12/11 Weekly Email

Hi all, 

I have a mix of updates this week on past events, upcoming events, financial markets, and changes to the City. 

Holiday Party: UAEA had our annual holiday party last Thursday at Tempe’s Spokes on Southern and I wanted to share a few photos. As usual, we had a lovely evening with a catered meal, games, giveaways, and general camaraderie. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that several of our members stuck around to chat long after the party ended - I’m glad we can create an opportunity for people to connect outside of work and want to do more events like it (budget permitting) in the coming year. I'd like to thank Vice President Brittainy Nelson, Treasurer Brian Gonzales, Membership Director Jeremy Hopf, Citywide Reps Leah Sergeant, Sandra Jaramillo, Olivia Calderon, and Annette Betancourt for their help with setup of the event, check-in, running the event, and breakdown. Special thanks to Brittainy for putting together our bingo game, and Brian for taking photos throughout the evening. 

I also wanted to thank everyone for your donations for our Christmas toy drive - we received 20 new toy donations at the event. All donations were taken this week to Helen’s Hope Chest, an organization that supports foster kids in the valley. Helen’s Hope Chest hosts a week-long event in December where foster and kinship parents can come and do their holiday “shopping” - Thousands of children are provided with gifts, books, stuffed animals, and quilts at no cost to their foster families. I’d also like to thank Citywide Representative Sandra Jaramillo for organizing the toy drive, bringing the items to the site, and writing the above text - we would not be nearly as successful without the hard work of board members like her. 

Speed Limit Changes: Tempe is currently considering reducing the speed of many streets, including streets that have seen speed reductions already in the past 5 years. You can see the proposed changes (and provide feedback) at this link and below. Given the street changes that have occurred in the last few years I think most if not all of these might go through - please be mindful if you drive through Tempe in your personal or work vehicle on a consistent basis. 

•Broadway Road: Reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Terrace Road to the east city limit. Also reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Priest Drive to the west city limit.

• Priest Drive: Reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Alameda Drive to Baseline Road.

• Guadalupe Road: Reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Kyrene Road to east city limit

• Veterans Way/Fifth Street: Reduce the 30 mph speed limit to 25 mph from University Drive to Farmer Avenue.

• Miller Road: Reduce the 35 mph speed limit to 30 mph from the north city limit to Curry Road.

• McKellips Road: Reduce the 40 mph speed limit to 35 mph from College Avenue to Scottsdale Road.

• Roosevelt Street: Reduce the 35 mph speed limit to 30mph from Broadway Road to Southern Avenue.

MLK Breakfast: UAEA’s Board plans to attend the annual MLK Breakfast on January 12th and should have a few extra spots at our table which we would like to offer to members. Please fill out this form if you are interested in attending. The event will take place from 8am-10am on Monday, January 12th at the Marriott Phoenix Resort Tempe at The Buttes

(2000 W Westcourt Way, Tempe AZ). Check in will start at 7:30am. If we get more members interested than we have seats, we’ll randomly draw some names. 

Investment Market Updates: I’ve attached a PDF from Tempe’s financial services company Innovest that was shared with me last week. This document goes over how Tempe’s 457k and 401k assets are allocated as well as some market trends that happened in the 3rd quarter of 2025. Page 15 shows how assets are allocated across all the accounts, Page 19 shows market performance for different types of investments (please advise that past performance is not a predictor of future success), and 20-25 goes over current economic conditions.

I’ve also attached a screenshot of another presentation that included some details on average Tempe 457k account balances by age group (20-29, 30-39, 40-49, etc). If you’re interested in how your retirement savings stack up to your peers, it’s an interesting chart. I’m not saying there is a right amount to have in your 457k at any age but if your savings are significantly below your peers I would suggest you think about ways to increase your contributions in the coming year. UAEA is working on some resources right now to demystify retirement - expect those in the first quarter. 

State of the City: I attended the Tempe State of the City event on 12/2 and walked away with some interesting details on what’s happened in 2025 and what’s on the horizon for this coming year. I’ve included a brief summary of the mayor’s presentation below. 

Tempe voters approved a $580 million construction bond in November of 2024 and the City began putting that money to work almost immediately. They’ve finished renovations on multiple parks, added new amenities like a dog park at the north end of Kiwanis (with a full refresh of the north-end of Kiwanis planned in the coming years), and repaved over 200 miles of Tempe streets. They are on track to have repaved all Tempe streets in four years, and are taking the opportunity to add additional features to Tempe streets like additional shade and water-harvesting planters. They have invested in new fire and public safety equipment to improve response times and survival, got the Police’s Real Time Operations Center (RTOC) up and running, and launched the new speed camera program, reducing collisions by 20% at intersections that have them. Violent crime also declined in the Valley by 8% in the past year - in Tempe there has been a 21% drop, which the mayor attributes to new programs by the police. Tempe dedicated $55 million to the homeless budget in 2025, part of $140 million in investments in the last 5 years - this appears to have led to a 40% drop in the homeless population based on their “point in time” counts.The City also have started renovations on Mill Avenue to redo the old brickwork, electrical, irrigation, streetlights, and water infrastructure, while also planting new trees and adding in more public art. 2853 building permits were issued in Tempe in 2025, representing almost $700 million in new projects. These include a number of new apartments but also some affordable options - the new Dorsey Station project will have 400 units with 90% dedicated as affordable, and located right next to the light rail station and Envision Center in the middle of Tempe.

I recognize this is a glossy image of Tempe that may not be reflective of everything that is happening in the City but wanted to relay it regardless - there are a lot of exciting things happening in our community and Tempe is leading the Valley in long-term investments for our future. The City is also only able to do this because of the work you and your fellow employees do every day and the mayor made several points to underscore that - he spent almost 10 minutes discussing the October storm, how different departments responded, and then brought out multiple employees on stage for recognition of their hard work. I always think working conditions and benefits can be better but I think it’s worth noting that we enjoy the support of the highest level of decision-makers in our local government, and we’ll be sure to stress that to our fullest advantage in our upcoming MOU negotiations. 

January Member Meeting(s): UAEA will be having its first-ever annual members meeting on January 15th. This meeting will go over what UAEA worked on in 2025, what we’re planning to do in 2026, upcoming opportunities for member involvement, and will have a little time for one-on-one questions with the board. We are planning to do two sessions on January 15th, one at 5:30am at TMOC Building 1 (2090 W Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, AZ), and one at 12pm at the Tempe Historical Museum (809 E Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ). Both sessions will be available virtually if you can’t attend in person, but we’d love to see as many members as possible. 

A form for rsvps is available here. Members can both rsvp and presubmit questions in advance. 

Blood Drive: The Tempe Historical Museum will be hosting a blood drive on Wednesday, December 17th, from 10-2pm. You can sign up at this link. 

FHL, BD, and SK Reminders: Please remember that your deadline to use Floating Holiday Leave (FHL) or your Personal Day (BD) is Sunday, December 14th. Un-used FHL leave will be removed from your leave bank (which we then be refreshed in January), while unused BD time will be paid out. Please also remember that you have the option to convert sick leave in excess of 480 hours to be paid out to you (at a rate of 25%) or you can convert it to wellness leave at a rate of 60% if you have more than 240 hours accrued. Wellness leave is effectively vacation hours and can be used for any reason, compared to sick leave which has specific rules. See the attached emails for more information. 

Thanks for a great week, everyone!