Maricopa Association of Governments

Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) is a Council of Governments (COG) that serves as the regional agency for the greater Maricopa region in Arizona, USA. When MAG was formed in 1967, the elected officials recognized the need for long-range planning and policy development on a regional scale. They realized that many issues such as transportation, air quality and human services affected residents beyond the borders of their individual jurisdictions.

MAG is the designated Metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for transportation planning in the Maricopa County region. Additionally, beginning in 1973, MAG was also designated by the Governor of the State of Arizona to serve as the principal planning agency for the region in a number of other areas, including air quality, water quality and solid waste management. In addition, through an Executive Order from the Governor, MAG develops population estimates and projections for the region.

Purpose

MAG consists of all of Maricopa County and the cities, towns, and Indian reservations in the county. Apache Junction, while being located mostly in Pinal County is represented in MAG, as well as other cities that extend into neighboring counties.

MAG is based on the principle that cities, towns, counties, and Indian Communities, which are closest to the people, should exercise the basic initiative and leadership and should have the primary responsibility for addressing those local problems and needs which require action on an area-wide or regional basis.

The Articles of Incorporation for MAG state that the association was formed to do the following:

Provide a forum for discussion and study of regional problems of mutual interest to the governments in the region.
Ensure, through cooperation and the pooling of common resources, maximum efficiency and economy in governmental operations, which will provide every citizen with the utmost value for every dollar.
Identify and comprehensively plan for the solution of regional problems requiring multicity, town and county cooperation.
Facilitate agreements among the governmental units for specific projects or other interrelated developmental actions or for the adoption of common policies with respect to problems that are common to its members.
Attain the greatest degree of intergovernmental cooperation possible in order to prepare for future growth and development of the region.

Regional council

The Regional Council is the governing and policy-making body for the organization and comprises elected officials appointed by each member agency at MAG. For the majority of members, the city or town mayor serves as the Regional Council member. The chairs of the Boards of Supervisors represent Maricopa and Pinal counties on the Regional Council. The State Transportation Board members for Maricopa County represent the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The chair of the Citizens Transportation Oversight Committee also serves on the Regional Council. The three Native American Indian Communities are typically represented by their governor or president.

Member agencies

The MAG membership currently consists of the 27 incorporated cities and towns within the contiguous urbanized area, three Native American Indian Communities, and Maricopa and Pinal Counties.

Representatives of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the Citizens Transportation Oversight Committee (CTOC) also serve on the Regional Council for transportation-related issues.

List of Member Agencies:

Arizona Department of Transportation:

State Transportation Board (2 members)
Citizens Transportation Oversight Committee

External links

Maricopa Association of Governments Website

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.