Vernon Parker is a conundrum.
A relatively new face amidst the flood of seasoned candidates aspiring to be the next governor of Arizona, Parker is a realist yet forward-minded individual of African-American descent and frugal origin.
Oh, and he’s a Republican.
Parker calls in his campaign for radical economic and educational reform as ways to bring an upswing in jobs and revenue to the financially barren land of Arizona.
With his Obama-esque charm and smart fashion sense, the Paradise Valley mayor and ex-G.O.P. politico has quickly made his presence known in the gubernatorial race as a candidate seeking to “shake up” the Republican Party and bring a desperately needed breath of fresh air to Arizona politics.
I had the honor to sit down with him earlier this month at his office here in Tempe to discuss his campaign thus far and to ask him why ASU students, faculty and alumni should offer him their votes.
“If they care about the future of the state of Arizona, they will,” said Parker. “Youth — this is your country, this is your future and this is your opportunity if you want to be part of something different. This is your opportunity to say, ‘I am fed up with the status quo,’ and this is your opportunity to take this state back and be part of something special, something that I think is going to change Arizona forever.”
Perhaps it was this restlessly progressive mentality that got Parker where he is today. Despite what one might assume of the mayor of one of the most affluent communities in the state of Arizona, Parker’s upbringing in Long Beach, Calif., was anything but glamorous.
“I have spent my entire life overcoming adversity,” he said. “I grew up in an area replete with drugs, violence and gang activity. Snoop Dogg lived around the corner. I grew up with my grandmother, who raised me and who could barely read. In my neighborhood, I could count on one hand the number of children who had fathers … and I can count on two hands the number of times I had seen my own father before he died.”
It was from these unassuming beginnings that Parker launched his academic career, attending a community college for two years before graduating from California State University, Long Beach and attending Georgetown for law school.
He has also served as assistant secretary at the United States Department of Agriculture and as a special assistant to George W. Bush. He received a record 67 percent of the vote in the 2008 Paradise Valley Town Council election and was subsequently tapped by his colleagues to serve as mayor.
“Many people told me that failure was an option for me, that I would never succeed,” he said. “But I fought, fought hard, because I knew I could make it. Failure is not an option. I defied the odds and I’ll do the same for the state of Arizona.”
In the wake of the U.S. recession, Arizona has found itself blighted with tremendous job loss.
It is therefore not surprising that Parker has placed job creation first and foremost as the crux of his campaign.
“We need to grow jobs in the state of Arizona.” He paused, turning to look out the window at the photogenic Tempe Town Lake below before continuing.
“We have incredible weather. We have all these intangibles that other states don’t have, but they’re not coming to Arizona because it’s not a business-friendly state,” he said.
Parker’s proposed solution to this is to phase out and eventually eliminate the Arizona corporate tax — a radical assertion, yet one that deeply reflects his Republican roots and could provide a tremendous influx of business from other states.
Parker is also looking for ways to improve Arizona’s university system and develop a stronger state workforce through the establishment of second-tier universities in rural regions such as Holbrook, Stafford and Yuma.
“I think we have some of the best universities in the country and in the world,” he said. “But I think we have to look to grant more people in the middle-class opportunities to send their kids to college.”
This news could prove very advantageous to ASU if Parker were to be elected as governor, considering recent discussions of a similar Colleges@ASU second-tier satellite campus system. Parker told me he was unfamiliar with the program, but would seek to work hand-in-hand with the current university presidents and the Arizona Board of Regents for any such project.
If there is any flaw with Parker’s proposed economic strategies, they will not provide much immediate relief to the dire state of ASU and the larger Arizona.
I showed him some recent ASU Budget Office data — the table accentuated the 2009-2010 general fund received by the University per full-time equivalent student, which has not been as low since 1981.
Parker’s eyes darkened as he reviewed the data. “Well, we’re in an economic recession such as we have not seen since the Great Depression,” he said. “It’s had a devastating effect … Reform will take a while. I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight, but I think it would take one legislative session to make it a reality.
“The effect is similar to a polio vaccine,” he continued, a calm smile slowly returning to his face. “You take a series of shots, they’re painful, but in the end it saves lives. And this number’s going to go away — it gets me even more excited because we can work our way out of there.”
Parker’s promises of socioeconomic reform and his youthfully amicable demeanor are sure to make him an attractive candidate to many young voters, and have placed him favorably with the media as a frontrunner in the race to be the next governor.
Yet fierce competition from a profusion of reputable opposing candidates, including incumbent Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, will assure that his quest for governorship will be anything but a walk in the park.
“I believe the people are starved for something new,” said Parker, who hopes to turn his relative political ambiguity into a positive quality.
“I think they are looking outside of career politicians, and I think that’s what we’ve had the last couple years — individuals who have spent their entire political careers running for public positions. I think the people of Arizona are ready for someone new and bold and a fresh face and someone who is not concerned about their next political job.”
Parker’s political track record reflects this self-policy; before running for mayor he stated upfront that once his term in office had ended he would not seek re-election. He has promised the same in his candidacy for governor.
“And boy, let me say we are not the establishment candidate,” he said. “We are going to be saying things that the establishment will not want to hear. We are going to be bold, new, innovative and fresh and if I have any dream or desire it would be to have the students of ASU jump on board early and get involved.”
From a politician who is anything but the status quo, watching his campaign develop before July’s primaries promises to be anything but ordinary.
Hal Cohen is an accounting major and, in preparation for this article, finally started to develop a taste for coffee and collared shirts. Mourn the death of his childhood at hscohen@asu.edu.
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To read a full transcript of the interview with Vernon Parker, visit
statepress.com/opinions.
