Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano announced Tuesday that he would not accept a petition to draft him for a fifth term as mayor, nor challenge any Arizona Supreme Court decision regarding his incumbency.
Giuliano said his decision was based on his promise to voters prior to the recall election that he would run for no more than four terms.
"My predominant thought was that I was comfortable saying that I would run for four terms, and I have done that," Giuliano said. "Now we will let the Supreme Court decide if the will of the voters will prevail or not."
In May, Barbara Sherman, a 60-year-old Tempe small business owner, and eight other Tempe residents filed suit in Superior Court claiming an explanation of why a ballot measure increasing the mayoral term to four years was published mid-stream in the election process.
Early voting had already begun and only half of Tempe voters were properly informed of its consequences, Sherman said.
The case is now in the Arizona Supreme Court and deliberations are scheduled to begin Dec. 12 over the legality of the May 16 ballot measure that passed by 59 percent.
If the court rules that the measure was legally passed, Giuliano will likely have his term extended to July 2004 and a mayoral election would not be held in 2002. Should the court rule otherwise, the Tempe mayor's term will stay at two years and the election will be held March 12.
The mayor's announcement came as a surprise to the Tempe City Council. Councilman Dennis Cahill said he got little advance warning about the press conference.
"I was told the mayor had a public announcement of a personal nature. I thought he was seriously ill," Cahill said. "There was nothing personal about this; it's public and involves politics."
Linda Spears, chairman of the Draft Neil Giuliano for Mayor committee, learned of the mayor's decision two hours before the announcement.
"I'm extremely disappointed but I understand his reasoning," Spears said. "He obviously believes it's more important to be mayor right now than to be embroiled in a campaign."
Giuliano said setbacks with the new Arizona Cardinals stadium site selection had nothing to do with his decision.
"Not at all, I didn't give it a thought," he said.
City Council candidate Brett Scott applauded the mayor's announcement.
"I think it's great when a person keeps his word, especially when they make it a promise to the voters," Scott said.
Councilman Hugh Hallman is the only announced candidate running for mayor in the March 12 election. He declined to comment on the mayor's announcement.
Reach Victor Allen at victordallen@cs.com.
