11/20 Weekly Email + FHL + Council Updates

Hi all, 

I have a few updates, reminders, and PSAs this week. 

Thanksgiving Holiday: Next week both Thursday and Friday are City holidays - please don’t come in if you’re not scheduled. I’ll probably send out a weekly email on Wednesday this coming week but will keep it light since I assume many people will be off. 

Holiday Party RSVP: This is the rsvp for our annual holiday party. We will be at Spokes on Southern from 430pm to 7pm on Thursday, December 4th. Please note that this is the first year we will be allowing plus ones - you can bring a friend, partner, or family member as long as they are above 21 (Spokes has restricted entry for underage individuals). Please also make sure to rsvp by Thursday, November 27th - we need to give a final count to Spokes a week in advance. (please also note that next Thursday is Thanksgiving - if you’re not planning to be working that day, please make sure you rsvp before then). 

We recognize that this time may overlap with some member’s normal work schedules. We apologize for the inconvenience and want to do something for those who can’t attend due to their work schedule - if that applies to you, please fill out this survey. 

I had a few questions about this in the survey and wanted to clarify that this event will be catered and attendees will receive at least one ticket for an alcoholic beverage. Like last year, UAEA will also be doing some Christmas present giveaways at the event. Members might walk away with a variety of prizes by either winning some trivia competitions or getting their ticket selected in our random drawings throughout the evening. We will also be collecting toys for charity at this event - every toy donated will give members an extra entry into the drawings. 

FHL Donations + MOU: I mentioned our FHL donations in last week’s email and wanted to follow up with a little bit of information about how we’re using the donation time and the possible consequences of not getting enough to cover our work. 

UAEA talks with the TSA (Tempe Supervisor’s Association Board) on occasion and is aware that they were unable to collect enough time from their members to continue a full-time President role. This has limited their availability to respond to member concerns, tackle projects, plan events, and even dedicate time to assist with member disciplines. This is also making it difficult to bring in new members to serve on their boards (very few people want to volunteer to assist the organization if they know it significantly cuts into their personal time), which means that they are getting stretched increasingly thin. To my knowledge, TSA does not do consistent weekly or quarterly communications, does not do in-person member meetings, does not host any annual events, does not do any community activities, and is not working on any new projects at this point in time. Their board also meets significantly less frequently than ours, making it difficult for them to share feedback and concerns from their members in different departments or rapidly tackle concerns. 

I don’t mean to belabor the point, but in comparison UAEA has continued all of our programs from last year (and are launching some new ones!), continue to respond to member inquiries in a timely manner, have had a lot of time to work on high-profile projects like our MOU prep, and have as much time as we need to assist members working on their Part 2 responses. We have secured the UB time we need to-date which has allowed us to operate uninterrupted and provide our members with the services they have come to expect. Speaking of that… 

UAEA’s MOU expires in June of 2026 and we have spent months preparing for our negotiations. Our draft list of proposals is our longest and most well-researched to-date. We have gone through and drafted proposed language for about 80 different topics and compiled evidence about the benefits of some policies as well as language from other cities’ MOUs to strengthen our case that these proposals will help Tempe remain competitive in the municipal job market. We would have been unable to do as thorough a job without use of UB time - our negotiating committee has been meeting nearly every week for the past few months to discuss proposals and conducting independent research with UB time. 

I hope that help explains the need for FHL donations - we literally can’t do our work without your donations of time. We really appreciate all of the support our members have provided us in recent months and should have some new information soon about how we plan to recognize your contributions even more in 2026. 

Stealthy Elf: Tempe is doing their annual “Stealthy Elf” event for local seniors on Thursday, 12/11/25. This annual Brunch event is for the many seniors in our community who do have a family to celebrate with this holiday season - national estimates indicate that as many as 25% of people over the age of 65 are socially isolated and an even higher percentage are lonely. Tempe employees can bring them some joy by donating a gift or giftcard to the event prior to 12/1/25 - people who donate are also welcome to attend the Brunch event with the community on 12/11. You can see more information on the attached flyer. 

Community Surveys and Financial Updates: I attended last week’s City Council meeting and work study session and walked away with some interesting information. 

Strategic Management and members of the ECI team gave a presentation on the results of the most recent Tempe Community and Business surveys. As usual, Tempe continues to score high marks across the board, scoring 20-30 points above both comparable cities and the national average. 

You can view the Community/Business Survey updates here. You should be able to view the actual survey data here, but it may be another few days until it is updated with the final 2025 data. Until then, you can also view it on the Bridge. 

Deputy City Manager Lisette Camacho and Municipal Budget Director Robert Baer also gave a presentation that updated the City Council on the latest budget forecast. As a general overview, tax revenue is down in Tempe, partially due to the state legislature’s ban on rental taxes, partially because of tax changes at the federal level, and partially due to the incorporation of San Tan Valley, which means more cities are drawing from the share funds of the state. Tempe has already implemented some changes such as a pause on hiring for non-critical positions and plans to implement some further tweaks, including limiting the amount of non-mandatory fund transfers from the General Fund. This will have no impact on employee’s pay or hours. The existing 5-year plan allows the City to continue operating, even with planned increases to employees wages through the new Segal model. That said, the plan does not account for extreme economic turbulence, such as a recession - additional measures may be needed if that occurs. I will keep UAEA posted if I receive additional information. 

Tempe Mentoring: Tempe is starting a mentoring program for employees who would like career and professional guidance. I don’t have a lot of details but you can check out this link to express tentative interest. There will also be a webinar with opportunities for questions on 12/9. 

Holiday Season Scams: Just as a friendly PSA, please be vigilant for scams this holiday season in both your personal and professional life. Scammers have some new tactics for taking advantage of people (fake websites, check forgery, gift card hacking, etc) and it may be worth refreshing yourself on both new and old tactics in the next few months. This link goes over a number of different scams and might hopefully save our members some grief. 

Food Bank & Misc Resources: Due to disruptions in SNAP funding, I’m including a few resources below. Please take advantage of these if you are eligible or pass this along to friends or family who are impacted. Please note that my mention of these resources is not an endorsement of any of them - UAEA is not affiliated with these organizations and cannot speak to their respective quality or offerings. 

AZ Food Bank Network: This link contains information about dozens of food banks and assistance sites across Arizona. You can search by the directory and the zipcodes they provide services for to find food banks in your areas. 

AZ Medical and Nutrition Assistance: This is an Arizona-State run program that can help connect people with Arizona State programs that provide assistance for people who need medical coverage or access. I do not know all that the program entails. 

Maricopa County Utility Support: This is a Maricopa County program that can help people receive assistance paying for utilities. Some cities have unique offerings while others are covered under one umbrella program. 

AZ 211: This is a Arizona-State run help line that can help people connect with a variety of resources and support they may be unaware of in their area. 

Salvation Army Christmas Assistance: This link allows people to sign up if they need help providing Christmas presents for their children. 

Tempe Employee Relief Fund: This is a Tempe-run program (paid for by employee donations) that can provide support of up to $1,200 to assist Tempe employees with unplanned emergency bills (housing, mortgage, utilities, etc). 

Aldi Thanksgiving: Aldi locations have cut prices to offer a $40 Thanksgiving deal that includes basically everything someone needs to host a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 10 people. I know Thanksgiving is an important holiday for many members - check this out if money is tight. 

SNAP Discounts: The Arizona Secretary of State is tracking businesses who are offering free meals to people impacted by SNAP cuts or opportunities to support the community. I also found a list of discounts that SNAP participants are eligible for, including deals on phone plans and legal services. 

Storm Response Survey: I put together a very brief survey for members to provide feedback about how their workgroups responded to the major storm on 10/13/25. Please provide UAEA with some feedback and/or suggestions about things that went well or ways that you think your workgroup could improve their responses in the future. I can bring up responses in some upcoming Labor Management Meetings and hopefully make life easier down the road. 

Employee Development Survey: I’ve been working with Employee Development to identify some barriers employees face when trying to attend their classes. We have a little data but could use more to help us make fewer assumptions about employee behavior. We’re both very interested in ensuring that all employees, regardless of workgroup, work location, or work schedule, have access to at least 10 hours of professional development training each year if they want to take advantage of it. I’ve attached an anonymous survey that members can fill out - it should only take about 5 minutes and the information we get will be used to improve training access. 

Employee of the Quarter: Our next round of Employee of the Quarter closes on December 1st (finalists will be announced in our January newsletter). If you would like to be considered (or would like to nominate a peer), please fill out the application (it takes 5 minutes) before the end of day on December 1st. The UAEA Board had a nice selection of candidates to choose from for Q4 - we’d love to see even more nominations to start off 2026. If you would like a refresher on program rules, check out this blog post. 

Thanks for a great week, everyone!