I’ve known Mesa vice mayor Claudia Walters for several years, and though I’ve liked her as a person, I had doubts that she had the qualities to be the next mayor of a city 460,000.

  I didn’t think she had that vision thing nor did I think she had the command presence–what some call gravitas–necessary to lead what has become a very big city.

 She changed all that in a visit with our editorial board.  As long as I’ve known her she’s had a command of the detail of city government, but could she lead?  and where? and what is the message?

 More forcefully than the other two candidates who also visited us, she presented a clear message built around the idea that Mesa has come a long way and has a lot going for it.  There was no trace of an inferiority complex and no apologies for not being Scottsdale or Tempe or other East Valley cities that enjoy reputations for job growth, higher income residents and a vibrant social scene.

 She also drew a distinction that I had not heard articulated:  Mesa should be thought of as a big city like Phoenix.  Big cities are not niche cities.

  They have their high ends and their low ends.  They are diverse and that diversity contributes to their strength.  They have their failures and their successes.  They have character.

 Above all you can’t discount them because they have the capacity to affect all those around them.  Think Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, for instance.

  A leading Phoenix official once said, when he was in charge of that city’s development efforts, he used to worry that someday the city of Mesa would wake up and become a formidable rival. 

  Well, it has woken up. 

  Read more on this in my column in the Tribune on Wednesday on the Opinion 2 page. 

  With commodity prices shooting up, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the East Valley’s primary source of food for the poor and homeless to acquire government surplus and build its inventory at his warehouse in Mesa. 

 So that means that you and me need to step up to the plate.  A friend of mine once told me you don’t get any points at the end of your life for what the government does with tax dollars to help those who need help.

You only get credit for what you do voluntarily.  Get some credit for compassion.  Call 480-926-4897. 

Or consider this:  Bring 2 or more non-perishable food items to Atomic 29 Restaurant on December 29, 2007, between 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. and receive 2 for 1 half rack of ribs! Atomic 29 will match the food collected and donate it to United Food Bank. Please make dinner plans for 12/29 at Atomic 29 Restaurant located on Gilbert Road, just north of Baseline.

I ripped that last graph right off of the United Food Bank’s Web site.  Here’s the link:  http://www.unitedfoodbank.org/