Mesa mayor candidates clash at forum

Mesa mayoral hopefuls Scott Smith and Rex Griswold clashed over style and experience on Monday in their first public appearance together since the March 11 primary election.

SLIDESHOW: See the candidates at the forum

Mesa election coverage

The two debated taxes, immigration, revitalization and urban development, with urban development taking center stage.

Griswold noted numerous times that he is not a developer like Smith, a former homebuilder, and that Griswold’s plans for Mesa would benefit a broader range of interests.

“This city has been run for and by developers for years,” the former east Mesa restaurant owner said. “It’s a developer versus a business person.”

Smith, however, said his experience as a developer would be an asset to Mesa.

“Do you want someone who has never worked with a developer dealing with Waveyard?” Smith said, adding that standards were not maintained in the Riverview project and that elements such as landscaping were inconsistent.

“They didn’t hold (the developers’) feet to the fire,” he said of city leaders.

Smith said he couldn’t remember how he voted on the $80 million Mesa Riverview tax incentive package ballot measure approved by voters in 2005, but that he generally was not supportive of such incentives.

“For far too long we’ve accepted average in Mesa and allowed people to develop at a lower standard,” he said.

Griswold said he supported the Riverview project while serving as City Councilman for District 5 and predicted it will be successful once the auto dealerships, offices and hotels are completed.

“Talk to me in one and a half years, and we’ll see what that looks like,” Griswold said.

The most heated portion of the debate, held Monday night in the Mesa City Council chambers, focused on MD Helicopters, a helicopter manufacturer based at east Mesa’s Falcon Field that has threatened to leave the city over lease negotiations.

Smith said the city “dropped the ball big time” in its dealings with the company, and he took Griswold to task for his part in the fiasco.

“This is your district,” Smith said, referring to the area Griswold represented until stepping down in September to run for mayor.

Griswold said he had a conflict of interest as a lease holder at Falcon Field and couldn’t get involved in the negotiations between the airport and MD Helicopters.

“I told the city manager and the mayor to meet with them,” he said. “My advice was not followed. I hope they stay here.”

The two candidates agreed on several issues, including that the City Council should re-examine the November election’s proposed bond package for public safety and transportation projects, that the city should team up with private entities to put on community events and that the Mesa Police Department should cooperate with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in enforcing federal immigration law.

Mesa police Chief George Gascón has asked that Sheriff Joe Arpaio warn the city before conducting any “crime sweeps” targeting illegal immigrants in Mesa, which Arpaio has said he plans to make his next target.

“I hope Sheriff Arpaio takes him up on that,” Smith said.

Griswold even went as far as to say that he would bring Gascón and Arpaio together to talk.

“And I wouldn’t let them out of the room until they had an agreement,” he said.

Smith and Griswold will face off in a citywide election May 20, along with District 5 candidates Dina Higgins and Phil Austin.

Early voting begins April 17.