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Mayors of Los Angeles, Phoenix compare notes


Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 3, 2005 12:00 AM

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon will spend today with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and members of his administration in hopes of strengthening their relationship to improve two of the nation's largest cities.

Each has said a closer relationship would help them work together on common issues facing the Valley: transportation, education, crime and security.

"This is a unique opportunity for two dynamic cities and two high-growth Western cities to unite to help their residents for the future," said Gordon, who was vacationing in San Diego in the week prior to the meeting. "And it's also unique in a sense that the two mayors are both progressive, young and personal friends with similar agendas."

The two became friends in 2001, and Gordon helped raise money for Villaraigosa during his historic run for mayor earlier this year, when he unseated incumbent James Hahn and become the city's first Latino leader in more than a century. Throughout his campaign, Villaraigosa visited Phoenix several times to raise money and meet with community leaders and local officials.

Gordon will share his performance high school concept, a string of small, specialty performance high schools meant to fuel the local workforce and bolster student achievement in banking, bioscience, nursing, public safety and teaching. Both mayors help lead their regional transit organizations, and they'll spend time talking about light rail and mass transit security.

The pair will also review crime data, and Gordon said he foresees the cities sharing intelligence on illegal immigration-related issues, such as human smugglers, gangs and drug dealers. Phoenix Assistant Chief of Police Don Swanson and Gordon's Senior Deputy Chief of Staff Ed Zuercher will attend the meetings.

"It's the next West," said Zuercher, the city's former city's public transit director. "It's critical that the cities in the West understand each other on issues so they can better communicate those issues to Washington."

A political alliance, Phoenix officials said, could mean more federal dollars for their cities and residents.

"We can make sure our communities are getting our fair share," of federal dollars, said Gordon, who returns to Phoenix today. "I also want to talk about how we could work with other progressive mayors throughout the country with similar agendas . . . with the interest focused on healthy cities."