District 4 voters get 7 options

District 4 in central Phoenix is one of the city’s most diverse areas, encompassing everything from affluent historic neighborhoods to hip, urban developments and struggling, low-income areas.

And with seven candidates — the most of any district this election — running for the City Council seat, voters have a wide range of choices in their next City Hall representative.

Longtime Councilman Tom Simplot announced in January that he would not seek re-elec-

tion, opening the door for several wellknown Phoenix names and a few new faces.

Most of the candidates agree on challenges facing the district: spurring economic development, filling vacant lots and expanding light rail. They also support equal rights for the gay community, which has a large population in the district.

But they differ on some topics that impact the entire city, including whether to immediately eliminate the city’s emergency food tax.

The candidates are mental-health advocate Jeffrey Brown, Encanto Village Planning Committee Vice Chairman Dan Carroll, veteran Scott Fistler, DJ and event planner Austin Head, Planning Commission member Justin Johnson, former state Sen. David Lujan and Phoenix Union High School District board member Laura Pastor.

Here are two topics where the candidates don’t necessarily agree:

Food tax

The City Council wants to repeal half of Phoenix’s 2 percent food tax in January.

The city created the tax on residents’ grocery bills to help shore up the budget during the recession. If the council does nothing, it will automatically expire on March 31, 2015.

Both Johnson, a small-business owner, and Lujan, a charter-school administrator, want the city to repeal the food tax immediately.

Johnson said the tax unfairly impacts residents with limited means.

“If we empower the private sector, reduce regulations, fund tourism and economic-development efforts, we will increase jobs and revenue, and we won’t need to tax poor people and seniors to pay for it,” he said.

Lujan said the food tax has been around too long and hurts residents.

“The council needs to fulfill the promise they made to the voters and repeal the tax immediately,” he said. “This was to be a temporary tax that would help us in a tough economic time, but it is not a long-term solution.”

But Carroll, a real-estate agent, is not yet ready to repeal the food tax.

“We must see to it that city services are restored to pre-recession levels, first responders are being hired and rankand-file personnel are no longer being furloughed,” Carroll said.

Fistler suggests the city look for outside help to make up for the millions the food tax generates.

“Ask Congress for help, municipal bonds and focus a little more on cost when it comes to city contracts,” he said.

Brown said developers can make up the difference after the tax is repealed.

“I think the revenue shortfall, if there is indeed a revenue shortfall, could be made up by increasing fees to developers,” he said. “I think the city has for far too long given developers carte blanche at City Hall, and this would be a way to make up for any potential shortfall.”

Head supports phasing out the food tax but believes the city should implement a new tax to make up for the $50 million a year the food tax generates.

“I would suggest review and implementation of a modest tax on professional services and real-estate transactions,” he said.

Pastor, a community-college administrator, said she would support early elimination if it doesn’t hurt city services.

“If the city manager can demonstrate that the tax could be phased out earlier with no negative impact on basic city services, our AAA bond rating, or addressing years of deferred infrastructure maintenance, I would consider that option,” she said.

Top priority

The candidates had different ideas about what they consider the city’s highest priority.

Carroll said the city needs to revisit the pension system, which has allowed some public-safety employees to become millionaires.

Lujan wants to focus on development in Maryvale and other underserved areas of west Phoenix.

“I believe we need to work to develop new market tax credits to target areas such as Maryvale for small-business development,” he said.

Brown said the city should restore services for underserved youths and families cut during the economic downturn, such as after-school programs.

Head said the city should make 24hour light-rail service a reality.

Pastor said the city needs to improve public safety.

“We need to hire more police officers,” she said. “While crime rates have fallen in recent years, they are starting to creep up again.”

Fistler also agreed that public safety should be the top priority.

Johnson said it should be economic development.

“That’s how the city generates revenue without raising taxes, and that’s how we pay for the services that are so vitally important to people no matter where they live, or what political party they assign themselves to, if any at all,” he said.