Name: Onnie Shekerjian
Age: 47 (48 on March 5!)
Occupation: Public policy researcher and advocate
How long have you lived in Tempe? 19 years (as of Feb. 7)
Why are you running for City Council? I love living in Tempe. I love how eclectic and diverse the community is. I would like to bring my passion for good public policy and making government actually work for people to City Council. I have been involved in public policy in volunteer positions for many years. Professionally, I have worked as a researcher and advocate and will bring those skills to the Council.
Additionally, I believe a City Council member needs to always remember what is important: protecting the quality of life in our city; ensuring an accessible and responsive city hall; always, always treating the tax payers dollars with more respect than our personal money. Ultimately, I want to help make Tempe be the best that it can be.
What experience qualifies you to serve on the Council? My work on over 60 boards and commissions over the last 19 years and as a researcher has allowed me to understand that good public policy transcends personalities. I bring with me a wealth of knowledge about our community over a very long period of time. Additionally, my professional work as an advocate has taught me the importance of finding win-wins in negotiation.
What is the most important issue of this campaign? 1) Maintaining a balance between economic development and attention to our neighborhoods. We need to move forward carefully and responsibly with development. Any time major changes take place, great effort needs to be made to mitigate any potential negative effects changes have on any of our citizens. For example, with the development in downtown Tempe, we have an opportunity to grow vertically. But the growth needs to be closely overseen so that it does not undermine the stability of our neighborhoods. This is an ongoing balancing act for the city that can be aided by the formation of "Village Planning Committees." Phoenix has successfully used "Village Planning Committees" for years. These committees can empower our residents to have a voice in development surrounding their neighborhoods and concurrently help developers work out project conflicts with residents early in the development process.
2) "Pass-through issues." Being landlocked, city officials need to continue to cultivate a good working relationship with other governmental entities that control many of the "pass-through" issues by which Tempe citizens are affected. Issues such as the Union Pacific Railway deciding to put a switching station behind Tempe High and Tempe St. Luke's Hospital, or SRP's 69KV lines through South Tempe required the city to work positively with those entities that had the legal authority when Tempe didn't. "Pass through" issues will always be a challenge for our landlocked community.
What kind of relationship would you hope to have with ASU? I would hope to foster a good relationship with ASU – one made of a spirit of partnership.
What do you think is the most important issue regarding student housing? Ensuring that neighborhoods and student housing off campus work cooperatively together to resolve any neighborhood issues.
How do you think ASU and Tempe should each do their part to address that issue? Look for opportunities to take input from all stakeholders on this issue; to look for win-win solutions to challenges in our neighborhoods where off campus student housing may be located.
Why would ASU students want to elect (or re-elect) you? I value the students' perspective and would look for more ways to gain that perspective on city issues as a Council member. I understand what valuable insight college students can provide – last year, both of my daughters were ASU students. I am a better person because of their input on my personal life. ASU and the wonderful, vibrant atmosphere the students bring to our community is one of the reasons we chose Tempe as a place to raise our family. I see the University and its students as a huge part of what makes Tempe what it is today – a great place to work, live and play.
What is the No. 1 thing you think needs to change in Tempe? The balancing act regarding economic development and attention to our neighborhoods and our residents' needs I referred to in answer #3 is the number one change that should be made. The City Council needs to own our citizen's community problems.
What do you think is the most positive contribution students make to Tempe? There are many descriptors I can use to describe the positive contributions made by students to Tempe —vibrant energy, creativity, economic force, diverse perspectives. Students are a major thread in our community fabric —without them, Tempe wouldn't be what it is today. And many of us (including our family) might have chosen a different place to call "home."
What do you think is the most negative contribution students make to Tempe? Overall, the positive contribution students make to Tempe far outweighs any negative contributions that might be attributed to them.
Profiles compiled by Grayson Steinberg. Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
