Stanton Continues to Blast Gullett’s Lobbying Ties

Last week, Wes Gullett received a lot of attention for being a lobbyist.  First, he said he would keep stock in his company – something that would have been a ridiculous conflict of interest.  In the end, he finally said that he would give up his lobbying firm if he were elected mayor. 

It was probably his hope, and the hope of the Republic, that would be enough to end the issue.  Not so fast.

Greg Stanton has continued to take Gullett to task for his lobbyist background, this time, calling into question Gullett failing to declare a conflict of interest on votes while he was on the Phoenix Planning Commission.  Here is a great wrap up on this issue.

Lobbying firm or not, can the voters trust Gullett to do the right thing?  He has painted himself as an outsider – but most call him the ultimate insider.  If he has made questionable calls before – what would change when he is setting the agenda?

Phoenix mayoral candidates battle it out on live TV

Phoenix Symphony Hall was the center of the Phoenix political spectrum last night, as 4 of the 6 mayoral candidates took to the stage in a debate sponsored by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and televised live by CBS 5. AZcentral.com has a full recap of the night right here:

Wes Gullett, Claude Mattox, Peggy Neely and Greg Stanton used the live, televised debate Monday to distinguish themselves from each other in the crowded six-way race for mayor.

While there wasn’t a clear winner in the debate, there was a clear difference in ideologies.

I was able to catch the action live and I was impressed with what I saw. It seems as though all of the candidates have an economic plan, although their constant desire to hold up their plan reminded me of something I would see in an infomercial. I have been fortunate enough to see many of the debates that have been held so far and it was interesting to see how the candidates changed what and how they said things once the TV lights came on.

Gullett stumbled through his opening speech and went on a strange diatribe about why he should keep the stock in his company that he earned as a lobbyist if he is elected as mayor. He played right into the hands of his opponents and this image of him defending his stock as a lobbyist will hurt him.

Stanton was constantly fidgeting while speaking and almost looked as though he were dancing at times. He also finally said that he would repeal the food tax, a flip-flop from his usual answer of saying it should be up to voters.

I thought that Claude Mattox came across as strong. While he took the unpopular stand of defending city employees and unions, he made a strong case for why he can be successful as mayor.

I also thought that Peggy Neely did very well. It certainly helped to have Governor Jan Brewer’s endorsement come right before the debate and it only strengthened her claim as the “jobs candidate” in the race. She gave measured, reasonable answers that showed she is ready to reform City Hall. It also helps to have Councilman Sal DiCiccio on your side when saying you can change the dynamics of city government.

What did you think of the debate? Did it change your mind on any candidates? Who won? 

Gullett uses local non-profit name in mailer without permission

Phoenix mayoral candidate Wes Gullett recently sent out a mailer that described his jobs plan and appeared to have an endorsement from local small-business advocate and non-profit group Local First Arizona. There’s just one problem: Local First Arizona never gave Gullett an endorsement and never even gave Gullett’s campaign permission to use Local First Arizona’s name in the mailer. The rest of the story is here at azcentral.com:

Local First Arizona wants to make it clear the group isn’t endorsing anyone in the Phoenix mayoral election.

The non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of local businesses in Arizona is worried the public might get the wrong impression after mayoral candidate Wes Gullett sent tens of thousands of campaign mailers prominently featuring Local First Arizona founder and executive director Kimber Lanning’s photo.

That’s disappointing to hear. Even though Gullett has tried to label himself as an outsider, nobody in the race is more of an insider than Wes. Not only has he been a longtime lobbyist, including representation of union groups like SEIU, his wife was the former chief-of-staff for current Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon. Because of this, Gullett should know better than to use a company’s name on a mailer to insinuate an endorsement without permission from the company. This is the type of mistake you would expect from a political novice like Anna Brennan, not a career lobbyist like Gullett. Hopefully Wes has learned his lesson and now understands that people are watching this mayoral election very closely.