TEMPE, Ariz. — It’s been one battle after another in Tempe in recent years.
Voters shot down a City Council-backed plan to build an arena for the Arizona Coyotes.
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The City Council is cracking down on unhoused individuals in parks.
And on the November ballot, there’s a citywide vote on boosting the sales tax rate to cover a $24 million deficit.
The runoff election for two seats on the six-member City Council reflects the recent turmoil.
The four runoff candidates were asked a straightforward question by the Arizona Republic: Would they change City Hall or stay the course?
Councilwoman Jennifer Adams wants to stay the course. (Adams recently ripped a council colleague as an “F—— b—-.”)
Fellow incumbent Berdetta Hodge agreed: “Keep the current direction.”
Their challengers see things differently.
Bobby Nichols wants “Big progressive change.”
Brooke St. George said: “Shake it up.”
Big names are getting behind the candidates.
Progressive icon Sen. Bernie Sanders is backing Nichols, a Democratic Socialist.
Hodge is endorsed by Democratic U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of Arizona.
Nichols and St. George have been attacked in lurid mailers warning that their election would turn Tempe “into a magnet for the homeless and crime.”
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The mailers were paid for by anonymous, out-of-state conservative funders through the Arizona First Fund.
The first election results should drop after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Elected council members will be sworn in to a four- year term on July 11.
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