Tim Seay, a freemason and Phoenix business owner, is the most recent person to join the Phoenix mayoral race, entering an already crowded field of four other candidates.
Seay officially declared his candidacy on May 30, joining candidates Kate Gallego, Daniel Valenzuela, Nicholas Sarwark and Moses Sanchez in the mayoral race.
He said he supports initiatives like the light rail and historic preservation. He is also running proudly as a local entrepreneur and ranking member of one of the largest and most secretive fraternal organizations.
“People said, ‘When you run, don’t tell them you’re a freemason. Don’t tell them you’re a Grand Master.’ I’m proud to be the Grand Master of the state of Arizona,” Seay said. “I’m proud to be a mason. Don’t take that away from me.”
He is a 33rd degree master mason in Arizona, a leadership role which he believes prepared him for the responsibilities of mayor. Seay was recently re-elected into the position, with a full title of Most Honorable Grand Master of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Arizona.
“I was made a mason in 2005 and became Grand Master in 2016,” Seay said. “I came from the lowest point to the highest point in 11 years. Masonry changed me completely.”
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Seay is a Chicago native who moved to Phoenix to start a multitude of small businesses, including a bar and club, a trucking company, and several nonprofits, he said. Seay also said he travels the country teaching free business classes and asks attendees only that they pass what they’ve learned on to others.
As mayor, Seay said his primary focus will be economic development of the city.
He said he seeks to achieve this through modernizing public transit infrastructure by raising the light rail from the ground, similar to the ‘L’ Train in Chicago, and expanding the network out to casinos and other distant districts of Phoenix.
Seay is hopeful this will create jobs and stimulate spending within city limits.
Seay has also expressed support for historic preservation in downtown Phoenix, and aims to maintain the growth of Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus.
He also supports paying off the pension deficit by shortening the payment timeline from 30 years to 25 or 20 years, with the goal of reducing the interest cost to the city.
In Phoenix, the mayor acts as a member of the city council, working in tandem with the city manager. Seay criticized the potential for increased partisanship of this system, since the mayor must have the cooperation of city council to effectively legislate. Seay said he would work to create greater solidarity among the office of the mayor and the city council.
“The mayor should run the city … and you’ve got to allow him to do that,” said Seay. “We can turn Phoenix into the next ‘it’ city … but it’ll never happen until someone gets in there that’s a humanitarian, a visionary, a person that knows business and that takes care of business.”
Contact the reporter at Dylan.Simard@asu.edu.
