Monthly Archives: April 2010

By Maria Saporta

Despite claims by some legislators in Phoenix, the majority of Latinos Arizona do not support the stringent new immigration bill that recently was signed into to law by Gov. Jan Brewer.

“That’s a bald-faced lie,” said Daniel Ortega, chairman of the National Council of LaRaza and a leading critic against the new bill. “I challenge any one to show me those statistics that the Latino community supported this measure.”

Ortega was speaking Friday morning to the LINK delegation of Atlanta leaders meeting in Phoenix. It was an equal time moment, because Thursday morning, one of the sponsors of the new bill, Russell Pearce, had made a passionate case in favor of the new immigration law.
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By Maria Saporta

Selling Phoenix has just gotten harder.

So said Barry Broome, CEO and president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Broome, who is one of the leading players in promoting economic development for Arizona’s largest metro area, has been the top business leader “fielding most of the immigration calls” from people outside the state.

When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial bill regarding illegal immigrants last week, the state has been in the middle of a firestorm of negative national attention.

Half-jokingly, Broome said the legislature Continue reading →

By Maria Saporta

(Updated)

It was shortly after 9 p.m. in Phoenix when Joe Bankoff got the call.

House Bill 335 — the bill to help local communities raise funds for the arts and economic development — had died for lack of time.

Bankoff, president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center, is in Phoenix as part of the annual LINK trip when Atlanta leaders go to other cities to learn how different communities approach their problems and issues.

During the past year, Bankoff also has been instrumental in helping draft and advance the arts bill through the legislature. A coalition of arts and cultural Continue reading →

By Maria Saporta

One of the leading champions of Arizona’s controversial immigration bill passionately defended the state’s need to clamp down on illegal aliens.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, who has had a career in law enforcement, described a dangerous Arizona overrun by gangs and criminals, many of whom have crossed the border into the state illegally.

Pearce told an influential group of about 100 Atlantans on the annual LINK trip said the media’s reporting of the new bill has been full of “misinformation.”

At one point, Pearce questioned allowed “how the president of the United States can stand up and support law breakers rather than law makers.” Pearce said Phoenix is second in the world in Continue reading →

By Maria Saporta

Back in 1950, Phoenix was the 57th largest metro area in the country. But six decades of growth have made Phoenix the 12th largest metro area in the United States, not far behind Atlanta, which ranks as 9th.

After World War II, several electronics firms moved their operations to the Phoenix area, creating a strong manufacturing base. Then the growth started coming along with a housing boom that helped make the Arizona city one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country.

Not so long ago , Phoenix was the second fastest growing metro area in the country. And then the economic downturn of the last couple of years
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By Maria Saporta

About 100 metro Atlanta leaders headed to Phoenix Wednesday on the 14th annual LINK trip.

The group was first given a bus tour of the communities of Tempe, Scottsdale and Phoenix, seeing first hand the desert-like landscape with a system of canals and lakes aimed at capturing every drop of water. Phoenix only gets an average of seven inches of rainfall each year.

The Atlanta Regional Commission selected Phoenix as the 2010 LINK city as a way to learn how another metro area has been able to manage a limited water supply.

But this trip had another ingredient — the scrutiny of an Atlanta television station.
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By Maria Saporta

A revolutionary bill is worming its way through the legislature.

House Bill 335, formerly House Bill 1049, would permit each county in the state of Georgia to vote on a partial penny sales tax for the arts, quality of life initiatives and economic development.

For the first time in Georgia’s history, counties may be able to pass a fractionalized, multi-purpose sales tax depending on the needs in the various jurisdictions. The bill, however, would require that a small percentage of that sales tax would be spent on the arts and cultural attractions.

Earlier today (April 26), the bill passed out of the House Rules Committee. It will go to the Senate floor tomorrow for a Continue reading →