On Tuesday, I attended the kick off lunch of the Scottsdale Economic Growth Association. Former State Senator Ed Phillips heads up the group and Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane was the keynote speaker. So far that sounds pretty normal but...all six Scottsdale Council Members attended-- together...in the same room...at the same time. You may recall that there is a certain amount of, shall we say "tension" on the Council so it was great to see them all together.
Frankly, I think the Scottsdale political and business community is looking for a little detente. You will recall that the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce got in some hot water by taking sides in the last Council and Mayor race--not only were the contributions arguably illegal, but the chamber backed the losing Mayoral candidate. Scottsdale has since dropped its Chamber membership and tensions are running high. To further compound the problem, the Scottsdale Area Chamber has announced that this year it will once again endorse candidates in the upcoming Council election.
If anyone can defuse the situation it would be Ed Phillips. Ed was in the Senate when I was in the House and we both represented Districts that included Scottsdale. Ed's a social moderate and fiscal conservative which puts him more in the Libertarian camp. Under his leadership it's likely that SEGA would push for broad-based economic development--lower taxes, less spending, less regulation, and avoid the incentives race that has been in vogue (with disastrous consequences) for the last decade or so.
Since Ed and I have known each other for nearly 20 years, I offered to help in any way that I could with his initial meeting. In addition to his media, flying and politics, Ed works as a career coach, so I was confident that he would have a position commensurate with my talents. So I said "Ed, buddy, you have a fine appreciation for talent and you have known me for 20 years...what can I do to help?" He responded "name tags---you can type the name tags."
Oh well, I guess he actually does have a pretty good ability to assess talent. I must say the my decision to go with 46 point Verdana was inspired. They were the hit of the lunch--OK maybe not.
I'll be interested to see how SEGA grows in the upcoming year. Send Ed an email. edphillips@cox.net He's looking for Board Level Members and if your company is looking to plug into Scottsdale without taking sides in the Hatfield/McCoy history, this might be just the place.
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