Welcome Former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith to the Inside Business Podcast

Scott Smith, Former Mayor of Mesa, joins Mesa Chamber President and CEO Sally Harrison in discussing his vision for the future of Mesa as he runs for Mesa Mayor again.

Listen to the newest episode of our Inside Business Podcast at:

https://mesachamber.podbean.com/e/the-mesa-chamber-welcomes-former-mesa-mayor-scott-smith/

Full Transcript

00;00;00;10 – 00;00;25;00
Kevin
The Mesa Chamber of Commerce Inside Business podcast brings you a unique view of Mesa through its vibrant business community and the subjects that are important. The podcast is produced in the Mesa Chamber of Commerce Media Studio sponsored by the University of Phenix. Our podcast is hosted by Mesa Chamber of Commerce CEO Sally Harrison. Please enjoy this episode of the Mesa Chamber Inside Business Podcast.

00;00;25;02 – 00;00;37;05
Sally
Hi, I’m Sally Harrison, president of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce. And today I have Scott Smith, former mayor of Mesa, who is now running again for that seat joining me. Thank you for being here.

00;00;37;12 – 00;00;42;27
Scott
Thank you for having me. You have the former and hopefully the future. Yes, that’s good. Yes, chef and chef.

00;00;42;27 – 00;00;51;25
Sally
We are planning on that. Yes. Yeah. I appreciate you coming in. I know you’re busy right now, but we have endorsed you. So I want to thank you very.

00;00;51;25 – 00;00;52;12
Scott
Much for that.

00;00;52;12 – 00;01;15;23
Sally
You are welcome. The chamber has put a lot of effort into our process, but I wanted to do a little more deep dive into your campaign and you and what you see in the future for Mesa. So let’s look still a little history. Let’s talk about you. I know you have had a lot of varied background, so let’s hear about it.

00;01;15;23 – 00;01;18;29
Sally
And why are you running for Mesa Mayor again?

00;01;19;02 – 00;01;36;21
Scott
Well, I’ve lived in Mesa for most of my life. I actually grew up in well, was born in Tucson, and I moved to Mesa when I was in the sixth grade because my father became superintendent of schools in Mesa, which he a position he held for 17 years. Mesa was an amazing place to grow up, and I’ve chosen to live here and raise my family.

00;01;36;21 – 00;02;03;07
Scott
So for over 50 years I’ve called Mesa home, started businesses endeavors, done a lot of different things. But I’ve always appreciated what this community has done for me, the opportunities it’s given me, the environment, the culture, and that’s why I’m running. I love the city, I love its people. It’s its history, its culture, what it’s been, and most of all, what it still can become.

00;02;03;07 – 00;02;03;29
Scott
Yeah.

00;02;04;01 – 00;02;16;06
Sally
So talk a little bit more about your actual background. I mean, you’re you have degrees in certain things that I think tie in to why you would be a good mayor, right?

00;02;16;08 – 00;02;16;26
Scott
I hope so.

00;02;16;26 – 00;02;18;23
Sally
I guarantee you’ve run big businesses.

00;02;18;23 – 00;02;46;15
Scott
Throughout my life. You know, I think I got it from my mother more than my father. He was an education, a love of learning. And I learned early on that when you learn and that and knowledge is truly power, when you know things and experienced things, you’re prepared to handle anything. Mm hmm. So I went to college, planning on getting a law degree right out of college because my brother in law had a background in accounting so that he could go to county.

00;02;46;17 – 00;03;07;14
Scott
So I got an undergrad in accounting and went to work for Pricewaterhouse Big at the time, Big Eight accounting firm, and spent four wonderful years there. Mm hmm. I learned so much and learned how to do things right. Mm hmm. Professional manner, which prepared me for everything I’ve done. Yeah. And after that, I went out and wanted to decide whether accounting was my real calling.

00;03;07;17 – 00;03;13;16
Scott
I did other county work for a local firm, did some consulting, did things like that, and never really found my niche.

00;03;13;16 – 00;03;14;06
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;03;14;08 – 00;03;21;15
Scott
And as a matter of fact, I hit the end of the eighties in the first mini Great Recession.

00;03;21;21 – 00;03;22;10
Sally
Uh huh.

00;03;22;13 – 00;03;23;15
Scott
The SNL crisis.

00;03;23;16 – 00;03;23;26
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;03;24;01 – 00;03;46;13
Scott
And through my through my practice, I had developed an expertise in real estate. Mm hmm. And, of course, there’s SNL. Crisis was all about real estate. And so I was faced with a myriad of clients who were having problems, and I developed a dual expertise in Internal Revenue Service workout or offers and compromise. Mm hmm. And in bank work loan workouts.

00;03;46;16 – 00;03;51;00
Scott
So, in other words, my clients couldn’t pay the government and couldn’t pay the banks.

00;03;51;02 – 00;03;53;19
Sally
Hopefully you got paid. No.

00;03;53;21 – 00;04;02;24
Scott
That was the bad business. And I decided at that time I needed not only a change in job, I needed a career change. I had, as I said, I’d originally wanted to go to law school.

00;04;02;25 – 00;04;03;06
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;04;03;13 – 00;04;22;07
Scott
I never did. But at age 37, with three kids and a mortgage, I decided to jump back in and make a big change and go to law school. Wow. I went to law school at ASU, and it was one of the hardest things, but one of the best things I’ve ever done. I never actually ended up practicing law, but that degree and that experience has prepared me.

00;04;22;08 – 00;04;43;27
Scott
So I was a CPA for 24, 25 years. Mm hmm. I have a law degree, and in my businesses, I practiced a lot of law, and so it prepared me for that. Well, one of the things it did is while I was still in law school, I had a client who had been funded by some European money to buy up a resolution trust properties from the sale crisis.

00;04;43;29 – 00;04;59;22
Scott
And he told me, listen, I really need you to work full time. I was I was just consulting a part time basis. I said, you know, I, I will come to work for you, but I but I really need to finish law school because this was good. Yeah. And here’s here’s what I didn’t tell him. I was so poor at the time.

00;04;59;22 – 00;05;19;25
Scott
I couldn’t afford to pay my next year’s tuition. Now, mind you, at this time, issue was pretty cheap. I was paying like $700 a semester to law school. Mm hmm. And I couldn’t afford that. We were really just struggling to get by. And he said, Sure, why not? So I went on full time with this, with this local developer, and he paid my last year’s law school.

00;05;19;27 – 00;05;20;25
Sally
Nice.

00;05;20;27 – 00;05;27;22
Scott
Unfortunately, the people who raise money in Europe, I did some pretty rotten stuff. Before I knew it, the FBI was banging on the door.

00;05;27;23 – 00;05;28;17
Sally
Oh, bummer.

00;05;28;19 – 00;05;43;05
Scott
Yeah. Asking questions. And I, you know, I’m brand new. I didn’t know what was going on. Yeah. But what it did is it led to the fact that the founders and even my friend had to exit the company. I was the CFO, so I became the default CEO.

00;05;43;10 – 00;05;43;24
Sally
Wow.

00;05;43;26 – 00;05;44;29
Scott
That’s how I got into homebuilding.

00;05;44;29 – 00;05;46;12
Sally
I had no idea.

00;05;46;14 – 00;05;46;20
Scott
It’s a.

00;05;46;20 – 00;05;48;19
Sally
Great story. Well, I. A story.

00;05;48;20 – 00;06;10;04
Scott
I went in there because I still hadn’t finished law school, remember? Mm hmm. And the idea was I was going to wind down the company and liquidate it. And I said, Well, I’ve got another semester of law school. So it’s going to be a slow wind down. As it turns out, that was right when the building, the real house homebuilding.

00;06;10;04 – 00;06;10;26
Sally
Boom.

00;06;10;29 – 00;06;33;25
Scott
Another one happened in in Metro Phenix took advantage of that and started building this homebuilding company. So I ended up having the U.S. government as my largest shareholder because those who raised money in Europe forfeited their stock when they were convicted of a felony. Yeah. And five years later, I negotiated with the 600 German shareholders I had in the U.S. government to buy the company.

00;06;33;28 – 00;06;42;15
Scott
Wow. And I bought the homebuilding company and and we ended up growing it from virtually nothing to building over a thousand homes a year.

00;06;42;20 – 00;06;43;18
Sally
Wow.

00;06;43;21 – 00;06;54;14
Scott
And end up getting an offer from a New York Stock Exchange while building company to sell, which I did. That was the first time I retired, and that’s when I ran for mayor first.

00;06;54;16 – 00;06;57;06
Sally
So that would have been how many years ago?

00;06;57;08 – 00;06;59;29
Scott
That was 2008 that I ran for mayor.

00;07;00;02 – 00;07;04;16
Sally
Mm hmm. And you ended up leaving that?

00;07;04;18 – 00;07;22;23
Scott
Mayor Mesa has a two term limit, and we accomplished a lot. And in the middle of my second term, there was a gubernatorial election. Mm hmm. And I looked at it and I talked to others, and I just figured it was a good time to perhaps do something at the state level. Mm hmm. I ran for ran for for governor.

00;07;22;25 – 00;07;24;24
Scott
Had to resign under a state law as.

00;07;24;24 – 00;07;25;17
Sally
Mayor.

00;07;25;20 – 00;07;46;03
Scott
A couple of years early. But we’d accomplished what I’d want to accomplish. And I look at what we were able to do in six years. We navigated the Great Recession, took measure, and we ended up much better off because while we this came from a business experience, while we handled the challenges of the Great Recession, we set the foundation for a better future.

00;07;46;06 – 00;07;58;08
Scott
We kept the Cubs from going to Naples, Florida, brought the Oakland Athletics in. Yeah, we brought we brought Apple computers to Mesa. I’ve never done more national interviews.

00;07;58;11 – 00;07;59;02
Sally
I can imagine.

00;07;59;02 – 00;08;23;03
Scott
Then when Apple came, we hosted the pivotal presidential debate in a Republican 2012. Things that no one ever imagined Mesa, Arizona, would do. And we literally had the greatest economic boom and job growth in the city’s history. And I think it was all because of the way we handled the worst financial crisis we had. And I was proud of that.

00;08;23;03 – 00;08;34;04
Scott
And one of the reasons I’m running now is I, I, I’m very grateful that I was part of laying the foundation for something which I which I believe helped Mesa continue to succeed.

00;08;34;08 – 00;08;35;06
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;08;35;08 – 00;08;38;07
Scott
But there’s still unfinished business. I still want to do stuff.

00;08;38;13 – 00;08;44;26
Sally
Well, let’s talk about that. What are your biggest priorities if you return when you return to the mayor’s office?

00;08;44;29 – 00;09;03;21
Scott
Well, one thing I want to do is, first of all, continuing our upward slope makes us had a lot of good successes. We’ve attracted a lot of investment. In some ways, I think we need to we need to not focus so much on quantity of growth and refocus on quality of growth that happens when you when you get a surge of people moving in.

00;09;03;21 – 00;09;23;08
Scott
And that we just need to remember the things that really made a difference where we are. We’ve we’ve evolved in matured as a city and our residents, I think, have reasonable expectations that when someone invests in Mesa, they’re going to they’re going to invest in quality and things that last more than five years. Yeah, they last five generations.

00;09;23;10 – 00;09;34;22
Scott
I also think that people expect the city to be a a partner facilitator. Mm hmm. Government is really good at regulating, and especially small businesses, people.

00;09;34;22 – 00;09;35;03
Sally
Who.

00;09;35;10 – 00;10;03;04
Scott
Don’t have that expertise. They find it. They find it increasingly difficult to do business. And it pains me when I hear and I have heard a lot of business who tell me Mesa is full of red tape now and it’s getting tougher and tougher. That’s what I believe is one of my top priorities, is to see what we can do to get back to the mode and the culture of service and facilitating success, not regulating that at all.

00;10;03;07 – 00;10;23;23
Sally
Well, so you’re talking my language a love when we talked about business. And I do think that there are some struggles, especially with small businesses, where we’re watching them shut their doors or closing down. So talk about what some of the things that you think the city could do to help small businesses be more successful.

00;10;24;00 – 00;10;44;26
Scott
Well, as I said, a lot of it is cultural. A lot of it is when you walk into the city office to to to file a permit, an application, whatever. What is the attitude you’re met with? Mm hmm. And this is something we can easily change. I know that because we did it before. Mm hmm. And this is where the facilitator regulate insurance companies and others in government are good at starting to know.

00;10;44;28 – 00;11;05;12
Scott
And saying, here, you know, make me go to. Yes. And that’s sort of backwards. Mm hmm. Government should say, okay, what do you want to do? How can I help you succeed? That doesn’t mean we we ignore rules. It doesn’t mean we ignore process. Right. But if the attitude from from the moment a business walks in is I’m going to help you because I’m here to serve you.

00;11;05;15 – 00;11;06;05
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;11;06;08 – 00;11;10;12
Scott
It’s amazing the changes in and the experience.

00;11;10;14 – 00;11;13;10
Sally
The public servants, they’re public servants.

00;11;13;13 – 00;11;36;04
Scott
They’re nothing to be feared. I want people to be able to walk in and say, I want to go see the city of Mason, because I know that there are things I don’t understand, especially from a small business. And they’re going to help me to get through that. We’re not going to do the work for them. But for example, I learned when I was a homebuilder that when you bring a plan in, they will use a red pen to mark all the things that you’ve done wrong.

00;11;36;05 – 00;11;51;07
Scott
Right. And one of the reasons I ran the first time is that we had experience, unfortunately, with the city of Mesa when we brought in a plan and it was we call it bleeding red. There was a lot of problems. It was we went to the planned check and we said, okay, could you explain to me why this is wrong?

00;11;51;10 – 00;12;09;10
Scott
They said, No. What can we do to fix? I can’t tell you that. What? Why not? Well, we’ve been told that we would. We would take on liability. No, no, you tell me it’s wrong. But you can’t tell me the simple thing I need to do to fix it. That just sent me off the edge. And that’s one of the main reasons I ran for mayor.

00;12;09;10 – 00;12;27;13
Scott
I never wanted that to happen. Yeah. So if I do, I have no problem. When a city employee looks at something and says, you know, this doesn’t follow the regulations, building code, whatever it is, and points it out. But I also want the photo to say, listen, you missed this, but if you do this, you should be able to do it.

00;12;27;14 – 00;12;49;03
Scott
Check with your attorney, engineer, whoever it is. But here’s, you know, get people on the on the way to success will find that people are much more likely to walk in and have the city involved, which they have to be sure that if they feel that they’re a gigantic roadblock obstacle. And that’s what I’m hearing way too much of right now.

00;12;49;05 – 00;13;12;28
Scott
So that’s one of the first things I want to look at. And then, of course, public safety. We talk about that. It’s really tough in alleys, police, especially policing. Yeah, Mace has been somewhat fortunate. Knock on wood, that we haven’t had the kind of of shortage. You know, Phenix, I think a seven, 800, 100 7000 officers short. So they’re having a very difficult time.

00;13;13;00 – 00;13;43;25
Scott
Mesa still has a hard time recruiting high quality people, but we’re doing better than others. But I want to really look and see what and offer up to our our especially our police department. What do you need from us as city leaders to ensure that we can we can have a top notch, high quality police and fire department, recruit the and hire the highest quality people, retain them, train, give them the world class training and the equipment and tools and resources they need to succeed.

00;13;43;27 – 00;13;54;23
Sally
That’s great. Well, we have great leadership in our public safety. I think we have the best we’ve had probably and in size city that we’re in. We should demand that.

00;13;54;25 – 00;14;23;23
Scott
I agree with you and I am very impressed with the leadership we have. I think the fact that that and I’m going to knock on wood here, that we have handled challenges and we’ve all has challenges are pleased to announce. But the way I think in which they’ve handled it, especially recently is admirable. Mm hmm. I want to ensure that that that kind of response and that kind of trust that the citizens have in their police department not only continues, but it increases and expands that that’s that’s a goal for it should be a goal for all of us.

00;14;24;01 – 00;14;45;12
Scott
Because if the citizens in that community are not confident or believe they’re safe, nothing else works. But, you know, it all starts with that. And that’s the that’s the city’s primary responsibility, which is why three fourths of our budget is dedicated to police. Fire in the courts is because it is our number one obligation.

00;14;45;12 – 00;14;52;16
Sally
And not everybody talks about courts when they talk about public safety. I think people are missing out on that conversation.

00;14;52;19 – 00;15;14;00
Scott
Exactly. And we have we have a very, very accomplished municipal court system. Others that that other cities come in, emulate, try to emulate. They learn from them. And we need to give them the support to make sure that everybody’s experience with the city, Mesa, especially public safety, is at the highest, most professional level, and that that’s something we should all aspire.

00;15;14;00 – 00;15;35;23
Scott
And it’s our job as a as a as electeds to to encourage innovation. We just don’t give them blank checks. Right. Because because if you give you blank checks, they get they get complacent and complacent. NC has no place in public safety. You always have to be innovative. You always have to be on the cutting edge in our departments.

00;15;35;26 – 00;15;41;03
Scott
Police, fire and courts have been very good at that. I want to make sure we continue that and expand on that.

00;15;41;05 – 00;15;58;08
Sally
I love when you know things get announced and we heard about the veterans court system and then the community court piece coming in. And it’s fun to watch and hear those things and see those things in action and then know that other communities are looking at us saying, Oh, what’s Mesa doing?

00;15;58;13 – 00;16;19;29
Scott
Oh, it part of learning is being innovative. You always you should never feel comfortable where you are. Yeah. And I said, you know, the old saying is, you know, if you’re growing, you’re never comfortable. If you’re comfortable, you’re not growing. Well, I think that that extends and complies with community and with the government, too. We should always be pushing ourselves.

00;16;20;00 – 00;16;30;15
Scott
Now we have a different role than business, but we should always push ourselves to be innovative and find new and better ways of doing things, because that’s how we best serve the public. Yeah.

00;16;30;17 – 00;16;36;27
Sally
All right. So talk about education. I know it’s important to you. How does that fit into your plans as mayor?

00;16;36;29 – 00;16;58;12
Scott
Well, you know, some of my some other my parents even don’t realize the city makes a does not run the school system in Mesa. It’s a very different thing. And we don’t run the the K-12 system. We don’t run the community colleges or the university system. But we are obviously very, very much involved and we are part partners.

00;16;58;14 – 00;17;05;03
Scott
We need to be good partners. And the reason we need to be good partners is really a very self-serving reason.

00;17;05;09 – 00;17;06;16
Sally
We’re forced to.

00;17;06;19 – 00;17;09;19
Scott
Workforce not only workforce, but a qualified.

00;17;09;19 – 00;17;10;20
Sally
Workforce.

00;17;10;23 – 00;17;35;01
Scott
On all levels. And a qualified workforce means you’ll have more investment. When you have more investment, people can grow and stay here. I don’t want people to leave. I tell I told my friends when I explain economic development, especially my my women friends, I said, Listen, I want your grandkids to be able to live in Michigan and not have to go somewhere else to find their to find their career.

00;17;35;05 – 00;18;05;04
Scott
Mm hmm. Their career opportunities. I want them to be able to grow in place. Mm hmm. And you can’t do that without an educated workforce. Right. An educated workforce also creates economic activity, which increases taxes. Which. Which actually hire a more highly educated workforce is creates less demands on public safety. It’s an it attracts the kind of investment that that elevates lifestyle and elevates the quality of life at all levels.

00;18;05;06 – 00;18;26;24
Scott
This isn’t just a rich thing. It’s at all levels. Sure. You know, as a mayor, that’s a win win win proposition. So we should be deeply involved and concerned about the success of our educational institutions. There are for school districts, people don’t realize this that operate in Mesa a lot. There’s a fifth that actually takes in a little chunk, but it doesn’t really operate much.

00;18;26;27 – 00;18;53;08
Scott
We, of course, have it, which I would like to really like to see us expand our technical and vocational training. Mm hmm. Those are the blue collar success stories in the future. And, you know, even in during the depths of the Great Recession in the U.S., we had over 2 million unfilled, unfilled, trained, high, high wage positions, mostly machinists, things like that that aren’t college degree.

00;18;53;08 – 00;19;22;02
Scott
But they need some sort of post-secondary education. We have our community, so we have our two community colleges that operate here in this community in Chandler Gilbert. And then, of course, we have our universities, which we are seeing expanding their presence. And I just want all of our citizens to have that opportunity available. And to know that they can stay in Mesa and get the education they need and want so they can hopefully stay in education in Mesa after they graduate.

00;19;22;08 – 00;19;27;01
Sally
That would be a really good plan for everybody. We need them to stay here.

00;19;27;01 – 00;19;41;28
Scott
And the city has a role in that. And we’ve done a good thing with with, you know, promised Mesa now Mesa counseling college that started out promise Mesa, which provides opportunities for those who otherwise not be might not be able to extend their education past high school.

00;19;41;29 – 00;19;52;02
Sally
I just did a podcast with them earlier this week and we talked about the fact that they now have adult learners, which I did not realize until that podcast.

00;19;52;04 – 00;20;15;05
Scott
Learning never ends. And as I’ve as I’ve found out, I’m now, I think on my sixth career, not job, but career learning never ends and opportunity never ends. And so I don’t think that just because you graduate from high school, junior college or college, that your education has ended, where your opportunities. So everybody should have the opportunity to expand and knowledge is how you do that.

00;20;15;13 – 00;20;21;03
Sally
Well, thank you for that. Talk about your thoughts on the housing crisis.

00;20;21;05 – 00;20;41;18
Scott
It’s the number one thing we hear about. It is probably the biggest change in this state, in this community in the last 20 years. Mm hmm. I remember one time used to actually somewhat upset me is because we’d go out into the country and we would advertise that Metro Phenix was a cheap place to do business. We were cheaper than California and everywhere else.

00;20;41;18 – 00;21;07;13
Scott
And part of that was because of our housing prices, low taxes. But housing was a big thing. We’re not there anymore. Yeah, we we have we have now risen to the middle of the pack and we are no longer a cheap place to live and do business and that that it should be concerning. Very. But it is. And as I said, as I talk to people, their biggest concern is that their kids won’t have the opportunity to own houses.

00;21;07;15 – 00;21;07;25
Sally
Yeah.

00;21;07;28 – 00;21;31;10
Scott
And their grandkids and they’ll be pushed out of the market will become another California type market. We are tens of thousands of units below building and providing below our growth and below the need and there’s a lot of reasons for that. I think we need to get more creative. As a homebuilder, I focused on interesting pieces of property, mostly infill.

00;21;31;15 – 00;21;54;08
Scott
Mm hmm. Places where people wouldn’t build. We got very creative. We actually had to work with five or six cities around the valley to change their zoning and subdivision to allow us to build things that you see everywhere now. Cluster homes. Mm hmm. You know, multiple not not apartments, but duplex triplex in an innovative way. There’s a lot of underutilized property in Mesa.

00;21;54;15 – 00;21;57;18
Scott
A lot of it is not zoned currently for residential.

00;21;57;21 – 00;21;57;29
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;21;58;07 – 00;22;04;13
Scott
You know, excess parking lots unused commercial, commercial that strip centers that have seen better.

00;22;04;14 – 00;22;07;20
Sally
I was just going to say there’s a lot of strip malls. Yeah.

00;22;07;23 – 00;22;19;10
Scott
Yeah. You know, they’re boarded up where they have one or two tenants. And I’d like to get creative. And here’s how you do it, though, because these are zoned commercial. You can’t go in and just build residences on them.

00;22;19;13 – 00;22;20;13
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;22;20;16 – 00;22;39;14
Scott
But the worst thing to do is to go in and just change that zoning to residential, because what that will do is it’ll create a bidding war for the land. And there’s no way you can build workforce housing, housing that I would call. We call it affordable. I call it workforce housing. Mm hmm. When you just change to residents, say, okay, now, because, you know, I have ten people coming in trying to bid it.

00;22;39;18 – 00;23;04;09
Scott
Sure. If if increasing the housing stock is our goal, we need to increase the land. It all gets down to dirt, is what I say. It’s all about dirt. Having the dirt in which to build housing. We like to focus on on housing. That is to own. Mm hmm. That’s where you get the most ability. We’ve got plenty of apartments, but we need to have houses that people can can build.

00;23;04;11 – 00;23;23;15
Scott
But I’d like to give it. And soon I’ve figured out exactly how this will work. But to take that commercial property and to say, All right, we will as an incentive, you’re not going to use that property as commercial. That’s obvious, because you’re not using it now. Mm hmm. We need this asset residential, if you will build residential, here’s what we will do.

00;23;23;18 – 00;23;24;06
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;23;24;08 – 00;24;01;12
Scott
And it’s sort of a provisional zoning and permitting that basically eliminates the market auction on that. Mm hmm. And one of the things is we want you to build workforce housing there. Economically, it will work. Yeah, because we’re going to allow you to use underutilized property. I know we can make that work. And I know then at that point in time, if people will agree to build a certain type of housing that that is that is owned and attracts young buyers and other buyers and, you know, the typical workforce type of thing that we can we can expand our housing stock.

00;24;01;14 – 00;24;13;09
Scott
That in and of itself is not going to solve it. Mm hmm. Things like ADAS, better known as Casitas, Great Flats. Yeah, that may help, but there were so many exemptions in the state law, for example.

00;24;13;13 – 00;24;14;25
Sally
We just talked about that this morning.

00;24;15;00 – 00;24;39;17
Scott
If you’re in your way, you don’t. You can’t build your paycheck until you can’t build that. You know, that that that law made a lot of there was a lot of talk about the law. I don’t think it’s going to have a significant there are things we can do as a city. Mm hmm. Forget about state law. To encourage and to allow additional housing stock to come into the market, not to be short term rentals, not to be just another apartment complex.

00;24;39;19 – 00;24;45;09
Scott
We can do that. I’d love to. You know, with my background and everything, I’d love to start to explore those opportunities.

00;24;45;12 – 00;24;48;06
Sally
Well, if anybody could figure that out, I bet it’s you.

00;24;48;09 – 00;24;57;15
Scott
Guys a lot of smarter people than I am. And I will tell you, I learned one thing in business, especially in homebuilding. You know, there’s only so many solutions to any problem.

00;24;57;17 – 00;24;58;03
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;24;58;05 – 00;25;11;18
Scott
There are multiple solutions. I don’t have the answers. I first of all, I want to I want to ask all the questions because I want to learn. Sure. The second thing is, I’m not afraid. I’ve never stolen an idea from anybody. But I’ve been in. I’ve been inspired by many.

00;25;11;20 – 00;25;13;18
Sally
I like that. Yeah, it’s a good term.

00;25;13;19 – 00;25;35;12
Scott
I tell people I own building houses. I never stole anybody’s plan, but I was inspired by it. I have no problem with like that. With borrowing. Yeah. Really good ideas. Especially when someone’s put it in place and they’ve gone through all the growing pains. Right? Get to learn from their mistakes. And that’s the first thing I want to do, which is why I’m very active in organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

00;25;35;13 – 00;25;54;12
Scott
Mm hmm. It’s really good to go back to this meeting of mayors nationally and listen to the solutions that other cities have come up with. And I brought back a lot of great ideas. Mm hmm. From talking with with other mayors from around the country. But we’re not on an island. Yeah. Uh, and and there’s. There’s a lot of great thinking going on.

00;25;54;13 – 00;25;58;04
Scott
Mm hmm. In other parts of the country that we can learn from. And I want to do that.

00;25;58;07 – 00;26;00;22
Sally
Bring those ideas back and tweak them to fit the mass the way.

00;26;00;24 – 00;26;01;11
Scott
We’d love to do.

00;26;01;11 – 00;26;18;23
Sally
It. Yeah. So we talked about the chamber. Obviously gave you our endorsement for mayor, which we are very honored to do that. Endorsements are very important to a candidate. I know you have some other endorsements, right? Tell me about those.

00;26;18;25 – 00;26;38;21
Scott
You know, I am honored that the Chamber of Commerce chose to endorse me. I have what I would call the, you know, the big four. Mm hmm. And I really appreciate that. These are organizations that are respected in the community. They’re. They’re noticed in the community. Mm hmm. The Chamber of Commerce is always up there in the top talks.

00;26;38;21 – 00;26;40;02
Sally
Appreciate that.

00;26;40;05 – 00;26;54;21
Scott
Well, because people understand and they believe the chamber is working on their behalf. So receiving that endorsement was a great honor for me. I also am the only mayor for candidate that’s been that has received the endorsement of the Firefighters Association and the Mesa Police Association.

00;26;54;24 – 00;26;55;22
Sally
Wonderful.

00;26;55;24 – 00;27;04;18
Scott
That was an interesting endorsement because I’m running against somebody who actually was a firefighter. Mm hmm. And I asked them, So, okay, you know, you’re it’s a brotherhood.

00;27;04;19 – 00;27;05;12
Sally
Yeah.

00;27;05;15 – 00;27;29;21
Scott
And they told me something interesting in the endorsement. They said, you know, we worked with you. We worked with you during the depths of financial crisis when everybody was stressed, we would have had a fire academy for, like, three years. Yeah, we froze pay. Those are not normally things that gain you friends. Sure. And yet they said we we we got to know you working with you.

00;27;29;24 – 00;27;42;12
Scott
You always communicate with. With us, and we trust you. Mm hmm. To me, that was one of the greatest compliments, big thing. It was a big thing. Especially when your relationship started out in a moment of crisis when you didn’t agree on things.

00;27;42;18 – 00;27;45;25
Sally
Well, trust is. I think it’s key.

00;27;45;26 – 00;27;46;26
Scott
To what.

00;27;46;26 – 00;27;48;12
Sally
Is your relationship, Right?

00;27;48;18 – 00;28;05;08
Scott
And I told them, listen, we’re going to go through this time and we’re not going to agree on everything. You have your interest. I respect that. Yeah. I look after the whole city, and sometimes those interests will collide. Mm hmm. They’ll be in conflict. I only promise you one thing. I will always talk to you and I’ll listen.

00;28;05;08 – 00;28;25;13
Scott
And I’ll tell you where we stand and why I stand. And therefore, if we are in a different position, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. The fourth big endorsement I got was from the realtors of West Valley and the Southeast Valley. Realtors. So great. They’re out there and they’re out there more than almost anybody. Sure.

00;28;25;15 – 00;28;26;12
Sally
And the market now?

00;28;26;16 – 00;28;41;15
Scott
Yes, Especially now. Yeah. And they hear from their members and I’m excited to hear from them about what? Especially when housing is such a big such a big issue for an issue. I’d love to work with them once again to learn to hear what’s really going on in the marketplace.

00;28;41;20 – 00;29;12;25
Sally
Well, hopefully everyone understands that organizations like what you just described, we do a lot of work. We put a lot of effort into the process to make those decisions and announce those endorsements. It’s not just, you know, oh, we know about this person or you know, we believe this about this person. There’s panels, there’s interviews, there’s a process, and we stick to that.

00;29;12;25 – 00;29;29;07
Sally
And I think that’s what makes it work for us. But we do it in our case through a business lens. And so, you know, we’re always looking at who’s the best candidates that will represent and support our businesses.

00;29;29;10 – 00;29;51;07
Scott
And I appreciate that pretty soon. I appreciate the process. I also have gained a special appreciation recently because now that we’re getting more into the meat of the thing, these endorsements always a positive for me, are being attacked by my opponents. Of course, they attacked the process because they didn’t get the endorsement. So they try to diminish the endorsement, which tells me that it is important.

00;29;51;07 – 00;30;04;22
Scott
Yeah, I believe it’s important because the time we have to sit down with these groups and answer the questions go before panels like we did here with the chamber and ask tough questions. And it’s hard to hide. And I appreciate that.

00;30;04;23 – 00;30;05;03
Sally
Yeah.

00;30;05;06 – 00;30;25;22
Scott
And to get affirmation. Mm hmm. That through from a group that that your vision is something that’s attractive to them. Mm hmm. That they. They trust. There’s a level of trust there, right? You’re going to live up to it. That, to me, is is is very important. And I find it really interesting that people said, well, what did you do to buy the endorsement?

00;30;25;23 – 00;30;27;26
Sally
Oh, Lord. Yeah. And well.

00;30;27;28 – 00;30;40;01
Scott
Yes, when you’re opponents, that’s what they say. And I guess what I did buy as I went in and answer to a multi-page deal, which which draws out the most, you can’t, you know. Yeah. Avoid that. Well you.

00;30;40;01 – 00;30;40;27
Sally
Don’t know the questions and.

00;30;40;27 – 00;30;53;18
Scott
Know and then follow it up with it with an interview in front of a panel. And that’s what I did. And there are things that I don’t agree with you organizations on. Sure. That if it weren’t that way, I would not trust the process.

00;30;53;23 – 00;30;54;11
Sally
Mm hmm.

00;30;54;13 – 00;31;01;10
Scott
But once again, I think all of these organizations want to go to the same place I do. They want to build a better mesa.

00;31;01;12 – 00;31;02;09
Sally
Exactly.

00;31;02;12 – 00;31;04;29
Scott
You know, we may have different ideas of what road to take.

00;31;04;29 – 00;31;05;16
Sally
Yeah.

00;31;05;19 – 00;31;22;00
Scott
And that’s. That’s where you have your conversations. But they’re all focused on making a better community. And as long as I as long as I can associate with people and organizations that want to end up in the same place I do, which is a better mesa. Mm hmm. I can work with anybody and look forward to working with them.

00;31;22;00 – 00;31;39;07
Scott
And we’ll work through our differences to come to common ground. That’s what I enjoyed doing. I think that’s when you look at my first term as mayor. That’s what I was successful in doing. I believe that’s why I was able to get the endorsement of all these groups. They have good memories and they recognize this is not just a nostalgia tour.

00;31;39;09 – 00;31;40;05
Sally
No, no, not.

00;31;40;05 – 00;31;48;16
Scott
Living in the past. But I’m I’m taking what I learned, what I experienced, and applying it to our current and future problems and opportunities.

00;31;48;23 – 00;31;54;12
Sally
Well, before we wrap up, early ballots are getting mailed out in July 3rd. Yeah.

00;31;54;13 – 00;31;57;18
Scott
So people will get a meeting on the fifth or the six weeks.

00;31;57;18 – 00;31;58;04
Sally
Yeah, less.

00;31;58;04 – 00;31;58;23
Scott
Than two weeks.

00;31;58;23 – 00;32;02;01
Sally
Okay. So early ballots are very, very important.

00;32;02;04 – 00;32;09;29
Scott
Well, in Mesa and in elections, 85% of this people who vote will vote via early ballot.

00;32;10;05 – 00;32;10;22
Sally
Yes.

00;32;10;22 – 00;32;21;06
Scott
So the election really begins a week from about a week and a half from now. Yeah. When people start getting those those ballots right after the 4th of July. Right. So it’s important.

00;32;21;06 – 00;32;28;07
Sally
So very important. Obviously, we see your signs out. But how can somebody learn more about you? I assume you have a website.

00;32;28;08 – 00;32;51;00
Scott
Have a website. It’s got Smith Roemer dot com and they can go and Google. You can find out all you want, even though people say go to the website, follow us on on all the social media. All the social media. We also have TV ads out which talk a lot about about public safety and small businesses. Yes. To that.

00;32;51;01 – 00;33;08;23
Scott
Yes. And and just, you know, if you see me anywhere, I love interacting, I will never turn down the opportunity to talk about me and my visions for Mesa with any voter. And I’ve been able to do that in the last couple of weeks as things have heated up. Yes, weather and in the campaign. And I really enjoyed doing that.

00;33;08;23 – 00;33;10;18
Scott
So just search us out.

00;33;10;19 – 00;33;22;12
Sally
Well, thank you for being here. And I’m sure that we will be in touch in the next couple of weeks especially. But I appreciate you and thank you for doing it for me.

00;33;22;17 – 00;33;42;06
Scott
And I appreciate you and the work that you’ve done here with the chamber and in the group, in the chamber and the support of the chamber and its members. And just remember, tell a friend to three, four or five. A lot of people aren’t aware that this camp, this election’s coming on and it’s important what your city does affect you on a daily basis more than any other level of government.

00;33;42;09 – 00;33;45;03
Scott
So this is an important election to tell a friend or to local.

00;33;45;06 – 00;33;47;15
Sally
Scott Smith Our important yes.

00;33;47;15 – 00;33;48;11
Scott
Vote for Scott Smith.

00;33;48;16 – 00;33;49;02
Sally
Thank you.

00;33;49;06 – 00;33;50;26
Scott
Thanks.

00;33;50;29 – 00;34;10;08
Kevin
This has been a mesa Chamber of Commerce Inside Business podcast. You can find all podcast episodes at iTunes, Spotify or your own favorite podcast Web site. You can also find them online at Mesa Chamber, dawg. Content of this podcast is Copyright the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, unless otherwise noted.

Learn more about Scott Smith and his campaign at: https://smithformesa.com/

The Mesa Chamber of Commerce Inside Business Podcast is a production of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce. Each episode is recorded in the University of Phoenix Podcast Studio. Inquiries regarding the MCIBP can be made via email to info@mesachamber.org.  The Podcast interviews members and individuals/organizations on topics of interest to Mesa Chamber members. Learn more at http://mesachamber.org

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