More than 50 people met at the Dominion Harvest Christian Church on the edge of downtown Phoenix Wednesday night to listen to four of the District 8 City Council candidates discuss issues facing business and culture in the downtown area.
The forum was organized by the Garfield Organization with help from the Evans Churchill Community Association, Roosevelt Row CDC and the Roosevelt Action Association. This was the first District 8 candidate forum with representatives from all these downtown organizations, said Kim Moody, one of the founding members of the Garfield Organization.
Local First Arizona and Modified Arts gallery founder Kimber Lanning moderated the discussion for Carolyn Lowery, Luis Rodriguez, Kate Gallego and Lawrence Robinson, who are all running for the council member seat. Candidate Pastor Warren Stewart canceled last minute because of a death in his church, Moody said.
The seven prepared questions were chosen by a committee comprised from District 8 residents, including Jim McPherson from the Downtown Voices Coalition, Greg Esser from the Roosevelt Row CDC and Mark Davis from the Roosevelt Action Association.
The candidates began the discussion with their goals for arts and culture in downtown Phoenix.
Gallego, the wife of state Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said more funding should be given to the arts and that the system to set up public art exhibitions should be streamlined.
Rodriguez said the city needed to be more efficient with its money and should support “productive arts,” specifying arts programs for children.
Lowery said “art is something that wakes people up” and that the arts should be more important in south Phoenix. However, she did not offer a specific strategy to handle culture preservation in downtown Phoenix.
Candidates then gave their positions on the vacant lots throughout downtown Phoenix, many of which are owned by the city. They agreed the spaces could be used for temporary projects, including community gardens and art installations.
Rodriguez said the lots are dangerous security risks for neighborhoods, adding the land should be sold to entrepreneurs who would build something that fit zoning laws and was beneficial to the community around it.
Gallego said the city-owned lots should be sold to private owners if there were no plans to use them. However, Robinson argued that there should not be a set time as to when they needed to be sold.
The candidates then offered their views on how to support small businesses downtown, specifically with parking.
Robinson said parking for downtown businesses needed a “neighborhood by neighborhood analysis,” and that the city should make it easier for people to open up small businesses. Rodriguez offered a similar view, saying the city should give starting businesses help on how to file paperwork and permits.
Gallegos focused her remarks on traffic, saying the roads downtown push drivers away from smaller streets and into the large roads on Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street. A member of the Central City Village Planning Committee, Gallego said this layout makes it difficult for people to reach local stores and needed to be changed.
An important topic in the forum was the Phoenix food tax, which is set to fully expire in 2015.
Rodriguez said the money from the food tax was not being properly spent on city police and fire, adding that it should immediately be cut.
Gallego called the tax “regressive,” agreeing it should be cut. The revenue, she said, could be found in other areas, such as the vacant lots.
Robinson was the only candidate who said the food tax should expire as scheduled to in 2015.
Two questions regarding relevant civil issues stood out in the forum. One focused on the issue of equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Rodriguez mentioned he was pro-civil unions for gays and against gay marriage. Robinson and Gallego both said an equal and diverse community would bring more families to the district and improve the economy.
“In an innovation economy, you can’t be a city that leaves people out,” Robinson said.
The other question dealt with the relationship between the Hispanic community and the Phoenix Police Department.
Gallego said many Hispanics are confused about which local matters are handled by police and which are handled by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
“We need to make sure everyone feels comfortable calling the police,” Gallego said.
Lowery and Rodriguez agreed the community should be educated about the role of police in their communities.
Robinson said a city-issued identification card should be given to citizens and recognized by Phoenix police as certified documentation along with other paperwork.
Though the forum focused on downtown Phoenix and historic neighborhood issues, some candidates shifted the questions asked to other Phoenix sectors. Lowery, for instance, mentioned several changes she would want to bring to south Phoenix.
“The candidates were all very respectful of one another,” Lanning said. “They pretty much stuck to the points.”
However, Lanning said the candidates could talk more about how to make downtown Phoenix vibrant and “the heart of the city.”
“That’s a critical question going forward,” she said.
Districts 2, 4 and 6 are also holding elections for a council member. Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 will not hold elections because council member terms are staggered.
District 8 residents who are on the voting list or requested an early ballot will receive the ballot Thursday, according to the City of Phoenix website. Those ballots can be turned in completed until Aug. 27, the day of general elections for the District 8 City Council position.
Contact the reporter at miguel.otarolaalfaro@asu.edu
