Mayor Gordon callously keeps cheap pharmaceuticals from getting to the sick and needy

Given the price of healthcare and prescription drugs in this country, you would think that Mayor Gordon would want the sick to get medications inexpensively, but no... Apparently, the Mayor insists on making sure that pharmaceuticals are not in our water supply. Sure you might get hormones instead of insulin, but its free.

File this under fat chance...

I have had my differences with Mayor Phil Gordon, particularly when it comes to his endorsements of Andy Thomas, John McCain and Jim Weiers. In the Arizona Republic today, there is an article about an effort to recall the Gordon. Recalls are tough to pull off, even if you know what you are doing. The guys heading up this effort don't...

Note to American Citizens United, if you think you need 23,751 signitures, guess again. Try doubling that number... Go ask Rev. Jarrett Maupin about trying to sneak signatures past the Mayor's machine. Maupin just wanted to run against the Mayor, not recall him.

You guys are toast...Save your self the heartache and the long hours in the Arizona sun and give up now.

The full extent of Phoenix's financial mess (Thanks again Phil!)

I cannot help but think this pretty much fatally wounds Phil Gordon's political career. The extent of the financial mismanagement in Phoenix is pretty staggering. Here are more details from the Arizona Republic. The finances are really bad when they are proposing police and fire cuts (3%). This is truly unacceptable... My hope is that many of the new city council members will take a hard look at the financial strategies used in the city.

This is my piece of advice to new city council members and staff. Educate yourself about how the budget works. Read the document, consult with the League of Cities, seek outside advice and don't take the city staff's word as gospel (although they are usually right). You need to inquire and be tough about why and how the city got into this predicament. Was it a bad revenue forecast? Were the projections too rosy? Will the city continue to use the same forecasting metrics and methodology? Did city elected officials ignore the advice of the staff and the City Manager or follow it? Find out what the fund balance is currently (if any). What was the fund balance for the last five years? Where was the fund balance spent if it is gone? What is the unrestricted fund balance (now and the last five years)? What is the city's plan for dealing with a cut in State Shared Revenue (this almost always happens when the state is running a deficit) Order the Municipal Budget and Finance Manual (and read it).

Email me if you have questions... I will happily answer them off the record.

City of Phoenix facing big cuts... (Good Job Phil)

Good job Phil... We just passed a tax increase to pay for more police and fire, but we are facing huge cuts in city services and staff. Here is the article. I cannot help but think that this is pure incompetence. The simple fact is that a growing city like Phoenix should never have staff cuts. The worst case scenario for a well run and growing city should be a hiring freeze. The reason for this is the need to keep a balanced ratio of residents to city employees (for trash pickup, road maintenance, police, fire, graffiti control etc). People will continue to move to Phoenix at the same rate, but now not only will the city not add new employees thus falling behind the demand for basic services, but they will compound the problem by eliminating positions.

I have spent a lot of time around municipal finances in Arizona and there is almost never a reason for these sorts of cut backs except mismanagement. The only cities that are really in danger are those that are built out (like Tempe or have structure funding problems like Mesa), but Tempe is not having the problem because of good planning by making sure revenue streams were built up while their state shared revenue declined. At one point, Tempe (I have not checked lately) held huge reserves collected during good times to get them through these types of downturns. What is your excuse Phoenix?

Phoenix’s state shared revenue will continue to grow. Leaders in Phoenix (or voters) have not made dumb structural decisions like Mesa (like not a having a property tax). One culprit that immediately comes to my mind are the huge give backs given to retailers (or this one) to get them to locate in the city. Here is the problem: Wal-Mart will move here regardless, stop giving them tax money.

This whole thing is frustrating and unacceptable. Note to the Mayor: Please run for John Shadegg's seat (as a Republican).

Here is more information on state shared revenue:
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/briefs/Senate/STATE%20SHARED%20REVENUES.pdf
http://www.azleague.org/pdf/07shared_revenue.pdf

Phoenix City Election Roundup

Here is the Phoenix city election in brief: Mayor wins big, runoff in district 3 (BAIER/Altmann), runoff in district 7 (Pastor/Nowakowski), Public safety tax wins big, Increasing Mayor and Council salaries is narrowly defeated, Home Rule wins big (in your face Robert Robb) and all three charter amendment pass (mostly related to collecting signatures and elections).

Congratulations to the Mayor and other winners. To Baier/Altmann and Pastor/Nowakowski, good luck (if you thought no one cared before wait until the runoff). To the losers, public office is a headache, you didn't really want the hassle anyway.

The Mayor Might Want to Run for Higher Office, Duh...

The fact that the Arizona Republic can write this article as though it were news is funny. Yes, we know the Mayor has higher aspirations... Good reporting guys, way to dig the big news.

Judicial Watch Goes After the Mayor (Judicial Watch is High)

I do not know how many of you remember Judicial Watch, but they are the guys that did their best to bring down Bill Clinton over every unfounded half truth they could dig up. Now they are going after the Mayor (Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon) with a similar frivolous lawsuit.

Let me get this straight, the Mayor figured out a way to fix a problem without legislation. He did it by striking a compromise between two groups and now he is being sued for it? This is precisely the sort of thing a city mayor should do. Isn't it ironic that they filed their complaint with Sheriff Joe...

I happen to be very familiar with the area that they are complaining about, I was there yesterday to buy paint. I have been there many times over the past few years (it is the busiest Home Depot in Phoenix). Two years ago there were 40 to 50 day laborers near Thomas Road looking for work, now there are almost none. I drove by there this morning for good measure and I did not see a single day laborer.

I won't even get into the issue of whether they should be there, but it certainly seems that the lawsuit is off base. If the anti-immigration people were a little more based in the real world, they would realize that day laborers are in demand and they will not go away just because they want them to. The best solution is to provide a day labor center, but either way they are not at the Home Depot on Thomas anymore...

Can't We Come Up With a Better Process?

Here is an article from the Arizona Republic about Maupin's attempt to get on the ballot. It seems to me that legislation needs to be enacted to create a more transparent process for this. Being to late to change the ballot should not be a valid reason in my mind. If Maupin did collect enough signatures, he should be on the ballot, period. There should be an expedited process for these sorts of things in the interest of fairness.

Perhaps the state could certify circulators, so campaigns could know who is qualified. It just seems like there has to be a better system.

Mayor Phil "Lieberman" Gordon Dodges Bullet

The Arizona Republic has this article about Jarrett Maupin being kept off the ballot for insufficient signatures. I don't think Maupin has a realistic chance to defeat the Mayor, but he could cause embarrassment. There are a lot of Democrats who would vote for anyone but the mayor. The Mayor and his people want to rack up a huge victory in the Phoenix as a stepping stone to the governor's office. So, essentially Maupin is more a political problem than a threat.

Having said that, let me say to anyone that has a problem with the Mayor's people playing hardball with the signatures, tough and welcome to politics. As the saying goes, "Politics ain't beanbag."

No one would have a problem disqualifying a stupid ballot initiative or a Republican candidate in this manner. This is about having an organization that can collect enough signatures to keep it free of challenge. I have run signature collecting operations for various races and it is a lot of work to check every signature collector and signature, but it is what you do. I do not have sympathy for people that cannot follow the rules.

The simple fact is the Mayor has good campaign people. We need more like them in the Democratic Party, even if I don't like him as a candidate.

Phil Gordon: Most Annoying Campaign Site Ever

I am making a point of checking out candidate sites. Today I decided to take a look at Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's campaign site and I have to say (and I swear I am not biased because I think he is a sellout), it is the one of worst sites I have seen. It is difficult to use and confusing.

I see where they were trying to go. There are a lot of cool features like signing up for txt messages from the campaign. The problem is ill-conceived flash overkill. There are too many bells and whistles and not enough information.

I could not find a single page on what he intends to do in his second term. What a big crappy mess...

Checkout the mess http://www.philgordon.org/

Graffiti in Phoenix Getting Better?

Here is an article about the Graffiti Busters program in Phoenix. I have had personal experience with them and they are pretty good. Unfortunately, we need about 10 crews not two. In my past four years living in Phoenix, the graffiti has gotten viably worse. The expense of adding additional crews cannot be that great in the overall city budget.

Fighting this amounts to a war of attrition that can probably never be won, but we still need to fight it aggressively. I think their goal should be to paint over graffiti within 24 hours. City Hall needs to step up...

Phil Gordon: Arizona's Joe Lieberman

I have written about his before, but what is Phil Gordon thinking? This is the latest article outlining his questionable behavior. I think this quote sums up what is wrong with Phil:

"Mayor Gordon is an opportunist," said Dan O'Neil, state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America. "He should change his ways, or join the other party."

Sadly, I think Phil just wants to be elected and will do anything to make sure it happens. Well, Joe, ah I mean Phil, there will be hard times when you run for Governor... Just remember that we told you so.