Inside Mesa

Mr. Gilbert, congratulations on deciding to run for Mayor in 2008. I can’t quite wrap my mind around those three little words —"Mayor Gilbert, Mesa" or, "Gilbert, Mesa Mayor.". The City of Gilbert may think we’re trying tro pull a fast one!Your work as a lawyer and Executive Director of the Mesa Community Action Network, and operation of the East Valley Men’s Center helps our community tremendously. A group at my church volunteers to go down and help on a regular basis.I’m perplexed however, at your statements in Tuesday’s Tribune, that—- "the city needs a more visible, active mayor to market the community…the mayor needs to be a significant player in economic development and charting the course for Mesa’s future. The mayor should use the bully pulpit and build morale and set high standards for the sommunity".Have you met Mayor Keno Hawker? He has earned several local, state, and national awards for the work he has done on several levels. I am out in the community and continually see him and his wife at many city functions and other community events or meetings in and around our city. That’s beside the task of effectively and efficiently being an intregal part of administering reasonable goals, expectations, future planning, and with other city colleagues and councilmembers, work to provide Mesa residents a safe and functional city. Even in the face of resolving revenue concerns our city continues to be at the top in the nation .Take a look at some of Mayor Hawker’s accomplishments and work; you may have missed it on the City website."Serving his second term as Mayor of Mesa, Mayor Hawker previously served as a Councilmember for 10 years. He is the current Chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Regional Council, Treasurer of the Williams Gateway Airport Authority and a member of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, Valley Metro Rail, the Regional Public Transportation Authority, and the National League of Cities Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Steering Committee.Additionally, Mayor Hawker serves on the MAG Transportation Policy Committee and is an ex-officio member of the City of Mesa Economic Development Advisory Board.Mayor Hawker is a Mesa business owner and President of Hawker Trucks & Materials, Inc. He has a bachelor’s degree from Wisconsin State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. He is a member of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, the Mesa Baseline Rotary and the Mesa HoHoKams.