Former state lawmaker Mark Cardenas is set to challenge District 7 incumbent Michael Nowakowski in a special recall election in May.
The former member of the state legislature is focusing his platform on affordable housing, expanding the light rail, addressing homelessness and improving infrastructure in District 7, which includes parts of downtown Phoenix and extends west past Maryvale.
“When people in our neighborhood open their doors every morning, they see that the quality of life has downgraded,” Cardenas said to District 7 voters. “They’re not happy about it.”
Nowakowski is being recalled in a special election after a petition by an opposition group gathered 2,361 signatures last December to put their measure on the ballot.
Nowakowski, who has served District 7 since 2008, faced a number of controversies including anti-LGBT comments in 2016 and questions of a conflict of interest in a land deal in 2015. He was cleared of wrongdoing in the conflict of interest case.
Cardenas said that the councilman has lost “significant” support within his district.
“It’s not as if that happened overnight. It was a series of decisions by the council that led to [the recall],” Cardenas said.
Nowakowski responded in a written statement.
“It’s not surprising that a lobbyist would put that kind of spin on things,” he wrote. “I assure you, residents who are concerned about these issues are savvy enough to know that a lobbyist like Mark Cardenas is not going to represent their interests. In fact, since word got out that a lobbyist is challenging me, I’ve received an enormous outpouring of support from residents, neighborhood leaders and business owners all across District 7.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Cardenas currently works as a senior associate at Fortitude Consulting for clients including real estate developers, nonprofits and electric company Arizona Public Service.
On the issues
On the issue of homelessness, Cardenas blames a lack of funding to outreach groups and rising living costs in the downtown core.
Among Cardenas’ goals are to increase funding to the Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) and building incentives to include permanent affordable housing.
“CASS shouldn’t have to be begging for money to tackle an issue we all should be tackling together,” he said.
Homelessness in downtown, however, is a complicated problem without easy answers.
County numbers estimate half of the homeless cases are related to mental health and substance problems, and 52 percent of people they shelter have a disability.
Aside from the broader issues, Cardenas emphasized that if he gets elected, he plans on tackling the everyday stuff: roads, potholes and street lamps.
“Our area of the city is falling apart … we’re getting left behind,” Cardenas said.
“Residents of Phoenix pay their taxes and in return they expect services.”
For the downtown area, Cardenas proposed improvements that include an investment in more bike lanes, expanding on existing transportation infrastructure and making the city more pedestrian friendly.
Cardenas served as a Democrat in the house representatives since 2013 and was re-elected three times.
Voters in District 7 will decide who will represent their district this May.
Contact the reporter at Madeline.Ackley@asu.edu.
Madeline is the community editor for Downtown Devil and is a senior studying at the Walter Cronkite School. She is a local freelance journalist who primarily covers politics, policing, immigration and business. In 2019, she won first place in her category in the national SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards for her reporting on deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico with Cronkite News.
