At a party in which Mayor Hartke endorsed candidates for City Council, City Council Member Christine Ellis went on a remarkable rant about diversity and spending tax payer money.
Noticeable also during the speeches was how the mayor and council members took credit for decisions that in some cases were made decades ago, long before their time. Ellis seemed amped up about the $ 1.6 Billion City budget, roughly 80% more than only 4 years ago, when Ellis and fellow council member OD Harris were first elected. She then raved on about diversity, noting how two women and a black man standing in front of you - the audience - are what diversity is all about. Some members of the audience clapped, but many looked uneasy, presumably understanding that there is another side of the diversity coin.
Dis-satisfaction in the way the city is run was apparent only two years ago when newcomer Ruth Jones challenged fellow Republican Kevin Hartke, the mayor, from the right, running on a platform to clean up the streets. She managed to get around 50% of the Republican vote. Because virtually all Democrats in the city voted for Hartke, Hartke prevailed and remained mayor. Under his leadership the city council has made a hard left turn. The City of Chandler now has a diversity office, urban style public low income housing, opioid treatment centers, widespread panhandling and begging on the streets as well as the above mentioned escalating budget with bonds being taken out despite the current high interest rate environment. The infrastructure is beginning to crumble and the city has been set on a course to financial problems.
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