Arizona Republic, The (Phoenix, AZ) - Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Author: RICHARD KELLEHER , The Republic
Mayor Phil Gordon contradicted himself in his fifth State of the City address in downtown Phoenix last week.
"Too many jobs have been eliminated," Gordon said at the beginning of his speech. "The price of gas is too high. Even an optimist like me cannot ignore it." There you have it. The mayor of Phoenix is declaring a bad economy.
* This on the day the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee released its report stating a half-billion dollars were brought in by the Super Bowl. That doesn't include the April NASCAR race and all of those lucrative spring-training games.
* Less than two weeks before the mayor's speech, Arizona State University announced, "The Arizona Business Conditions Index is edging back to growth territory. The March reading moved up to 49.3 from 46.3. A reading above 50 represents a growing economy."
* The mayor's comments on a bad economy came a day following this report, "NetPro Computing Inc. said its first-quarter revenue grew 32 percent over the same period in 2007."
The mayor did redeem himself after taking shots at Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"We will weather the storm and do it better than most," the mayor said. "People are coming to Phoenix. Very often before they come here, they find employment.
So is it good or bad, Mr. Mayor?
Gordon said he wants Phoenix not to be the nation's fifth-largest city, but the "first global city of the 21st century."
A lofty goal, but as the mayor said of all the economic achievements in the past five years: "None of these happened by accident. We went after them." He believes in his global city for the 21st century. If the mayor can believe in them, so can I.
"Too many jobs have been eliminated," Gordon said at the beginning of his speech. "The price of gas is too high. Even an optimist like me cannot ignore it." There you have it. The mayor of Phoenix is declaring a bad economy.
* This on the day the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee released its report stating a half-billion dollars were brought in by the Super Bowl. That doesn't include the April NASCAR race and all of those lucrative spring-training games.
* Less than two weeks before the mayor's speech, Arizona State University announced, "The Arizona Business Conditions Index is edging back to growth territory. The March reading moved up to 49.3 from 46.3. A reading above 50 represents a growing economy."
* The mayor's comments on a bad economy came a day following this report, "NetPro Computing Inc. said its first-quarter revenue grew 32 percent over the same period in 2007."
The mayor did redeem himself after taking shots at Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"We will weather the storm and do it better than most," the mayor said. "People are coming to Phoenix. Very often before they come here, they find employment.
So is it good or bad, Mr. Mayor?
Gordon said he wants Phoenix not to be the nation's fifth-largest city, but the "first global city of the 21st century."
A lofty goal, but as the mayor said of all the economic achievements in the past five years: "None of these happened by accident. We went after them." He believes in his global city for the 21st century. If the mayor can believe in them, so can I.
