Chandler does dumb growth
- Valley Telegraph
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 7
Smart growth and dumb growth look very differently. Chandler Republicans did dumb growth and have lost political power as a result. They seem not to have noticed yet.
Smart growth focuses on increasing income per capita, improving overall affluence for existing residents. Importantly, it also takes into account voting patterns of different demographics in order to keep political control.
Dumb growth focuses only on total GDP, ignoring per capita income. This can be achieved by expanding the population—often with new residents earning less than the current average—thereby reducing overall affluence.
What’s often overlooked is that new residents vote—and they may not support the same leadership that enabled their relocation. Previous councils, under Republican leadership, approved zoning changes that encouraged high-density and subsidized housing. This may have unintentionally shifted the city’s political makeup over time. The Chandler City Council is now 5:2 D:R, several council members espousing positions aligned with far-left movements such as BLM or radical identity-based activism.
It's not just about income
Political control isn't just a function of income. As an example, if the leaders of a city decided to apply for hosting an IRS or EPA office in their town, how would the federal workers - often generously paid - migrating to the city to staff the new office likely vote in local elections?
This same pattern has been repeated in nearly every larger city and town in the country. Republicans legislate themselves out of power by running dumb growth policies. They increase in-migration to make the Chamber of Commerce happy with more customers for their member businesses. But the Chamber duly flips to the left as soon as new voters put the left in charge.
Is there hope? Just like Saint George split off from Baton Rouge in Louisiana, it is conceivable for South Chandler so split off from the rest of the City of Chandler and form a new community. But this will not be easy, the will may not even be there. Chandler's City Council is already 5-2 in favor of Democrats. Chandler's mayor is a soft Republican whose main claim to infamy is flooding the city with homeless people and endorsing OD Harris for City Council.
Chandler's City Council is out of control
One City Council member is/was reportedly suing her own City while the FBI was apparently investigating her campaign over work her company had done with a public sector adjacent organization. Another was being investigated by police over alleged destruction of opposing campaign signs. The budget is spiraling out of control yet a City Council member was so proud of the $1.6 Billion in yearly spending that she erupted into an awkward rant in public. Diversity and Equity racial politics are being injected into the City management. Apartments are being built instead of large homes. Traffic is becoming unbearable. There are now homeless people on bus stops and play grounds.
Instead of acknowledging the consequences of past growth policies, many current Republican candidates continue to run as if nothing has changed—failing to offer a compelling alternative to Democratic leadership in Chandler. In the recent City Council primaries every Republican candidate ran an incumbent-style campaign that promised to keep things the way they are.
That kind of campaign only works when you’re replacing a fellow party member who is retiring: “He did a good job—I’ll continue his work.” But when you’re trying to unseat the other side, you need to offer voters something different. Tell that to the Chandler GOP. They still act like they're running the City of Chandler, even though they've already handed it over to their political opposition. Voters in other cities and town, think Gilbert and Queen Creek for example, should take note. Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, we hope they can see what's coming and prevent it.