Steve Chucri's First 100 Days in Office!

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Steve Chucri's First 100 Days in Office!

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April 16, 2013

Sworn into Office

Sworn Into Office

Thanks to Maricopa County District 2 voters, I was sworn into office as your County Supervisor on January 7, 2013. It was a special honor that my friend and County Attorney Bill Montgomery administered my oath. Surrounded by family and friends, I vowed to faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of Maricopa County Supervisor.

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Call to Action

Imperatives: On the campaign trail, I listened. I made a commitment to my community to do three things: Improve communication between governments, reform government and provide conservative leadership. I hope you will find these updates helpful to keep you informed of important issues in District 2 and my endeavor to honor these commitments to you.

I bring a business mindset to the County and have already begun to dive into how we can remove overly burdensome government regulations. For example: Why does Maricopa County have a 43 page dust permit application? The EPA needs to understand we live in a desert. I have been working with county departments since taking office to find ways to fulfill our regulatory role through a private-sector approach and am pleased to report success in streamlining the process. Our Air Quality Department is putting finishing touches on a user-friendly “Turbo Tax” simplification of the online dust permit that substantially shortens the document from 43 pages to 7 pages.

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Working with Community Leaders

I am striving to meet with elected officials and management leaders to fully understand the important service each provides to the taxpayers of Maricopa County. Further, I am visiting with Mayors and Council members to hear about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for each city in District 2.

I visited with the Fountain Hills Town Council and enjoyed hearing about the programs and partnerships Mayor Linda Kavanagh and the Council are working on. At that meeting, I also shared my thoughts about the important relationship between the County and the Town of Fountain Hills, in particular our law enforcement partnership. I am looking forward to more opportunities to work together on services in a way that benefits our shared constituencies.

The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce invited me to speak to members of their Partner Council to discuss my background in the private sector and my pro-business approach to County operations.

From left to right:

Rick Kidder, Eric Larson, Wendy Riddell, Supervisor Chucri and Randy Nussbaum.

Supervisor Denny Barney and I met with Mayor John Lewis and the Gilbert Town Council to build closer relationships and share common community priorities and challenges. Joint issues discussed at the meeting included tax revenues and budget constraints, the cost of county jails and a proposal to eliminate the construction sales tax.

farm bureau

I also met with legislators from District 2 to talk about state budget impacts on Maricopa County and our shared constituencies. We exchanged ideas about how the County can be business-friendly through streamlining our regulations and changing the way WE do business.

In early April, I met with members of the Maricopa County Farm Bureau, business leaders, and local officials to discuss the important contributions of agriculture to our economy at Harper’s Nursery in Mesa. I’d like to thank Jay Harper for providing a great environment to exchange ideas.

I am honored Chairman Kunasek appointed me to represent our County at the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Regional Council, the MAG Economic Development Council and the County Supervisors’ Association Legislative Policy Committee. I look forward to making a positive contribution.

On Good Friday, I served food at the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix. The Campus takes a regional, comprehensive approach to helping the homeless. I am proud of the legacy developed through collaboration with the County, our Public Health Department, and member agencies including St. Vincent DePaul, Lodestar, Nova Safe Haven, CASS, and St. Joseph the Worker.  

 

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Board Activity

Traffic

Have you ever been stuck in a long line of traffic created by an accident? It wastes time, costs money, can create more hazards, interrupts residential neighborhoods, and pollutes the air with emissions. We're trying to reduce those problems with a creative partnership between the City of Scottsdale and Maricopa County. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Scottsdale for Emergency Traffic Management Mutual Aid (REACT). This is a great opportunity for the county and City of Scottsdale to work together to improve emergency traffic management and ensure the safety of our citizens. Partnerships like this emphasize the type of teamwork I hope to build with all governmental organizations in my district.

The Board adopted conservative guidelines as the county begins its budget development process.  I am respectful of the hard decisions the county has made in the past several years. In lean times, just as homeowners make tough decisions about how to prioritize their household finances, I will continue to evaluate priorities that give taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck. For more information, please visit: http://www.maricopa.gov/Budget/pdf/bp/FY14BudgetGuidelines012213.pdf

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OpenBooks

OpenBooks

Supervisors merge financial data into state transparency website; County “OpenBooks” first in Arizona to go statewide

Maricopa County’s key financial information  has been publicly posted on county websites for years. In November 2011, the county launched Maricopa County “OpenBooks”, a single transparency website that enabled citizens to check county revenues, budgets, expenditures, tax bills, bond ratings and other data with a few clicks of a mouse.

On February 6, the Board of Supervisors merged the county database into the larger, state-run Arizona financial transparency portal, Arizona Open Books. Maricopa County is the first county government in Arizona to appear on the state transparency website.

Maricopa County OpenBooks represents the County's commitment to provide its taxpayers with a transparent government.” Chucri said. “We see this as an ever evolving and improving process to be accountable to the citizens of Arizona.”

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Community News

Libraries

Thank you to the Fountain Hills Library Association for their generous donations to the Fountain Hills Branch library. Since January, they have donated over $16,000 that will benefit community members for years to come and continue to enrich our library system.

Please let me know about what is important to you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Steve Chucri, District 2
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
www.maricopa.gov/steve
602-506-7431