Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Mayor-elect Greg Stanton met Thursday for “Phoenix in Transition,” a public discussion on the future of the city.
The event, held at the Herberger Theater Center, was a talk-show style event hosted by The Valley Leadership Community Dialogue Series, in which both the mayor and mayor-elect shared his reflections and plans. Stanton was also able to answer questions from audience members and Facebook friends.
“I think it went fine and I was honored to share the stage with Mayor Gordon,” Stanton said. “He’s got big shoes for me to fill but we’re going to work closely together, and the evening demonstrated that well.”
Many topics were addressed in the discussion including sustainability, job creation, education, pensions and government transparency.
Stanton talked about his plans for growing local businesses rather than bringing in large corporations to create jobs.
“What you want to do is create the quality of life that makes entrepreneurs want to create new companies here and thus create new jobs,” he said. “In Phoenix, despite what you’ve heard, we want jobs, we want tourism and we value diversity and view it as an economic benefit in the long run.”
Although Stanton advocated for a “one city, one neighborhood” approach, he also said he wants to focus on downtown.
“If you’re a mayor that is a strong supporter and advocate for downtown, the perception is you don’t care about the rest of the city, but it’s simply not the case,” Stanton said. “A champion of downtown supports the rest of the city and the state. Without supporting downtown, things would atrophy and go the other way.”
Stanton put a lot of emphasis on governmental transparency as a whole.
Stanton “talked about transparency at the document level and that’s huge,” Montclair said. “That, to me, will start getting public involvement.”
The event was very high-energy, with both Stanton and Gordon joking with one another throughout the event.
“Mayor Gordon hasn’t driven in eight years, so stay off the roads after Jan. 3,” Stanton joked.
His humor was received with bursts of laughter by the audience.
“Greg’s got the right kind of energy for this city at this time,” said Jeremy Stapleton, co-chair of Environmental Quality Commission. “Hopefully he can be as true in action as he was in rhetoric,” Stapleton said.
Stanton said he will be.
“You’re going to see me be a broken record, a relentless advocate for the city,” Stanton said.
Contact the reporter at kendra.worsnup@asu.edu
