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August 29, 2003/Elul 1 5763, Vol. 55, No. 53
Mayoral candidates face off
BARBARA HILTON
Special to Jewish News
Democratic mayoral candidate Phil Gordon and Republican candidate Randy Pullen are giving voters a clear choice in their bid to replace Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza in the Sept. 9 election for mayor and city council.
Rimsza has led the city for the past nine years. It might have been for a chance to start fresh that brought an overflow crowd of approximately 250 to pack a meeting hall at Sunnyslope High School Aug. 21 to witness a debate between Gordon and Pullen.
The difference in views became clear as each candidate gave opening and closing statements and answered questions from a moderator, newspaper reporters and audience members. Gordon, a former city council member, began by stating that "I'm about the passion, I'm about the energy, I'm about the experience to go forward. ... I love this city. It's my home. It's your home. ... The vision is about a safe and prosperous community."
Pullen hammered at what he believes is a rising crime rate, citing FBI statistics as proof that Phoenix's rate is considerably higher than the national average. He charged that other cities "have had huge strides in improvements in crime." His own family, he said, has suffered a home invasion.
He said he plans to work with the chief of police to instigate an improved crime-prevention program.
Asked to name the best thing and worst thing Phoenix has done in the last five years, Pullen praised the setting aside of park areas in North Phoenix for a hiking trail system. "This set the tone for North Phoenix," he said.
The worst, he reiterated, is "the crime problem. That is a travesty."
Gordon countered that Phoenix can boast that it has "made our neighborhoods the center of our community," that most are clean and safe and free of cut-through traffic. The worst thing is that not all neighborhoods enjoy those same characteristics, he said.
"Yeah, we failed on some, and we'll fail in the future," he said. But he cited the numerous partnerships working to ensure the quality of neighborhoods and the vibrancy of the city's downtown area. "We should continue to ensure that downtown is the heart of the city."
He said downtown needs housing, dog and people parks and artists' coves to give it energy.
On crime, Gordon said the city council will continue to work with the Phoenix Police Department on crime prevention and said that auto theft, for instance, has been reduced by 11 percent thanks to police efforts.
Gordon, too, has experienced the battle against crime first hand. When his daughter's car was broken into, he said, he and neighbors marshaled Block Watch forces.
The candidates differ on proposals to expand down-town's Civic Plaza. Pullen favors a scaled-down plan but urges creation of more jobs downtown. Gordon urges expansion as a means of investment.
With expansion of the Civic Plaza comes the need for more hotel rooms nearby. Pullen questioned where subsidies for such a hotel would come from. Gordon agreed that much more hotel space would be needed but reminded Pullen that in 1999 Pullen himself came to City Hall looking for a subsidy for a downtown hotel he was proposing. The hotel was not built.
Pullen did not respond.
One of the more con-troversial questions, bringing cheering by participants, involved the candidates' stands on the day labor center operating in Northeast Phoenix that seeks to employ workers, many of whom are suspected to be undocumented immigrants. Pullen revealed his wariness of those immigrants in proposing that men "loitering" at the center be rounded up and deported, as directed by federal laws against aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.
"We have to deal with the problem," he said, "and the best way is by shutting the labor center."
His supporters broke into applause.
Gordon took a more soft-spoken approach. "I like to follow the law," he said, noting that the city attorney had pronounced the day labor center lawful. And then his followers cheered.
Both men declared their support for a proposed half-cent sales tax hike to help fund public transportation. Gordon believes in a balance of mass transit and more freeways, "so future generations aren't choked off moving through the central city."
Pullen supports better roads but doubts the wisdom of including a light rail system, believing it to be too expensive. Better to expand bus lines, he said.
Asked about their support for insurance benefits for same-sex partners, Gordon said he supported benefits as part of a larger labor package but added that he does not support same-sex marriage. Pullen does not support same-sex benefits.
Neither candidate favors extending "last call," the hour when bars must stop serving alcohol, to 3 a.m.
In closing remarks, Pullen touted his "integrity and the will and backbone to take on the tough tasks."
Gordon reminded voters that "I've been in the mayor's office. I don't have to learn on the job."
For additional information about the Sept. 9 mayoral and city council elections, call the City Clerk Department, Elections Division, at 602-261-VOTE (8683).
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