Read Jennifer Adams Wants to Continue the Work She has Started on the Tempe City Council now from Blog for Arizona for Politics from a Liberal Viewpoint

Tempe City Councilwoman Jennifer Adams is seeking a second four-year term on the Tempe City Council.

A civil and public servant for 40 years with ties to various local community organizations, Councilwoman Adams would like to continue working on the projects she specialized in her first term. Those include:

Increasing affordable housing opportunities for the homeless.
Expanding county island annexation for economic and social-cultural development.
Improving city park and street infrastructure.

Councilwoman Adams graciously took time to respond to questions regarding her candidacy for reelection to the Tempe City Council.

The questions and responses are below.

1) Please tell the readers two reasons you would like to remain on the Tempe City Council

“First of all, I love serving the residents of Tempe. It has been my greatest honor. I am humbled that you placed your faith in me to take me into the winner’s circle. I have been a civil servant for over 40 years and helping residents is what warms my heart.

I have a large number of issues I want to accomplish in my next four years.

I want to improve our homeless resources and get as many homeless housed as possible.

Mayor Woods started an initiative called “Hometown for All” that creates city-owned housing for the homeless population. I am helping with the program by taking several actions.

The first step is:

When developers want to build in Tempe, I inform them about the homeless fund that has been established and ask them for help. So far, we have been able to raise over $2 million for our homeless housing.

I know that I can continue to raise more money by working with developers to raise money for our homeless community.

The second step is:

Adding resources: City Council also added $1.2 million to expand hotels for the homeless which added an additional 55 hotel rooms.

We also added Human Resources staff to go out and assess the homeless and get them services if they are willing.

Pet-friendly hotels
Given emergency vouchers
Created an IHELP day shelter to give them rest and resources

The second reason I want to stay on Council is to expand the County Island North of the 202 between Scottsdale Rd and Miller Road.

When I was campaigning in North Tempe running for my first term I had so many north Tempeons ask me to help with the blithe and the crime that was occurring on the county island.”

“I promised them I would help. I even had some people say I could never get it done.

I met with Councilmembers and initiated and led a Council subcommittee.

Currently 78 acres with 17 acres already annexed and is being demolished as we speak.

I want to annex the entire County Island and:

Create opportunities for more affordable housing
Help provide additional open space for parks and dog parks
Add $1.8 million to our construction tax
Generate $400,000 in property taxes
Generate $500,000 in annual sales taxes from residents spending
Add to the general fund for all Tempeons not just North Tempe

These funds will help South Tempe also by creating more money for the services we need in LD-18!”

2) Please tell the readers two accomplishments from your first four years on the Tempe City Council.

“When I was running for council, I knocked on doors all over the city. Central Tempe residents near Clark Park told their story about how the city had filled in their community pool so their children were not learning how to swim. Being a former lifeguard and having children and quite frankly adults not learning how to swim really concerned me because of all of the drownings we have in the valley. As a result, during the budget process I insisted that we build a pool in Clark park and it was passed successfully. As a result, future generations will learn to swim, and it will save lives.”

“The second accomplishment is the county island that I previously discussed. I am also proud to have added an additional $three million for street improvements. Finally, the promotion of safety for our residents particularly those with disabilities and children who can have accidents when riding on uneven streets and sidewalks”

3) What are at least three issues you would like to work on if elected to the Tempe City Council?

“Housing for the homeless.
Expand County Island Annexation.
Improve our parks and streets.”

4) Is there anything not covered in the first three questions that you would like the readers to know? Please explain.

“During my first campaign, I discovered that several fire hydrants throughout the city were not functioning properly when there were house fires. It was not the responsibility of the fire department but another department and apparently there had been some miscommunication.

I let the Fire Chief and the City Manager know about my concerns. As a result, all of the faulty fire hydrants were serviced. Having this issue resolved and building Fire Station 7 along with an amazing group of firefighters has improved our service delivery. As a result, Tempe earned a Nationally Accredited and Class 1 ISO (Insurance Services Office) Fire Department Rating. As a result, Tempe’s Fire Department is listed in the top 1% of the country.

Please contact your homeowner’s insurance company and inform them about this new rating. It will lower your home insurance rates. We save nearly $100.00 on our rates per year.

Park tours: I would just like to tell you that I am going to start a park tour and go to many parks in the city to conduct Q & A’s. I want to get the word out about what is happening in each neighborhood and give a voice to the residents.

Tempe is quite diverse with different needs so it important to hear from every neighborhood, so everyone is included.

One of the things that I like the most about Tempe is the various unique issues and solutions that are offered by all.

I want everyone to know that I have already started knocking on doors and listening to the residents in Tempe and look forward to continuing to represent you on Council. I will be going throughout Tempe to knock in the coming months.

I am a social worker and listening is what I do best.

Please reach out to me if you have any suggestions or concerns

And I ask you to vote for me for Tempe City Council.”