InMaricopa sports writer branches out as columnist

Unless you are at least an occasional reader of the sports section of InMaricopa you probably have no idea who I am, or what this column is doing here. Let me explain.

My wife, Linda, and I are fairly new residents of Maricopa, having moved here in late May from Virginia.

Since July I have been doing the majority of sports writing for InMaricopa, although you will begin to see my efforts in some of the news stories.

In May 2010, I retired after a 45-year career in newspapers, radio news, college athletics and ownership of my own magazine.

Linda and I bought our home in Maricopa in May of 2009, but were only able to make the cross-country relocation this year due to our two jobs in Virginia. She, in fact, still works for the same company she has been with for more than 30 years, doing it online from our home.

We had decided many years ago to retire in Arizona — OK, I’m the only one who actually retired. We did years of research as to where we would want to live once we actually made the move.

I won’t go into all the details, but Maricopa perfectly fit our wants and needs.

Even during the two years that we waited to actually occupy our new home, we kept close tabs on how things were progressing here in Maricopa, much of it by closely following InMaricopa.com and other local websites.

All along I thought about ways in which I might be able to contribute to my soon-to-be new city of residence. In Virginia I had served on the local parks and recreation commission, read the newspaper to the blind through a special radio frequency and coached Little League baseball for six years.

Not long after arriving I found out about the Maricopa Citizens’ Leadership Academy, a six-week course which attempts to educate residents about how the city works. It is scheduled twice a year, and the application I was sent to try to secure a spot in the most recent class contained all the usual questions about address, email and how long you have lived in town, etc.

It also had an essay question that simply read, “In your opinion, what is the difference between being a resident and being a citizen?” My answer to that was a simple, one-word response — involvement.

And so, having heard of the opportunity to learn about how the city works, I jumped right in.

Let me first say that Linda and I, now citizens for a little over six months, love Maricopa. It is everything we had hoped it would be.

That said, are there problems here?  You bet. There are many areas in which this city can improve and fulfill its promise.

For any citizen, especially the naysayers who frequent the forums and blogs, the leadership academy is a great way to answer many of the questions, good or bad, that confront this young city.

Each Wednesday night, for six weeks, 14 of us gathered in the Zephyr Room at city hall to hear the leaders of numerous city departments explain exactly what they do and how it affects citizens.

At each class, Stephen Stroud, a former resident of the Salt Lake City area, and I were the first two to arrive and sat next to each other. Although he didn’t move to Maricopa until July 4 of this year, he’s already doing his best to be of service to his new home. He is a board member of the Maricopa Police Foundation and is actively involved in efforts to eradicate graffiti around town. He, as did I, decided to use his area of expertise to serve the city. It’s something almost anyone can do.

“I joined the academy because I wanted to learn more about government in Maricopa,” Stroud explained.

Together we heard from Mayor Anthony Smith; City Manager Brenda Fischer; Community Services Director John Nixon; Development Services Director Brent Billingsley; Economic Development Director Danielle Casey; Interim Chief of Police Steve Stahl; Deputy City Clerk LeeAnne Schirato and Intergovernmental Manager Paul Jepson, among others.

All willingly answered all questions and provided great insight into what it takes to run a city such as Maricopa.

In one hands-on demonstration, many of us had an opportunity to don a fire “turnout,” the protective gear firefighters wear on the job. It was a cool evening in the parking lot of city hall, and wearing the suit, even for as little as five minutes while trying to smash out the windshield of a car and use the cutting tool to help remove its roof, gave me a great feeling of admiration for what firefighters do, sometimes in the heat of summer.

The academy is a must for anyone who has any interest, positive or negative, in Maricopa government. To find out about the next session in the spring, contact Maricopa Public Information Officer LaTricia Woods at [email protected].