30 September 2024

Q&A Forums for Mesa Mayoral Run-Off Duo Freeman & Smith. . . Seeking Office Inside City Hall (Smith wants his old job back)

There was a run-off since no one candidate garnered a simple majority of 51%

Incumbent City Councilmember Mark Freeman and former Mayor Scott Smith will discuss their vision for Mesa’s future, the critical issues facing the city and respond to questions from the audience.

Mayoral candidates debating twice this week
By Tribune News Staff
Sep 29, 2024
mesa mayor.jpg






Arizona Citizens Clean Elections is hosting a virtual debate for the mayoral candidates at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1. 

To view the debate, go to youtube.com/@AZCCEC. 


Mesa Community College is holding a mayoral forum noon-2 p.m. the next day, Oct. 2, at its library, 1833 W. Southern Ave. 

The forum is sponsored by the Associated Students of Mesa Community College.


RESOLUTION NO. 12241 
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MESA, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, CANVASSING, DECLARING AND ADOPTING THE RESULTS OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION HELD ON JULY 30, 2024

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona, declare the results of the Primary Election, as follows

Section 1: That the total number of ballots cast at the Primary Election, as shown by the poll lists or reported by Maricopa County, was 82,613. 

Section 2: That the votes cast for the candidates for mayor and councilmember seats were as follows : 
Carey Davis 9,909
Mark Freeman 21 ,312  28.7%
28.728.7%
Scott Neely 10,353
Scott Smith 21,633   29.2%.






















29.2
Ryan Winkle 10,964 

Section 5: That the information required by A.R.S. § 16-646(A) is set forth in Exhibit A, attached to this Resolution and incorporated herein by reference, and that this Resolution together with Exhibit A is the City of Mesa's official canvass. 
Passed and Adopted by the City Council of the City of Mesa, Arizona, this 19th day of August, 2024. 
ATTEST: City1il~~ {00534526.2} 

27 September 2024

Duo Candidates for Mesa Mayor To Square=Off in Debate on October 8, 2024

Republic reporter and host of The Briefing, a weekly video showRafael Carranza will moderate the debate.
Rafael covers immigration issues for The Republic and the USA Today Network. 
He has been covering immigrant and border communities since 2009. 
Before joining The Republic, he worked as a foreign correspondent covering the Pope and the Vatican in Rome.

If you have questions you would like to hear answered, email them to martiza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com 
  • The duo were the top two candidates in a crowded primary race. Now they will face off in November.
  • The candidates will discuss many issues, ranging from housing to economic development. 
Questions will come from The Republic and Members of the Public.
The debate will take place just one day before mail-in ballots begin to arrive. Tune in to find out why they think they are right for this role.

Smith, Freeman square off in Arizona Republic debate on Oct. 8. How to watch

Mesa voters will get a close-up view of the direction the two mayoral candidates want to take the city in a forum hosted by The Arizona Republic.
The studio debate will run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m
  • It will be broadcast live on Mesa’s Channel 11 and livestreamed on Mesa’s YouTube account. 
  • It will be available for viewing later on those platforms as well on azcentral.com.
After term-limited Mayor John Giles leaves the post, a new mayor will take the helm of Mesa for the first time in 10 years. 
Councilmember Mark Freeman, who represents the northcentral area of the city is a former 31-year Mesa Fire Captain who served two terms on the Mesa City Council, and Scott Smith, formerly Mesa mayor and Valley Metro, will appear at the forum.
Blogger Notes: Scott Smith resigned from office to get elected as Arizona Governor - where he was defeated by two-term Republican Doug Duce paving the way for John Giles, a personal injury/accident law attorney to take the seat in City Hall 2 years before the next General Election in 2016

RELATED

22 January 2023

HUH??...

2 Big Fish Failed Candidates for Governor Go Downstream Back to Mesa Double-Speak

www.axios.com

Matt Salmon and Scott Smith are considering a run for Mesa mayor 

Jessica Boehm, Jeremy Duda
3 - 4 minutes

"Once-sleepy Mesa has captured the attention of two big-name former politicians.
What's happening:
Former Congressman Matt Salmon and former Mesa Mayor both tell Axios Phoenix they are seriously considering running for mayor of the Valley's largest suburb. Both are Republicans.
Current Mayor John Giles is termed out, leaving the seat open next year.

State of play: Mesa is the 36th-largest city in the country, per census data, with populations bigger than Kansas City and Atlanta.Yes, but: For most of its existence, it was just considered the quiet, conservative sibling of Phoenix.
However, that's changed in the past decade, as the city has invested in public transportation, redeveloped its downtown and added significant employment centers.
The city's next leader will decide whether to continue that trajectory.

< Meet Matt:
Salmon is a former state legislator who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2017. 
  • He was the Republican nominee for governor in 2002 and 
  • Ran in the GOP primary for governor last year before dropping out in June.
Salmon tells Axios Phoenix that Mesa has "moved in a very positive direction" in the last few years but that more needs to be done in terms of economic development, including coordinating with other East Valley cities and improving the downtown and Fiesta Mall areas.
Though he's always held partisan offices and was a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus in Congress, Salmon says he likes the idea of being in a nonpartisan or bipartisan arena.


< Meet Scott: 
Smith served as Mesa's mayor from 2008 to 2014, when he resigned to run for governor - losing to Doug Ducey.

 He then served as CEO of Valley Metro from 2016 until last year.

Smith tells us he believes that many of the positive changes Mesa has experienced over the past several years were byproducts of what he helped start during his previous tenure.

"I feel this need to maybe see that upward motion continue. 

That's got me really seriously considering whether to jump back in or not."



< Meet Mark
✓ Of note: District 1 council member Mark Freeman has been floating the possibility of running for mayor as well.

Freeman is a farmer and former paramedic for the Mesa Fire Department. 

He's served on council since 2017."





4 Mesa mayoral candidates meet in forum @ Eastmark

By Scott Shumaker, Tribune Staff Writer
MAYORAL copy.psd
Encore Conservative Club member David Winstanley reads an audience question at the club’s Mesa mayoral candidate forum last week as candidates, from left, Carey Davis, Scott Neely, Mark Freeman and Ryan Winkle listen. 
Candidate Scott Smith canceled his appearance due to illness.

No comments:

Editorial cartoons

  New York Daily News 2 hours ago Search inside image Bramhall cartoons for Sept. 2024