Well, we have four people running or at least interested in being a candidate for Mayor of Mesa….Pat Gilbert, Esq. of MesaCAN was the first to declare his candidacy.Rex Griswold, Councilman District 5, has appointed an exploratory committee.Vice Mayor Walters will possibly run. She is weighing her options - I shadowed Walters during a leadership program and was so impressed with her knowledge and ability to communicate with people skillfully and respectfully.Tom Freestone says he is definitely running and building is campaign team; he is a former State Senator. With Freestone running Arizona Republican Party Chairman Matt Salmon, decided not to run because Freestone and he are friends; he says he’ll still serve somewhere in Mesa. Any ideas where he might want to plug in — councilmember? Would he even consider it?Who would you think is more capable if all do run? Walters says a person needs to know the financial situation in Mesa. There are so many issues that a new mayor will face, like financing the future. How secure are we? How far into the future have we planned that is financially solid? How much money do we really have?Other considerations:– the GM proving grounds; what kind of ideas can come out of this project as builders look at it and want to improve it. Will it be housing? Factory space? Warehousing? Sports Arena? Education? Medical facility? A park, police station, fire station, a small mall shopping center?– how about Williams Gateway? A definite area that needs our supports and looked at seriously as it is a growing major development in southeast Mesa. Who will best be equipped to bring new jobs, enhance higher education and support the groundwork for Williams Gateway to be a relief for Sky Harbor Airport?– then there’s the primary property tax. Can Mesa survive without this tax when we have already seen the complications and the cutbacks; how it’s affected our city. Have we learned anything?Freestone says absolutely no tax, Gilbert won’t shy away from it but thinks we should use our revenue more thoughtfully and efficiently. Griswold says the same and that we need to use our resources more effectively. Walters realizes we’re a big city and that we need to embrace it and start acting like a big city; she sees this as the greater issue.We have a new business manager and new chief of police, both of which have been praised for their excellent skills and financial accountability. Are they doing the best for our city?Who do you trust to run our fair city in the coming years? With these tough questions at stake we are going to need some tough answers. Can we meet this challenge?
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Freestone has name recogition. He’s on the right side of taxes - fewer of them.
Odd. Walters is pro-property tax - which is odd since it was soundly defeated by the voters. Her knowledge and ability to communicate with people skillfully and respectfully about increasing their property taxes will not get her the majority of votes. She had better lie skillfully and respectfully about wanting to increase our taxes or she won’t get elected.
It seems that we would be better served if we didn’t have to pay for bonds, secondary property taxes, and high utility rates in order to “run” our city. Primary property tax is much lower making it a more efficient avenue to raise the revenue needed to keep our city effectively managed. At least this what I’ve been able to see.
It sorta makes one lose heart that Mesa will not be able to out grow it’s infancy of the small city mind set.
The most basic rule of effective money management is that income is not nearly as important as expenditures. If a person or a city has the mentality to spend more than it has, then all the additional income in the world will never fix that problem. Defeating the property tax was a good thing because it forced the city to reassess its expenditures and purge the ones that are less essential. I do think it is good to have celebrations for holidays and to have centers for the expression of art, but lets make sure the road are safe to drive on and the water keeps running in everyone
Brian,
I agree with you - how we spend our money is the most important thing and it’s good to see that Mesa has trimmed the budget quite a bit in order to stay within our means.
For me, running a city is a little different than a family unit. A family can pretty much decide their priorities, spend accordingly, limit the size of your family, plan for college although some won’t have that opportunity - and get a second job if you’ve over spent.
A city has variables that are not controllable. A growing population, maintaining older parts of Mesa while building new, maintaining roads, utilities that are breaking down, new schools, concerns of public safety that are still lacking, cutting out non-profit funds, no extras like festivals and parades - we the people are contributing in order to make these things happen, some by a whole lot!
I guess I could go on, but I don’t think we’re making it very well at all. City employees aren’t getting the raises due them, they did get some but Mesa still falls below our surrounding neighbors.
I think there a some that are comfortable with their life, can afford to do what suits their lives, and those of us that are more ‘common’ can’t live by subsidizing something like the Libraries to bring back the hours they once had or the Park Rangers that have been cut way back. People are safer with Park Rangers doing their job - mothers want their children safe in the parks.
You’ve made some good points, but I think I’d have to go with a better funding plan for Mesa than what we’ve done in the past.
Thanks for your input,
Sharon