Next Tuesday, Phoenix voters will go to the polls and make monumental choices about the future direction of their city. While this may lead to a yawn from some, the importance of this upcoming election -- for the residents of Phoenix and for the residents of the greater Valley -- cannot be understated.
While city council elections help determine things one might expect (things like law enforcement, and parks and recreation), the implications of the upcoming election go far beyond the Phoenix city lines.
The Phoenix City Council affects matters such as the airport, light rail and the ASU downtown campus -- all of which have a direct effect on the ASU student body.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, an ideological shift on the council could be a catalyst for progressive change. It could mean changes in the areas of living wages and protection for small business.
While there are many colorful races in the Phoenix elections, there is one race being considered as a guide to the ideological future of the City Council.
Consider City Council District 4, which is in the middle of Phoenix. It holds a mixed concentration of young professionals, gays and lesbians, white liberals and Hispanics that, geographically, tends to be a bulwark of liberal Democratic politics in the Valley and in the state.
However, District 4 is represented by conservative Tom Simplot. Simplot has used a potent combination of his own status as a gay man and public ignorance about nonpartisan local elections in order to win representation in an arch-progressive district.
Simplot has earned notoriety in his community for opposing measures such as the living wage ordinance to alleviate poverty, and he has provoked a challenge from progressive nonprofit director Chad Campbell in what has become the local political story of the summer.
Incumbent members of the City Council pride themselves on the nonpartisan cooperation that characterizes the council -- but this same lack of diversity of opinion causes the council to be cliquish in nature.
For example, anti-poverty activists from a coalition of labor and religious organizations attempted to pass the living wage ordinance in Phoenix. However, a council of members who campaigned as staunch liberals squashed the ordinance -- something Campbell himself co-authored.
Furthermore, when theoretically liberal Phoenix Mayor "Fair-weather" Phil Gordon crassly made flip-flopping and, at times, downright pathetic attempts at exploiting issues ranging from the public libraries to homelessness, his fellow council members did not speak up.
In his service on the Phoenix council, Campbell plans on fighting for a living wage ordinance, for more community centers and to defend locally owned business against conglomerates.
He also has a proven record of success, with his management of state Representative Kyrsten Sinema's campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives and his work at the Arizona Leadership Institute - where he worked as one of the premiere progressive advocates in the Arizona Legislature.
He's also shown a commitment to the broader community, putting on a grassroots lobbying training at ASU last year for student activists.
Meanwhile, Simplot, a staunch conservative in matters before the council, has shown that he is out of touch with District 4. Consider the Center for Responsive Politics' record of his $250 donation last year to right-wing godfather Tom DeLay.
This hotly contested race is likely to draw a low turnout in proportion to the urgency of the election -- and its implications for the city and the Valley at large.
Countless ASU students are very likely registered voters in the city of Phoenix, yet many have no idea that they have an opportunity to be heard, loud and clear, next Tuesday.
If you are registered to vote in the city of Phoenix, go out and vote on Tuesday.
The few minutes it takes on your way home from school or wherever else, will have impact for years to come.
Joaquin Rios is a political science sophomore. Reach him at joaquin.rios@asu.edu.
