Jazz festival, Food Truck festival, Art festival, Ice cream festival, anything to bring the people in the community TOGETHER for a cheap, all day family friendly, fun event. That ultimately raises money for the Mesa community and local businesses. By having different themes, different venders and business owners can be in charge of running the events. So the city or chamber would not get stuck footing the bill and overseeing everything. Having more entertaining things for people to do in Mesa, on a more regular basis will keep people from traveling into Phx/Tempe for the 'fun' and would make us more of a destination for the rest of the East Valley to come to our neck of the woods!

Willing senior citizens can mentor, tutor or care for the youth of today. Examples could be: Sharing their business/life knowledge, tutoring favorite subjects, supervised activities (Arts/crafts, light recreational), perhaps child care. These programs could be during the day or after school as possible replacements for expensive child care that people can't afford. Another possible payment for parents is barter (i.e. help landscape city hall area, paint buildings, etc.).

The city could provide the space. Optional services depending on the budget: Free shuttle for the senior citizens, free shuttle for children from school to the facility. Perhaps a nominal fee paid by participants parents could be charged ($50/week) to help offset some of the charges.

The senior citizens would participate to keep busy and give back to the community. If the economy picks up, maybe they could eventually be "paid" via some sort of City of Mesa "gift card" to offset certain fees (sewage, trash, water, property taxes)? Another potential solution for pay could be the ability to join an City of Mesa-sponsored term insurance group for medical or life?

We moved here to escape the lights and crowd noise. We enjoy the desert in it's natural state as God created it and the serentity that comes with it. Why does the government try and impose their ideals on communitites? Has there even been a determination that the community wants or needs this park? I would say there has not been one. You are elected as stewarts of the taxpayer's money. So please start fufilling your obligation and spend our money on important and usefull things. Not replacing a desert landscape with concrete, asphalt, lighting and grass, so it can receive animal and of course human pollution. There are enough places nearby to get any benefit this park would ever bring.

1. Lease out solar rights to City rooftops. Leasing company can install solar panels and equipment to sell the power back to utility company, relieving the expensive peak usage hours.
When contract term is up mesa can purchase depreciated equipment, thus having a solar infrastructure in place.
Elaboration/example: First Solar is opening manufacturing here in Mesa. Offer deal as promotional for them. They put Solar on Mesa facilities. First Solar owns the power. First Solar sells the power back to mesa at contracted price.
Mesa benefits in the following ways:
a. Solar infrastructure gets built
b. Peak demand times are alleviated by the power flowing into the grid during the day
c. Mesa gets recognition as Solar City
d. The cost of solar goes down, as it becomes more common.
e. At end of contract period, ownership of equipment and Solar rights reverts to Mesa.

Mesa only has two dog parks, and one of them is barely more than a glorified backyard! There are some dog-friendly restaurants, but they are few & far between. The only ones near me are Sonic & Chipotle, and who wants to eat at Sonic all the time??
Anyplace that has outdoor eating areas should look into ways to make them more dog-friendly. Have a hostess outside, who can seat visitors in a dog-friendly patio area, and alert waitresses to their presence. And while you're at it, be sure to have plenty of water & treats available for the dogs! Sonic can give me water, but how is my dog supposed to drink out of a cup without me helping? They've also had a couple employees who noticed the dog in the car, or under the table, and offered her a treat, which I found very appealing. Maybe have someplace where you can leash your dog so you can go inside really quick to order, if it's a place like Subway or other fast foods. Like a bike rack, but for dogs, or a hook on a sturdy table to securely hold the leash. (The only places I might do this with my dog would be places that had floor-length windows, so my dog could watch me, and I could keep an eye on her. Other than that, I would have a friend with me and we go in one at a time.)
As for the dog parks, there are plenty of parks around where I can take my dog, but none within walking distance where I can safely (and legally, I might add) let her off the leash to run around. A "dog exercise area" where the dog remains on leash is absurd. Dogs need space to run around, and keeping them on a leash isn't going to cut it. I find it frustrating that if I want to take her to a park to run around off leash, I first have to drive 15-20 minutes to get there!
One last thing. While out walking the dog, sometimes the dog has to do its thing. No problem, responsible dog owners SHOULD be picking up after their dogs. But what about people? If I'm out there in the heat, drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, what happens if I have to go to the restroom? I will NOT tie my dog outside a gas station while I go inside to take care of my business. I would bring her with me, but I don't know if the gas station allows it. Gas station owners who don't mind the dog tagging along for their owner's "potty break" should have a listing on dog-friendly business websites (such as bringfido.com) and should have a clearly visible sign that well-behaved on-leash dogs are allowed in. Other businesses should consider this too. I realize that places with food are limited in what they can allow, but that just brings us bring to the dog-friendly patios idea.

It saves the city money to receive and process paper utility payments, and also to send out paper statements. Provide a small discount to those who choose to pay their bills and receive their statements online. This should not be a huge discount, but should be something along the lines of a 50/50 split with the city: The city returns to its customers 50% of the cost savings of not having to process paper.

This could be supplemented by phasing in a small fee for those who demand paper documents. There is no benefit to receiving paper documents. It is pure waste. Every citizen has access to the internet through the local library, and the proposed discount would be more than enough to cover the cost of printing off a couple pieces of paper at the library if you need a paper statement and don't have the internet at home, work, or school.

As a citizen, I don't want to pay for people to receive pointless paper statements anymore.