Several City departments, including Transportation, Neighborhood Services, Library and Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities, will have displays and information along the main corridor between Mekong Supermarket and the food court. Mesa Police and Mesa Fire will have displays in the front parking lot, including the SWAT Team armored truck, DUI command van, police motorcycles and fire engine.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the City of Mesa to reach out to a
diverse community that shops at Mekong Plaza and provide information about the variety of services we offer,” Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said.

“They can pick up information on everything from light rail and state-of-the-art bus service to recycling to upcoming events at our City
museums and the Mesa Arts Center.” In addition to the City displays,
attendees will be able to participate in a raffle for several prizes,
including tickets from ASU, Arizona Diamondbacks, City museums and Mekong Plaza businesses.

Mobile City Hall is part of Family Fun Day at Mekong Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event includes free candy, popcorn, cotton candy, inflatable bouncers, balloons and pictures with Disney characters (bring your own camera). There will be tables with information about health awareness and the 2010 U.S. Census. Arizona 5th District Congressman Harry Mitchell’s office will also have a table. Mekong Plaza, which opened in October, 2008, is the Southwest’s largest indoor Asian community marketplace.

For more information about Mobile City Hall, contact Mesa Public Information and Communications Specialist Kevin Christopher at (480) 644-4699. For more information about Family Fun Day, contact Mekong Plaza Leasing/Property Manager Tina Luong Martinez at (480) 363-9009.

Technorati Tags: City Hall, Mekong, Mekong Plaza, Mesa Arizona, Mobile City Hall

The new playgrounds at The Park of the Canals and Beverly Park
will provide a safe, fun environment for children in the community. (See project details below.)

WHEN/ The Park of the Canals: Thursday, May 28
WHERE Beverly Park: Wednesday, June 3

7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Project Kick-Off
9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Best viewing of playground construction
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. “Board-Cutting” closing ceremony
(Note: All times approximate)

PROJECT DETAILS:
. Both playgrounds are funded through a $230,680 ($107,230 for May
28 and $123,450 for June 3) grant from The Home Depot Foundation along with a $10,000 contribution from both the Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation (including donations from SRP and Mesa Rotary Clubs) and the West Mesa Community Development Corporation.
. The Home Depot works with KaBOOM! to provide financial support,
materials and numerous volunteers for play space projects across North America as part of its ongoing commitment to give back to the communities its stores serve.
. The Home Depot is the official Sustainability Partner of KaBOOM!.
Both organizations work together to make sure each playground project is as environmentally friendly as possible.
. The Park of the Canals: This historic park serves thousands in
the community, but the old equipment at this park was removed almost five years ago leaving the site with only two older swing sets. There are no other public play spaces within walking distance of this community. A new playground at the Park of the Canals would provide a reason for local families to come back together at their neighborhood park.
. Beverly Park: This 2.8 acre piece of undeveloped land known as
Beverly Park was purchased by the City of Mesa in 2003. In 2005, the City was forced to make large spending cutbacks, including funding for new parks. They also had to build a gate around Beverly Park, completely closing it to the public. The City of Mesa identified Beverly Park as this community’s only chance for a public park.

CONTACT: Kevin Christopher, City of Mesa, (480) 644-4699,
kevin.christopher@mesaaz.gov
Paula Drake, The Home Depot, (941) 488-1289,
paula_drake@homedepot.com Mike McCaffrey, The Foundation for Mesa Parks & Recreation, (480) 291-9112 McCaffrey@MesaParksFoundation.org
Jo Ellen McNamara, WMCDC (480) 964-3751, jo.mcnamara.wmcdc@gmail.com

About The Home Depot Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation was created in 2002 to further the community building goals of The Home Depot. The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to building affordable homes for working families that are healthy to live in and affordable to own. To make homes healthy and affordable, the Foundation encourages developers to incorporate responsible design and use durable and quality materials to ensure that homes are more energy and water efficient, have good indoor air quality, and provide a safe and healthy space to live.
Since its formation, The Home Depot Foundation has granted $70 million to nonprofit organizations and supported the development of more than 50,000 affordable, healthy homes. For more information, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org.

About the Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation The Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation was founded in 1991 as a 501
(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its goal is to provide a method for private funding of quality of life programs and facilities for Mesa. The Foundation is a group of community members who are passionate about parks and who believe that parks and recreation are of vital importance to our community. With decreasing municipal funds, we recognize that parks are in need of support for programs and facility developments. The Foundation has supported such worthwhile projects as: refurbishment of the Falcon Field Park, funding for the Park of the Canals Master Plan, youth baseball programs, pool openings, and subsidized swim lessons for low income children. The Foundation sponsors new programs and funds facility improvements, disseminates information on existing cultural and recreational
opportunities, and provides the opportunity for businesses, organizations, and individuals to contribute to the quality of life in Mesa. Additional information is available at www.mesaparksfoundation.org.

West Mesa Community Development Corporation (WMCDC)
Founded in 2003, the West Mesa Community Development Corporation
(WMCDC) is a direct product of grassroots activism in communities of Mesa’s Westside. In the early part of 2000 and 2001, rising crime rates, disinvestment of local business and an increased transient population inspired members of the Mesa Grande Neighborhood Alliance (MGNA), an unaffiliated and highly organized neighborhood group, to educate themselves about the basics of community development. Soon after this, the advantage of assembling an incorporated organization, particularly a Community Development Corporation (CDC) – a nationally recognized model for neighborhood organizations, became apparent. So, MGNA created WMCDC to effectively address the concerns of their community. Today, WMCDC serves the Mesa Grande neighborhoods and approximately 52 other sub-areas by advocating for the economic and civic revitalization of their community. WMCDC programs include community economic development initiatives, community safety programs, community planning initiatives and projects and neighborhood revitalization. You can find out more about WMCDC at www.wmcdc.org

KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Celebrating fourteen years of service in 2009, KaBOOM! rallies communities to achieve better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide; provide resources, including trainings, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own;
and bring together children, business and community interests for a select number of community playspace builds each year. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, and San Mateo, California. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Community, KaBOOM, Mesa Arizona, Mesa Parks

Scheduled to attend the event are Arizona 5th District Congressman Harry Mitchell, a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs; Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, who will be speaking at the event and Mesa Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh, who will also be speaking at the event and representing Council District 3, where the main MCC campus is located.

The Arizona Department of Veteran Services, the Southeast Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinic, the Army National Guard, the American Legion and various other military support groups will also be in attendance to provide information about their programs and services.

The official Armed Forces Day was first announced on August 31, 1949 by then Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson. The purpose of the celebration is to honor the unification of the Armed Forces under one department – the Department of Defense.

Any organizations or businesses in the area interested in assisting with
the event or setting up booths should contact Valerie Vigil at the
Veterans Affairs Office. Vigil is the Assistant Director Financial Aid and
the Veterans Coordinator. She can be reached at (480) 461-7425.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, armed forces day, mcc, Mesa Arizona, mesa community college

WEBINAR MESA AZ: Owning The First Three Pages On Google For Your Industry!   Sale Accelerator Exclusivity Meeting

JOIN US For This FREE 1-Hour Meeting.

Here is your chance to educate yourself and dominate your industry with a cutting edge Search Engine Marketing process that is spreading across the country.  Sale Accelerator will light a new fire under the net profit of one industry-exclusive company in each of our markets.

We will be partnering and assigning exclusive rights to only one business in each industry in your area.  These businesses will go on to dominate their competition on the Internet for pennies on the dollar during a time when every cent counts. If you’ve diligently researched your options, spent significant of ad dollars and come up empty-handed, you will find this seminar one of the most enlightening and worthwhile experiences of your career.

Top 7 Reasons to Register TODAY

1)  When the market is shrinking the only way to succeed is to get more of it.

2)  If you believe that any reasonable percentage of your customers hit the Internet before calling you then this is something you just have to see with your own eyes.

3)  It won’t happen twice.  Once we establish a relationship with a working partner in your industry in your area we lock the door and begin decisively and permanently seizing market share.

4)  If your customer base isn’t what you would like it to be, please take our word for it when we say this a program you really want to wrap your wits around.

5)  Someone in your industry will “own” the Internet in your area in a big way. Everyone else will be feeding the cost-per-click machine like a bad night in Vegas trying to play catch up.

6)  You can say goodbye to pay-per-click insanity once and for all.  Instead of renting a trailer on someone else’s property you can own the land.  No more goofy “come advertise on TheOnlyWhateverPagesSpace.com” pitch that ends up being another expensive experiment that doesn’t deliver.

7)  If for no other reason, when the market share swallowing hurricane hits your area you will be able to tell people ,”Oh ya I know what that is”.  Search engine and online marketing companies offer their programs and people buy them because they don’t know any better.  Even the “techie” companies get sucked in. You can take those blinders off right now.

Here is what some of our original beta-test clients have to say.  Just email us for their cell numbers and feel free to talk to them in person.

“We’re in the home cleaning business, which is getting crushed by this economy in many markets. Sale Accelerator is the only reason I’m still in business and that is no exaggeration!”
-John Arenz,
Vancouver franchise of The Cleaning Authority
Vancouver, WA

“Ford Employee Pricing Plus was announced and 3 days later we had better sales positioning that any competitor in our region!”
-Tim Thompson,
Dahl Ford
Davenport, IA

“We were able to capitalize on the GM 72 Hour 0% Interest Sale more effectively than any dealer in our market hands down.  The program is saving our back sides.”
-Brad Preble, Carr Auto Group
Portland, Oregon

“We conquered 14 highly competitive search engine terms in less than 48 hours. I could hardly believe it. This product is the right answer for our current market!”
-Joe McCloskey,
McCloskey Autogroup
Colorado Springs, CO

“I have blown the lid off my business with this program here in San Diego. We are on pace for a record year in 2009.  This isn’t another clever magic trick.  These people team up and then pick up a bat.  Then your competition gets to hide under their desks!”
-Chris George,
Jack Murphy Autogroup
San Diego, CA

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached or tried some online marketing or search engine service to never end up with any results at all.  Sale Accelerator moved our needle and it is so inexpensive it’s not even worth itemizing in the ad budget in my opinion!”
-Jeff Carrier,
Oregon Credit
Beaverton, OR

“I paid some guy $600.00 in January 2009 to get me on the first page of Google with a search term we wanted to be a player on.  I was position three hundred and something until Sale Accelerator.  They turned us into a prime time 1st page player in 48 hours!”
-Doug Basler,
Fast Trax Media
Seattle, WA

Title: WEBINAR: Anaheim Online Conquest Marketing Summit Invitation
Date: Thursday May 14, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Pacific

Space is limited.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Mesa Arizona, Sale Accelerator, Webinar

“Getting recovery money from ARRA is great news for the partnership between
the City of Mesa and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community for this
project,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said.  “The Va Shly’ay Akimel Restoration
along the Salt River will support native wildlife and vegetation and return
this area to a more natural condition.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen connections between the City
of Mesa and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community as well as restore
a river habitat that will be enjoyed by generations to come,” Mesa
District 1 Councilmember Dave Richins said.

The project involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would utilize
construction to bring surface and/or ground water to the river to nourish
vegetation.  When completed, the Va Shly’ay Akimel Salt River Ecosystem
Restoration Project would add approximately 1,487 acres of habitat,
including 883 acres of cottonwood and willow trees, 380 acres of mesquite
bosque, 200 acres of wetlands and 24 acres of Sonoran desert scrub, thus
restoring functioning riparian areas.  In Arizona, more than 90 percent of
riparian areas have been lost due to impacts from modern settlement and
urbanization.  In addition, the plan would provide recreational
opportunities consisting of approximately 5.1 miles of multi-use decomposed
granite trails, parking lots with trailheads, rest stops and interpretive
signs.

Mesa has now been awarded $55.7 million in federal stimulus funds from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the largest combined
spending and tax bill in U.S. history.  Information about money received
from ARRA can be found at http://www.mesaaz.gov/recovery.  Mesa’s economic
recovery Web site also has links to the state and federal recovery Web
sites.  Arizona’s Web site is http://www.az.gov/recovery while the federal
government’s Web site is http://www.recovery.gov.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Mesa Arizona, Salt River

The City of Mesa is participating in the conference, which is being held Saturday, May 16 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the SunBird HOA Golf Resort in Chandler.

With bankruptcies and foreclosures affecting neighborhoods, this
conference addresses how to minimize the impact to traditional
neighborhoods and homeowners associations. Sessions will include
understanding foreclosure and neighborhood financing.

Mesa District 5 Councilmember Dina Higgins will serve on a panel that will discuss how to engage volunteers. The concluding session will focus on HOA legal hot topics and a legislative update by a panel of attorneys.

The event is made possible by partners of The Leadership Centre, a unique public-private partnership formed by the Cities of Mesa, Apache Junction, Casa Grande and Chandler; the Towns of Fountain Hills, Gilbert and Queen Creek; Mesa Community College; Chandler-Gilbert Community College; The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Maricopa County and Sunbelt Holdings.

Registrations received online by April 30 will cost $20. Registrations received after April 30 will be $25. Breakfast and lunch are included. Register online at http://www.mesaaz.gov/neighbor/ and click on “Leadership Centre.”

Technorati Tags: Arizona, City of Mesa, Conference, Mesa Arizona, Neighborhoods

The City of Mesa recognized its volunteers at its April 20 City Council meeting as
part of National Volunteer Week. “We are grateful for the hundreds of volunteers who give of their time and energy to the City. They provide an invaluable service to Mesa,” City Manager Chris Brady said.

In 2008, volunteers donated 264,220 hours of service to the City providing a total dollar value of $5,154,932. A symbolic “check” showing the amount of money volunteers saved the City was presented to the City Manager and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith during the council meeting.

Numerous City departments are enhanced by the services of volunteers,

including Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities; Library, Police Department; Fire Department; Arts and Cultural Department and Neighborhood Services. Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities had the most volunteer hours in 2008 with 89,546 hours of service.

While Mesa has a variety of talented hard-working volunteers, there is always a need for more. “Volunteering is a chance to give back to the city. It explores your strengths and lets you use your skills and experience to help others,” Mayor Scott Smith said. “Volunteering is a key way to help us ‘Build a Better Mesa.’” Opportunities to volunteer in the City are listed at http://www.mesaaz.gov/volunteer.

The theme for National Volunteer Week, celebrated April 19-25, is “Celebrating People in Action.” The theme captures the meaning of this significant week honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, City of Mesa, Mesa Arizona, Volunteer

The second Arizona Children’s Festival will be held Saturday, April 25 at the Mesa Arts Center, Piper Repertory Theater, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Presented by the Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue, the festival, which is free, has the theme “Friendship” and the motto “The ship of friendship never sinks” as it aims to inspire our next generation to strengthen the bonds of friendship.

“The Human Relations Advisory Board is honored that the second annual Arizona Children’s Festival has chosen Mesa to host this fantastic event,” Mesa Human Relations Advisory Board Chair Terry Benelli said. “This is a great opportunity to showcase Mesa’s commitment to diversity. Come and enjoy the exhibits, dance performances, artwork and people that make up our diverse community.”

The festival will include live music and dance performances by children’s groups, an art exhibition, an artwork contest award ceremony for elementary school students and an essay contest award ceremony for middle school students.

The Arizona Children’s Festival is funded by the Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting mutual respect, collaboration and community service through inter-cultural dialogue. For more information about the festival, contact Mesa Director of Diversity and Neighborhood Outreach Mary Berumen at (480) 644-5033.

Source: City of Mesa

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Children's Festival, festival, Mesa Arizona

Starting today, Mesa Library patrons can check out Playaway, a palm-sized audio device pre-loaded with the bestselling audio books.  About the size of a deck of cards, Playaway is the simplest way to listen to a book on the go.  It can hold up to 80 hours of content, gives listeners the ability to move back and forth between chapters and features an automatic bookmark that remembers where you left off.  Just plug in headphones and you’re ready to enjoy any one of the libraries audio books.

“Playaway’s simple functionality and immediate usability separate it = from
other audio book formats,” Library Director Heather Wolf said.  “We a= re
offering more than 200 Playaway devices at all three branches of our
Library.  With Playaway, our patrons can enjoy best-selling content with
first-rate digital audio.”

Anyone with a Mesa Library card can check out the device and return it
within two weeks.  Audio books will be pre-loaded on all Playaway devices.
For more information about Playaway please call (480) 644-2207 or visit
http://playaway.com

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Mesa Arizona, Mesa Public Library, Playaway

Mesa, AZ – Mesa Vice Mayor Kyle Jones invites all residents of District 4 to meet with him at a free pancake breakfast Saturday, April 11 at Fire Station 201, 360 E. 1st St. The free breakfast will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and is open to all residents who would like to talk to Vice Mayor Jones about City of Mesa issues.  

Representatives from several City departments will be on hand to provide residents with assistance and information on City services. Southwest Ambulance will also be there with its Drowning Prevention Unit. Residents attending the pancake breakfast are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food donation to help stock the shelves of the United Food Bank to assist needy families.  

For more information, contact Mesa City Council Assistant Kathy Macdonald at 480-644-5296.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Districk 4, Mayor Kyle Jones, Mesa Arizona, Mesa Arizona