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August 24, 2001/Elul 5, 5761, Vol. 53, No.46
Candidates vie for Phoenix council seats
BARRY COHEN
Editor
Valley residents will have the opportunity Sept. 11 to cast their votes for Phoenix city council candidates in districts 2, 4, 6 and 8, though District 4's candidate is running unopposed.
In Phoenix, which the U.S. Census rates the sixth largest city in the country, a significant percentage of voters - 83 percent in the last city election - chose to vote early by mail, according to the City of Phoenix Municipal Government Web site.
As a service to our early-voting readers as well as those voting on election day, Jewish News recently sent a questionnaire to candidates asking for their opinions about issues affecting the Jewish community. What follows is a list of candidates, their professions, their past political experience and their answers to the following questions:
- How will you address hate crimes, which, according to a city official, have not decreased in Phoenix neighborhoods for the past four years?
- Do you favor expanded government support of faith-based initiatives? Why or why not?
- How can the City of Phoenix best continue to work with its 30 school districts and law enforcement to improve school safety?
- (District 2 candidates,) explain whether or not you support Kivel Geriatric Care Center's efforts to build an additional campus at 56th Street and Bell Road.
This information supplements the sample ballot and information pamphlet mailed to each registered voter household the week of Aug. 6. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in each district in the Sept. 11 election, the top two candidates will participate in a runoff election Nov. 6.
District 2
Nick Corridino
Information technology recruiter
Political experience: Wethersfield Republican Town Committee; Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee
1) Implement the city's "diversity initiative," expand BRAVE and after-school "wake up" programs, place two police officers in every car and double the number of community action officers 2) Supports expanded faith-based initiatives 3) Implement DARE and GREAT programs, set up an anti-bullying program and have Parks and Recreation Department expand its after-school programs 4) Supports Kivel's expanded campus as a good addition to the neighborhood
Jim Henry
Retired IBM employee; self-employed in high-tech
Political experience: campaigned for Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanaugh when he ran for U.S. Senate and governor; and for Garry Brown, U.S. Congressman from Michigan
1) Ensure that foot and bicycle patrols are in place when such crimes are most likely to happen 2) Believes faith-based institutions are more dedicated and successful than public agencies 3) States there are already programs in place wherein the city works with law enforcement and school districts 4) Supports moving forward with the Kivel campus as providing balance to the neighborhood
Clancy Jayne
Small business owner
Political experience: Phoenix Planning and Zoning
1) Create partnerships with schools, churches and other community groups and increase police patrols in trouble areas 2) Supports expanded faith-based initiatives but only when managed by faith organizations 3) Wants increased monitoring at each school site 4) Views Kivel's expanded campus as an important religion-based neighborhood institution
Robin Mofford
Businesswoman
Political experience: none
1) Establish educational programs using local media, including printed materials for distribution, and set up partnership program with police and community members 2) Believes faith-based programs can relieve the government of the burden of providing current programs 3) Establish intervention and prevention programs using local law enforcement within educational facilities 4) Supports Kivel's expansion to provide needed services to the elderly
Peggy Neely
Small-business owner
Political experience: Paradise Valley Planning Committee; City of Phoenix Water and Sewer Rate Advisory Committee
1) Increase public awareness of diversity and make sure there is "zero tolerance" for perpetrators 2) To maintain separation of church and state, opposes expanded faith-based initiatives 3) Continue diversity programs, have before- and after-school programs throughout the city, and maintain security officers in schools 4) Wants to enable neighborhood and Kivel to meet each other's concerns
District 4
Phil Gordon
Phoenix City Councilman
Political experience: Madison School Board
1) Continue to educate perpetrators of hate crimes; at same time, more effectively prosecute hate crimes 2) Believes in ability of faith-based institutions, under proper guidance, to deliver social services 3) Maintain open lines of communication between schools and law enforcement
District 6
Greg Stanton
Phoenix City Councilman
1) Police need to work closely with the Attorney General's Office and federal authorities to act against perpetrators 2) Supports expansion of federal funding for organizations that are not discriminatory 3) Expand the number of school resource officers and after-school programs
District 8
Michael Johnson
Small-business owner
Political experience: Fraternal Order of Elks, American Legion.
2) The concept is still unfolding 3) Expand after school programs and create other programs such as GREAT and DARE
Abedon Fimbres
Assistant director of Centro de Amistad in Guadalupe
Political experience: former member of Arizona Board of Regents
1) Believes perpetrators of hate crimes should be incarcerated; also, fund community organizations to teach children about richness of diversity 2) Supports faith-based organizations competing with non faith-based organizations for government resources 3) Advocates schools partnering with faith-based and non-faith-based organizations to teach children about diversity
Hari Simran Singh Khalsa
Physician
Political experience: none
1) Prosecute hate crimes to fullest extent of law and make as public as possible 2) Believes government-funded programs disable people and create a culture of social disability 3) Favors school uniforms and security units based in schools
Carolyn Lowery
Community developer/activist
Political experience: Director of development, New Alliance Party
1) Expand community block watch programs and allow equal access to jobs and housing 2) Opposes expanded faith-based funding because it gives the government too much power and too great a voice in citizens' decision making 3) Believes in getting parents more involved in school programs to make them feel they are needed
Chris Piper
Construction project manager
Political experience: none
1) City Council does not address personal conflicts 2) Favors expanded faith-based funding because the private sector is better at managing money than the government 3) Feels that safety at school begins at home
Kyrsten Sinema
School social worker
Political experience: campaign manager, John Scudder, 2000 candidate for Arizona House of Representatives; state media contact, Green Party
1) Would eradicate institutionalized discrimination perpetuated by government, for example: the implicit hate crime of the prohibition of same-sex marriage 2) Opposes expansion of federal funding to maintain a firm separation of church and state 3) Provide students with outlets for their feelings of isolation and abandonment
Charles Townsel
Former teacher, high school counselor, school principal, college professor and school superintendent
Political experience: member of NAACP education committee, Anti-Defamation League education committee and African American Hispanic Coalition
1) Believes education is central to teaching tolerance in schools and religious, social and government institutions 2) Supports expansion of faith-based funding, as long as the separation of church and state is maintained 3) Maintain DARE; train parents as "parent counselors" and place them on school campuses
Roy Tyson Jr., Trace Vencenza and Feliciano Vera did not respond.
The Arizona Republic reported on Aug. 22 that Trace Vencenza used an alias to obtain an Arizona driver's license and the social security numbers of two deceased people on credit card applications; Clancy Jayne had liens filed against his property for failing to pay federal income taxes; and Charles Townsel has served prison time for tax evasion, was fired from his school administrative job for misusing travel funds, and pleaded no contest to filing a false campaign report.
For additional elections information, contact: City of Phoenix, City Clerk Department. 602-262-6837, www.ci.phoenix.az.us
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