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Another 4 years with a government tyrant as the Mayor of Phoenix.
In my life time I think Mayor Goddard was he worst mayor of Phoenix. Sadly he was followed by Mayor Paul Johnson who was a wanna be Goddard clone, who worshiped Goddard. And now Mayor Greg Stanton wants to be a Terry Goddard clone. I should say that I owe Terry Goddard a big debt. He taught me that government is corrupt to the core! I voted for Terry Goddard and followed him thru his career as Mayor of Phoenix. From that I discovered that Terry Goddard lied in just about every campaign promise he made. Which of course taught me that government is corrupt to the core. Even thought Terry Goddard is a corrupt asshole, I would like to thank him for teaching me government is corrupt. Stanton cites Goddard as his model as Phoenix mayor by Lynh Bui - Dec. 30, 2011 09:45 AM The Republic | azcentral.com Incoming Mayor Greg Stanton said when he's done in office, he thinks his service will be compared to that of former Mayor Terry Goddard. Goddard, who was Phoenix mayor from 1984 to 1990, became well-known for opening up Phoenix government and weakening the power of regular City Hall insiders. Goddard, along with the firefighters union, helped move the city to a district system of representation. The switch increased minority representation on the council and ensured residents all geographic areas of the city had an elected representative who lived in their area. Stanton said he hopes to "blow open" the doors of City Hall in a different way. The mayor-elect, who will be sworn into office Tuesday, said he is working on plans to move city meetings from midday to either 5 or 6 p.m. to make it easier for residents to come after work. Stanton also wants public meetings posted on YouTube. If any of this sounds familiar, you were probably paying attention to the Phoenix mayor's race. Stanton laid out a plan to reform City Hall and improve transparency when he was running for office. Some of the messages he laid out during the campaign will be repeated in his inaugural address next week. Stanton met with The Arizona Republic editorial board earlier this week to lay out his initial policy plans. Stanton said he expects public meetings to get "longer and messier" as public officials get involved in deeper policy discussions and wait to hear public testimony before voting on issues. Phoenix City Council meetings can be overwhelming for the fainthearted who've never attended. Agenda items fly by quickly with sometimes up to a hundred items being passed in a single vote with little or no discussion. Elected officials and city officials have said the meetings go quickly because many of the meaty policy discussions have occurred in subcommittee meetings or questions have been asked before the council meeting. But Stanton said he wants to make the policymaking process more accessible and transparent to residents. City Council meetings already have become a bit longer as council members are starting to ask more questions about city spending and budget issues. And even though he's not running against government-relations guru and lobbyist Wes Gullett anymore, Stanton said he still wants to reduce the power of lobbyists at City Hall. Mainly, Stanton said he promises to keep lobbyists off city boards and commission. During the campaign, Gullett, however, called it a made-up problem, saying only about 30 of the 800 people serving on city boards and commissions also are lobbyists. But Stanton said there could be a conflict of interest between a lobbyist's clients and the votes the lobbyist casts on behalf of the city. "The perception is that it's gotten a little incestuous at City Hall," Stanton said. The incoming mayor also recognizes that he'll be dealing with a tough City Council whose members won't always agree on the issues. Stanton said that in recent weeks several people have asked him how he's going to deal with Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who has developed a reputation for being a bomb thrower when it comes to issues of employee compensation and city outsourcing. DiCiccio has been targeting employee unions as part of his rhetoric, and Stanton was endorsed by several labor groups. "Sal is going to challenge me," said Stanton, who added he also expects to challenge DiCiccio. But at the end of the day, none of it will be personal, Stanton said. Reach the reporter at lynh.bui@arizonarepublic.com. |