Since short-termer Maria Baier’s recent resignation from the Phoenix City Council to take a position as state land commissioner, a glut of 19 applicants have submitted their names to fill the vacancy.
The council is expected to interview all applicants and appoint an interim replacement at 2:00 P.M. today in the City Council Chambers, 200 W. Jefferson St.
Baier’s ship-jumping will necessitate a District 3 special election, tentatively scheduled for November 3. It’s unclear whether the Council members prefer a “benchwarmer,” who has no intention of running in the special election or someone who will run to complete the vacant term which ends in 2012.
“We will know come Tuesday who will be in the race and who will be an interim. I am leaving my options open and want to know who’s all there before I make a decision about where we are going,” Councilman Claude Mattox said recently.
The list of interested applicants includes: Former District 3 council candidates Jim Mapstead, and Jon C. Altman, whom Baier defeated in the council runoff election.
William Bell, Director of the Arizona Department of Administration, retiring in July after serving four governors of both parties.
Former Councilman Tom Milton, a close ally of Mayor Phil Gordon.
Jim Sharpe, a former radio talk show host.
Tee Lambert, a Washington Elementary School District Board member.
Bill Gates, a lawyer and Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee member, recently appointed to the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council.
In February the Council appointed Ahwatukee resident and former councilman Sal DiCiccio, who has longstanding ties to Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, to fill Greg Stanton’s seat after he resigned to take a job with Attorney General Terry Goddard
In addition to shaping city policy, the appointee will be integral in dealing with the city’s budget woes and selecting a replacement for retiring City Manager Frank Fairbanks.
Others vying for the job are: Aaron Aylsworth, Vaughn Beasley, Judi A. Butterworth, Christopher Lee Klugman, Douglas L. LaPedes, James Larson, Eugene Alexander Mattics, Gibson McKay, James W. Riley, Clifford Sherr, Greg Tripoli and Judith Tunell.
A map of District 3 can be seen here.
I won’t claim to know all of these applicants, but I have seen Bill Bell in action. Bell is a superb administrator. He was kept on by a succession of both Democrat and Republican governors because of his management abilities and a cool command of leadership that gets the job done while somehow managing to get the best out of those who work for him. He is a skillful orator as most of the legislators know, as he has addressed them regarding the myriad issues that emanate from the Department of Administration and the agencies under its umbrella. Bell is one of the few in state government about whom I’ve never heard a cross word. He would be quite a coup for the city of Phoenix.
Don’t be surprised if this turns out to be another “inside job.” Slimeball Gordon is a voting member so there will have to be some sort of payoff for him at the end for picking any particular supposedly “non-partisan” candidate.
[...] Bill Gates has become the newest member of the Phoenix City Council, after coming in ahead of 18 other applicants for the [...]