Seeking to cut to the chase on the Phoenix City Council elections, Jewish News formulated the Four Questions for candidates. The candidates were asked to answer the questions via e-mail and to limit their responses to 50 words per question.
These are the questions as numbered and sent:
1. (For incumbents) What is your proudest (most significant) accomplishment on the Council?
(For challengers) What past experience most qualifies you for a seat on the City Council?
2. (a) What is the most important issue in your district? (b) What is the most important issue facing the city?
3. What role do you see for the Phoenix Police Department in enforcing immigration laws?
4. In a trying time for budgeters everywhere, what do you identify as needs that must be funded in any Phoenix city budget and what can be trimmed or deferred?
The candidates' responses follow, with answers numbered to correspond to the questions. They are listed by district, incumbents first and challengers in alphabetical order.
Peggy Neely (incumbent, running unopposed)
1. We have had a lot of accomplishments in District 2 that I am proud of. We have been able to create more than 3,500 jobs and had major companies move their regional and national headquarters into the district. This has all happened during the worst economic downturn in history.
2. The most important issue in the district is always going to be public safety. It is one of the key services the city must provide and must provide well. One of the most important issues facing the city is how we adequately fund public safety and keep up with our growing city.
3. Immigration enforcement is ultimately a federal responsibility. Because there has been insufficient focus, cities and counties are left to pick up the slack. Our focus must be to get criminals off the streets, especially those involved in drug and human trafficking. We must focus on making Phoenix a safer place.
4. We have cut the budget six of the seven years I have been in office. Public safety, which includes police and fire, (has) always been the No. 1 priority. A city must focus on key services they are charged with, which are public safety, sewer and water services, and providing safe and maintained roadways. While there are other very important services to provide, these are the key areas which must be maintained.
District 4
Tom Simplot (incumbent)
1. My proudest accomplishment has been to restore community faith in our city on the west side of my district. It has been an area long ignored, and over the past six years, we have partnered with the local school district, neighborhood leaders, the Boys and Girls Club and Congressman Ed Pastor's office to bring real change to the area. A few months ago, we dedicated a new pedestrian bridge at 35th Avenue and McDowell Road, this summer we dedicated a new Boys and Girls Club, and this month we are dedicating our new Learning Center. All of these projects were funded with a combination of resources, including city money. Community partnerships make it work.
2. (a) If there is a single, most important issue in my district, it would be the continued safety of our families. By helping small businesses to thrive and partnering with our residents to keep neighborhoods safe, we meet this goal. (b) The most important issue facing Phoenix right now is the replacement of our longtime city manager, Frank Fairbanks. Our city charter provides for a strong manager form of government, and that is legally the only position the Council hires. If we hire the wrong person, it affects everything we do.
3. The Police Department has partnered with the federal government to enforce immigration laws while enforcing our other laws. Police Chief Jack Harris has done an excellent job of balancing the needs of the community while reducing crime throughout the city. Six years ago, I created an annual Crime Summit, where residents can participate in the creation of new policies and laws that affect our safety. The Police Department has been a partner in each of those events, and they work closely with our neighborhood leaders to promote safety and reduce crime.
4. The city has cut more than $200 million from our budget, and if the state Legislature cannot balance the state budget, we may be forced to cut even more. Budget cuts force us all to be more creative, and that is exactly what I believe we will do at the city. We must reprioritize and redesign how we provide government services. How we go about this process will shape our future for the next 20 years. Now is the time to go back to basic city services, how we define "basic" is the key.
Robert Dennis Johnson
1. I am the candidate of change. (At newphx.org,) I offer a comprehensive plan to address the $422 million deficit and the more than 1,000 city workers who lost jobs.
2. We have a crisis of leadership in Phoenix. A huge deficit, massive layoffs, reduction of city services and incumbent councilmen who will not address the issues facing the fifth-largest city in the U.S. I am proud to offer a plan for tourism, energy, lowering carbon emissions, lowering energy usage and economic redevelopment. Look at my opponent's Web page tomsimplot.com, then look at newphx.org.
3. I am not supportive of the positions taken by men like Mr. (Maricopa County Sheriff Joe) Arpaio, Mr. (Maricopa County Attorney Andrew) Thomas or Mr. (Sal) DiCiccio (District 6 council member). The police have told us that enforcing federal immigration law would negatively impact their effectiveness policing the city. No, I do not support the Phoenix P.D. enforcing federal immigration law.
4. The incumbent Republicans on the Council (my opponent just abandoned the Republican Party after close to 30 years as a partisan. After President Obama's victory, he re-registered as a Democrat) have created a $422 million deficit and fired more than 1,000 city workers. We all see the cutbacks and rising costs of city services. They promise more of the same.
District 6
Sal DiCiccio (incumbent)
1. I have begun a discussion among city leaders to look at the creation of a strategic plan for Phoenix, the creation of a plan, road map of what our city will look like in five, 10 and 20 years into the future. The focus is on looking at significant economic clusters that will bring good, sustainable industries and jobs here so we come out of the recession at a high level rather than flat, while finding ways to eliminate process barriers to business growth.
2. (a) Neighborhood preservation and growth: We need to preserve the great things that have been created and improve our ability to sustain them and grow new charming and utilitarian hubs. That requires good jobs that create the wherewithal to do so. (b) Developing an economy based on our core strengths and opportunities rather than being hostage to construction/real estate cycles. A strategic plan to attract solar, medical, education and other clusters that become their own economic development, like tech to Silicon Valley, rather than using artificial tax incentives.
3. They must ensure illegal immigrants who also are felons go through the justice system instead of being put on a bus to return in a day. We face a growing threat of kidnapping, with individuals being held hostage for ransom, their lives threatened - a practice that easily could leap into the larger community. I have called for a fourfold increase in the number of officers of our HIKE (Home Invasion and Kidnapping Enforcement Bureau), which deals with this violent crime.
4. I have called for an operational review by an outside entity to look at core service functions. We all agree that public safety - the boots on the ground part - needs to be preserved. Some functions, though, can and should be done more efficiently/inexpensively by the private sector, such as fixing police cars. Tasks related to the growth that's no longer occurring should be cut, allowing our city to focus on best-in-class practices and reprioritize our energy.
Dana Marie Kennedy
1. I have more than 20 years experience working on and implementing policies that impact seniors, women and families; am the founder of Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Arizona Emerge, which recruits and trains women to run for and hold public office. Having worked for cities as a social worker, lifeguard and swim instructor, I understand firsthand the importance of city services.
2. The answers (to a and b) are the same: jobs. With a 7.2 percent unemployment rate in Phoenix, city leadership's No. 1 priority should be retaining existing employers and attracting new ones. Phoenix is well-prepared to attract renewable energy industries to Arizona, as well as ease the red tape new businesses must cut through.
3. Our police officers are understaffed and outgunned as it is without also having to do the work that is legally the responsibility of the feds. Illegal immigration is a problem in Phoenix, but it's one that is within the jurisdiction of the federal government, not our boys in blue. All jurisdictions must work together to enforce the laws.
4. Poor economic times affect everyone, but they particularly wound our most vulnerable residents: seniors, children and the working poor. Community services - libraries, pools, after-school programs, senior centers - must be spared, through creative budgeting, public/private partnerships, or both, to make sure those hardest hit aren't pushed to the breaking point.
Nathan Oshop
1. I have lived my life in the trenches, out of the bubble. I have seen and experienced things most people have not, and have gained valuable perspective from those experiences.
2. The most important issue in my district - in fact, the entire city - is jobs. We have to create quality jobs in Phoenix and kick-start the flow of capital back into the city.
3. The Phoenix P.D. should have no role in enforcing immigration. Victims of crime are scared to talk to police out of fear of being deported. This is a huge liability to the entire city. For us all to be safe, the bad guys must be caught. Leave immigration to federal authorities.
4. It is most important that we as a city ensure that at least the basic human needs of every resident are being met. Funding must also go to projects that will provide both long-term and short-term prosperity for the people of Phoenix.
Barry Paceley
1. Although growing up in Phoenix and operating a business for 30 years is an important qualification, the real test has been working directly in the community. I discovered that I have a heart to serve others, along with an ability to find creative solutions for positive outcomes. Over the last eight years, our local citrus collection has saved the county more than $350,000 in real tax dollars and provided quality fruit to charity.
2. (a) Keeping neighborhoods safe and viable: It is essential that we keep our police on the streets and our neighborhoods in good order. I will challenge any event or development that could generate a negative impact and change the harmony and complexion of our neighborhoods. (b) Phoenix's lack of revenue and overzealous spending is our most critical issue. We must investigate and initiate new revenue sources. The city needs to work smarter to reduce costs and not look to the citizens for a bailout. There is also a shortfall in our municipal bond repayment; if this continues, it will lead to a lower bond rating, higher borrowing costs and the potential bankruptcy of the city.
3. Phoenix has the finest officers in the country, and I trust their discretion when it comes to fully enforcing the laws. I support PPD, Maricopa County and ICE collaborating to pursue any illegal activities concerning crime, employment, identification theft, drop houses and drug trafficking.
4. Essential services, such as public safety, must be funded. Even in doing so, all departments must take a hard look at their budgets and see where they can make cuts and streamline processes to save money. We need to identify programs that parallel those of other governmental jurisdictions and set up a resource partnership for these services to eliminate duplication and conserve funds for all involved.
District 8
Michael Johnson (incumbent)
1. My proudest accomplishment has been the conversion of housing projects to the Hope 6 Senior Living Apartments known as the Matthew Henson Apartments. During the opening, watching the glow on the seniors' faces and hearing them state that they never imagined they would have the opportunity to live an updated modern facility that they were proud to call home is a treasured accomplishment.
2. The current economic crisis impacts everything we do in the district and the city. We must continue to provide excellent public safety services (police and fire) and vital social services despite the budget challenges we now face. That means aggressively fighting to protect state-shared revenues and our fair share of federal dollars. We must continue to pursue a diversified economy and support making Arizona the solar energy capital of the country.
3. Everyone in this country should be treated fairly and equally with justice and liberty for all. We are a country of laws that we all must obey. As a proud retired Phoenix Police Department officer/detective, I understand the pressures better than most. We must continue to emphasize crime prevention and investigating major felonies, especially crimes of violence. Immigration laws need to be reformed at the federal level.
4. An unstable economy and the decrease in tax revenues have caused the city to cut its budget while maintaining and providing quality service to the city. We must fund public safety and protect vital social services if we want to maintain our quality of life. Attracting businesses that provide jobs and economic stability is also essential.
Jon Garrido
Garrido declined to answer the Jewish News questionnaire, but asked us to refer readers to his Web site: newphx.org.
Darlene Jackson
1. I have worked in human services for the past 15 years. I advocate, network and build partnerships that directly benefit individuals, families and organizations. My experience consists of working with youth, elderly, disabled, families, individuals and professionals in the community.
2. (a) Massive foreclosure rate. (b) Unemployment rate. (We'll be) unable to stimulate the local economy if people don't have wages to spend. Once individuals become employed again, they will spend. In turn, it will increase the local economy.
3. Police concerns - that if they get directly involved in enforcing the immigration law they will discourage noncitizens from reporting crimes for fear of being deported and thus crime will increase - are valid. Police should have an indirect role, investigating and reporting immigration violations to the sheriff's immigration enforcement team, and a direct role in educating residents on suspicious activities to report. This way, the police do not jeopardize the trust of the community and deter individuals from reporting crimes.
4. Any needs that promote preservation of life, safety, services for youth and seniors must be protected. The city could trim energy use in its buildings. Enrichment plans that are not critical to our survival as a community should be deferred. New libraries could be placed on hold for a year, leave vacant positions unfilled, no replacement of any city vehicles, etc. We all must be willing to sacrifice.
