Phoenix Mayoral Election 2011

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/n...ouncement.html

Phoenix Councilwoman Neely plans Thursday announcement

9 comments by Lynh Bui - Apr. 20, 2011 05:54 PM
The Arizona Republic

Phoenix City Councilwoman Peggy Neely is expected to announce Thursday morning whether she will run for mayor.

Neely sent messages on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday afternoon saying she would be making a "special announcement."

Her exploratory committee is holding an event at the Westin Kierland Resort at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Neely, who represents District 2 covering northeast Phoenix, has had an exploratory committee for mayor since May but is not yet an official candidate.

To officially run for mayor, Neely must resign her council seat.

Neely would be one of the latest candidates to enter the Phoenix mayor's race, with four others who announced their candidacy late last year and early this year. Her potential mayoral foes have accused her of skirting the state's resign-to-run law, criticizing her for staying on the council while fundraising through her exploratory committee.

Neely is also the center of a recall effort, which will be canceled if she runs for mayor. Residents who are targeting her for recall object to her support of the Sonoran Boulevard project, which some are calling the "Road to Nowhere."

Neely is a real estate broker and was elected to her first time on the City Council in fall 2001. She was re-elected in 2005 and 2009.

If Neely resigns on Thursday, the City Council will soon have to select a replacement to serve until an election is held to find someone to serve the rest of the term that expires in 2013.

Candidates for mayor include Thane Eichenauer, who ran as a Libertarian candidate for state treasurer last year; Wes Gullett, a consultant who worked for Sen. John McCain; Claude Mattox, a councilman who represents west Phoenix; and Greg Stanton, a former councilman and former deputy state attorney general.

The election is Aug. 30.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/n...#ixzz1KAT3JJzj

Neely would be an absolute nightmare if elected, she's one of my least favorite candidates. Her ties with Real Estate mean she's tied into the sprawl complex and is a suburbanite of the highest order. Shes promoted many sprawl promoting policies and I worry the progress we've made in the last few years Downtown would wither under her administration.

You can read an interview that Taz Loomans did with her over on Blooming Rock here. Unsurprisingly Neely comes across as very fake and political, having clearly researched the Blooming Rock blog before the interview and trying to paint herself as some kind of urbanist.

[SethAZ]

I'm probably going to have the opportunity to interview all the candidates in the near future through the lens of downtown and urban issues. (Kinda like Taz in the interview with Neely.)

I'm doing research now and I have some ideas/questions already in mind, but I'd love any feedback from the people on this board too. For the most part, we are all pretty much on the same page when it comes to urban issues and creating the kind of city we want Phoenix to be.

Are there any particular questions I should ask? (I always think of questions to ask after the fact, and I want to minimize that.) I don't want to write fluff but I don't want to be a jerk either. Any thoughts?

[HooverDam]

^A big issue for me is keeping the LRT off the I-10 and on arterial streets. The initial line worked so well in part because its on arterial streets and is integrated into the city, making it easy to walk and bike to. Additionally it strung together many destinations and hubs, putting the LRT on the freeway will make that impossible. LRT on the freeway also means a very limited opportunity for TOD.

I guess the way I'd word that is something like "Are you a proponent of Valley Metros plan to run the LRT on the I-10 or would you be open to running the line down an arterial street (i.e. Thomas Rd) like the current successful line?"

Another thing I'd ask about is their feelings on the demolition of the Sahara hotel downtown and replacing it with an asphalt surface lot. Both ASU students and the community wanted to save the building, once that was nixed they asked for only half of the lot to be a dedicated dog park and were denied. ASU and the City talk about the heat island, historic preservation and adaptive reuse, but then they went and did this, why?

Finally I'd ask about the lack of higher education opportunities in the City of Phoenix. If one wants to go to a traditional 4 year college within the City of Phoenix their options are severely limited, we don't have our own research university (Tempe does) nor do we have a liberal arts college. What can be done to attract or build new universities and colleges in Phoenix so we don't keep suffering "brain drain" and losing our highly educated folks to other cities.

[SethAZ]

Thanks Hoover! Those are great, especially about the university. I should ask about the Sahara. I was a part of that fight to save the building and still get angry when I walk past that now useless piece of crap vacant lot.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

^A big issue for me is keeping the LRT off the I-10 and on arterial streets. The initial line worked so well in part because its on arterial streets and is integrated into the city, making it easy to walk and bike to. Additionally it strung together many destinations and hubs, putting the LRT on the freeway will make that impossible. LRT on the freeway also means a very limited opportunity for TOD.

I guess the way I'd word that is something like "Are you a proponent of Valley Metros plan to run the LRT on the I-10 or would you be open to running the line down an arterial street (i.e. Thomas Rd) like the current successful line?"

Another thing I'd ask about is their feelings on the demolition of the Sahara hotel downtown and replacing it with an asphalt surface lot. Both ASU students and the community wanted to save the building, once that was nixed they asked for only half of the lot to be a dedicated dog park and were denied. ASU and the City talk about the heat island, historic preservation and adaptive reuse, but then they went and did this, why?

Finally I'd ask about the lack of higher education opportunities in the City of Phoenix. If one wants to go to a traditional 4 year college within the City of Phoenix their options are severely limited, we don't have our own research university (Tempe does) nor do we have a liberal arts college. What can be done to attract or build new universities and colleges in Phoenix so we don't keep suffering "brain drain" and losing our highly educated folks to other cities.

Good topics. On the light rail issue, I wouldn't include the answer you want to hear as part of the question though, let them answer without knowing what your view on the subject is first.

[combusean]

Didn't they say they were going to plant a hundred trees or something ridiculous like that to mitigate the heat island circumstances of the Sahara? Nobody's parking there now are they?

BTW, I'm at the end of my second week interning for Stanton. Everything's going very well. =)

[SethAZ]

yeah... that's what they said. I remember being at one of the meetings and the guy from the city was saying that the code requirement was that they plant 5% shade trees, but they were going to go beyond that and plant a whopping.... wait for it.... 7% even though they "weren't required" to do that. We all rolled our eyes and laughed. So far there are 0 trees on that site.

Yay Stanton! (I was at the Equality Arizona forum when he spoke and he was clearly the best one there.)

[gymratmanaz]

Go Stanton!!!!!

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by combusean

Didn't they say they were going to plant a hundred trees or something ridiculous like that to mitigate the heat island circumstances of the Sahara? Nobody's parking there now are they?

BTW, I'm at the end of my second week interning for Stanton. Everything's going very well. =)

How does he seem as a guy, have you met him? Do you think he "gets it"? He certainly seems to talk the talk and I do think he's the best of the candidates, but I wonder how much better he'd be from an urbanist point of view than say Gordon was. Gordon was ok, and in general I think he moved the City in the right direction but I would've liked to see more aggressive moves, but I guess thats tricky with the Council Manager system.

[combusean]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

How does he seem as a guy, have you met him? Do you think he "gets it"? He certainly seems to talk the talk and I do think he's the best of the candidates, but I wonder how much better he'd be from an urbanist point of view than say Gordon was. Gordon was ok, and in general I think he moved the City in the right direction but I would've liked to see more aggressive moves, but I guess thats tricky with the Council Manager system.

I've met Greg years ago and we chat here and there in the office daily. He's like a big kid the way he jokes around--maybe too much. He's an immediately likable golden boy with a remarkable passion for the people. That's why I support him, because he has demonstrated time and time again his loyalty to the citizens. My reasons for supporting him transcend specific issues and we might actually disagree on a few things--but I know I am in the right place--I am surrounded by people in the community rather than the suits on the other side. If it's a debate or a community event, it's clear we want to be there and we're not just going through the motions.

I've bounced a lot of ideas through our campaign manager and finance manager and I've been waiting for the newer website that better hashes out platform before I go further into that.

I think Gordon actually payed a lot of lip service to things on this board that we care about, but I'm wanting to see a lot more action. Topics on shade, sustainability, transit, canalscapes/trails, etc need more action. I think Greg really understands the position of the mayor and the bully pulpit to get things done as he simultaneously counters the forces of evil. In Tuesday's debate, he was the only one who talked about sending a message to the State house about education cuts, for example.

[glynnjamin]

Talking about Gordon's lip service, it really ticks me off the few times I interacted with him how much bullshit he would give me. Like the first time I approached him about a dog park in downtown Phoenix - he told me there was a restriction that said something about a dog park needing at least x number of acres and couldn't take up more than 10% of the park...since there were no parks big enough downtown, it wouldn't happen. Then, 3 years later, he's turning around and touting MTH Park as the solution for the dog park issue and has thrown his made-up acreage limits out the window in order to appease those pissed about the Sahara. Or like the time we tried to lease the land at 2nd & Fillmore for a community garden and they said they had a plan for a culinary school and that the lease could only be for 3 months because construction was starting there...that lot sat for 2 years as dirt before becoming another fucking parking lot.

Smarmy fucking little liar. For all the good he brought downtown, he was ultimately a bitch for the fucking developers. I'll be glad when he is gone.

[HooverDam]

^ The one time I interacted with him was at the opening of Civic Space Park. I shook his hand and said "The City did a great job on this park, thank you. Now we need to fix up Hance Park next" and he said "Oh that park wasn't built under my administration."

First off, I know that, it was built in the early 90s. Secondly, whats that matter? Do the right thing and fix up the park that should connect Downtown and Midtown.


E: This Facebook event page seems relevant to this thread: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=217034424989903

[PHX31]

My only interaction with Mayor Gordon was at the 36th St and Thomas Rd Home Depot. I didn't talk to him at all, I just saw him shopping there with what looked like an aid. She was a younger gal helping him get the stuff on his home depot list (personal stuff -not work related, I assume). Looked like a nice little Saturday for him and his aid.

[Crispy]

I saw him double fisting beer and white wine at Hula's one night. He was with some hot chick and a guy that looked like his body guard / driver. I was impressed with his ability drink although his selection of booze sucked.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I yelled at Gordon to keep fighting Arpaio during the 2009 Fiesta Bowl Parade, but I'm pretty sure he didn't hear me.

[Buckeye Native 001]

And I'm a little too removed from all the going-ons down in Phoenix, but there were a shit-ton of "Gullet for Mayor" signs around the Capitol Complex.

[combusean]

Gullett has no name recognition, so he's doing everything he can with the signs.

Greg gets Jon Talton's support in a thought provoking article that touches heavily on what we're talking about on this board that came out today:

http://roguecolumnist.typepad.com/ro...enix.html#more

[Buckeye Native 001]

Thanks for the heads up. If anything, I thought the plethora of Gullet signs were incredibly obnoxious.

Kinda regret no longer being a Phoenix resident given the importance of this election.

[HooverDam]

I normally don't like Taltons overly harsh and preachy tone, as I think when he was here he turned more off from his message than he attracted (though I agree with the heart of his message) but I found this part particularly interesting:

This would have been the time to put a referendum before the voters for a strong mayor form of government, as well as expanding the Council with at-large members and somehow addressing the problem that the city's heart is represented by a couple of councilmen, instead of the Council as a whole. That could have been Gordon's legacy. A strong mayor system is not a cure-all. But Phoenix is the largest city in the nation with a council-manager form of government. It doesn't work for a city so large and so at risk.

When I initially heard the idea of changing from the Council Manager system I immediately balked at the idea. Having grown up here I was always taught how unique our system was, saw signs proclaiming Phoenix "the best run City in the world" & largely believed it. As I've grown up and seen how overly slow our City is to embrace new ideas I think a Strong Mayor system now may be the solution. My only worry is how to check that system if a pro sprawl candidate like Neely were elected.

I agree too with the notion of expanding the Council, but I'm not sure if at large members are the way to go or not. Currently with only 8 council members each Councilman has a constituency of roughly 180,000+, thats almost as big as the population of Salt Lake City. I'd like to see the Council expanded to 12 members (giving each around 120K people in their district) and have it re-districted to more properly represent real neighborhood boundaries. No more putting Laveen our most rural area with Downtown our most urban, no more randomly lumping all the rich whites of Arcadia, Biltmore and Ahwatukee together by some thin strip.

The one thing I don't think I agree with is his idea of having the entire Council representing the Cities center. I once had the idea that the Council districts should perhaps be shaped like pie slices, with each Council member having a portion of Downtown. My thinking was then everyone would buy in and realize Downtown is important to them. But the more I think about it, I worry that we'd end up with a 'Tragedy of the Commons' situation where without one strong full time advocate, Downtown would suffer. I think we see some of that now with Downtown split between multiple districts.


EDIT:

Decide to do a little research and see how other large Cities do their Councils. Here's the number of councilmen per city and the population divided by councilman giving a rough estimate of population per district:

City................Council members................Citizens per district


New York...................51...............................~160,000
Los Angeles................15...............................~255,600
Chicago.....................50...............................~54,000
Houston....................14................................~150,000
Philadelphia................17...............................~90,000
Boston.......................13...............................~47,500
Denver......................13................................~46,000
San Diego...................9.................................~145,000
Seattle.......................9.................................~68,000
San Fran....................11................................~73,000

I thought that would be interesting to look at and indeed it is. I'd LOVE to get to the Chicago/Boston/Denver/Seattle/San Fran type numbers of somewhere between 45-73K. People might actually be able to meet and know their Councilmen, have a real sense of their districts, etc if that were the case.

Phoenix would need 25-30 Councilmen to reach those sorts of numbers.

[combusean]

To get Ahwatukee in one district, you'd have to make the districts about 85,000 a pop. Being in a Phoenix with twice as many councilmen would be an interesting exercise in local politics given that barely 100,000 vote in a city election. I think it would be worth it given how crazily swamped the councilmen are, but I wonder how they'd be staffed. It is a tight fit in that part of City Hall.