District 1 City Council Debate was show time for de Uriarte

Propositions were presented from only one perspective

The much touted District 1 City Council candidate debate fell a bit short of the mark. On the plus side, there were approximately a hundred people who showed up for the event at Desert Foothills Junior High School on an August night in Phoenix. That’s definitely worthy of note.

The forum—certainly not a debate—was sponsored by the Valley Citizens League, the ASU School of Public Affairs and the Arizona Republic. It was definitely an Arizona Republic soirée, since the moderator was editorial writer, Richard de Uriarte, who made sure only one side was heard on the two ballot measures facing voters. He even reminded the audience that he has written editorials for twenty years in support of Home Rule.

And those in attendance got to see de Uriarte break into a bit of a soft shoe and change his speaking tone from sotto voce to a full vocal crescendo. He assured attendees that “issues come and go but character and accountability matter.” Then the candidates were asked their views about speed bumps.

There were speakers on behalf of ballot Proposition 1 and Home Rule. Would you guess that a forum with the Arizona Republic as a sponsor would only present one side of the issues?

The questions were presented by Eric Ehst, Executive Director of the Clean Elections Institute, Tara Blanc who works with Bruce Merrill on the monthly public opinion poll conducted by ASU’s KAET Channel 8 and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. They were joined by Connie Sexton of the Republic. Could there be balance in that bunch?

The candidates for the District 1 seat were earnest in their presentations:

Jonathan Humphrey: Is a student pursuing his Master’s degree at ASU.  He spoke about fixing up old parks and expanding light rail and parking lots. Took a ill-advised parting shot at O’Connell that elicited groans from the audience.

Loralei Poll: Twenty year government employee with background in procurement. Union activist. She boldly stood alone in opposing Prop. 1 which would increase police and fire personnel, saying current resources are not allotted appropriately. Also opposed to providing tax incentives to businesses coming to Valley.

Stacey O’Connell: Businessman, previously headed Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. Public safety and dealing with immigration issues tops his list of concerns. “I’m a Marine and was taught that honor and character matter. What I tell you I’m going to do, I will do, “

Thelda Williams: Former Councilwoman and interim Mayor. Worked for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and now part-time consultant for Sheriff Arpaio’s abused animal program. Wants light rail to go to ASU West and Metrocenter. Says Dial-a-Ride is a necessity for elderly and disabled. She drew chuckles when discussing improvement projects,, saying “most of our bridges washed away in the 80’s.”

The candidates mentioned honesty, ethics and integrity as reasons for voters to elect them and discussed repairing the city’s infrastructure, such as streets, water and sewer systems.

Read Seeing Red’s previous post covering Propositions.