Supervisor Barney took the oath of office on January 7, 2013. Having already organized his office, he hit the ground running, working on both the issues that you brought to his attention and applying the fiscal conservatism, transparency, and improved communication between governments that he advocated for on the campaign trail.

Since taking office, Supervisor Barney has worked with other elected officials, county staff and department leaders to develop ways to meet our critical needs and statutory mandates while decreasing the tax burden. A big part of the solution to our county budget crisis is to apply private sector and free market business principles. He and his staff are taking an in-depth look at the county budget and feel confident that a combination of budget cuts and increased efficiencies will not only maintain our current services to the public, but actually improve them.

Our next update will focus on a detailed look at the county budget as well as useful information to better understand your property tax bill.

Supervisor Barney sponsored the formation of the Queen Creek County Islands Fire District. “Both county island volunteers and Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney and his town staff have worked hard toward making this agreement a reality. This change will increase public safety within this community,” Supervisor Barney said.  Click here for more information.

Supervisor Barney and Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny have agreed to work closely together to improve library services and the streets and roads in the county/city.  As a result, county library and transportation staffs are working with their counterparts in the City of Chandler to find solutions.

Supervisor Barney and Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell serve together on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and share a commitment to strengthening economic development and governmental cooperation in the region.

If you saw a bright yellow tandem bike on the streets of Phoenix earlier this month, it just might have been Supervisor Barney.  Supervisor Barney invited Phoenix City Councilman Jim Waring to join Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and County Manager Tom Manos in the joint Maricopa County and City of Phoenix “Bike to Work” day. Over 250 employees rode from Park Central to Phoenix City Hall and then participated in a BFIT Expo. Councilman Waring and Supervisor Barney road the yellow tandem bike and were heard to have said, “If you can’t bike to work, at least carpool!”

Supervisor Barney met with members of the Maricopa County Farm Bureau at an annual “Farm-City Partnership Breakfast” to discuss the important contributions and concerns of the agriculture community. We appreciated Jeff Foshee hosting the gathering at his farm.

Supervisor Barney and Mayor Gail Barney hosted a site tour and presentation of the Pozos de Sonoqui Archaeological Site in Queen Creek. Prior to Maricopa County Department of Transportation finalizing roadway construction plans for a new three-mile eastward extension of the Riggs Road corridor through the Town of Queen Creek and the Salt River Valley, local archaeologists presented to the media their finding of recovered items relating to the life and ways of the former southwestern desert dwellers known as the Hohokam.

Maricopa County is slicing 36 pages from its dust permit application under a new online permit system that became available last week. The significant reduction in paperwork – from 43 pages to 7 – represents months of work by the Air Quality staff and other stakeholders who gave input on ways to improve the process and reduce the regulatory burden on industry, agriculture, and small business.

 “Improving this process was a top priority of mine upon taking office in January and I’m pleased to see the progress we have made in such a short amount of time,” said Supervisor Barney. “We want to create a better, easier process for our stakeholders and citizens. And we won’t stop here, with one reform.”

For more information on the revised application, click here.

Enhanced Regulatory Outreach Program

Considering how common it is for taxpayers to get stuck in a quagmire of bureaucratic red tape, it’s not often that we ask Government to “slow down.”  However, that is exactly what we are doing with Maricopa County’s new Enhanced Regulatory Outreach Program. This new approach to streamlining government regulation is a concerted effort by the Air Quality, Environmental Services, Planning and Development and Transportation departments, as well as the Flood Control District, to provide a simple, yet comprehensive process that allows multiple opportunities for stakeholder input regarding the adoption and amendment of all regulatory requirements.

A new website has been created to serve as a central place for interested parties to participate in all county regulatory changes, including instructions on how to sign up to receive notices of all new or proposed changes, as well as the process by which any comments or complaints can be addressed.

“This new site will allow those who are affected by changes in regulation to have a greater say in the process, and will help stakeholders and government regulators better understand the outcomes and impacts associated with those changes,” said Supervisor Barney.

For more information, click here.

 In November 2011, Maricopa 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.

Going a step further, this year on February 6th, Supervisor Barney voted to merge 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.

A little known fact about Maricopa County is that many of our departments receive and accept donations of time, money or consumer goods from generous members of our community.  All of these donations, large and small, are important and allow the county to fulfill its statutory obligations while keeping taxes low. 

Recently, the Board accepted a very generous donation from PetSmart Charities and Friends of Animal Care and Control in support of the Alliance for Companion Animals Strategic Plan.  The strategic plan aims to significantly reduce the number of abandoned and unwanted pets in Maricopa County through increased free spay/neuter services. 

Please visit the Animal Care and Control Website to learn more about their programs and services.