Former El Mirage City Manager B.J. Cornwall, who wrote his own contract, was very generous with his post-employment payouts. And if he gets his way, Cornwall will collect more than $250,000 from the city. As part of that package, Cornwall wants taxpayers to keep footing his $700-a-month car allowance for…

Someone broke into Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s house over the weekend and stole his laptop, but the alleged burglars didn’t take anything else.Media reports indicate that the thieves left behind Gordon’s wallet and checkbook and other valuables in the home. In an interview with 3 TV, Gordon speculated that he…

El Mirage once again finds itself at a crossroad. The departure of B.J. Cornwall, the city’s longest tenured city manager, leaves City Attorney Rick Flaaen in charge of a community in a financial crisis with little left to cut and no sources of new revenue in sight. A major decision…

About 60 transit employees remain locked out of Phoenix bus facilities after Veolia Transportation declared on Sunday that negotiations with labor reps reached an impasse.A lock-out isn’t the same thing as a strike, and so far, buses are still operating as usual. It’s not business as usual for employees represented…

Once again, contracts have been extended for Veolia Transportation workers. Pushing back — yet again — the possibility of a bus strike in Phoenix.The contracts, which would have expired at midnight on Thursday, for Veolia’s maintenance staff, represented by Teamsters Local 104, are now good through October. 3.It appears that…

The possibility of a bus strike looms over metro Phoenix even as Veolia Transportation executives and union leaders continue trying to hammer out labor agreements.Contracts expire at midnight tonight for Veolia’s maintenance staff, represented by Teamsters Local 104, and for Amalgamated Transit Union Local No. 1433, which represents bus operators.City…

Is Jason Rose still a political heavyweight?​Jason Rose has never been one to mince words or hold back on a stunt if he thinks it would win him political points. And points for his clients, of course. Rose has worked hard to earn a reputation as a straight-talking, political-bomb-lobbing public-relations…

The Gila River Indian Community filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Interior, challenging the department’s decision to turn about 50 acres of land in the West Valley into a reservation for the Tohono O’odham Nation.It’s part of an ongoing fight between the sister tribes that started last…

Animal Care and Control officials in Pinal County removed 152 cats and 19 dogs from a trailer in Southern Arizona. The animal rescuers reported that the trailer in Hidden Valley, a community south of Maricopa, had no litter boxes, no running water, and layers of feces covering the floor. The…

Arizona is getting a $39.2 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to improve the state’s Internet broadband infrastructure reports. It’s part of the fed’s stimulus program.The money is going to GovNET Inc., a Scottsdale-based company that will use the money to improve broadband access across the state…

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon gave advice to Veolia Transportation on how to play hardball with the city. And it paid off. Cash-strapped Phoenix agreed to pay $27.5 million over the next five years to Veolia, the company that operates city buses and has Elissa Mullany — Gordon’s girlfriend — on its…

Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs once pledged to work with the Tohono O’odham Nation if the federal government approved the tribe’s application to create a West Valley reservation.But nearly two months after the feds approved that application, instead of a show of support, the city is preparing to file a lawsuit…

No deal has yet been reached between Veolia Transportation, the company that operates Phoenix city buses, and the three unions that represent its employees. They have extended their contracts through September 30, pushing back further the possibility of a bus strike.Negotiations continue with Veolia negotiators wanting to slash workers’ compensation…

El Mirage firefighters emerged victorious this week when the City Council voted 4-2 to reinstate the firefighters that City Manager B.J. Cornwall laid off in August.But they knew their victory was merely symbolic.The vote in firefighters’ favor may have sounded like an order — directing Cornwall to reinstate the firefighters…

Something isn’t right in El Mirage. City Manager BJ Cornwall laid off six firefighters on August 6 even though firefighter union reps came up with enough money to bridge more than their share of the city’s $1.2 million budget shortfall. Cornwall first told New Times that the firefighters were laid…