals or accept theproposals which they deem are in thebest interests of the City. Proposalsreceived after the time specified shallbe returned unopened.

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Hiring?

Imagine Greater Tucson seeks a dynamic Executive Director to lead the organization in the creation and

implementation of a shared regional plan.

The ideal candidate will be a recognized community leader who

understands public policy making in the Tucson area and has a proven

fundraising record.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR IMAGINE GREATER TUCSON

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