Jon Garrido
Present:
The Jon Garrido Network
Owner and CEO,
Phoenix, Arizona
Owner, Managing Editor, Publisher of:
The Jon Garrido Network, JGNet,
Arizona News, Phoenix News,
The US Times, World News, Amermart,
51 Plus, For Sale By Owner USA,
Hispanic News, Latin American News, JGUno,
Mujer, Chica, Latina,
Subete,
Ayuda, Kid Town,
Ultra Vida, Act America, Act Arizona,
Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party,
and Jon Garrido for Phoenix City Council, District 8.
Founder and President, Arizona Law and Education Center (ALEC)
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Ayuda
Founder, President and CEO, The Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party
Former:
Real Estate Development Planning Consultant
Owner and CEO
Scottsdale, Arizona
Valgroup Wal-Mart
Managing Partner, Valgroup Wal-Mart
Scottsdale, Arizona
Valgroup
Vice President for Planning and Development
Scottsdale, Arizona
Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian
Community
Director of Community Development
Scottsdale, Arizona
Jon Garrido Gonzales Manufacturing Company
Owner and CEO
Cuidad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico
City of El Paso, Texas
Executive Director of Economic Development, City of El Paso, Texas
Director, City of El Paso Industrial Development Authority (Industrial
Development Bonds)
City of Tucson, Arizona
Federal Public Works Coordinator, City Manager's Office
Economic Development Coordinator, City Manager's Office
Economic Development Specialist (Planner II, III), Department of Community
Development
Manpower Specialist (Planner I), Department of Community Development
History:
Jon Garrido is a 5th generation American
Hispanic born and raised in Superior, Arizona moving to Globe to attend and
graduate from Globe High School. After three and a half years serving
with the 760th Medical Detachment, 34th General Hospital, APO 58, U.S.
Army, Paris, France during the Vietnam War, Jon Garrido returned to
Superior, Arizona to work underground at the Magma Copper Mine in Superior,
Arizona for one year and three subsequent summers as he attended and graduated
from Eastern Arizona College and then moved on to the University of Arizona and
eventually, the University of Texas majoring in real estate development.
After the University of Arizona, Jon Garrido went to work for the City of Tucson
as the Manpower Specialist (Planner I) then Economic Development Specialist
(Planner II, and III) in the Department of Community Development. Jon was assigned to work with the inner target population in a task
force structure to identify manpower, jobs and economic development need
assessments then planning and developing programs and projects to address said
assessments. Tucson was one of the first Model Cities and Planned Variation HUD
programs in the United States. A primary component was working with residents
from the redevelopment/revitalization area.
To prepare for economic development, Jon Garrido was awarded a
fellowship to study economic development at the University of California,
Berkeley, California, sponsored by the U.S. Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce where a
curriculum of business loan packaging including financial statements, cash flow
analysis, proformas, market and feasibility studies, and development of a
business park, industrial park, commercial downtown and residential development
were taught. A major component was learning to work with private lenders, the U.S. Small
Business Administration's loan programs and federal procurement programs.
After returning to Tucson, Jon Garrido was appointed Economic
Development Coordinator for the City of Tucson and assigned to the City
Manager’s Office.
As Economic Development Coordinator, Jon Garrido prepared
grant applications and received Federal approval for 12 public works projects.
The City Manager assigned Jon Garrido as Public Works Coordinator to oversee the
operation and administration of these projects. The 12 construction projects
were street paving, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, sewer and water lines, park
development and construction of the 22nd Street Bridge over the Santa Cruz
River.
Jon Garrido took first in the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic
Development Administration national grant competition of states, counties, cities,
school districts and
Indian tribes to secure public works grants. Competitors around the country called the Tucson
City Manager to find out how Tucson had succeeded in
securing grants from the federal government. The Manager asked Jon Garrido to
return calls. One call went back to the City of El Paso which resulted in being
offered the job of heading up economic development for the City of El Paso.
The last Tucson project was preparing the application
to establish the Papago Foreign Trade Zone at Tucson
International Airport. Approval from the U.S.
Foreign Trade Zones Board of the U.S. Department of
Commerce was obtained and upon arriving in El Paso,
Jon Garrido began preparing the application for the
El Paso Foreign Trade Zone on 600 acres of land
belonging to El Paso International Airport. Three
months after submission, the El Paso Foreign Trade
Zone was approved by the U.S. Government.
While heading up economic development for the City of El Paso,
Jon Garrido as a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Washington D.C.,
developed an urban design team within the department to plan revitalization of
the El Paso central business district. As a member of ULI, Jon Garrido visited
most major cities to learn downtown development but
the most significant visit was New York
City which included a tour and briefing by NYC developers who developed most major buildings including the
former World Trade Center.
The most significant
El Paso project undertaken by Jon Garrido was a new
proposed port of entry in eastern El Paso
duplicating the El Paso-Cuidad Juárez Bridge of the
Americas which is the largest U.S. Customs and
Immigration bridge crossing operation along the U.S.
Mexico border. This was a massive planning operation
including U.S. Customs, U.S. Immigration, the U.S.
State Department, the U.S. Department of Commerce,
the State of Texas, the City of El Paso and the
Mexican federal government, the State of Chihuahua,
and the Municipio de Juárez, Cuidad Juárez,
Chihuahua, Mexico.
Two years after the El Paso Foreign
Trade Zone had been approved and had become operational, Jon Garrido moved to Mexico and become Jon Garrido
Gonzales in Cuidad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico where he established, owned and
operated a manufacturing company (Maquilidora) with 80 Mexican and 20 American employees producing
automotive parts for import into the USA.
Upon return to Arizona from Mexico, Jon Garrido became
Director of Community Development for the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian
Community and negotiated development of the Scottsdale Pavilions and the Pima
Freeway including design with the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Then back to the private sector as Vice President for Planning
and Development for Valgroup, then the largest real estate development company
in Arizona, responsible for planning, entitlements and development of 5,550
acres of land adjacent to Surprise, Arizona. Jon Garrido spearheaded a major concept
of a three
runway airport capable of accommodating air cargo and Luke Air Force F15 and F16
operations. Buffered by a business park, commercial and green belt was a 1000
acre master planned residential community west and adjacent to Sun City West.
The first phase of development was annexation of 215 acres of
land into the Town of Surprise. This included responsibility for all
entitlements and subdivision master planning.
In addition to the Surprise master planned community was Tonto
Verde, a 614 acre master planned community in northeast Scottsdale, Arizona,
north of Rio Verde. Two championship golf courses were planned with residential lots
along both sides of golf fairways.
As managing partner with the founder of Valgroup, Jon Garrido
developed a Wal-Mart in Scottsdale and continued on as a real estate planning
consultant developing plans for Main Street Revitalization of Main Street,
Payson, Arizona; Superior, Arizona; Gilbert Downtown, Gilbert, Arizona; and
numerous other real estate commercial developments including in 2003-2004
serving as a consultant for a Texas pharmaceutical research company on
developing a research facility near Austin, Texas.
In addition to a professional career, beginning in Tucson
where Jon Garrido founded and was elected president of the Tucson Hispanic
government employees organization that became the largest Tucson Hispanic
advocacy organization began a journey of Hispanic involvement in affirmative
action, social, political and religious issues. In addition to serving as
president of the Tucson Hispanic government employee organization, Jon Garrido
was also elected Chairman of the Spanish Speaking Council for the Diocese of
Tucson spearheading change within the Catholic Church to accommodate needs of
Hispanics in southern and eastern Arizona.
Involvement in Hispanic affairs led to the acquaintance of
Patrick Apodaca, Associate Legal Counsel to the President of the United States,
Jimmy Carter. Mr. Apodaca visited El Paso at the invitation of Jon Garrido to be
the guest speaker at the LULAC district annual convention. Patrick Apodaca
subsequently invited Jon Garrido to the White House and Treasury Department for
interviews for the position of Director of the Office of Federal Revenue
Sharing. The position did not materialize because President Carter was not
re-elected.
The highlight of working in Texas political campaigns was
attending the White House Rose Garden ceremony at the invitation of President
Reagan to announce the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. On a subsequent
trip to Washington at the invitation of an Assistant Secretary at Interior, Jon
Garrido was offered a deputy assistant secretary position at HUD (FHA
Commissioner). Jon Garrido declined because Jon
Garrido Gonzales Manufacturing in Mexico had just
been established.
The most remembered event in Washington was a private
breakfast at the Washington Press Club with Vice President George Herbert Walker
Bush who requested and received a campaign pledge to obtain support from the
Hispanic community on becoming President of the United States.
The first stage of Jon Garrido's life was heading up economic development for
two medium size cities and an Indian reservation.
The second stage was development chief of major real estate commercial,
industrial, housing and airport real estate developments.
The third stage — self taught was learning to do one website growing into a
network of 40 websites under the auspices of the Jon Garrido Network with a
market niche being Hispanic/Latino. Of the 40 websites, 5 are now ranked number
1 on Google searches. The next level being developed is daily news video
broadcasts of national and local news to be offered at Jon Garrido News, Hispanic News,
Arizona News and The US Times.
On April 20, 2003, Hispanic News, a national Hispanic news
venture targeted to English speaking American Hispanics, had its initial
publication. Hispanic News is now the largest website in the United States
publishing daily. Google ranks Hispanic News number 1 of some 65 million
websites. Yahoo now also ranks Hispanic News number
1 in the category "Hispanic News."
On June 24, 2005, Jon Garrido founded the Arizona Law and
Election Center (ALEC).
On September 28, 2005, Arizona News,
ranked 4 by MSN of 5,700,000 websites, and The US Times ranked 1 by MSN of
37,000,000 websites, had their initial publications.
On November 20, 2005, 51 Plus, ranked 1 by Google of
212,000,000 websites, and Latin American News, ranked 1 by MSN of 5,000,000
websites, had their initial publications.
On December 24, 2005, JonGarrido.com had its initial
publication.
On January 7, 2006, For Sale By Owner USA was published on the
Internet.
On March 4, 2006, Subete, Latina and Act Arizona were
published on the Internet.
On March 10, 2006, Mujer and ALEC were published on the
Internet.
On March 12, 2006, Amermart,
World News, Aqaba, and Chica were published on the Internet.
On July 7, 2006, JGNet.net was acquired.
On August 26, 2006, Hispanic News was ranked number
1 by Google of 65,000,000 websites.
On October 10, 2006,
VPort.us was published to become the first virtual
reality transport to your 3D imagination.
On December 10, 2006, Americause and the Blue Dogs
of the Democratic Party were published on the
Internet. Jon Garrido is president of each national
organization now being established preparing for the
2008 national elections.
On December 12, 2007, JGUno.com was published
and will become the myspace type website for
Hispanic and Latino young people.
On July 23, 2007, Ayuda USA and Act America were
published.
Jon Garrido with his
background in successful grant applications, is preparing grant applications to
establish Ayuda, the
Arizona Law and Education Center
(ALEC), and
Act Arizona.
The 4th stage of Jon Garrido's life is to run for political office.
In 1985, Jon Garrido returned to Arizona from Texas
and moved to the Town of Paradise Valley, Arizona. Jon Garrido on September
13, 2007, moved to Phoenix, Arizona. On June 2, the
Statement of Organization was filed with the City
of Phoenix to enable Jon Garrido to become a candidate for the Phoenix
City Council representing District 8.
In
early 2009, a press
conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona announcing the candidacy
of Jon Garrido to the Phoenix City Council from District 8.
A economic development strategy is being drafted
to move Phoenix into the 21st Century primarily focusing on making Phoenix a
world class destination city.
The 5th stage will be to retire to Pinetop, Arizona
and a ranch outside of Superior.
The last stage will be to be interred
in
Superior, Arizona.
Jon Garrido Alvarez
Gonzales Ledesma
I am a 5th generation American of Hispanic
heritage with Arizona roots beginning in the 1800s. I am a Mexican/Spanish
American.
My maternal Mexican
great great grandparents
arrived in the Arizona Territory in
the 1800s. My great great
grandmother was named Andrea. She
had blue eyes. My great grandmother
was named Longina. My
grandmother, Maclovia Ledesma, was born in Morenci, Arizona, a copper mining
town. My other maternal great grandparents, Antonio and Maria Alvarez Gonzales,
entered the USA about 1912. My grandfather, Francisco Alvarez Gonzales, born and raised in San Miguel
de Horticasitas, Sonora, Mexico, followed his parents into Arizona by walking
across the USA Mexico border in 1917 and
arrived in Superior, Arizona where he began work as a underground hard rock
copper miner
and worked at the one job until he retired. It was my grandmother, educated in
the
Morenci
public school, who helped my
grandfather get a green card. My
grandfather was
not undocumented because he walked
across the border prior to any
immigration law preventing him.
Juan Garrido,
my
fraternal Spanish grandfather,
was born and raised near Madrid,
Spain. In 1920, my grandfather came to the
United States arriving in San
Francisco and then traveled to
Jerome, Arizona to work in the
copper mine until it was mined out.
My grandfather married my
grandmother, Carmen, and they had
three sons: Alex, Henry and John
(Johnny).
They divorced and my grandfather
fathered Edward (Eddie) Garrido. My grandfather and dad, Alex, born
in Jerome in 1923, then moved to
Superior, Arizona, where my dad met
my mom,
Carmen
Gonzales,
born 1922
in Superior, Arizona. My dad met my mom in the Superior High School. They
married and I was born and raised in
Superior. I was named after my
grandfather, Juan Garrido, but I was
given the name — Jon. I grew up
speaking English. I never learned
Spanish. Even my grandparents spoke
to me in English. As an adult a few
years ago I decided to learn Spanish
and finished the Rosetta Stone but
my fluency came from
television novella s
beginning with Ruby and now Victoria
—
I have become addicted to the
evening soap operas in Spanish.
After serving in
the U.S. Army during Viet Nam, I
followed my two grandfathers into
the same copper mine to work as a
copper miner in Superior. It was my
uncle John Garrido
who was a
level boss who got me my
mine job a few days after I arrived back
from the U.S. Army. On my first day of
work, my uncle John stayed by my
side (My uncle thought it would be
scary riding the cage down the shaft
for the first time) as we descended
down the shaft in a cage and then
my uncle proceeded to give me an
underground tour of the mine. I made my uncle proud.
With my first job on level 3100
(numbers were used to signify how
far down from the surface each level
was. 3100 meant 3100 feet below the
surface). Miners
soon gave me the name Jonny Muck
because I broke the record for
loading muck (copper ore) from a
shoot and hauling the muck using a
mule (battery powered engine) with two cars and dumping the muck
a short distance away into a bin
below the rail tracks moving the
muck eventually to shaft 3 where it
was loaded onto a skip above the
cage and taken to the surface. Then
when a hard rock miner did not show
up for work, I would fill in as a
miner. I liked doing this because it
meant more money. After a few months
I was moved to work on the cage and
this became my primary job moving
muck up to the surface using the
skips above the cage in the shaft.
I once asked my
uncle how he became a mine boss because he
was the only Mexican American who
was a mine boss. He laughed and told
me it was because he and my dad
looked "white." My dad had green
eyes. Once when he grew a beard, it came
in red!
My dad did not follow his dad
into the mine. My dad's first
job was working at the copper smelter in
Superior. He did not like it and
became a butcher.
I liked working at the mine. 98% of
the workers were Mexican Americans
and they all knew my family in
Superior. Countless times an old
miner would say to me, "Look at
those caps and posts down the drift.
See how they are all in perfect
alignment. It was your grandfather
Chico (my grandfather's name was
Francisco and so his nick name
became "Chico") who put those posts
and caps in." When I worked at the
mine, I alternated between Superior
and Globe depending on
which shift I worked. If I stayed in
Superior it was with my grandparents or
if it was Globe then I would stay
with my parents.
When I stayed at
my grandparents, I had daily
conversations with my grandfather
and I would share my work and the
miner's comments with him. He would
just smile.
I worked underground at Magma Copper
Company for one year and three
summers as I went to Eastern Arizona
College then the University of
Arizona and finally, the University
of Texas.
Family is the key
Hispanic building foundation. Church
is second. From my own
childhood, I remember everything
happened at my grandparents
(Gonzales) at 245 Pinal Avenue in Superior.
I was born on Silver Street five
houses northeast of my grandparents.
The first memory I have of my
parents was on Stansberry the next
street over from my grandparents.
I remember a sand box my dad made
that was in front of the house. I
distinctly remember my dad used tar
to seal the corners. The house I remember most after my
grandparents was our house on
Porphyry directly across from Roosevelt
School where I went to elementary
school.
My Grandma
was a strong matriarch. My
grandfather was quiet — yet strong
and a thinker. I still remember my
grandfather in 1968 telling me some
day cars would have telephones.
The one that was hard to accept is
the one about some day cars would
not need drivers. I remember
distinctly asking who would drive
them? My grandfather gave me a one
word answer — magnets. I did not
understand and so he added: cars
would have magnets and the roadway
would have a rail in the asphalt
that would hold the car down along a
path in the highway. Both
grandparents had good minds and work
ethics.
It was the same with my parents. My dad never missed a day of work.
He was a butcher/meat department
manager so I grew up on steaks.
My dad had a second job and on
Sundays after Mass, we would pick up
the milk truck parked at a small
depot on Pinal Avenue and drive to
Mesa to pick up milk for the stores
in Superior. Many times I went along
to Mesa about 50 miles west of
Superior. On the way back my
dad had numerous stops from Mesa
into Apache Junction stopping at
small stores to deliver a few crates
of milk. The round trip took about 5
hours and I was happy to tag along
because my dad would let me ride in
the back of the truck that was
refrigerated and I could drink all
the chocolate milk I wanted. I could
ride up front with my dad or in back
between Mesa and Apache Junction
stops. Then I would ride with my dad
up front from Apache Junction back
to Superior. This was the only
quality time I remember with my dad
and it was priceless.
In
Globe, my
mother worked first at JC Penny's
and then at Sears as the credit
manager. In Superior, I always remember my
grandfather and grandmother working.
My grandmother in the kitchen,
unless As the World Turns, the
daily soap was on (In English), and
my grandfather outside on some
project. Even on his day off as a
underground copper miner, work was a
priority. It was cement that was the
foundation for all building. I
remember numerous times going to creek beds outside Superior to
shovel pick-up
loads of sand to make cement. From
the cement foundation for the house,
a cement driveway leading into the
carport, cement was God's gift of
durability for house foundations,
walls, driveways, flower boxes and
even building Saint Francis
Catholic Church where I served as an
altar boy for countless years and where the
thought germinated some day
I would become a priest. If I was
not at church, I was around the
neighborhood with my friends and our
BB guns. Then came our 22s for
rabbits and then 30-30s that took us
looking for deer out in the hills and
mountains surrounding Superior. From
the importance of family and Catholism flows moral conservative
values.
15
years ago, I did study to be a
deacon but I quit because I had a
fight with Bishop O'Brien on his
treatment of Hispanics as second
class citizens.
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