At a special election on October 11, , the people of Phoenix, by a vote of nearly two to one, ratified a new charter.
The charter gave Phoenix the council-manager form of government. Thus, Phoenix became one of the first cities in the nation to adopt this progressive form of government. Phoenix has the type of charter which gives home rule to a city, but it is not home rule in the complete sense of the word.
Courts have ruled that if the Legislature passes a law which concerns cities and towns, the court determines if the law is of state-wide interest or of municipal or local concern. If the law is of state-wide interest, it is binding on the City of Phoenix, even though it contravenes some provision of the charter. Therefore, the government of the City of Phoenix is operated by authority of the powers granted by its charter, as limited by the Legislature.
This is in contrast to the operation of the government of cities and towns that do not have charters but operate by the general statutes of the state relating to cities and towns. An election, as provided for in the new charter, was held on March 19, , with the following results:. George U. Joseph Cope In the presence of Thomas J. Prescott, on April 17, , the new Mayor and the winning four commissioners took their oaths of office.
Thus began a third form of government for Phoenix. The late William Addison Farish, a widely known civil engineer, was selected as the first city manager. City officials appointed by Farish, according to the provisions of the new charter, were the following:.
With the advent of statehood, Phoenix, as well as Arizona, had come of age. The casual, easy growth that characterized a farming community slowly came to a stop. Phoenix began to grow into a young metropolis.
At the end of its first eight years under statehood, Phoenix was no longer a town - it was an important city of 29, Two thousand youngsters were attending Phoenix Union High School in They would throw each other into Jack Swilling's first canal, which ran through the campus and had become the "Town Ditch.
Among them was Arizona's first skyscraper, the Heard Building. The pipeline was finished in , but never worked too well. Today, the portion of that redwood that isn't still underground serves to form walls for the houses of the Indians living near Fort McDowell. By , the size of Phoenix nearly doubled again with a 48, census count. There were miles of sidewalks and miles of streets - 77 with pavement.
The public library had 51, books, and the police force had 70 men. Another pipeline was built - this time constructed with 48 inches of concrete, which still carries Verde River water to us. The year marked another turning point in Phoenix life. The city had gone as far as a farming center and then as a distribution center. When the war hit the United States, Phoenix rapidly turned into an embryonic industrial city.
Luke Field, Williams Field and Falcon Field, coupled with the giant ground training center at Hyder, west of Phoenix, brought thousands of men into Phoenix. Their needs, both military and personal, were met in part by small industries in Phoenix. When the war ended, many of these men returned to Phoenix, and families came with them.
Suddenly thousands of people were wondering what to do for a living. Large industry, learning of this labor pool, started to move branches here. Smaller plants were started by private capital and initiative. Water again began to run out as it had done several times before, but citizens were more fortunate than the Ho Ho Kam who built the first canals and saw them go dry.
Phoenix had the greatness of American technology to fall back on. The era commencing with marked the end of agriculture's role as our chief provider. It was the beginning of a greater prosperity than Phoenix had ever known. In , , people lived within the city limits of Phoenix and thousands more lived immediately adjacent to and depended upon Phoenix for their livelihoods.
The city had miles of paved streets and miles of unpaved streets, a total of miles of streets within the city limits. The men who, in , changed the governmental system to the council-manager form, had hoped that this would provide better city government. Their hopes had not been fulfilled, however. A long succession of managers, nearly one-a-year, had indicated that the Council placed political favor above the job of efficiently running a city.
In November , the people voted to strengthen the city manager's position in municipal government. This change, plus raising the Council membership to seven, seemed to place the city in position to go ahead with an operable council-manager form of government. But that didn't happen. The Council then in power selected its own manager and continued to rule the administrative roost. In , the people, tired of this continued abuse, elected an entirely new slate of Council members, including the first female Council member, Margaret Kober Mrs.
Leslie R. The results of these governmental reforms have been spectacularly demonstrated. The same city manager selected by that first Council remained in office more than 11 years, despite the fact that he served under five different mayors and 27 different Council members.
This provided a continuity in management that proved invaluable, considering the tremendous growth of the city. Despite predictions that he wouldn't last six months, City Manager Ray Wilson remained at his desk until his voluntary retirement in early , after breaking every record ever established by previous managers.
Perhaps the development of Phoenix since has been the most spectacular of all. Consider that at that time, Phoenix had an area of Today, the city covers more than square miles and has a population of more than 1. While Phoenix is the corporate and industrial center of the southwest it has not forgotten its past. It has retained its long-time reputation of friendliness and concern of its citizens for one another and their government. This has been attested to by the National Civic League, which four times since selected Phoenix as an "All-America City" in competition with hundreds of other cities and towns across the nation.
The hallmark of an All-America City is the extent that its private citizens get involved in the workings of their government. Thousands of citizens have served on various city committees, boards and commissions to assure that major decisions are in the people's best interest. The City Council guides this unprecedented growth with an approach designed to preserve and enhance the lifestyle that originally attracted so many people to Phoenix. The work of the council, the city staff and the many citizen volunteers has earned Phoenix much recognition over the years, both nationally and internationally.
In addition to its four All-America City titles, Phoenix won the Carl Bertelsmann Prize, a prestigious international competition that recognized the best-run city government in the world.
Phoenix, which shared the prize with Christchurch, New Zealand, was praised for its highly efficient and customer-oriented programs. Visit our Awards webpage to learn about more city recognition. Blessed with energetic and interested citizens willing to give of their time to solve tremendous problems of growth, Phoenix faces an era of unlimited development. As long as the people have vision, the past will be but a prologue of what is to come.
James M. Barney, Arizona historian and Barry M. Goldwater, former Phoenix City Councilman and U. Senator, prepared the history for the Phoenix City Code. Skip to main content Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Please turn on JavaScript and try again. City of Phoenix History. Page Content. Out of the Ashes Find out about our city's early history on this page, the text of which is excerpted from the Communication Office's Out of the Ashes publication.
Phoenix Is Born By , a small colony had formed approximately four miles east of the present city. Selecting a Townsite Washington Street in the s. To administer this new townsite, the Salt River Valley Town Association was formed with its articles carrying the following signatures: Darrell Duppa Wm.
In addition, Phoenix experiences sunshine for around days of the in a year. Most of these days fall between May and October. In a year, the rainfall received in Phoenix ranges from 4 to 12 inches and an annual average of only 8 inches, which is smaller than the national average of 36 inches.
Some other regions in Arizona get higher rainfall than Phoenix, especially those in higher elevations. Unsurprisingly, the tourism sector in Phoenix has a long history going all the way back to the s. Today, Phoenix is a top destination for visitors from all around the country. It has at least 62, hotel rooms in more than hotels and at least 40 resorts.
If you're looking for a destination that is anything but ordinary, Phoenix is an ideal setting for family vacations, Spring Training junkets, girlfriend getaways and weekend adventures. It also happens to be the home to two airports, Sky Harbor International Airport and Williams Gateway Airport, so it's a great starting point for any Arizona adventure.
Visitor Information. There's more to Phoenix than golf and resorts. Join us on an off-the-beaten-path tour of some of Phoenix's most fascinating sites. Forget drone deliveries and big-box greeters. Phoenix is bristling with indie boutiques that sell everything from locally made cocktail mixers From gooey, chewy cookies to fruit-packed paletas, Arizona has plenty of reasons to eat dessert first. Here, we round up some of the best sweets Join us on a five-day tour through the cultural delights and historic sights of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler.
Everyone says to eat like a local, but what about those great tourist spots? Here are 5 legendary Arizona restaurants to try. Discover Greater Phoenix: the Valley of the Sun. Explore Greater Phoenix's East Valley. Head east of the city lines, and you'll find a swath of Greater Phoenix where bustling communities celebrate their agricultural roots and
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