Dissent unseen in city, county (Phoenix & Maricopa Co, AZ)

Dissent unseen in city, county
Little public discussion, voting 99% unanimous

Christina Leonard and Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 8, 2004 12:00 AM

Dissent and disagreement have practically vanished from Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Phoenix City Council public meetings.

An Arizona Republic analysis of thousands of city and county votes shows that the elected leaders voted unanimously 99.8 percent of the time in 2003.

"It's become an invisible government again," said Tom Freestone, who represented the southeast Valley as a supervisor for nearly 15 years. "Whether it's good, bad or indifferent is up to the people."

More at the Arizona Republic

and I haven't known it to be a very politcally active place. Most people seem apolitical, and I doubt anybody knows much of anything about what goes on in local and state politics. I don't even know who the present mayor is.

I wonder what the turnout was for the last council election. But, then, it seems like most people don't have a great deal of connection to the area; Phoenix and the surrounding towns have had a population explosion in the last twenty years or so. Lots of people still move here, even though the economy is somewhat stagnant. Urban sprawl is rampant, and doesn't show signs of stopping.

From what I've experienced, though, people in this area seem to have a live-and-let-live attitude .. aside from the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Things are different in the southern part of the state, with the vigilantes out shooting illegal immigrants trekking through the desert.

I've always wanted to move out of here. It gets unbearably hot, and the whole city seems to be devoid of culture. I'm thinking of moving to Washington or Oregon, though I have no idea what the political situation is in either.

Glad you decided to join in :hi: