Not Randy Rowse

I disagree with The Independent‘s endorsement of Randy Rowse. Recall that Rowse’s original appointment to City Council was the result of a messy process and was the product of extremist views on the council and at the behest of right-leaning activism. As usual, the liberal left on the council was agreeable to negotiate; the acerbic right wing would not negotiate.

Self-serving Rowse had served “his” community in the appointed position of the very narrowly focused Downtown Parking Committee, which was really pretty much a beneficiary of an easy slush fund of property tax diversions, otherwise known as the Redevelopment Agency.

Rowse vigorously supported traffic calming in his busy Mesa neighborhood while simultaneously voting against much-needed traffic calming in other more needy and less-represented neighborhoods.

As Rowse pontificated to approve traffic calming in his own neighborhood, he flashed an M sign and said “Go Mesa.” Congenial? Really, it was insensitive given the context of the times, during an unjust and failed gang injunction that was very costly to city taxpayers.

Given Rowse’s selectivity, or his allegiances, I would not feel confident of Rowse’s deliberations in the entire Mesa-Westside District 2 neighborhoods. Rowse has a less than empathetic trait, something that you should not want for your district or for the city at large.

So, when you select your new District representative, please try to select someone who can represent not only his or her own neighborhood but the entire district as well as all districts within the city.