2024 is already shaping up to be an amazing year in Goodyear! Hear from Mayor Joe Pizzillo as he shares what's to come in Goodyear in 2024 and beyond. Plus, rock legend Alice Cooper joins Mayor Pizzillo to discuss an exciting new partnership coming to Goodyear.
2024 is already shaping up to be an amazing year in Goodyear! Hear from Mayor Joe Pizzillo as he shares what's to come in Goodyear in 2024 and beyond. Plus, rock legend Alice Cooper joins Mayor Pizzillo to discuss an exciting new partnership coming to Goodyear.
Coming up on this episode of Growing Goodyear,
Mayor Pizzillo:Anybody who knows me knows that I'm very truly passionate about the city. You can kind of close my eyes and look out over my office and see a vision of a bustling entertainment, retail, walkable downtown area that's coming and going to be here. People like being here. They liked the environment. And I think that's important as your quality of life, to be able to work playing and live in your community.
Jordan Byrd:And welcome into a special edition of the Growing Goodyear podcast. From the city of Goodyear's Digital Communications Department. I'm Jordan Byrd.
Tammy Vo:And I'm Tammy Vo.
Jordan Byrd:And Tammy, this is going to be a special episode where we not only look back at all of the accomplishments and achievements that happened here in the city of Goodyear over the last year, but also look forward to some of the things that are upcoming on the horizon. And when you look back at 2023, man, there was a lot of stuff that happened here in the city of Goodyear.
Tammy Vo:Yeah, it's so hard to even put that into one podcast, Jordan, yes, so much happened the past year, and so much happening this year. And we're so fortunate in this episode to be able to talk to the mayor of Goodyear Joe Pizzillo.
Jordan Byrd:And you're also going to hear from rock legend Alice Cooper, about a special partnership between the city of Goodyear and Cooper's Solid Rock teen center that will provide youth in the West Valley with a safe place to grow their artistic talents. But first, let's talk with the mayor of Goodyear Joe Pizzillo.
Tammy Vo:We are so honored and excited today to talk to Mayor Joe Pizzillo about his sort of vision for this next year ahead, but also just all the amazing things that have been accomplished at the city over the past year and really since he became mayor in 2021. So, welcome everyone, Goodyear's Mayor Joe Pizzillo to the show.
Mayor Pizzillo:Well, thank you very much. You know, I look back at 2023. To me, it's amazing where the city has come from, I'm really pumped about building this downtown around GSQ. And if you come out here to City Hall, you'll see a lot of the buildings going up right now, that should be open, a lot of them be open in 2024. To me, it's a great time to be in Goodyear. And I'm trying to bring these amenities that I promised when I was running and trying to get more choices 24 things even gonna be better than 23.
Jordan Byrd:I think a big key to 2023 in the city of Goodyear. And it was the theme of the state of the city it's working together. Goodyear is trying to accomplish all these things for our residents. But that doesn't mean that we're doing it by ourself, that there's these partnerships, these collaborations. Talk a little bit about those in the last year during 2023.
Mayor Pizzillo:Well, you know, one of our more popular one is WeRide, getting people out to the city, a collaboration with Avondale and we have Surprise there. Where you can catch a ride here within the city to kind of move around. We also, I'm on the boards of MAG, Maricopa Association of Governments, we work together to try to improve the West Valley and Maricopa County. And we also have Westmarc, which specifies really, I'm working in this West Valley here. And the one I'm really excited about is Alice Cooper Solid Rock, you know, that's going to be really great for teenagers, ages between 12 and 20, a place for them to kind of hang out which is going to be safe. So I'm really excited about that. And anybody who's ever met Alice Cooper, he's a really nice guy.
Tammy Vo:And I was gonna ask you about Alice Cooper, because I know you have become fast friends with this legend. What's he like?
Mayor Pizzillo:You know what, he's just kind of down to earth, I sat down and talked to him probably for about an hour half hour. And it was almost like I was just talking to one of the staff or my brothers or, you know, one of my friends. I mean, he's about as down to earth as possibly can be. And he loves giving back to the community. You know, it's a faith based group that he operates. And now he's doing a lot of things, charity work for the community. And you would never possibly think about that as a rocker. But you know, he's a great guy. He really is.
Jordan Byrd:Well, and I think what's special and unique about his Solid Rock Teen Center is yes, there is already a handful of them in the valley. But to bring one to the west valley, to bring one to Goodyear, it really seems like he is trying to help the entire valley with the teens and trying to keep them out of trouble and set them on the right path.
Mayor Pizzillo:The teens feel very comfortable going to his center. A lot of times you'll have teens that are, they feel outcast and they don't feel like they're part of what's going on. And they can go there and feel comfortable. People will talk to him. I know they've had issues where you have kids come in and just feel down or depressed and they work with them on that as well. It's just that Alice also will bring in some of his fellow rockers that come and sit down with them that teach them music. And I can tell you I'm a big fan of his kids. You know, everybody knows I'm a motorcyclist. And I've gone a bike week to see a lot of his kids perform, and a very, very talented, they're playing the kind of music I grew up with and they weren't even born with the music that they're playing. But they play multiple different instruments. We've had them here at Goodyear rocks, and I think it's gonna be a great addition for the west valley to have them out here.
Tammy Vo:Mayor, you touched on getting around town when we first started this conversation you talked about WeRide. I know transportation, and just the condition of the roadways and traffic in Goodyear is of a high focus and priority for you. Tell us more about why and what you hope to see in the next year.
Mayor Pizzillo:Well, you know, we got growing pains. Obviously, as we're growing, I've heard 9th fastest growing city, as a result of that traffic is a concern. And one of the things I would like to get accomplished, we have multi millions of dollars and our budget for street improvements is to try to alleviate some of the scallop streets that we have running through the city. And what I mean by scallop streets, those are the streets you see three to two lanes in which kind of bottlenecks traffic. Typically what happens is, is when development comes in, they improve that half street in front of them. But you could have development kind of sporadically not get improved. So what happens is comes to scalp streets, so we can help them to make some improvements on those streets to keep traffic moving through. And then when the development comes in, we'll get the money from them to pay for those costs. But then it's a priority of ours because I know people get frustrated because of the traffic. So I'd like to see it moving a little bit quicker. And we do have money. And thanks to the bonds that were just recently approved. You know, for the transportation bonds, we've got some money to help get this
Jordan Byrd:You mentioned the bonds, another one of the bonds done. that passed was for public safety. And I know that that's something near and dear to not only yourself but the rest of the city council. When you look ahead to 2024 in terms of public safety, what are you looking for? What are your top priorities for residents in the year upcoming for public safety?
Mayor Pizzillo:Well, in the first place, our number one priority as any local city is the health and welfare of our citizens. So public safety will always be number one. I mean, it should be in every city as far as ensure the health and safety of our residents. Second thing is here, as I'm concerned with some of the traffic and the speeding that's going through here. We had a nice young man show up at our city council the other day who had concerns about street racing, eight year old came and presented in front of the city council. We're already trying to work on that the police are trying to get a handle. And we really need to slow down traffic here in the city. We had a couple of people actually killed in street racing up on Indian school not that long ago. So that's one of my concerns is not only the road improvements, but with public safety to try to rein in some of this traffic and the speeding is going through the city.
Tammy Vo:Mayor let's talk about new businesses that have opened in Goodyear in the last year. Goodyear is responsible for helping to announce 41 new businesses, more than 2000 jobs created, a lot of new restaurants and retailers coming to Goodyear, this must be just such a great thing for you to see. I mean, you've lived in the city a long time you've been on the council for quite a while. Are we really in our prime in terms of development?
Mayor Pizzillo:I think we are. I remember back in 2008, when we had that great recession, we had a development there on Cotton Lane in which you know that Target shopping center there, we weren't quite sure whether that was going to make it or not, the building around it had slowed down. And if you take a ride down there right now, it's amazing how many pads are actually filling up. We have now a Denny's, a Freddy's, a nail bar, you have variety of new businesses going in down there that that start to be a vibrant development and a vibrant shopping center right now and go down here and check it out. Besides what's hiding up here at north, you know, I'm really looking for The Stillery come in where you have live music. I really love how we put the park here in front of GSQ. We're having a variety of different programs coming here. It's a center for people to come and enjoy the city. You know, we've never had a gathering place in city when I first came here. We have two now and we get great accolades on the Rec Center. Everywhere I go. Everybody loves that rec center. You know, we have the events there. And now they're loving this GSQ where we have a lot of events. So we're growing. I'm looking forward to this being built. And again, we're in the middle of building a downtown. That's what I'm most excited about taking that road where you come in the city hall, all the way across the Bullard and building mixed use north of that. And south of that. So I'm really looking forward. And I'm hoping that vision comes well within my term because I'd love to see that come true.
Tammy Vo:Well, I was just thinking this is such a special time really for not only the city, but for you, Mayor because not a lot of mayors can actually say I was there when we built a new downtown. I was there when we created the heart of the city. I was there when we built our new city hall. What does it mean to you just personally to be able to experience that?
Mayor Pizzillo:Well as a former employee when I ran for council in 2009. And the reason why I ran is a really passionate about the city. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm very truly passionate about the city. And I love where we've come from 2009 Where there was not a whole lot of anything really around the city to where we are today. So the fact you can kind of close my eyes and look out over my office and see a vision of a bustling, entertainment, retail walkable, downtown area that's coming and going to be here. And I'm really looking forward to that. You know, I was looking forward to that ever since I've been on council, but we just could never quite pull it off. We've got the right developers in place right now that I think is going to happen.
Jordan Byrd:Well it's really an exciting time, when you look at across the board, what's happening within Goodyear, the growth, not only what's happening at GSQ and the future downtown of Goodyear, but also when you talk about public safety, a new addition to the public safety police administration building, which is first, right I mean, they have their own shooting gallery now in the basement, and there's going to be a new fire station that will be coming online in 2024. So broaden it out a little bit, besides maybe the retail, the shopping the GSQ aspect of it. What other elements of the city are you most proud of that has happened in the last year or maybe on the horizon coming up in 2024?
Mayor Pizzillo:Public safety, again, as I mentioned to you earlier, that is number one of any city make sure the health and welfare and as we've grown, we've got to make sure we have the right infrastructure in place, as you mentioned with the fire station, and also with police. One thing I really love about this city is when you survey the people out here, they get high marks for both police and fire. Fire is the easy one because people with fires calling on somebody, they're always relieving some issue. And I'm telling you, there's nobody in this valley that can match up to our fire department as far as the ability, the skill sets, stabilizing an individual and moving them on to the proper care. And as far as police, they get great kudos too. They're very active in the community. That's very important to me to make sure health and safety and I a little sidebar when I have friends visiting me. They think the city is brand new. I said why do you think the city is brand new? It's so pristine, it's so clean. So we pride ourselves, in the last LEAD class that we had they said what did they like about the city, the fact that it's clean and pristine, so we want to keep that feel. It's going to be challenging. I love that down home town feel as we're growing, try to keep that feel is not going to be easy. But I tell you, our residents are top notch. Whenever we need something, they step up. They step up, the volunteers in our community are huge. Anytime we need something, 1000s of hours, they saved our bacon when it came to the ballpark opening. They're the ones out there cleaning the seats and directing you to your seat. That's our volunteers doing that. Make a Difference Day we get all kinds of kids that I was surprised, 200 young kids show up to help in the community. So this is a great community. To me, it's just not a collection of neighborhoods. It is a true community. That's why again, the tagline it's a great time to be in Goodyear.
Tammy Vo:We love talking money with you, Mayor because a lot of people may not know this, but you used to be the city's budget manager years ago. So you really do have a very unique insight and perspective into the city's checkbook, if you will, when we talk a lot about the city's budget, and how that kind of flows with the state of our economy. Right now. You know, a lot of people have talked about recession near recession in past years. Where do you think we are in Goodyear in terms of money in our outlook for the next year? And how has our approach helped
Mayor Pizzillo:When I was deciding to run or whether to in that? run, I went to the former mayor at that time it was on city council, Georgia Lord. And I said, I said Georgia, would there be any value of having anybody with my background on the City Council? She goes, What are you kidding? Of course, a lot of times, we're afraid to ask questions. We don't want to look stupid asking a question. I said Georgia, like I tell my students at Grand Canyon, there's no such thing as a stupid question, only doing something stupid by not asking the question. So yes, as a former budget manager, we have very fiscally sound policies in place, we have capital replacement funds. And when we're replacing equipment, it does not have to fight for ongoing revenue. That was stuff that was put in place many years ago, and that I fought for to continue onwards, we've made it through a couple of recessions because of our sound fiscal policies. So going forward, I don't see any change in that whatsoever. I just wish to be honest with you some of our fights with, you know, our state legislature and trying to keep them out of our business on how we manage our money or what's taxable or not, but we'll figure it out. Because again, we have sound fiscal policies, and moving forward. And as a former budget manager, I'm going to make sure that's the case.
Tammy Vo:And when you talk about changes to the legislature, Mayor tell us more about just recent changes that have happened and what impact that does have on cities like Goodyear.
Mayor Pizzillo:First place is anybody who knows me I'm a big proponent for local government and local control. The people out there hire us and they can fire us by simply the ballot box. Okay. You have two sources of revenue, you have your ongoing and you have your one time and for the most part, our ongoing revenue is used to pay administration, police, fire, road improvements, etc. And our one time money is capital or things that need to be replaced throughout the city. And it's important for the ongoing money to be consistent to have a general idea of what we're going to have. Well, the past legislative session they removed the taxeability of residential rental tax, it's worth about $5 million a year to us annually. And that's right now, who knows that could have grown to maybe 10 or $15 million. That's something we got to address. That's where I'm constantly down there fighting or asking our legislators, please, when it comes to local taxation or local control, please just don't take something away without us letting you know how it's gonna affect our day to day operations. And I was very disappointing in that I know it was part of the negotiation to get the 400 E on the ballot. But I still was disappointed because it gets into the day to day operations of local government. And we weren't the only city affected by that. I believe the grand total was about 230 million for the 74 cities roughly that have a residential rental tax.
Tammy Vo:With that amount of money that will be gone now. What would that money have gone toward at the city in the first place?
Mayor Pizzillo:It's about half of all of our new money. And again, every year, obviously, where it was we're growing, goes for first responders. So it's not that there won't be any more first responders, it'll just slow down the numbers that we can start bringing on board. That's that's how it will affect, you know, because that's additional money that won't have. So those
Tammy Vo:So those are very real implications for the city.
Mayor Pizzillo:I think so. We'll figure it out because of our fiscally conservative policies. But I know there could be some cities out there that are going to have some real real challenges.
Jordan Byrd:Based off of the history of Goodyear in their financial responsibility. When you have something like this that may come up, you're well versed to handle these changes, if you may not if you have maybe been city spending above your limits or spending outside of your means. That can be a very significant situation now that those municipalities have to deal with, as opposed to Goodyear, yes, it's still a hit, but maybe not as significant as other communities.
Mayor Pizzillo:And again, it's very important from a financial fiscal responsibility to use ongoing money for ongoing expenses, one time money for one time expenses, for the most part, okay? If you don't, and you start using one time, money to cover ongoing, that's when you get in trouble.
Jordan Byrd:We've talked a lot over the times that you've joined us on this podcast before and just overall messaging that Goodyear thrives, wants to be a live work, play community and Goodyear is getting there, you know, with the business opportunities, the employment opportunities, the retail, the shopping, the entertainment that we've already were discussing, but those other aspects of it. Having a quality of life, the amenities that a city provides. And we've already touched on it a little bit with things like the Goodyear recreation campus, or even some of the events and programs that have taken place in Goodyear Civic Square, how important is those factors to people, to residents, and having a well built out community where you can live, you can work and you can enjoy yourself. And you don't have to drive across the valley to experience that?
Mayor Pizzillo:I think we're getting there. With a rec center and GSQ people have to have the ability to unwind and relax and enjoy themselves with their family. And we're seeing right now with our rec campus as a result of its being so popular. We can't even open it to non residents. You know, it's already being built out. People love to be outside, people love to be biking, people love to be hiking, you know, you have all the sports out here that's going. So it's all a major part and be able to enjoy a Shakespeare in the park or be able to enjoy Goodyear rocks, or many of the other items that we have here. We've draw people from all over the valley because of our amenities. So people like being here, they liked the environment, they liked the quality of the residents and how they all kick in when we need something on there. And I think that's important as your quality of life to be able to work, play and live in your community.
Tammy Vo:Let's talk about kids and Goodyear. I know you've got grandkids who are very near and dear to your heart. But just talk a little bit about the kids in Goodyear, how much do you want them to be part of the city's future?
Mayor Pizzillo:You know, I say that all the time. They are our future. That's the reason why I teach at Grand Canyon. They are our future. You know, I'm not the future. You know, I'm gonna be here a while but I'm not the future. We need more young people stepping up and getting involved with local government. That's why I was so elated and pleased when I saw that eight year old come to the podium to have some concerns with what's going on out there on the traffic. We need more of that. The last election that I did some stats on, I think it was 75% of the votes in August of roughly 75-80% were over 50. That's really unacceptable for bonds and for things within your city. I need to get more people involved. I don't know what it's going to take to do it. But trust me, it's your future. We need to get you involved and get you up here to tell us how to like care what you want more of your city.
Jordan Byrd:And there are opportunities for the youth, the young folks here in Goodyear to get involved. You mentioned the eight year old young man who addressed the city council at one of the recent meetings about some of the concerns he had in the city. And then there's also the Goodyear Youth Commission which is basically a breeding ground for future leaders not only here in Goodyear, but the rest of the West Valley. So there are those opportunities built in for some of the youth to get involved if they would like to get involved.
Mayor Pizzillo:I'll give you an example. You can make a difference. Several high school kids came to us one night for a council meeting, they wanted to change a street in front of their high school to reflect their actual mascot. They came, To be fair, also not only credit to the youth who come and show they did a fantastic presentation. And guess what, the street got changed, the name got changed, you can make a difference, just don't think because you watch the news. And up and ask for things, but credit also to you, Mayor and sometimes some of the things may not be the most uplifting that you watch, you can make a difference in your community. the City Council for truly listening and hearing them. And I would argue that the local government, we are the ones that impact your lives on a day to day business. We're the water, we're the wastewater, we're the public safety, we're the fire, we're the police, the streets, that's us. So that's why it's so important to get more and more involved what you want. I take great pride in that. And like I say, have a sounding board of a 13 and 16 year old as well, who are very active as well in this community. I got one who's on a student council, which goes the other any other you know, who's an athlete who gets very involved in sports out here. So it's a great community. And that's why I love doing what I do.
Open:Now, the answer to this may have already been answered in some of our other questions. But as you look to 2024, and you see where Goodyear is going, where we want Goodyearr to go. What's your outlook on this year of 2024?
Mayor Pizzillo:Outlook is a safe community, we've got a vibrant Police and Fire Department. traffic is moving much better throughout the city. We've made those capital improvements on the roads. And the amenities that have been working hard with with our economic development is coming to fruition. So our residents have many more options. And not only that, we're going to have more events, so they can come and enjoy themselves in the evening. Over here at either Civic Square, or over at the Rec Center, we're going to try to grow our good quality jobs here. So you can work, play and live inside the city. So again, you don't have to be on that parking lot that we call I-10. You know, I'm so proud of our residents. And, and to me if you've noticed anytime I'm out speaking in public, this is not an "I" business, there is no I in team, okay. To me, it's the team that gets things done around here, we've got great staff, I've got a great assistant who tries to keep me out of trouble the best way she can. Yeah, that's that's a hard job. I know that. But she does a pretty good job doing that. We've got a great city council that works very, very well together, trying to improve the lives of the day to day citizens here out here. And so that's why when you hear me speaking out there, the first thing out of my mouth, is thanking those that are either putting on an event, or doing whatever, wherever I'm at, because they're the ones doing the work. And again, you're only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. And without a strong team, without a strong group of people behind you. The good work doesn't get done. So again, shout out to all our employees, our council, thank you for all doing what you do.
Tammy Vo:Mayor, I know I can speak for the rest of the Goodyear staff and team that we are so grateful for your leadership and the leadership of the council. When it comes to the you know the future of our city. We know we are in good hands, we know that your heart and vision is in the right place. And I think one of the things I love most about you, Mayor is that what we see on TV or at the council meetings, that is who you are in the hallways, you know you're in behind closed doors. And I think that means so much to a lot of us who work at the city. And if you don't know the mayor, he's cool guy. He's a real cool guy.
Jordan Byrd:He listens to AC/DC and drives a motorcycle.
Tammy Vo:He does, he does. What's on playing on your soundtrack right now mayor?
Mayor Pizzillo:You know, on my soundtrack, it's hard to say. I could have Tom Petty on there as well. Little Led Zeppelin. So it's pretty much classic rock stuff that's on that stuff that's on, and it's on the motorcycle as well. So that's what I love about Alice Cooper's kids. They played the music that I listened to, you know, I mean, so you know, I'm looking forward to that.
Tammy Vo:Thank you so much Mayor Pizzillo for being with us and letting us just talk to you and pick your brain. It's always such a delight to talk to you and listen to you. So thank you.
Mayor Pizzillo:I love this stuff. And you know, I'm not the most serious guy when it comes, unless it comes to business. So I'm always cracking up or whatever the case may be. But you're right. What you see with me is what you get, you know, I'm more content, not package. So that's what you will see with me is the content will be strong, package? You know, that's why you don't see a whole lot of ties and white shirts with me. I'm just, I'm not that kind of guy.
Tammy Vo:Thank you, Mayor.
Mayor Pizzillo:You're certainly welcome.
Jordan Byrd:You heard in our conversation with Mayor Pizzillo about the partnership between the city of Goodyear and rock legend Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Center. Mayor Pizzillo was actually lucky enough to meet up with Alice Cooper recently as they shared their vision for what Solid Rock will mean for the Goodyear community and the entire West Valley.
Alice Cooper:Well, I'm Alice Cooper. And here with the mayor, we're excited about opening, Solid Rock, our third one, we have Phoenix and Mesa and now Goodyear, we're just really excited about getting over on that side of town.
Mayor Pizzillo:You know, I'm pumped to be honest with you, the music that you guys play the kids, I'm really big on making sure that kids have an opportunity to grow. And I really believe you coming out on the west valley is going to put us on the map. I've seen your kids perform at many events, and very talented, and the fact they have an opportunity to expand their their abilities. I think it's going to be fantastic in the city of Goodyear.
Alice Cooper:Well, you know, we're never going to run out of teenagers. And getting our third one open over there. You know, I'm from the west side, I grew up on the west side, I went to Cortez High, I went to Glendale Community. When we were teenagers, we had to play little cowboy bars, you know, because that was the only place we could the band could go play. We didn't have anything like this, this is dedicated totally to the arts, you know, and that's the most important thing. And always like, these kids have all got talent. You just have to mine it, bring them in and say try everything. And then they try it and all of a sudden they go, Oh, I'm a drummer, you know, and the next thing you know, the kids there every day at three o'clock, and that breaks that cycle of what's going on on the street.
Mayor Pizzillo:And I think that's going to be the greatest thing. In fact, I've got a granddaughter, I'm hoping to stop in here. If you've ever heard her, she sang the Star Spangled Banner, a lot of our events at the ballpark, she's a singer, and very proud of what she's been able to accomplish the Phoenix Children's Chorus, just another avenue for her to get out here and expand her talent. What I know with the kids out here in the West Valley, some of would never have a chance. That's right, without your organization. And not only that, what you do with the kids with the teenager, so some of the events that you show the ones that you got to bring it out, because they've kind of felt like, you know, artist, I know they're a different group, and you get sometimes got to pull some of that out.
Alice Cooper:Teenagers are, you know, have a tendency to be cynical. They have a tendency to be the world's against me. Yeah, they're all looking for identity. You know, and hopefully, when they come into Solid Rock, they find that identity. Maybe they're dancers, maybe they're photographers, maybe they're artists, maybe they're songwriters, maybe they just love working in the studio, you know, but every kid's got talent. And we're just trying to find and mine that talent and say, Oh, this is what, because once they find it, then they really go for it, you know. And, to me, that's really the most important thing because it breaks the cycle of what's going on on the street. Because there's so much bad things that could go on in the street. You know, I tell some of these guys, tough guys, you know, I grew up in a gang. Gang means you're either in jail or dead. I said, or you can be in a band, which is a gang, except you're playing music and people are paying you. Is there really a choice there?
Mayor Pizzillo:Not to me, it's very straightforward. When you're talking about that, no, I'm really looking forward to all of this, which you're bringing here to the city, it's gonna be an excellent asset to the city of Goodyear, the fact that you're going to bring these kids and allow them to nurture and grow to where the y need to be. And I'm a big proponent of giving our kids a chance to, to go and you're gonna find out in Goodyear itself itself, anything that deals that we can promote a community atmosphere out here, I'm all in . And you're a great proponent of that. So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing this to us.
Alice Cooper:We really thank you. And we really cannot wait to get this place open. When we started talking about the west side, we realized we were both West Side guys, right? It's a natural fit. Right? It's going to be great.
Jordan Byrd:Well, Tammy, as Mayor Pizzillo laid out, this really is an exciting time to be in Goodyear right now, not only with what has already been accomplished, but with everything that seems to be on the horizon. And how Goodyear as a city, as a community is really starting to take shape into what I think a lot of our residents truly and hoped Goodyear to be.
Tammy Vo:And as we evolve and grow into the city we will become it is so important for our residents to get involved. Make your voices heard. And the truth is you heard the mayor say they're listening, the mayor and the city council are listening. You know, when people come to our public meetings and take out speaker cards and come before the council. There isn't a time where staff generally doesn't take action on things and we talk about it because I'm in those closed door meetings when we talk about, you know, what are residents asking for and what does the mayor and council see that we can do about it and put that into action?
Jordan Byrd:Well and there's a lot of way for people to get involved as well, whether that's watching a city council meeting on one of the city's social media channels or becoming a volunteer. I know Mayor Pizzillo was raving about the work that the city of Goodyear volunteers do or joining the committee or something along those lines. There are numerous ways for people to get involved and really take ownership of the community they live in.
Tammy Vo:An d we should mention that a lot of our residents are reaching out to us now on social media. And we here in the Digital Communications department really pride ourselves in engaging with our residents and the community to ask questions, we read and see all of your comments, every single one. So we do appreciate that engagement and keep it coming. You have questions, you have comments, reach out to us on social media.
Jordan Byrd:And just a reminder, if you missed the Goodyear State of the City address with Mayor Pizzillo, you can go to the city of Goodyear's social media platforms or on YouTube and watch that, which really kind of adds some even broader context of what this podcast episode was about.
Tammy Vo:Absolutely. We hope you really enjoyed hearing from Mayor Pizzillo himself about the past, present and future and as you heard him say, and as you hear us say, on every podcast here on Growing Goodyear, it's a great time to be in Goodyear.
Close:That concludes this episode of Growing Goodyear. Make sure to leave us a review and subscribe on your favorite streaming or podcast player app. If you have any questions or comments, email us at communications at Goodyear az.gov. And don't forget to follow us on the city of Goodyear's social media pages.