Inside Mesa

John Giles, former Mesa Vice Mayor and Councilmember, supports a steady revenue source for the City of Mesa, a Primary property tax. He seemed to be the shining ray of light at last evening’s LD 19 meeting in east Mesa. His description and analogy for those that want to remain the cheapest town to live in as "The Skinniest Cow" was a vivid enough picture for me!Jared Langkilde, LD 19 Chair, lead a panel of four on a discussion of a primary property tax for Mesa. Two for and two opposed. Clear diagrams were on display comparing Mesa to other Valley cities, including Phoenix who tops us all at over 33% for the cost of government. Tom Jenny, Executive Director, AZ Federation of Taxpayers was present to defend his stand on no primary property tax. Why Phoenix? Where would Phoenix be today if they had not taken chances, perhaps too far reaching and not a place I would want to go, but I’m certain Phoenix is very proud of what they’ve done to be on top and stay on top, but not without a cost! Councilmember Tom Rawles also present, spoke against a primary property tax, stating he had a plan with the cuts of programs or waste that he viewed as unnecessary in the city’s budget (where’s the diagram?), quoting scripture which I believe was I Corinthians 9:4-10. "Workers deserve their wage, we are to care for our pastors, teachers, and other spiritual leaders, it is our duty to see that those that serve us are adequately and fairly compensated". I like that scripture because it goes along with what is also expected of us: to respect our leaders, our government, those that serve us, and enforce the laws in our city; placed there to govern an orderly community.Eric Jackson, speaking boldly as a politician in life and at heart, supports the primary property tax. He served on the "Financing the Future 2025 Committee", opposing the tax at first, but as the process began he changed his mind realizing the dire situation the city is in.The last 10 minutes of our meeting gave District 6 incumbant and District 6 candidate, a chance to talk about their platform. Councilmember Janie Thom spoke about her accomplishments, the greatest one apart from City Council - an Eminent Domain issue she was successful in defeating a couple of years ago. Others included a fast growing population in District 6, supporting her constituents, roads, education, business - encouraged to have Councilmember Rawles on the City Council to be another voice of influence who shares many of the same views. Supportive with a big endorsement for our new City Manager Chris Brady, achknowledging she is pleased to have him on board. Her desire is to continue, move ahead with no primary property tax, believing we already have the resources to continue without it.Scott Somers, District 6 candidate running as her opponent, spoke of his desire to support and advance Mesa; to keep it the great community it is. For families, to safeguard the quality of life, public safety, hopes of strategic partnerships - develop Williams Gateway as a business hub, utilizing the programs at ASU Polytechnic in conjunction with small business - their budget, funding, and resources, bringing them to a point of success and stability in the community. He

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