Mr. Smith, I thank you for answering all of the questions (well, all of the serious questions anyway) that have been posed here. I have another question about something that has been concerning me. In another thread, someone made note of a Washington Post article that actually painted Maricopa as a ghost town full of foreclosed and empty houses. That's obviously an extreme exaggeration, but there's a grain of truth that can be seen by just looking at the number of foreclosed and empty houses within the subdivisions here. I know that in my own subdivision, there are multiple ones on most blocks (and some folks are saying that MOST of the houses on their blocks are empty).

In response to one of the posts on this thread, you noted there are actually new housing starts. This is actually quite alarming to me rather than being a source of comfort. I'm concerned that we're adding new subdivisions when the ones we already have are obviously rife with foreclosures and vacancies (one needs to just look out their window to see the truth of this...)--a situation that can't be good for our neighborhoods and property values. I'm also considering the fact that in the current Phoenix area real estate market, the supply of available houses has outpaced the demand to the point where we'd need several months of heavy buying--the better part of a year I believe--before housing demand is anywhere near supply in the valley. And this gap seems to be widening rather than closing. 

It seems that given this situation, building more houses when we obviously can't fill the ones we have would be absolute suicide--making it much harder to fill the vast number of houses that are already empty within the existing subdivisions. It's going to be hard enough to fill those homes, given that unlike the situation a couple of years ago, there's now a massive supply of available, relatively low-cost homes closer to where most people work (a big concern to many especially given the price of gas).  Do you plan to control/limit the number of new housing permits, or let the building run rampant for the sake of revenue.  I'm concerned that the latter approach would have pretty devastating effects on property values--and directly on the neighborhoods (given all the bad things that can happen to/within vacant homes).

Mr. Smith I have two reaons to not vote for you.  I'm sorry to have to use such filthy language on this website but the reasons are:  You're Mormon and you're a Republican.  Sorry, but the truth must be told!!

AZ Dreaming, is this really the forum for that? The purpose of this thread is to ask questions of Mr. Smith for those of us who want to know how he would address the issues in order to decide how we want to vote. Your post is really nothing more than an attack (not to mention a demonstration of your own religious bigotry), given that your mind is already made up.

To Cliffin AZ, the two reasons I gave for not voting for him may seem  like immature name calling, but in actually the fact that he is both of these tells 'A LOT' about a candidate and how they will look at problelms and what their solutions will be.  He is a product of his envirornment and beliefs.  In essence he is a very right wing conservative.  I am a liberal democrat.  Thus, I would never vote for him.

I rest my case.

Aaah CliffinAZ, but I DO have a right to post here just like you do.  You may not like my opinion(s) but they are just as relevent to me as your's are to you.  Please keep posting your thoughts and opinions and I shall continue to post mine.  (I believe it is called "Freedom of Speech"

I'm not saying that you don't have a right to post.  I'm responding that what you said "might seem like name calling" is, in fact, clearly nothing other than name calling, in that it serves no other purpose (except letting Mr. Smith know that you won't vote for him)--certainly not the purpose of the thread, which is to determine Mr. Smith's positions on different issues.  And call it what you want, in my opinion the part about religion (not the part about political affiliation) is plain, simple bigotry.  It's absolutely every bit as closed-minded and ugly as racism or any other type of group prejudice.  

Sorry to hijack the thread here folks, but as someone coming from a religion with a history of persecution, this sort of thing really bugs me.

Drummer, what if Godsey is a Republican too? Will you not vote at all then? Either way you are going to be affected by this big decision--one of these two candidates WILL be the next mayor, so don't you want to make the choice that will be best for the city (and you)? You can either take the less effortful (and in my opinion juvenile) route of looking for a label, or take the more responsible and much less lazy approach of finding out where they stand on specific issues that are going to impact you as a Maricopa resident. The choice is yours.

The way I see it, No it doesn't matter. I think that people looking down political lines to place their vote are no better then sheep going where ever the shepard leads.

What matters most is that the JOB gets done. Republican or Dem matters not...

I want the City to benifit from the person that is going to do the "RIGHT" thing for the people...not the political party!

My Response to your question has been provided by Pinal Energy's Plant Manager:

The Pinal Energy plant’s size is considered average size for the industry. The vast majority of plants build in the last 4 years are 40-50 million gallons per year.  From a geographic standpoint, it is the only facility in the state, and the largest ethanol production facility in New Mexico , Arizona , and California .

Economically speaking the impacts of a local ethanol plant are primarily realized through the increase in local employment and increased tax base.  Pinal Energy has added 45 direct jobs created approximately 70 additional indirect and induced jobs in this area.  The ethanol plant’s has had zero economic incentives provided by the state, county, or city.  It’s property taxes will be over $$500,000/year to the City of Maricopa .  

I'm with you here Sinbad--I think that blind party affiliation leads many of us down the path of utter laziness, which is to say mindlessly voting down the party line, without bothering to invest the effort or thought that would otherwise be required to actually research the candidate's records and stances on specific issues. It's truly the least responsible form of voting, but unfortunately so typical of the majority in this country. The "sheep" you refer to become that way through their lack of willingness to invest any real effort in the political process by actually learning in depth about the candidates--or for that matter really learning anything substantive beyond the political party to which candidates belong.   I think that such an important process as voting deserves a little more effort than that--particularly when the stakes are as high as they are in this upcoming election.  What happens in this one can hugely affect the future of this town (not to mention the property values of anyone who owns a house here).

 Lurky Loo, I was thinking the same thing....

Tony, thanks for looking into the question for me. Drummer, I think he has shown that he's willing to admit when he doesn't know something (which is saying a lot about a man) and is willing to research an answer rather than giving incorrect information.