HOW ARE AZ CITIES STACKING UP AGAINST THE ECONOMY?
posted by Melanie Huonker
University of Arizona economist Marshall J. Vest projects Arizona’s economic outlook to rise 45.5 percent by 2015 through personal income, retail sales and employment. That’s a sign for economic prosperity in the future, but how do cities stack up in the economy and job growth now, in 2011?
Friday’s Arizona Week broadcast will address that question with a panel discussion of five mayors reacting to an address by Gov. Jan Brewer at the League of Arizona Cities and Towns Annual Conference as well as discussing their local economic and public policy issues.
Arizona Week most recently confirmed Mayor W.J. “Jim” Lane’s participation in that discussion. A recent editorial in The Arizona Republic written by the mayor illuminates his confidence in Scottsdale’s ability to control the budget amid the financial crisis. Lane is so convinced of his city's ability that he thinks “Washington could learn a thing or two from Scottsdale.”
Others who confirmed for the program earlier this week are Mayor Byron Jackson of Eloy, Mayor Fernando Shipley of Globe, Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers of Avondale and Mayor Sara Presler of Flagstaff.
In early August, Avondale approved an expansion of the Phoenix International Raceway. The City Council said the move would bring new employment and national marketing exposure. Avondale also made a leap to increase small-business productivity through a partnership with Chandler’s Gangplank Collective, a non-profit organization that gets businesses on their feet without having to pay overhead costs.
Other cities like Eloy and Globe are looking to “lock up” to increase local job opportunities. Mayor Jackson told TriValley Central that the city’s four private prisons are good business. Despite high unemployment, Jackson said “the jobs are here.” While, Mayor Shipley was pro-prison for Globe, his city was divided. Added agreements if Globe housed a private prison would have drawn business into the community, Shipley said to TriValley Central.
In Flagstaff, Standard and Poor’s dropped the economic outlook for the city from “stable to “negative.” Despite the drop, Flagstaff sold $15.9 million in general-obligation bonds.
For more on AZ cities’ economic and job outlook and to hear from the mayors of each city, watch Arizona Week this Friday.
