Valley Cities Work Together....Sometimes
New Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton this week called for Valley cities to work together…saying the metro area would sink or swim as a region. As KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports, that sentiment is shared by the leaders of other Valley cities….to a point.
MARK BRODIE: One issue on which cities often collaborate is transportation. Phoenix Councilman Jim Waring says residents don’t care which side of a city line they’re on…they want to be able to get where they’re going. The former state senator says he’s glad municipalities are working together on that issue.
JIM WARING: "It used to drive me crazy the way the cities would scramble to give away the store to get something on one side of the street or another. I hope we’re past those days, I think we are. You know, some of the deals we saw struck and so forth just didn’t make any kind of economic sense from a taxpayer perspective."
MARK BRODIE: Waring says public safety is another area in which Valley cities are teaming up. Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane agrees that issues like transportation are ones of common interest and common use. But, he says there are some issues on which he’d rather his city go it alone.
JIM LANE: "Sometimes, we cross over in areas, and the uniqueness of Scottsdale, we like to believe in our brand, and frankly, our reputation, and sometimes we are a bit protective about making sure that we’re selling and using our particular style of governing, and of life in Scottsdale to our advantages, and not to dilute it, or to necessarily pass it off."
MARK BRODIE: Lane says that’s especially true of land use issues.
