Candidates stress importance of business development

Eight candidates for state, county and local offices met Thursday night in a Peoria Chamber of Commerce forum to discuss a variety of issues that included business development in the West Valley and protecting Luke Air Force Base.

The candidates included Republican Sen. Bob Burns and Democratic challenger Karen Price of District 9; Sue Dolphin, Democratic candidate for House District 4; incumbent Republican Rep. Rick Murphy and fellow Republican Debbie Lesko along with Democrat Shawn Hutchinson in the District 9 House race; Democratic challenger Leigh Strickman for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors; and incumbent Peoria City Councilwoman Vicki Hunt.

Incumbent Supervisor Max Wilson left the forum after being told he could not participate because he did not indicate to the Chamber that he would do so prior to the event.

Strickman, who is seeking to unseat Wilson, said she wants the Board of Supervisors to be held accountable for the way it is spending money.

"I think that is crucial to making sure that we do get new business into the Valley and helping the businesses that are existing," she said. "If we look at where we are spending our money ... then that is going to be an attractive situation for people who are coming in. We will be running our county like a business, which is what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to make sure the county is a well-tuned business."

Hutchinson said he believes the key to new business in the Northwest Valley is the use of solar energy.

"I think (the solar industry) is really going to show positive prospects for the state in coming years," he said. "I think we have the infrastructure beginning to be put in place to not only be a leader in the state, but a world leader in the solar industry. We have the means to ship the product, we have the means to set up the factories to produce the product, and we certainly have the workforce to install the product."

Lesko said despite the sour economical times, the state government can take measures to attract business growth.

"We need to make sure we have a competitive tax climate, not only for individuals but for businesses," she said. "We need to limit taxes and be financially responsible so that businesses will want to come into our community. We also need to limit overburdensome government regulation. There needs to be some sensible regulation."

As for Luke Air Force Base, "We've been doing an OK job protecting Luke and I say, we, meaning the state, county and municipal government combined, but we can do better," Murphy said. "There are absolutely ways we can go about protecting the land use there and making sure that we don't start putting homes at the end of runways. We don't want to say that that land can't be used at all because that would be unfair to landowners, but there are certainly uses that (the land) can be put to that don't compromise the mission of Luke. We absolutely must keep that base ... and we must keep it vibrant."

Dolphin said the economic impact of the base is essential to the region.

"We absolutely have to protect Luke," she said. "It's not only vital to our nation, the state, but our local economy. We need to have the Board of Supervisors follow state law. As people move in, they need to understand that Luke was there first, and we need to protect Luke at all times."

Hunt said the city of Peoria will continue to press county officials to abide by the rules in order to protect the base.

"We certainly will work to ensure that the people that might not be abiding by the rules gain an interest in abiding by the rules, and we will be out there every minute of every day saying ‘save Luke,'" she said. "It's crucial to our city, and it's absolutely crucial to the West Valley."

Burns spoke about the detrimental effects passage of Proposition 202 would have on businesses in the state. Opponents of the proposition say it would make it easier for employers to get away with hiring illegal workers.

"(Proposition) 202 is the absolute wrong way to go," he said. "We have an employer sanctions law in place now. It needs to be field tested some more. I think it's having an effect. We're seeing a drop in illegals within the school system and our health care system, and I suspect it will show up in our criminal justice system as well. This is a dangerous move by those who support (Proposition) 202."

Price said she believes cuts in the state budget should not come at the expense of jobs.

"We need to keep our jobs," she said. "When we're talking about cutting funding, we're also talking about cutting things that people are doing. We're working on schools, we're constructing, we're keeping people employed. We have to cut carefully, but we have to protect what people are doing for their jobs. The most important thing we can do is stimulate jobs."

Erin Turner may be reached at 623-876-2532 or eturner@yourwestvalley.com.