Published Friday, February 22, 2008 in Southeast Valley Opinions of the Arizona Republic as “Let’s see where candidates are getting funds.”
As we approach this year’s city council election we face seven candidates who want to protect neighborhoods, maintain safety, and want quality parks. There’s no bad blood from W-2’s given to the media and little substantive debate over policy—save one issue, property taxes. You won’t hear equally from all candidates because they don’t have equal financial resources—and their web sites and mailers to date have lacked substance. So let’s consider campaign finance and property taxes as one tool to evaluate candidates.
January 31 campaign finance reports reveal important considerations for voters. I primarily look for two things. Outside donors versus those who live in Tempe and developer interests. Why should someone who lives in Oklahoma or Virginia, or even Paradise Valley, if they aren’t a family relation, care enough about who is on the Tempe City Council to give hundreds of dollars to a candidate? Developers have the biggest vested interest, because the council approves their multimillion dollar projects, so more than anyone, a developer’s contribution could be viewed as an investment. If a candidate appears to be actively seeking out developer dollars there is an appearance of pay to play. Read the rest of this entry »