On the Host Committee: Honorable John Giles

Official Statement: "This convening of invited elected officials, business leaders, community activists, and grassroots organizations will focus on strategies to protect, defend, and promote voter rights and access to the ballot box while equipping local leaders with tools to increase civic engagement in their communities." 

www.houstontx.gov

Mayor Sylvester Turner Announces the National Nonpartisan Conversation on Voter Rights

4 - 5 minutes

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Mayor's Office Press Release

Mayor Sylvester Turner Announces the National Nonpartisan Conversation on Voter Rights
Two–Day Event will Take Place in Houston, Texas

September 12, 2022 -- Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner will host the National Nonpartisan Conversation on Voter Rights alongside five leading mayors from across the country, including Michael Hancock (Denver, CO), Acquanetta Warren (Fontana, CA), David Holt (Oklahoma City, OK), Regina Romero (Tucson, AZ), and John Giles (Mesa, AZ).

The invitation-only event will take place from September 19-21, 2022, at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston.

This convening of invited elected officials, business leaders, community activists, and grassroots organizations will focus on strategies to protect, defend, and promote voter rights and access to the ballot box while equipping local leaders with tools to increase civic engagement in their communities.

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31 August 2022

CITY ENGAGEMENT CHARADE ------ Get Ready for one more?

 Hey guys! What's this?? 

✓ PLEASE NOTE

Mesa Council may diminish public comments | | eastvalleytribune.com

www.eastvalleytribune.com › mesa-coun...

Duration: 5:08
Posted: 3 days ago 

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“Municipalities are looking at ways to enhance their citizen engagement  "

Now that's a WHOPPER of a statement!

It is true, however, that some city officials, especially current Hizzoner John Giles admit publicly they have a problem with engaging citizens in government > "a problem" they created to avoid scrutiny and oversight.

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17 February 2016

FYI: The Mayor + The Mesa City Council > Tell Me Again How's That Supposed To Work?

According to The City of Mesa webpage , Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.

Mesa's councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members being elected every two years. The mayor is elected at-large every four years. The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis. The vice mayor is selected by the City Council.

The Mesa City Council believes that its people not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process. 

That's the lip-service out in the public domain [italics for emphasis by your MesaZona blogger].

  Voter Turnout 27.7%

Hello! Mesa! WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Less than 50% of registered voters actually turned out to vote on issues in 2014 and less than 28% turned out to vote for the mayor and City Council members in the last primary election [the same seats to be filled in this year's election]:

Voter Turnout Statistics [from the city clerk's office for 2014]]
Voter Registration 222,290
Ballots Cast 96,646
Voter Turnout 43.5%
Voter Turnout Statistics [in the August 28, 2012 Primary Election Results]
Voter Registration 223,295
Ballots Cast 61,879

✓  BLOGGER INSERT FROM 2020:

The Race for Mayor

Source: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/electionresults/primary2020.aspx

[1] Contest for Mayor received about 97,000 ballots with a Voter Turnout = 34.85% 

[2]  That's about only 1 out of 5 of those who were eligible to vote

12 August 2020

Lop-Sided August 4 Primary Election 2020: Unofficial Results

 

Low Voter Turnout Is Not An Accident - in fact that is what entrenched and generations-old Political Machines are counting on when they can deliver a bloc of votes.
In one Mesa City Council race in District 2 there was a good example of that when one inexperienced candidate was hand-selected by Mayor John Giles - and doused with thousands of dollars in disclosures made in required Campaign Financial Statements - to unseat the incumbent Jeremy Whittaker. That was the closest contest for the Mesa City Council.
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Last Sunday the The Mesa Tribune had this to say:

After his resounding re-election to his second and last full four-year term, Mayor John Giles cherishes the lengthy 10-year opportunity voters have given him to make his hometown better.

Giles on reelection: a chance to make Mesa better

". . .10 years is a long time, Giles said...

In District One, Vice Mayor Mark Freeman, a close Giles ally, won an equally lopsided victory over former mayoral candidate Danny Ray, 10,235-4,696, a 69-31 percent margin.

Giles scored a secondary victory of sorts in District 2, even though he wasn’t on the ballot, when his hand-picked candidate, political novice Julie Spilsbury, coasted to a comfortable victory over Jeremy Whittaker, Giles’ unofficial nemesis, 8,465-6,802, a 55-45 percent margin.

The turnout was uninspiring at nearly 35 percent for mayor and nearly 38 percent for the two council races, . .

(Spilsbury)

said the mayor, City Manager Chris Brady and virtually the entire council called her or texted her, congratulating her on her victory over Whittaker and welcoming her to the council. She will be seated in January.

“I’ve been given leadership qualities by God. I can make things happen,’’ Spilsbury said. . .

Spilsbury has mainly been noted in the past as a school volunteer and said she didn’t know initially that serving on the council was a paid position when she was weighing a bid at elected office.

She said she would like to think that residents voted for her because of her years of building relationships in the community as a mother and a lifelong Mesa resident, but acknowledged the impact of Giles support, saying, “I’m sure that didn’t hurt me.’’

 

 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION GUIDE
Go to this link >> http://mesaaz.gov/residents/get-involved 
As a citizen you can take an active role in shaping Mesa government policies, programs and decisions.

Participating in government can be as simple as voting at each election.

One of the greatest challenges of governance is finding a balance between the interests of the community as a whole and those who have a special stake in a particular issue.
Citizens can help strike that balance by looking for solutions that work for the entire community, not just a small group.
Although participating does not always mean prevailing, it does make government a partnership effort. That's something positive, because when citizens are actively involved in their government, decisions can better reflect the will of the people.