DiCiccio makes politics messy, but city needs him
Editor’s note: This column is part of the series “40 days of Lent, 1 goal: Find common ground with people I’d normally disagree with.”
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio will stop at nothing to deal with the city’s out-of-control pension costs.
DiCiccio is bankrolling a proposed initiative that would end pensions for elected officials, change how pension debt is calculated and force the city to use general surplus to pay down the debt.
Should backers succeed in collecting the necessary roughly 20,000 signatures, the initiative would either be on the August or November ballot — depending on when the mayoral election is scheduled.
This is the latest of DiCiccio’s efforts to impose his fiscal conservative ideals at City Hall that is largely controlled by progressives.
Though pension reform is imperative, I don’t necessarily agree with this particular proposal because it would change the City Charter — its Constitution — strapping city management and elected officials from looking at alternatives.
For years, the veteran councilman has been on a mission to challenge his council colleagues, staffers and residents over city finances. His methods are often boorish, bordering exaggerations or truth-twisting, bullying political rivals and journalists when he disagrees with coverage about him.
For instance, he viciously attacked
Arizona Republic’s reporter Dustin Gardiner when he covered City Hall for doing his job. I defend Gardiner’s journalistic integrity.
At first glance, there is no common ground between the Republican DiCiccio’s views and my own on issues and the kind of people who should lead the city, the state and our nation. He loudly appeals to “Tea party” constituents — and is a build-the-wall-kind of American, a die-hard Trump supporter and buddy of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
But we’re complex and multidimensional human beings capable of looking
past our differences, even those as profound as the ones that divide DiCiccio and me. We can laser-focus on the stuff that connect us.
Thus, DiCiccio is my pick of the week to highlight. I hesitated a bit, especially because of his attacks on journalism. A free press is the cornerstone of our democracy.
But because of that, he’s also the perfect pick to honor freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and our freedom and responsibility to hold the powerful — and each other — accountable.
I appreciate DiCiccio’s resolve to keep sounding the alarm over fiscal responsibility and keeping colleagues and the public focused on protecting taxpayers’ money.
DiCiccio first served on the council from 1994-98 and was appointed in 2009 to fill Greg Stanton’s vacancy representing District 6, which encompasses Ahwatukee, east Phoenix (including the Arcadia district) and northcentral Phoenix (including Biltmore). From the start, DiCiccio has pushed his conservative fiscal discipline to the annoyance of some of his progressive colleagues.
He’s generally against raising taxes, something you’d expect from a conservative, but part of his reasoning caught my attention.
He argued a few years ago that a sales tax hike on food would disproportionately hurt poorer people.
DiCiccio has also been a staunch supporter of police officers. I don’t throw a blanket endorsement of the work of our men and women in blue. But DiCiccio and I agree, for instance, that Phoenix police handled the August Trump rally as best as they could, given the highly polarized tensions at the time.
The Phoenix Police Department recently released its internal investigation, concluding officers could have better communicated before deploying tear gas, pepper balls and foam projectiles to disperse the crowd after the rally ended. Pro-immigrant rights activists refuse to let the issue go, demanding, among other things, that Phoenix ban Trump from using city-owned buildings and police officers.
DiCiccio isn’t wavering and neither am I.
Phoenicians are fortunate to have his conservative voice on the council for the sake of democracy. Sure, his methods are often questionable but democracy is messy.
I find DiCiccio respectful, attentive and willing to talk, though we often disagree. We need more of that — a lot more.