Hi, I’m Joel Navarro, one of your current council members.  Tempe is a great community with a lot of history, diversity and pride.  It also has the facilities and opportunities to take care of and enrich many community needs within its city boundaries — from grade schools and universities to high-tech jobs and mom-and-pop stores while also providing an urban downtown area and neighborhood parks with great pathway connections to downtown cultural, amenities and transportation hubs.

Joel Navarro

Tempe is in a prime position to improve upon many of its existing amenities and really create a thoughtful community with a well-designed plan that keeps even the smallest details in mind, details like: ADA accessibility in as many areas as possible, recycling containers at all parks, mobile applications that can tell you when the next bus is coming, a city website that is more friendly and functional with information about important events such as street closures during large downtown events and the most efficient ways to avoid traffic or find parking spaces.  These are some of the reasons why I am re-running for Tempe City Council.

However, in addition to thoughtful redevelopment and strategic planning, my number one concern is taking care of our aging neighborhoods, parks, strip malls and schools.  We have had to make tough cuts, which has forced us to become more fiscally responsible and improve efficiency in order to provide the best services with the funds available.  As we start to come out of this recession, we need to listen to our community and reestablish services to a more desired level, but continue to be fiscally responsible to avoid future cuts to important amenities like library hours and educational programs for all ages.

I understand that this is a city made up of individuals who care about their community, and the backbone of our community is our neighborhoods.  We need safe and vibrant neighborhoods with a park system that reflects that energy. As Chairman of Tempe’s Neighborhood Quality of Life and Revitalization Council Committee, I have been tackling issues like more efficient graffiti clean-up, Adopt-a-Park and Adopt-a-Path programs, alley maintenance, more thorough code enforcement and more. Functional, clean parks that are safe and attractive to all neighbors are our cornerstone in creating neighborhood pride which residents will reflect back into their properties and that pride helps build strong communities.

As a city we need to provide more resources to help our homeowners improve their properties by making tool trailers and dumpsters available, while cutting fees and providing free designs to expand or make improvements to homes. We need to find ways to streamline this process without adding unnecessary fees.  We need to work smarter and be an example for other communities to follow.

I’m Joel Navarro, and I want to continue being your ally on the Tempe City Council.  I want to work for you to put these strategies in force.  Please vote for me, Joel Navarro, on or before March 13^th.  Thank you, and for more information please visit my web site at www.navarroforcitycouncil.com