By Phil Gordon

Mayor, City of Phoenix

    This nation is at an economic crossroad. But I’m an optimist. For me, no glass is ever half empty. I know, before this new year is old, the pendulum will start swinging back. I have great faith in this new administration, and the smart choices they are already making. And I know that, in Phoenix, we always work our way through even the most difficult of challenges.

    We’ll work our way through this one too. And we’ll do it with jobs. That will be my focus in 2009. Everything I do will be measured against the creation of jobs. If you want to get on my schedule quickly, make the meeting about jobs. If you want your phone call or e-mail to reach the top of the stack, make it about jobs. If there’s an item on the Council agenda, it should be note the item’s impact on jobs. For me—in this year—it all begins and ends with jobs.

 

Unfortunately, at the city of Phoenix, for the first time, we have begun the layoffs that we’ve tried so hard to avoid. We’re not just eliminating vacant positions. We’re saying “goodbye” to real people. Good people. People who have served this community well. People with families, mortgages and, for now, an uncertain future. We have cut $125 million in our last 6 budgets, and this year alone, we’ve more than doubled that figure with $270 million in additional reductions.

    Every cut has been difficult. Every cut has been painful. There’s no more travel budgets to cut. No more office supply funds to cut. No more Electric Light Parades to cut. Every future dollar that is cut will be either in additional personnel, or in programs that people rely on. Someone asked me about “non-essential programs.” Well, whether it’s a swimming pool, a senior center or an after-school program, every program is the most important thing in someone’s life.

    We simply cannot continue to cut and still have the kind of community that we want to have. The kind of community that we’ve worked so hard to achieve. After all, the Federal government can “deficit spend,” print more money and borrow from China. The state can delegate its responsibilities to the cities, usually without providing funding. But the cities can do none of those things. We can’t print money, and there’s no level of government below us to delegate anything to.

    We cannot pass the buck. The buck, literally, stops at cities. But, especially in Phoenix, we’re up to the challenge. Together, smartly, we can get this economy back on track.

Mayor Phil Gordon can be reached at mayor.gordon@phoenix.gov or 602-262-7111.