KJZZ Here and Now Weblog

Here and Now - Luke AFB and the F35, The Future of Civic Leadership

Here and Now - The Arizona We Want / NAU President

When it comes to making tough decisions, Arizona is not a leader. But we're not alone. Whether it's in Washington D.C. or Sacramento California, elected leaders have a hard time making decisions that may create some temporary pain, but are in the best interest of the people they serve in the long run.

Case in point. Upon taking office in 2003, Former Governor Janet Napolitano formed a blue ribbon task force of the state's top business leaders in an effort to reform the state's fiscal system. The Citizens Finance Review Commission sorted through mounds of economic data and listened to all sorts of people before issuing its recommendations. The report, which you can read here, was expected to be released in time for the legislative session starting in January 2004.

It wasn't. Despite all the hard work by dozens of people, it was quietly released and destined to sit on a shelve to gather dust. Why? Because Napolitano was smart. She knew there was not the political will to fundamentally reform our tax structure. She also knew that to suggest one of the key recommendations -- broadening the state sales tax to include services while reducing the overall sales tax rate-- would be political suicide. And for a political party that had not held the Governor's office since 1991, it was too much to risk.

I can only wonder if the state's $1.5 billion budget deficit would be smaller if we had elected leaders willing to make the difficult decisions instead of pandering to special interests and their dozens of lobbyists at the state capitol. The same is true of Washington D.C. But I digress.

Now, the Center for the Future of Arizona has a new report out that hopes to push the state in the right direction. It commissioned the Gallup Poll to survey if Arizonans care about their communities and what they'd like to see done about the issues they care about. You can read the report here.

Wednesday, former ASU President Lattie Coor, who heads the Center for the Future of Arizona, joins retired Pinnacle West (parent company of APS) CEO Bill Post on Here and Now to talk about the report, what it means, and how it can be put into action.

Post, by the way, co-chaired the Citizen's Finance Review Commission. It'll be interesting to see if this report will suffer the same fate.

Host Steve Goldstein will also talk with NAU president John Haeger about his university's sustainability efforts and how its addressing record enrollment.

Here an Now - Valley Growth and Alzheimer's and Hearing Research

Grady Gammage Jr is one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met when it comes to growth. He can foresee problems long before the average policy wonk. Jon Talton may have left Phoenix a couple years ago to live where the sun doesn't sun...no not there...jeez. Seatte. But that hasn't stopped him from dissecting what ills the valley. He's harped on the so called "Real Estate Industrial Complex' for years as the 'Darth Vader' of Arizona's economy. Turns out there was something to the dark side afterall. Arizona's economy has tanked, and many economists point to the state's overreliance on growth and development as the one reason the Grand Canyon state is in a bigger hole that most states. We'll find out what both think about Arizona's economy, development, and what it will take to get us out of this mess.

Also, doctors from TGEN and the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium discuss the latest work to help improve memory and hearing loss.


Your questions and comments are welcome!

Here and Now: Megapolitan

How does Arizona keep temperatures from rising and water from declining as the cities of Phoenix and Tucson move closer to becoming one of the largest 'megapolitans' in the county? Will home construction drive the economy as it has the past 40 years or will technology driven industries finally become the backbone of our economy? Local development attorney Grady Gammage and the Nature Conservancy's Pat Graham discuss what the area could and should look like in the future. Have a question or comment? Post it below. If you don't see your comment appear right away that's because comments are moderated to prevent unwanted spam.