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Arizona could soon have another city. Residents of San Tan Valley in Pinal County have collected enough signatures to put the question of whether or not the community should incorporate on the ballot. The county recorder’s office has verified those signatures, and now there’s a window for potential challenges to them. Assuming the effort survives any challenges, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors will call for an election in early August.

This is not the first effort for San Tan Valley incorporation, but it is the first time it’ll make it as far as the ballot.

Tyler Hudgins, chairman of the San Tan Valley Incorporation effort, joined The Show to discuss why San Tan Valley should become its own city.

TYLER HUDGINS: Yeah. San Tan Valley has been overlooked for a number of years, and incorporation is an important path forward for us. We’re tired of being a bunch of zip codes, being a bunch of homes. But we want to be a community, want to be a place where we can gather together.

So many people don’t know each other just because of the nature of the way the community is set up. And we believe that incorporation is the way to move that forward. We want to be able to have proper representation. So as the old saying goes, no taxation without representation.

And so we have one supervisor who represents us at the county level. Instead of that, we want to have seven representatives who live in our neighborhood, who know our community.

The county is the size of Connecticut. That’s a massive area. And you have elected officials who we have no accountability to them. We can’t vote to change their leadership in our community because they don’t live here, and they’re not our representatives. And so want people who are in our community.

MARK BRODIE: I want to ask you about the gathering and sort of knowing your neighbors aspect of it. What would incorporation do that you kind of can’t do now? Because it seems like that’s something that would be able to happen even if you’re unincorporated.

HUDGINS: Yeah, we’re a patchwork of homes. And so to be able to have economic development to start to develop, commercial centers that can draw people together and create a sense of community, having community sponsored events to bring everyone together — those sort of things that we can do through having a municipal government that can localize our community.

BRODIE: What have you heard from folks as you were out collecting signatures and talking to people about this? What is sort of the conversation about this?

HUDGINS: Yeah, that’s actually been the most encouraging part of all this, getting out and talking to people in our community. People are excited for this. They want this. And the reason for that is people innately feel the complex issues that are facing San Tan Valley.

They know what it’s like to drive on these roads, having only a couple arteries in and out of San Tan Valley, trying to go to work. Most people are commuting outside of Santiam Valley to work all at the same time. So there’s stress and anger on the roadways. There’s car accidents. There’s all kinds of things like that.

Public safety. Because of our roadways, fire department can’t get to where they’re going. They have to go a longer route. They know what it’s like to not have restaurants to be able to go and dine with their family. They know it’s like not to have parks and those kinds of things.

And then just the lack of cohesion in our community. And so we don’t have an overarching master plan or something that’s pushing things forward. And so things are disjointed. We have 20 car washes on every corner and dental offices and storage units.

People are tired of those things. They want to attract other things to make this more of a community.

BRODIE: So do you think, then, that incorporation would lead to those other amenities, things like restaurants and shops that you want and parks and libraries and things?

HUDGINS: Absolutely. It’s as simple as looking at all the communities around us and looking at what they’ve been able to do because they have a local government that can attract those sort of things and develop those sort of amenities. And so we believe that this would be the pathway forward to provide those things for our community.

BRODIE: I want to ask you about any concerns you might have about adding another layer of government and potentially another layer of taxes to pay for some of those amenities. Is that something that you worry about or something that any of your neighbors are worried about?

HUDGINS: Yeah. I’m a very conservative guy, and I understand that on the federal level, we’re being worried about more government, those sort of things. But we’re talking about the lowest level of government, closest to the people. We’re talking about people who handle our trash, who handle our roads, who handle our public safety — things that are extremely important for our everyday impact of our lives.

And so I think government closest to the people works the best and the most efficiently. And so I think having that is, in my view, not a concern. And then also taxes, I think unincorporated is the most inefficient and wasteful use of taxpayer money.

We every year, estimate that goes in the Arizona State shared revenue fund, $51.3 million to probably about $70 million — somewhere in there — that’s going to fund other cities and the county, and it’s not necessarily coming back to San Tan Valley.

So that’s tens of millions of dollars every single year that are going elsewhere. And so we want those dollars to stay in San Tan Valley to fund our roads, to fund our neighborhoods, to fund the things that San Tan Valley residents want instead of paying for everyone else to be able to enjoy that.

BRODIE: So this is an effort that has been going on for at least a couple of decades now, to incorporate San Tan Valley. Why are you optimistic that this one will succeed where all of the others have not?

HUDGINS: Yeah, this has been going on for a long time. And I think what’s different about this is the roads have been cleared — if I could say that. There were some laws in place that prevented San Tan Valley from being able to move forward. For instance, communities within six miles of an incorporating community all had the power to veto that.

And that’s happened. And that’s happened based on what we just talked about, the tax issue. Because the cities know that they will lose tax money, that is San Tan Valley residents’ money if we incorporate. And so in the past, we got a veto for that. And there was a bunch of things.

And I think what’s also been great about this effort is the team that we’ve assembled. We’re not in this for ourselves. We need to be in this for the community. It’s the right thing to do. And I think that’s the conviction that I feel more than anything. This is the right thing to do. Our community deserves this.

I’m just excited for San Tan Valley to have a better future, to be able to really take ownership of this community for ourselves.

Pinal County, it was never set up to manage a city of over 100,000 people. And if incorporation fails, the complex issues that we face will continue to get worse. And I don’t think incorporation — like, if we if we don’t incorporate, I think Pinal County, they’re going to have to raise costs. They’re going to have to raise taxes to be able to pay and be able to sustain this community.

We’re at 100,000 people. We’re going to grow to 200,000-300,000. These issues are going to get worse unless they get addressed. And the county is just not set up to do that. And we believe a municipal government is the best way to do it.

BRODIE: Just to be clear, though. Is it safe to say that you don’t see incorporation and setting up a city government as sort of a panacea for everything? Because you don’t have to look too far to see city governments that don’t function maybe as well as they could.

HUDGINS: Yeah, no, there’s definitely that case. But I think, when we look at a lot of the municipalities around us, there’s a good culture, a good example of how these communities have been able to develop the community and the cohesion they have between each other.

And so, I have faith in the voters to be able to hold their representatives accountable, to be able to advocate for their needs. I think that’s harder when you have to go all the way to Florence to be able to do that and you only have one representative who represents you, and you can’t hold the other four representatives accountable.

I would much rather see that we have direct access to seven people who live in our community and know our community.

TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — Drownings are a serious problem in the Valley, especially now as the weather warms up; however, it’s a year-round concern in Arizona.

So far this year, we’ve seen seven drowning deaths in Maricopa and Pinal counties. Just last year, 24 Valley kids drowned, which is up from 12 the year before. According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1 through 4.

“Everything was 100 miles an hour. I was in the pool. My husband was on the deck pulling both of us out. We both did CPR until Pinal County showed up and then they snatched him and ran,” said Ashley Ackerman. She lost her 4-year-old son in a drowning accident in 2022.

Ackerman said she wishes she knew then what she knows now about water safety.

“The impact that he had at 4 was just huge,” she said. “It doesn’t get easier because it’s still a hole. It’s a piece that’s missing in everything that we do.”

Just a few days after Braxton celebrated his birthday in March 2022, he drowned in the family’s backyard pool in San Tan Valley.

“Latching backyard doors, we have cameras, we had door chimes. We have all these things and for some reason every single piece failed,” said Ackerman.

She said he snuck away from both parents and five siblings that day and made his way beyond the fence and into the water. It all happened so fast.

“The hardest part for me is we were all home. There’s no blame. There’s no one to blame. We were all there. He’s a very active, very hyper, very adventurous 4 -year-old boy,” she said through tears.

The grieving mom channels her pain into the nonprofit she created in her son’s memory. Swim 4 Braxton’s mission is drowning prevention, and it offers specialized self-rescue swim lesson scholarships to kids in the Valley.

“For me I wanted to stand on a mountain and scream about all the things I learned after so that other people could hear it before it ever got to that point,” said Ackerman.

After Braxton’s death, Ackerman welcomed a new baby, and now she’s teaching her youngest son how to save himself.

“The swim lessons we did with Braxton the summer prior were good, but it didn’t teach him how to save his life. It taught him how to have fun in the water and it’s one of my biggest regrets. If we would have found something that first focused on find air maybe my son would still be here,” said Ackerman.

It’s healing for her to promote water safety to other families so they don’t face the same suffering. “I can’t change Braxton’s story, but I need his legacy to be this happened so other people can be safe,” she said.

Swim 4 Braxton is holding its third annual 10k/5k memorial walk on Sunday. It starts at 6:30 a.m. in Tempe, and all of the funds raised will go toward swim lessons and pool fence installation. You can sign up the morning of and donate anytime.

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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A San Tan Valley P.E. teacher and coach is being recognized for her 25 years of teaching students about the importance of health and physical fitness.

Loreen Zapata teaches four classes of physical education and one class of weights and coaches three sports at Combs High School. Her dedication and commitment to every student really stands out!

“She is amazing at being able to be what each child needs her to be for them, whether it’s a child that has special needs and they need special love and care and attention in a certain way, or whether it’s one of her kids, like my daughter, or my son, that is on track and field,” Lisa Horne, mom of 5 and J.O. Combs Board member, said.

Horne nominated Ms. Zapata for the Silver Apple Award. Arizona’s Family and our sponsor, Desert Financial Credit Union, surprised Ms. Zapata with the award while she was on the field teaching a P.E. class.

“She’s exemplary and I wouldn’t choose anybody else to be with my children in those moments than her,” Horne said.

Zapata teaches teens at Combs High School about the value of being active and creating lifelong healthy habits.

“I change lives everyday. These kids hopefully want to continue playing tag, playing football, pickleball, walking, all of those fitness aspects, they can take with them,” Zapata said.

Zapata says even after 25 years of teaching, she is still excited to get out of bed each morning and come to work!

“I love what I do I always have. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be teaching,” Zapata added.

A huge congrats to Coach Zapata on the big honor!

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PHOENIX — A San Tan Valley woman has agreed to pay nearly $55 million in restitution after she was accused of defrauding Arizona's Medicaid system.

Rita Anagho pleaded guilty this week in federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, records show.

Starting in 2022, the defendant operated Tusa Intergrated Clinic, which purportedly provided treatment services for alcohol and drug addiction.

The defendant admitted to partaking in a scheme targeting Native American residents enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System by paying "illegal kickbacks" to owners of sober living facilities, the signed plea agreement states.

Anagho would then submit fraudulent claims to AHCCCS, sometimes claiming a patient was receiving 14 hours of treatment per day. The defendant was additionally accused of conspiring to alter or falsify therapy notes to create the appearance patients were receiving care at times when they weren't, records show.

AHCCCS paid out nearly $55 million to the Tusa clinic and the defendant used these funds on real estate, vehicles, gambling and paying kickbacks, according to the plea document.

AHCCCS suspended Anagho in March 2023 as several other providers were being suspended by state officials. The Arizona Board of Nursing revoked Anagho's certification last year.

As part of the plea agreement, the defendant agreed to forfeit assets including a property in San Tan Valley and a hospital in Florence.

Anagho is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 11.

RELATED: Hospital fraud: Arizona woman sentenced for getting care under stolen identity

RELATED: Indictment charges 20 people in AHCCCS fraud case

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ADOT is beginning a Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Segment 1, which runs from US 60 to Arizona Farms Road. This phase will look at why the project is needed, suggest possible freeway paths within the area chosen during an earlier study, and review where interchanges might go.

To gather feedback, ADOT is holding public meetings in May. These meetings will explain the study and give people a chance to share their thoughts about the proposed routes and the project's goals. The public comment period is open through June 10.

The North-South Corridor, also known as State Route 505, is being studied to help improve travel in the area. The goals include:

Public meeting is scheduled:

Tuesday, May 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.Poston Butte High School32375 N. Gantzel Road, San Tan Valley

A virtual meeting will also be held:Thursday, May 22, from 6 to 7 p.m.Online: https://bit.ly/NSSegment1Phone: 408-638-0968Meeting number: 971 5032 1962Webinar password: ADOTNSS1

For Spanish speakers:Phone: 669-444-9171Meeting number: 970 2160 6058Call-in password: 66865130

The same information will be shared at each meeting. If you cannot attend, meeting materials will be posted at northsouth-segment1.com.

A separate study will be done later for Segment 2, which will cover the area between Florence and Interstate 10 in Eloy.

When finished, the study will:

How to Submit Comments: