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Winters: District 1 Newsletter — January 2021

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Well a big shout out to my constituents in District 1, and indeed every resident in this great city in which we are lucky to live in, and a happy and safe New Year to all.

This year, of course, will be remembered by everyone for the challenging times, the pandemic, people being laid off, economic down turn, and of course the terrible loss of many lives.

In spite of all we have been through, District 1 has opened a library, finally got a traffic light at 163rd and Jomax Road, we have a new fire station at 163rd Avenue, and started making all the necessary improvements on Greenway Road, including a needed traffic light at Northwest Ranch Parkway and Greenway Road.

The city of Surprise as a whole managed to get Costco, an Amazon distribution warehouse, soon to be condominiums in City Center, and all of the road improvements have been accomplished thanks to the residents voting for our bond three years ago.

I am excited for my friends in the northwest part of my district. As I said last month, not only is a Fry’s going in at 163rd Avenue and Pat Tillman Boulevard but also a little shopping area. A QT gas station is also going in at 163rd Avenue and Grand Avenue.

On Saturday, Dec. 5, the council took part in Shop with a Cop at Kohl’s Department Store, sponsored by the Mavericks, to give needy children a chance to shop for themselves or others. This was our first time participating and it went really well. We hope to do this effort every year with the Mavericks. Much thanks for our men and woman in blue for helping the kids that day.

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, the Boards and Commissions Nomination Committee met to fill some openings on our various commissions. We did find some folks to fill these chairs and the meeting was over by 7 p.m.

On Dec. 16, one of my constituents wanted to donate some money to the police toy drive for the kids, so I met him at the police station and Chuck Collins gave them a check. That was very nice of him to make a joyous Christmas for so many deserving kids.

There are going to be some big changes in January in our leadership in Surprise. Mark Schott, our assistant city manager, is retiring and our police chief, Terry Young, is being moved to the fourth floor at City Hall to be our new assistant city manager. Geoffrey Leggett (our assistant police chief) will be the interim police chief, pending a recruitment process. On top of all of that, we had a new councilmember start on Jan. 5, District 2 Councilmember Aly Cline.

I am very optimistic about 2021. We will finally get a handle on this terrible pandemic now that we finally have the vaccine. We just need a plan to get it into people’s arms, and then the economy will follow. Take care my friends

Be good to yourselves and be good to each other.