Here's Part 3 of the wide ranging, five-part interview with Chandler, Arizona City Councilmember
Trinity Donovan which took place on November 16, 2006.
(Other portions of this transcript can be located under the corresponding date heading,
here.)
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Geo: One of the things that property owners have been dealing with for the past few years here in Chandler is the housing boom – you mentioned that briefly. Obviously, when the property values go up and you end up paying more property taxes, that’s a concern for property owners. However, property taxes are part of the revenue that the city needs to be able to properly function and pay for key infrastructure. There’s some “back-correction” now in some of the housing values after the boom, but it probably won’t back-correct too much and moving forward, we’ll probably continue to see healthy growth with Chandler being built out and with other factors related to the city’s growth. How do you see the long-term impact of the housing boom and property taxes in terms of revenue? What is your take on that – do you have any insights or perspectives as a Councilmember?
TD: Well, one thing we’re going through and taking a look a now is changing our system impact fees. That something that new homeowners, well, the home builders, will have a certain amount of money they have to give Chandler. And that’s passed on to new home buyers. That’s important to be planned into the community as we look at build—out we’re going to be getting less of those impact fees. But now we know more about that as we go through it, as we get closer, what does buildout mean…how many fire stations does that look like as we find out how many more houses are going to be there. How much open space needs to be there? What kind of amenities, how many police do we need to have?
You know, it’s been exciting that we just opened up our first sub-station in West Chandler and then broke ground for the one in South Chandler. Which, while the bricks and mortar of that can be expensive, that allows us to really have police out in the community and be able to respond quicker. As I was driving to the one in South Chandler – with construction of course – it can take a long time to get to the very south of Chandler or to West Chandler.
It’s looking at really knowing what we need, to be able to put a price on those things and not then live our year-to-year budget and just decide that we didn’t have this paid for – didn’t have growth pay for itself as much as possible.
Geo: That’s the major new development going on, slated I guess for 2007, that’s going to include the police substation, with a large park, a biking park --
TD: Yes, and wetlands.
Geo: Right, wetlands.
TD: That’s at Lindsey and Chandler Heights. And the ground breaking just happened two weeks ago – the 9th. That also shows that the planning is important because of the partnerships on this land. Instead of just building a police substation, we’re going to look at how we use it for police, for public works – because it’s water recharge – and for parks & rec to make it an amenity that everyone can use. And those partnerships between departments, like the partnerships we talked about before with the schools, really help to use our resources wisely.
With the substation in West Chandler - it’s at Desert Breeze Park – a police and a fire station as well. So, merging those together and using that land that we have, really, I think saves money and creates synergies within departments so that Chandler can be working together for what’s best for Chandler.
You mentioned the property taxes, I think it’s important that when we look at the budget, what is the budget that we need for Chandler to be a healthy place, a place where people want to stay? There are other communities surrounding us that have had problems with their budget. Losing money, having to cut down. There are parks now that are closed, the library closing on more restricted hours. To spend all that money on the bricks and mortar, to create a park that can cost a lot of money and then have it just close really wasn’t a good use of taxpayer money and community resources. So those property taxes have to be balanced looking at what are the needs and how do we get that revenue.
We can’t just rely on property taxes and that’s why diversification of employment and retail is important. It’s nice to have convenience of places that people know they want to shop at and they’re familiar with – and it’s good to keep Chandler resident dollars in Chandler with our sales tax – but we want to be able to take sales tax money from people who live in surrounding areas as well. Having a store that they have in their own community isn’t going to be what drives them to come shop here and help pay for our quality of life. But it’s those places like Downtown Chandler that has some potential and is doing some good things. It’s also looking at other areas. Places that are near the freeway where it’s convenient for people. What makes Chandler special? Why do people who don’t live here want to come in? So that balance of convenience, uniqueness and diversity is important, so we don’t have to just rely on our property taxes.
And we won’t have to do that. We have good sales revenue from places like the Mall – and other places, but that’s a large retail center. But there are many more that are helping to support us. And then there are those industry partners, as well.
Geo: I was fascinated by your campaign and have some questions I’d like to ask you about it, but two very quick questions about your service on council first. What is different, if anything, now that you’re in the role, than what you may have perceived when you were running or before you conceived of running for Council? How has your perspective developed?
TD: Well, I’ve lived in Chandler for 21 years and have a pretty good knowledge of Chandler. But I continue to learn more and more about Chandler and appreciate having this role where people can come to me to let mw know what their concerns are or what they really want to see supported. Being on Council is not for someone who wants to be liked by 100% of the population because there are always going to be people on two sides of the vote that has to be made – or both sides of the vote. Really, how do we work as a community or work with the perspectives of those who have a vested interest in Chandler, who are living here, who are helping to support our quality of life, so that we can have the best community possible and keep improving our community instead of having to regress back into the things like closing parks or the library.
Geo: Has there been anything in the past couple of months – two or three months – since you’ve been on the Council that you’ve said “Wow, that was totally different than what I thought, looking as an outsider”?
TD: I definitely have gained more respect for all people who are in elected positions, In the insight of – you know, many people who come with frustrations, it’s just they don’t feel like they’ve been listened to by anyone, so they take it out on me. And I think it’s important that it’s not about me, it’s about this issue that hasn’t been resolved for them. So it’s important that I don’t take personally the attack that I may get, but really look at what is the issue that they’re dealing with and how do we work on that issue. That has definitely been something, for all elected officials whether I agree with them or not, I do respect them more being in the position now.
And I’d say one thing that is a surprise to me is the amount of reading that, the packets I get each week, from the agendas, of course. But then, all of the other things that are coming to us: memos from staff to keep us informed, emails about different things (and we get copies of emails that are given to all of the Council members, not just ourselves), to the invitations to events happening in Chandler, publications that come. I get hefty packets to read each week.
Geo: It’s said that this is ostensibly a “part-time job”. But I’ve heard other people that, you know, you go into a position like this and it can well become consuming. How many hours a week – or, let’s say, on a monthly basis – has been your experience so far as you are going through this learning curve?
TD: It’s hard…I think I purposely haven’t really looked at ho mmany hours, because it is quite a few. The meetings that we have, of course, are typically four meetings a month: two strategy sessions and two Council meetings. They start at seven and they can go for as long or as short as the business allows them to. But then the Executive Sessions and meetings with others – we’ll be meeting with Planning and Zoning tonight, we met with Tempe City Council earlier this week, And then meeting with residents that want to talk about issues. Developers who have projects that are coming before us and want to ensure that we don’t have any questions. And all the grand opening events or other events and then plus the reading and background information.
I guess I could look at my schedule (laughs) and say “this week”… I mean, there are some Saturdays where I say “Okay, I went to four events for Council this Saturday.” Thankfully, there are two things that help. It is a lot of work, but two things that are important in helping me feel not overwhelmed. One is that I’m enjoying it, so the events I get to go to, while it may be that my Saturday is consumed by events for the City, it’s things that I’m happy to be a part of and to see what’s going on and to be a part of Chandler.
And then, it’s been good in that my job at United Way is flexible, in that I may have a meeting that starts at seven in the morning for United Way or ends at seven at night. Because of that, I don’t have an 8-to-5 schedule and can then be able to meet in the day if that’s most convenient for others and not have to work around a strict 8-to-5 schedule. So that flexibility has helped me in this position as well.
Geo: Has it taken more time to run for office or to actually serve in office?
TD: Yeah, I think that the campaign was definitely a good primer for the amount of time it would take. When I was campaigning, everyone wanted to understand who I was at this time before they voted for me. And now that I’m in office, people come when their issues arise. I was walking neighborhoods, it was about 14 to 15 hours per weekend, plus meetings at night and then meeting with different people to answer their questions, calling people. It felt like the campaign was more hours in a concentrated amount of time but then there are weeks being elected that, some weeks have more hours devoted towards Council than others.
Geo: What kind of media focus are you seeing now as a Councilmember? Do you find journalists maintaining an interest in your individual involvement or is it more interest in the Council as collective?
TD: I think it could be that if I raise issues or if I create controversy, then there would be more attention devoted to me solely. I think it typically is the Council as a whole and then what’s divergent among Council may be brought up. But then, there are things like…I cut my hair for “Locks of Love” recently. The San Tan Sun saw me, so they took a picture of me. So there are things like that where, you know, that wouldn’t have happened…(laughing)…it’s not something that they would have covered before. Or, it’s a community paper, so perhaps. But I want to say that it’s really not about me, personally, and more about the Council when I think of that, for instance.
Geo: Speaking of your campaign, one of the things I was amazed by – and I don’t know if this speaks more to my cynicism or jaded attitude, having seen a number of campaigns, but – the Council race is non-partisan. But there’s clearly a sub-text there or an undercurrent of some factionalism and partisanship. So I was amazed by the fact that you had strong support and endorsement across the board - in community organizations, members of the Council. I could not find a single person that had anything even neutral to say about you, much less negative. And so I thought “Who is this angel who is running for City Council?”
TD: (Laughs) And what’s wrong with her that we don’t know about!?
Geo: Exactly! Where’s the…you know! To what do you attribute – and this is a softball question, but I’m sincerely curious – to what do you attribute that when there’s obviously, I mean, this is politics.
TD: I didn’t get endorsements from the Council until after the first election. Or endorsements from many others, actually. The first election, there were seven of us running. Bob Caccamo was the incumbent and he got in straight out and I was the top person moving into the runoff election. At that point is when I saw a lot of the organizations and more established people giving me their endorsements. I had the endorsement of the Arizona Republic before and that was something that I was pleased about. Because there are some endorsements that are political and organizations endorsing people for political reasons or “who can win” or “who likes this person”, perhaps. But the Arizona Republic, getting that, there was nothing I could have done to “bribe” them or…(laughs)
Geo: Exactly, no "zoning for their warehouse in Phoenix", for example.
TD: Exactly. But I do think what contributed to me getting the endorsement of the Arizona Republic is that they had known me at ICAN, they had reported on the work I had done in the community and had a relationship with me. And that was interesting for me, too, because, typically the papers would come to me when they wanted a good story. Heartfelt, good quote. And now I was going into the political world, so now it’s…(laughing) I have to be a “bad person” if I’m in politics so “what can we uncover about her”. So I was wondering how my relationship with the media would change and it’s been good, so far, and it was good during the campaign, I think, too. Again, I think it wasn’t what I did during the campaign but it was about what I’d done before I campaigned that got me the Arizona Republic endorsement.
And I think getting the endorsements from all of the Councilmembers, while they disagreed – and of course the media liked to portray that, too – and there was a four-three split. I had known each of them previously, mainly through my work at ICAN, being in Downtown Chandler I needed to know the Council members. So I had the relationships, I had known some better than others, but I had known each of them on some level. It wasn’t about me coming as a person who would be on a side, but instead it would be me coming to work with everyone. And it’s not about agreeing, but it’s about being respectful as we do what we think is right for Chandler, which may be different than what someone next to me or what someone else on the dais thinks is right.
And I think in getting all of the endorsements, it wasn’t “I’ll endorse you if you’ll be in my camp”. As we look at what has happened on Council since Jeff and I have gotten on, I don’t think it’s something that the two of us have done, but two new people mean a new start. So people in my perspective are getting along. Many of the votes – there was someone in the Chandler Independent “Speak Out” after our second meeting about people who supposedly were on one side were splitting and voting yes and no on one of these issues. I don’t think that was because the Council had changed. Those kind of things were happening before, as well. But there’s a new calmness, I think, of “okay, let’s work together”.
At least, that’s how I perceive it. What’s going on behind the scenes, maybe I don’t know, but I‘m treated with respect by everyone there and I give respect to everyone there.
Geo: Well, it’s outstanding. I really appreciate that you, as an elected official, are doing that. As I said earlier, I was covering a lot about the “Gang of Four” talk and the Pentz issue and the elections and so forth. The one thing that stood out to me, head and shoulders above all of that, I guess you might say, negative aspect of the race, was the solidity of the support and endorsements of one candidate in the race, namely yourself. And I thought, “when does that ever happen?” You know, when do people ever set aside their factionalisms and their preferences and their undercurrent of politics and get behind one person?
TD: I think when you create a relationship with someone, and it doesn’t have to be deep or long-lasting, but when you know a person and who they are, it’s harder to demonize them. And I think, being a local elected official, people come up to me in the stores, I see people when I’m out and about, whereas people on a national level, we don’t necessarily know them as much and it can be easier, I think, to demonize them than it is the locals. But because I knew the Council members and talked with them and was willing to talk to them all, it’s harder to be against someone based on things that you hear from others instead of who they really are.
Geo: You said you worked with ICAN for a couple of summers and then you became the CEO. How do you make that kind of jump from being a summer volunteer to becoming the CEO of an organization?
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To be continued later in Part 4 of 5!Labels: Chandler, Council, Donovan, interview, Trinity
