Chapter 2

Enrique ‘Rick’ Hernandez drove his Ford F150 through the nearly empty parking lots. He always enjoyed this time of the morning. The sun was barely peeking over the eastern horizon; the cool of the night air had not yet yielded to the oppressive heat that would soon dominate the rest of the day and even hours later into the evening. He drove along the store fronts, stopping at each trash receptacle, checking the level of the accumulated trash. If necessary, he removed the trash bag, tied it off, and replaced it with a new one, tossing the filled bag in the bed of his truck before heading to the next one. As he pulled up in front of The Studio he knew what he would find, so he already had a replacement bag in hand. As he removed the used bag, he checked its contents. Sure enough, there were at least two white kitchen bags full of garbage, along with the occasional Starbuck’s coffee cup and the remnants of a fast-food meal or two.

He laughed to himself. He knew the owner of The Studio, Sasha Richards had to be frugal with her money. Most of the other stores had their own trash dumpsters in the back of the building; in fact, it was a requirement in their lease to arrange for the dispose of their own garbage. He sealed the bag, tossed it into the back of the truck and as he was about to get into the driver’s seat, he glanced around the large parking lot. There, far away from the stores, was her faded blue VW Beetle. After stopping several more times, he left the parking lot by the side exit, crossed the street, and entered the next shopping center.

His uncle’s company, Glendale Building Services, Inc. had the contract for the maintenance of six shopping centers on this side of Bell Road and five on the opposite side of the road. Before crossing over to the other side of the road, Rick stopped at the company’s dumpster, unloaded the back of the truck, and continued his task until it was complete.

He then reviewed his work orders for the day, prioritized them in order of importance, and set about completing his tasks for the day. When he was satisfied that all were complete, he packed up his tools and headed back to his office. His office was located on the top floor of the four-story office building located behind the shopping center, which included The Studio. He parked his truck in the back of the building and after entering the building, chose to use the stairs rather than the elevator. He greeted the receptionist, picked up his messages and proceeded quickly to his corner office. The nameplate read Rick Hernandez, President. Upon entering his office, his eyes focused upon the large flowchart, which was mounted directly behind his desk. At the top in bold letters was the name of the parent company: Miguel Hernandez Land Management and Development Company. Below the name hung four subsidiary companies. Glendale Management Company, Glendale Construction Company, Glendale Realtors, Inc., and Glendale Building Services, Inc.

Rick picked up his gym bag and hurried into his private bathroom. His business casual clothes and his current favorite suit hung in the adjoining closet. After a quick shower, he dressed in a golf shirt and coordinating slacks, and then settled in behind his large desk. After reviewing his messages, returning any required calls, he checked in with his administrative assistant. He asked her to contact the heads of each of the company’s subsidiaries and inform them that their weekly 4:00 meeting was still on.

Promptly at 4:00, all four vice presidents reported as scheduled. Each gave an update of the operating results for the week, including any problems that had come to light. As he looked around the conference table, he smiled to himself. This was truly a family operation. His two uncles on his mother’s side ran the construction and building services divisions of the company, while his two cousins ran the real estate management and the real estate sales and rental operations.

At ten minutes to five o’clock, he adjourned the meeting and wished everyone a good evening and an even better weekend. After everyone had left for the evening, he sat back in his large leather chair, his mind drifting back over the history of the company.

It all started sometime around 1846. His fifth great grandfather on his father’s side of the family had fled the area around Mexico City to escape the political and social unrest that threatened to erupt into a full-scale shooting war with the United States. Taking his share of the family’s considerable wealth in gold, he resettled on land that the family owned north of the Rio Grande River, near the small town, which would eventually become Tucson, Arizona. Twelve years later that area, from the eastern border of California, across the future state of Arizona and part way across New Mexico, would be transferred from Mexico to the United States, in a transaction known as the Gadsden Purchase. With the stroke of a pen and the transfer of ten million dollars, the United States acquired a much-coveted railroad route around the mountains between the southeast and the Pacific Ocean and, almost overnight, tens of thousands of Mexican citizens became residents of the United States. His ancestor and his family were some of those new residents.

Over the next forty years, because of the civil war and the constant threat of surprise attacks by renegade Apache, the family migrated northward, finally settling in the region north and west of the small railroad town of Phoenix. Because they came from a long line of landowners, he purchased as much land as he could get his hands on in what would later become the City of Glendale. Much of the land was located about a mile from the Agua Fria River and Skunk Creek ran through the heart of his land holdings. The water only flowed above ground during the rainy season in Skunk Creek, but it served as an important resource, replenishing water in ponds and wells in the area. The Agua Fria River flowed much of the year until 1924 when it was dammed north of the tiny town of Peoria to form Lake Pleasant, which would later be expanded by pumping water into it from the Colorado River and would become an important part of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, supplying water to the upper half of the Valley of the Sun.

By the time the ownership of the land had changed hands to Rick’s grandfather, there was no longer enough water to sustain crops, therefore, he turned to raising cattle and horses. Then, in the early fifties, just as the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, and Peoria began to experience a surge in population, the visionaries in power in the state and city governments met to determine how to manage the northern expansion of the four cities. An east-west grid system was established providing for nearly straight roads where the topography allowed, stretching from Scottsdale in the east, through Phoenix, Glendale, and Peoria and even west to Surprise and Goodyear.

When his grandfather received the notice that the state had authorized the cities to take part of his land for a right of way, effectively cutting most of his property into two parcels, one to the north of the road and one to the south, he was devastated at what he presumed would be the loss of a substantial portion of its value. It was Rick’s father, Miguel, who saw the true value of their land as it was now situated. They now owned land fronting a major east-west access road. It would be even more valuable as commercial property than as residential property as he had originally envisioned. It was Miguel who built the first of the strip malls along Bell Road. When that one was complete, and fully rented, he started the next one, and so on, down both sides of Bell Road. When he ran out of open land, he petitioned the city fathers, to build single pad buildings, mostly suitable for chain restaurants or other small commercial enterprises, on the land closest to the road, which was previously mostly unused parking areas. It was a winning formula.

At the start of this process, he understood that the more he could control his costs, the more money he could make. With that in mind, he set up his own construction company. His wife, Helen, Rick’s mother, came from a middle-class family. Both of her older brothers were tradesmen, one was a carpenter, the other a mason. Miguel hired both of them. They became the nucleus of his construction company. He set up her sister, who worked for a small real estate agency, as the sole rental agent for the buildings. He sent her to school so she could become a real estate broker. She hired several experienced agents and formed an agency that could handle not only his properties but could also generate outside revenue as well.

As the families grew, their children also were groomed to become part of the company. Miguel’s oldest nephew, upon his discharge from the Marines after obtaining the rank of Master Sargent, obtained a master’s degree from his Uncle Miguel’s school of real estate management and was placed in charge of the now flourishing rental operations of the company.