Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about what came before us. We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.

We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar@hotmail.com.

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The media and residents are all atwitter as a grocery store is coming to downtown Phoenix. The food desert will be no more. But did you know that there was once a plethora of stores in downtown that were able to supply all the food and other household supplies needed by Phoenicians?

A grocery store was a place to socialize for the community and this was particularly so for the housewife. Thus, it should not be surprising that the number of grocery stores per capita was quite high. Granted, many of these stores specialized in just meats, baked goods, fish and poultry, vegetables or fruit. Buyers walked from shop to shop often along the same street purchasing items they would need for the next few days as electric refrigerators were not a common item in many kitchens.

When the Grand Central Market opened on the Southeast corner of Monroe and 1^st Avenue (now the site of US Bank) in 1921, this became a shopper’s paradise.  Over 25 retailers under one roof! Much like the Phoenix Public Market today, although it’s outdoors, the shopper would browse the wares of different vendors, get to know them, and select items for purchase. This market was heralded as a modern convenience and would also cater to the automobile patrons with easy parking on both Monroe and First Avenue.

The wave of the “futuristic” groceries continued in Phoenix with the opening of the Welnick Arcade Market on the Southeast corner of Van Buren and 4^th Avenue in 1927. Although smaller than the Central Market in square footage, the Welnick Market made up for it in other ways. The headline in the Arizona Republican proclaimed, “Latest System Installed for Busy Shoppers.” For example, Hubbell’s self-service grocery section instituted a new way to find items. His numbering system for items plus signs to direct customers to the right section of his store shortened the time one needed to shop. And other “scientific handling of the merchandise to save time, effort and cost…to the customer” were part of what the shopper noticed.  Nevertheless, these modernizations probably reduced the amount of socializing that once took place while standing in line waiting for your meat or fish order to be cut and wrapped. But less time at the market allowed for more time to do other things.

Considering how chain groceries are designed today, it’s remarkable that not that much has changed from the layouts of these two early one-stop shopping markets in Phoenix.

Second, in our series on the state propositions, please review Proposition 306. This is a legislative referendum (meaning it was authored by the legislature and placed on the ballot). It purports to prohibit candidates who use the Clean Elections campaign funding system from giving any of their Clean Elections funding to a political party.

However, that is misleading. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) already set very clear rules last year about what candidates can purchase from a political party –it must be something of demonstrable value, and not just a pass-through to the party. However, if this passes, the non-Clean candidates will continue passing money to their parties.

The sales pitch of the pro-306 forces is that we don’t want to give “taxpayer money to politicians.” Of course, CCEC funding does not come from taxpayer dollars. It comes from a fee on parking tickets and the very $5 contributions that the candidates are required to collect.

Moreover, this proposition is designed to remove the very independence from the CCEC, which was baked-in from its creation by the voters in 1998. It was originally designed so that politicians could not easily influence it. If we pass this proposition, we will give rule-making oversight of the CCEC to the governor’s office directly, through the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council.

This means that the Governor and Legislature, which has hated the CCEC since it was created, and which recently hates that the CCEC has begun to uncover Dark Money in political spending, will be able to tailor the rules of the CCEC such that it becomes an empty shell.

Its a Trojan Horse. Nobody likes the idea of “giving money to politicians”. But what this is really about is effectively shutting down a commission who’s job is to clean up politics in Arizona.

Whether you like Clean Elections or now, its important to be aware of the other dynamics in this proposition.

Our goal is to present information that most folks may not see in the press. Obviously we (mostly Ken, since he’s a policy nerd) have a bias. We all do. So, we encourage you to see both sides of the argument in the publicity pamphlet at this link. See Pg 156 for Ken’s “against” argument.

Next month: The death of the truly “public” initiative.

Source: AZ Central

This article in the Arizona Republic illustrates a point that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while: the true value of a home warranty.

Even though we almost always negotiate a one-year home warranty plan in to a contract when our clients purchase a home, we do have a healthy skepticism toward them.

Let me start with my own story. When I owned my first home, my air conditioning went out in the middle of the summer. I needed to get it addressed, and in a hurry. I called my home warranty company to get them to send a person out. For whatever reason, they could not get to me for a couple days. So, I called a repairman to help diagnose the problem.

Around that time, they got back to me. When they found out that I already had somebody out, they told me that they could not repair it. I guess anybody but their guy puts a hex on the equipment. Basically, my warranty was worthless in relation to the A/C.

From that point on, until I bought my next home, I self-warranteed. In other words, I tried to put away every year the amount I would other-wise spend on a home warranty. If the warranty costs $500/year, I put that away in an save investment account. I figured that, if an A/C lasts 12 years, then I will have saved most of the cost of a new A/C.

The three biggest costs that arise from maintenance of a home include roof, plumbing and A/C. Warrantees may not cover roofs. They may not cover lots of things. So, I figured I’d be better off saving on my own. Have a look at the article for some good tips and things to know about the home warranty, and what to look out for.

So, why do we write in a one-year home warranty for our clients? Simple, if we can get the seller to pay for it and you get the benefit of some protection for you, why not? Always read the policy, even if you got it as part of the contract.

However, unless you don’t have the ability to save money as I described, or if some part of the home you purchase is already really old and failing, you might be able to take care of it yourself.

Like many things, it comes down to taking the time to read the fine print. We always suggest that you do.

For more tips about home buying, contact us at 602-456-9388.