Regional & State Issues
October 7, 2009 - 2:45 PM
Hallman to Chair Vernon Parker Exploratory Committee
Friends, today I announced that I have agreed to serve as Chairman of Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker's Exploratory Committee for Governor. I believe that he would be a terrific choice for Governor and the kind of leadership Arizona needs, should he choose to run. Please take a moment to read the press release on this announcement.
Thanks!
-- Hugh
May 23 , 2009 - 8:40 AM
Merge transit agencies, Tempe mayor urges
From the East Valley Tribune:
Valley Metro, the region's mass-transit agency, has a chief executive, offices with staffers and the mission of getting people who aren't driving where they want to go.
Metro, the agency running the Valley's light-rail system, has a chief executive, offices with staffers and the mission of getting people who aren't driving where they want to go.
It's an unnecessary duplication, according to Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, both a waste of money - perhaps as much as $2.5 million annually - and an inefficient way to best move, on an average weekday, buses with about 220,000 passengers and trains with 34,000.
Read the full article HERE.
May 21 , 2009 - 10:00 AM
Hallman: Proposal to build new ASU Law College wasteful
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman today posted an op-ed on his web site, www.hughhallman.com, criticizing Arizona State University's proposal to move the College of Law to downtown Phoenix and build a new facility.
"Why on earth, when Arizona is in an unprecedented state of fiscal crisis, would we build new facilities to replace these perfectly functional ones? It is exactly the kind of duplicate cost that demonstrates why many Arizonans view education and government spending as wasteful," Hallman wrote.
Read the full text of the op-ed... Microsoft Word PDF
April 30, 2009 - 8:30 AM
"Achieving a new era of fiscal responsibility in Arizona"
A white paper from Hugh Hallman on how Arizona can fix its budget mess...
"Arizona’s fiscal situation is in an unprecedented state of crisis. Budget deficits are skyrocketing as tax revenues plummet. Drastic cuts to budgets are not just being considered, they are necessary. Our Republican governor has even gone so far as to anger her own constituent base by proposing a tax increase. And most recently, the Republican Legislature came out of a long-series of backroom meetings with a plan that would balance the state budget on the backs of school districts, cities and towns — effectively taking money out of our neighborhoods to pay for the state’s failure to plan as cities like mine have had to do all along. All the options on the state’s table are bad, but raiding neighborhoods to balance the state budget is particularly onerous, as is a tax increase. So how did we get here and how do we fix the problem?"
Read the whole paper... Microsoft Word PDF
March 2009East Valley Needs New Trauma Center
The primary responsibility of city and state leaders is public safety. This includes minimizing citizen vulnerability, and in the case of accidents, providing for the rescue and on-scene treatment of the injured, and transport to the nearest hospital able to provide a concomitant response for the level of injury...
Source: Article by Hugh Hallman for Tempe Community Magazine
February 25, 2009Phoenix Halts Unified Rail & Bus Agency In Its Tracks
The Valley's trains and buses are run by two separate agencies. Metro runs the trains. The Regional Public Transit Authority coordinates a network of individual city bus services. And most of the larger cities have their own transit departments. For years, passengers have complained the service is disjointed...
Source: azcentral.com
