Cheers! We got A GEOO from The Governor > NOW Let's Hear A MEOO from the Mayor!

Gotta respect these two guys in Arizona - one started off cold in the ice cream business and the other made his mark in a personal-injury law office. Governor Doug Ducey beat the pants off ex-Mesa Mayor Scott Smith who lost that race for the governor's office, and John Giles was hand-picked to take Smith's seat here in City Hall. Both have now been in office for one year.
Could it be that the Mesa Mayor and the AZ Governor  have different leadership styles with John Giles choosing to run from behind when it comes to economic opportunities?

Time will tell - most likely they will work together focusing now on the goal of job creation in  "unusually uncertain", slow-growth national and global economic forecasts. Yesterday the governor's newsroom had an announcement:

ACA 2.0 To Amplify Arizona’s Job Creation Efforts

February 8, 2016

Governor’s Economic Opportunity Office To Boost Job Creators Large And Small, Expand Innovation, Help Arizonans Get To Work Easier And Faster

http://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2016/02/aca-20-amplify-arizonas-job-creation-efforts

 

PHOENIX – A stronger focus on data and analytics when it comes to job creation, marketing and regulatory reform is at the heart of legislation introduced today in the Arizona House of Representatives to boost economic development.

Legislation sponsored by Representative Karen Fann will consolidate government offices by establishing the Governor’s Economic Opportunity Office (GEOO) – a one-stop economic development shop that will focus on:

• getting government out of the way of job creators
• provide a direct link between the business community and the workers and capital they need to be successful
• cut down on government overlap to make taxpayer dollars go farther
• create a more unified and effective approach to job attraction and marketing of Arizona.

Readers will note some of the same components in WhatWorksCities [underlined by this blogger for attention and reference]
There are more than a few posts on this blog about that and the struggle the nine-member Leadership Board appears to be having to create the open data portal more than six months after joining.

GEOO will serve as an analytics and strategy team under the Arizona Commerce Authority that will continually analyze:

• how Arizona stacks up against other states,
• identify ways to drive down regulatory and tax burdens, and
• provide real-time data so policy makers and government can move at the speed of business to bring new business to Arizona.

This will help ensure Arizona stays a step ahead of the competition in job attraction and creation.

Notice some other buzzwords in yesterday's press announcement: Ensuring government is open and accountable, and that taxpayer resources are properly spent . . . does the city of Mesa analyze return-on-investment ROI and publish the data and results and the sources?
Your blogger really likes the image to the right for Mesa - readers will note a radiating image generated in all directions.

Just like Mayor John Giles claimed to have created 8,700 jobs here last year, Arizona Republic  reporter Ronald J Hansen published an article  on 03 Feb 2016

Does Ducey deserve credit for jobs in 2015?
Readers are invited to use the underlined link and read what he wrote.