Derek Neighbors

Comments (5)

1. Sam Feldman says:

   November 23, 2009 at 5:55 pm

   Sorry for the confusion Derek, I replied to my original post to clarify that I was referring to the cities Sam mentioned, but the comment is awaiting moderation. I understand the council-manager charter, it’s why I brought it up in the first place. Great website, by the way, I like the design a lot. I’ll definitely have to add you to my GoogleReader. Thanks for clarifying my point on DPJ.
2. Derek Neighbors says:

   November 23, 2009 at 6:01 pm

   Whew.. I was having serious crisis of faith in ASU public administration program. Makes sense in full context. Bad commenting layout and too many Sam’s. Apologize if came off overly rude. I have broken filter between mouth/fingers and brain.
3. Sam Feldman says:

   November 23, 2009 at 7:40 pm

   No problem at all, ASU’s MPA is an excellent program, I’d hate for my mistake to be blamed on them.
4. David Bickford says:

   November 23, 2009 at 9:38 pm

   A very interesting post. I had never really thought about the ratio of council members to Phoenix residents, but you’ve shown how atypical it is compared to other major cities and Phoenix’s own suburbs.

   I think there are a few reasons for the unusual ratio:

   1) Phoenix’s rapid growth means that its population has grown faster than its legislative body.

   2) Phoenix has a relatively weak mayor and council and relies on a professional staff for recommendations on most issues.

   3) The Phoenix City Council has always been nominally non-partisan and consensus-based. A small, cohesive council can converge toward positions and solutions more readily than a large, highly partisan one.

   #1 is inevitable in a high-growth environment. There will always be some lag. #2 and #3 serve their purposes, but they also tend to prevent the City Council from considering out-of-left-field ideas that might actually be helpful. As we saw with the recent controversy over the Sky Harbor taxi contract, sometimes council members are too deferential to staff who may have made a mistake.

   As a result, I do think it’s time for the City Council to grow — maybe not to the ratios of all the cites mentioned above, but at least somewhat. More members on the council would also mean smaller districts and less gerrymandering. My district, District 6, joins Ahwatukee with the Biltmore and Arcadia areas via a thin strip running along the Tempe border. It’s a bizarre arrangement put in place in order to avoid splitting District 8 and jeopardizing its minority majority status. If we had smaller districts, South Phoenix African-American and Hispanic voting strength could be preserved without an awkward marriage of the two predominantly white non-Hispanic areas to the north and south.

   Unfortunately, any proposal to enlarge the City Council will probably have to wait for an improved economic climate. With the City’s budget so tight, it’s hard to envision money being available for additional salaries, office space, etc.
5. Matthew Petro » Followers are important too says:

   December 2, 2009 at 8:53 am

   [...] government still represents the people (even if not as well in Phoenix as in other places, as Derek Neighbors points out). Politicians like to get elected and re-elected, so if enough voters want something, they’ll [...]

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