I'm inviting downtown residents and anyone interested in downtown Phoenix to join me at a Community Coffee this Saturday, May 10, 2008, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Palette, 606 North Fourth Avenue (the corner of Fourth Ave. and Fillmore). This is the first in a series of Saturday morning meetings I'll be hosting quarterly at different locations throughout the downtown area. They are meant to give us all a chance to meet informally to talk about timely topics plus any topic on your mind related to downtown Phoenix. Plus, they are meant to give us a chance to drink coffee! This Saturday, Phil Richards, Chair of the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Board and Initiative campaign, will join me. He’ll provide information about the Initiative, also known as Proposition A, which is on the May 20, 2008 ballot. However, the majority of the hour will be devoted to Q & A. You’re welcome to buy your own breakfast from Palette (check them out at www.downtownbrunch.com) – but the coffee is on me!No RSVPs are required. Hope to see you there!

Mayor Phil Gordon plans on meeting with City of Phoenix residents on a Quarterly basis to have coffee and discuss varying, timely topics of interest to Phoenix residents. 

The first gathering will be this coming Saturday, May 10th at Palatte, a quaint restaurant in the Roosevelt Historic District.

Palatte is located at 606 N 4th Ave.  The gathering will be from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM

The Mayor's topic will be the "Parks & Preserves Initiative" which will be on the May 20th special election Ballot.   Phil Richards, chair of the Parks and Preserves Board, will also be at the gathering.

Source: Jahna Berry's Blog at azcentral.com

I picked up some peanut butter, yogurt, bread, lunch meat, garbage bags, a 357 Magnum revolver, some rounds, a holster and a book on Arizona gun laws. Turns out you can walk into a gun store and walk out 10 minutes later with a hand gun and some ammo. Of course there's a list of requirements. You must be 21 years of age, a US citizen, an Arizona resident, not a convicted felon and pass a quick background check, etc. You can load the gun in your car, stick the gun in your holster, put the holster on your belt and go grocery shopping with the loaded hand cannon on your hip. You're going to get some weird looks if you do this but you won't get arrested. (Assuming that you legally purchased the weapon.) Not sure if this is good or bad but it sure was convenient for me yesterday. I'm not a lawyer so please do your own research on the gun laws. I do know that you must have a permit to conceal it.

-Mark

Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 18, 2008 11:53 AM

How big an underdog was Michael Nowakowski?

On election night in November, the city's public information office already had a press release ready to go announcing the victory of Laura Pastor, his opponent for the District 7 City Council seat.

Pastor had a famous name, the support of her congressman father and had raised significantly more money.

Then the early numbers came in, showing Nowakowski winning decisively. The city tore up its release and wrote a new one.

Now comes the hard part - governing a diverse district that is the fastest-growing part of Phoenix. After his first week in office, Nowakowski talked with The Republic about what it feels like to be a councilman and his plans for the next four years. 

read the interview at azcentral.com

Newly elected District 7 City Councilman Michael Nowakowski is holding a 3 hour long Open House in order to meet and speak with his new constituents.  The meeting will be held at the Encanto Park Clubhouse on Saturday, January 26th from 10 AM to 1 PM.  Coffee and snacks will be provided. 

Councilman Tom Simplot’s monthly breakfast meeting will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at the Adam Diaz Senior Center, 4115 W. Thomas Road.

Metro Light Rail will be discussed at the meeting for those residents who have questions about its impending operation. Representatives from the city of Phoenix and Valley Metro will give updates on the project, discuss how light rail will impact the city and review future expansion plans for the line.

Breakfast will be provided at the meeting, which is a free event open to all residents. To confirm your attendance or receive additional information, call Simplot’s office at 602-262-7447

Casey Newton and Connie Sexton
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 6, 2007 09:39 PM

Phoenix elected its first Hispanic City Council member since 1993 on Tuesday, with voters choosing Michael Nowakowski to represent southwest Phoenix and Laveen.

In a stunning upset, Nowakowski defeated Laura Pastor, a community college administrator and the daughter of Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.).

In the north and northeast District 3, Jon Altmann was never able to make it out of second place. Maria Baier, who surprassed Altmann with nearly 20 percent more votes during the Sept. 11 primary, didn't quite repeat that margin in Tuesday's runoff but easily sailed to win.

Baier will replace outgoing councilwoman Peggy Bilsten.

Pastor had lined up nearly the entire Democratic political establishment behind her, winning endorsements from Gov. Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Terry Goddard, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

She also raised more than $300,000 through Oct. 1, compared to $146,000 for Nowakowski.

Nowakowski attributed his victory to his campaign advisory team, which included people from all of the district's various minority communities.

"My core group was actually a mirror of District 7, and I think that was the difference," said Nowakowski "You bring people from all different walks of life."

Unions also targeted Pastor with a series of mailers questioning the financial contributions she received from lobbyists.

When he takes office in January, Nowakowski will succeed Councilman Doug Lingner, who was prevented from running again by term limits. Lingner had endorsed Pastor.

Baier said she was "overwhelmed by the generous spirit" of the voters and grateful for their response to her "message of a bright future."

She said she plans to tackle one of the voters' chief concerns: crime. "I want people to feel safe," she said.

Nowakowski and Baier will take office Jan. 2.

Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 3, 2007 07:14 AM

More than four out of every 10 Phoenix residents is Hispanic. But on the Phoenix City Council, the number of elected Hispanics is zero - and has been for years.

That all changes Tuesday, when Phoenix is guaranteed to elect at least one candidate with a Hispanic heritage: Michael Nowakowski, whose mother is from Mexico, or Laura Pastor, whose father, Rep. Ed Pastor, is Arizona's first representative in Congress.

Pastor and Nowakowski are running to replace Councilman Doug Lingner in his seat representing southwest Phoenix.

On October 30, I delivered my 4^th annual State of Downtown address. I announced proposals for how we can make downtown an even better place to work, live, learn, play and visit, and described how doing so benefits our entire city.  My first announcement received some hearty applause: the most disruptive part of light-rail construction downtown is done. I agree that dodging cones and navigating around construction zones has been “challenging.” But those challenges are also growing pains – bringing with them thousands of good-paying construction jobs that help offset the housing slowdown. No one intends light rail to be the only method of transportation for everyone working downtown – but it’s an important addition to our transportation system. I propose we also expand the DASH (Downtown Area Shuttle) system, with new routes to connect our downtown neighborhoods to the university campus, to the biomedical district and to the city, county and State Capitol. Along with light rail, expanded DASH service would greatly benefit the 50,000 people who work downtown – as well as our environment. In addition to being one of the largest employment districts in the city, downtown is becoming a place where more people want to live. All the new residential projects underway will allow 7,000 more people to live downtown. But I want to make it easier and more affordable for even more people. What Franklin Roosevelt did for the entire nation 75 years ago, we can do today, for firefighters, police officers, teachers, government employees and nurses. If we can build a thousand new hotel rooms downtown, we can surely build a thousand homes that working people can afford.  In the last three years, we’ve made great progress in making downtown Phoenix a center for education – 6,000 students are enrolled at ASU’s downtown campus, which is expanding. The U of A has downtown Phoenix extensions of its College of Pharmacy and College of Medicine up and running. But I’d like to undertake a new private/public capital campaign, in partnership with our law firms, ASU and the city of Phoenix. I have invited Dr. Crow to relocate ASU’s College of Law to downtown Phoenix, where our courts and so many of our law firms are located.   Another reason to come downtown is to play. – Besides great places to play indoors – restaurants, museums, theaters and sports arenas  – a vibrant downtown also needs places that draw everyone to play outside. In December 2008 we’ll have a three-acre grand Civic Space, and by 2009 we’ll have our new Patriots Park. Both will add green space, trees and shade to downtown, reducing the heat island effect. And that benefits the entire Valley. I’d also like to renew our Parks and Preserve Initiative next year – and add a defining component to connect all our downtown open spaces with pathways for pedestrians and bicycles: runners, strollers and students … kids playing catch and dogs chasing Frisbees. Across our entire city, let’s make sure they can all move from one park to another, one building to another, and one event to another – without ever leaving the shade.  In addition to people who work, live, learn and play downtown, every year, millions more come to Phoenix as visitors. While we’ve made great progress in adding new hotel rooms downtown, we still need more. I want to convene a summit of private-sector hotel builders and get them to commit to building the additional rooms. Downtown has been an important catalyst for great new projects across the city, from the CityNorth project under construction in northeast Phoenix, to Legacy Village that opened in 2004 in South Mountain Village. The 50,000 people who work downtown live throughout our community – spending their money where they live, creating an economic avalanche that benefits our entire city. So there is an absolute and direct connection between a healthy downtown and a healthy Ahwatukee, Laveen and Sunnyslope – or for that matter, a healthy Patagonia, Prescott and Page.    

Just in case you were not able to make it to Mayor Phil Gordon's fourth "State of Downtown" address at the Orpheum Theatre on Tuesday evening, you can read the whole speech here