Is Glendale Bouncing Back?
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An encased Arizona Coyotes hockey jersey is the first thing you see when exiting the elevator on the fourth floor of Glendale City Hall. The lobby outside a passage leading to the mayor’s office is decorated with more sports memorabilia — an Arizona Cardinals football jersey signed by Michael Bidwill, Fiesta Bowl game balls, helmets and a home plate from the Camelback Ranch spring training stadium’s groundbreaking.
These are tokens of Glendale’s rapid evolution from rural farm land, to bedroom community, to Arizona’s sports entertainment capital.
But they’re also symbols of choices that led the city to the brink of financial ruin.
This is the second of three years in which Glendale will host huge sporting events. The city is showing signs of recovery from the Great Recession, and that begs the question: Has Glendale turned a corner from its recent dark past?
“Given the fact that Super Bowl, to Super Bowl, even during the most significant economic downturn our nation has seen, we were still adding jobs to our community,” said Jean Moreno, Glendale economic development officer. “That tells us we have good bones.”
About 12,000 jobs were created during those years, and the city’s unemployment rate fell about 15 percent from Fiscal Year 2014 to 2015, Moreno said. Developing the city’s Loop 101 and Loop 303 freeway corridors are key components, and the goal is to recruit corporate headquarters to Glendale, she said.
“Have we fully recovered? Financially, I would say no,” said Tom Duensing, interim assistant city manager. “Are we on the right path to getting there? I would say absolutely yes.”
Mayor Jerry Weiers, a pilot, likened Glendale’s recent changes to an aviator attempting to make a 180-degree turn.
“I would say for certain we’ve certainly done a 140-degree turn,” Weiers said. “There is no doubt about it.”
Weiers considered quitting when staff told him during his first week that the city would have to declare bankruptcy. Instead of going to court, Glendale set a goal of building up a $50 million reserve.
“Three years ago, our general fund was less than zero, if I’m not mistaken,” Weiers said. “Today we’re a little over $30 million.”
But not everyone sees it the same as Weiers. Mark Burdick retired as fire chief last spring after more than 30 years working for Glendale. In the fall, he announced plans to challenge Weiers for mayor in 2016.
“If you look at it, the region has turned a corner,” Burdick said. “I think it's a little bit too narrow to say Glendale specifically has turned a corner.”
Burdick said the fire department needs more resources to reduce response times. The police department needs more detectives in north Glendale. And parks and recreation programs have to be restored before he would agree with his former superior.
“We haven’t returned to what would be considered more normal for other cities in the Valley, if you made that comparison,” Burdick said.
So who is right, Weiers or Burdick?
Pat Liberatore, a San Francisco-based analyst for Moody’s Investment Services, said they both are.
“There have been marked improvements,” Liberatore said. “But at the same time there are challenges that remain.”
They are the city’s long-term, high-debt burden from sports entertainment investments and the unpredictability of sales tax revenues, he said.
“Those can prove volatile in recessions, as we saw a few years ago,” Liberatore said.
Moody’s did raise Glendale’s outlook twice in less than 12 months to positive, most recently after the city renegotiated its Gila River Arena management deal with the Coyotes, who have said they are considering a move to Phoenix or the East Valley.
“Being on the positive outlook implies that we could take an upward rating action on the city in the short term,” Liberatore said.
It’s yet to be seen whether an organizing committee can land Glendale another Super Bowl. The city will host the semifinals of the Copa America soccer tournament in June and the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.
Glendale officials insist they want the Coyotes to stay, and an upcoming city council decision on whether to replace the hockey team as arena managers is simply a business decision. A recent poll conducted by MBQF Consulting and Marson Media found that 55 percent of Maricopa County voters prefer the Coyotes stay in Glendale. The poll had a 4.06 percent theoretical margin of error.
Weiers said Camelback Ranch could be the next big sports entertainment issue that needs resolution. While Weiers said he has a bad feeling about an appeal of a lawsuit that could threaten $60 million promised by the state for Camelback Ranch, Duensing said the city’s long-term financial forecasts treat that as if Glendale will never get a dime.
Duensing has worked for the city for about two years. He had been on the job for less than a month when he said he got a call from a Wall Street Journal reporter about the city’s financial status. He now carries a copy of the article listing Glendale and Detroit as cities with more liabilities than assets.
“We have made very difficult decisions to move this city in the same direction,: Duensing said. “That direction is stability… And I am optimistic.”
