http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/eastvalleyopinions/articles/0207russell0208.html

Vote to combat elitism on Tempe council

Feb. 8, 2006 12:00 AM

"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it."

- Alexander Woollcott

Since a lot of people asked, and a much larger group exists who don't want to know the answer, I'll come out with my own observations on the upcoming election for Tempe City Council.

First, as a general philosophy, I don't think that anyone who expresses an interest in serving on the City Council should be allowed anywhere near City Hall.

Running for City Council seems to me to indicate a deep-seated mental problem on the part of any candidate and their time would be better spent in therapy sessions than in meetings designed to infringe on the rights and pocketbooks of the rest of us.

That being said, the City Council works best when it represents an overview of the community. It should reflect the residents of Tempe as closely as possible, so that every city decision is a cross section of opinion representing the community as a whole.

Currently, our City Council is terribly elitist, antithetical to the growth of an art community - in fact, actively insulting real artists by co-opting "lofts" and subsidizing them for rich phonies instead of sincere artists.

The council is shortsighted in that all older shopping malls become anchors for slums eventually and they want to subsidize them. It is anti-small business by subsidizing major corporations to compete with them in shopping malls. And terribly unrepresentative of the demographics of the city they supposedly represent.

That being said, I have two candidates that I support.

First, Ben Arredondo. Ben has a distinctly different constituency and is close to the community in a way other council people aren't. Despite the fact that 12 years with the elitists have given Ben a tad more arrogance than he should have, his rather unique voice, and the constituents it represents, needs a place on the council.

Second, Corey Woods. He is a voice for nearly half the winter population that has been unheard and disenfranchised too long. ASU is too much of Tempe's culture and civic life not to be allowed a voice on the City Council. Especially now as Mayor Hugh Hallman is exhibiting all the signs of an elitist crackdown on student renters.

In order to make democracy work in Tempe, that voice should be on the City Council.

As to the other three, I have a policy against voting for the lesser of two evils (or in this case the least of three). Voting for an evil is still voting for an evil, less or least.

They represent nothing new, present no constituency that isn't already represented, add nothing except an elitism we don't need.

Rick Russell is the co-author of "Antique Traders Vintage Magazine Price Guide" and can be reached at rick@sangraal-books.com.