News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Mesa: Obama unlikely to tour neighborhood
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
President Barack Obama's plans to get an up-close and personal look at a Mesa neighborhood that's been hit by hard by foreclosures may not happen after all.
Obama to see E.V. foreclosures up close
A presidential tour of a previously undisclosed Mesa housing community is unlikely to happen, Scott Butler, the city's intergovernmental liaison, said Tuesday.
Butler said he got the latest information from the Mesa Police Department, which had been in discussions with the Secret Service for security considerations.
“We don’t have an official schedule yet but it looks like the neighborhood visit will not happen,” Butler said. “Our understanding is the Dobson High event will be the president’s first event of the day, although the schedule is in flux, so it may still change.”
Obama had plans to make such a stop before his speech on fixing the nation's housing crisis Wednesday at Dobson High School.
Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz. said his office was told by White House staff that Obama’s desire to see a neighborhood hard hit by foreclosures played into the selection of Dobson High as the venue for the president’s speech.
The White House was looking for a school that was close to U.S. 60, so the president would have easy access as he returned from east Mesa on his way to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for his departure from an overnight stopover in the Valley, Mitchell had told the Tribune.
Obama’s speech at Dobson High is planned to begin about 10:15 a.m. He is scheduled to leave the Valley shortly before 1 p.m.
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: