Let’s just call the election for John Lewis and figure out what it means for Gilbert.
Given Lewis’s 2-1 vote margin over Don Skousen in Tuesday’s municipal election, that seems the reasonable thing to do even though it won’t be official until the May runoff.
So the real question is what kind of mayor will Lewis be?
One easy answer is that he’ll bring a fresh perspective to town hall and a sharp contrast in style to defeated Mayor Steve Berman.
Berman who took pride in his salesmanship abilities was a fast talker. In conversations in which I was involved he not only talked fast he did all the talking.
He also wore his passion for Gilbert on his sleeve. Trouble is the passion easily turned to confrontation whether it was the auto mall war with Chandler or with state lawmakers and county islanders over fire service.
Confrontational political leaders make for good newspaper copy. I can vouch for that.
But low-key finesse will get you farther in the long run and create relationships that enable the kind of collaboration with bordering communities and constituency groups that are essential in these challenging economic times.
I found out just how different in style Lewis is from either Berman or Skousen when Lewis and I broke bread earlier this week.
For one thing, he’s a low-key listener.
Journalists are supposed to be the listeners. They are supposed to be asking the politicians the questions.
But Lewis turned on the quiet charm first with questions about my family and second about policy matters involving economic development issues and the relationship between small businesses and town government and the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and the mayor.
I did more talking than I should have, but I listened long enough to find out that we shared a common concern that the town needed to turn up the heat on economic development to bring more and better paying jobs to the area.
He told me to his chagrin an acquaintance from Phoenix who is involved in economic development said it would never occur to his organization to pitch Gilbert. The town’s image as a sleepy and insular (my paraphrase, not Lewis’s words) bedroom community is so strong. And it’s also not viewed as business friendly.
Lewis also observed that the town’s web site didn’t “sell” the town. He said there may be a need for a separate site to acquaint potential employers with just how much Gilbert has going for it.
He referred me to his campaign Web site http://johnlewisformayor.com/planofaction/ where Lewis outlines his 10 top priorities and a 90-day plan, assuming his election.
One that stood out: “Set a deadline of 90 days to prepare a Strategic Direction Plan for attracting sustainable medium-large business operations to Gilbert. This plan will be created, discussed and agreed to by (with input from local business leaders).”
Another called for seeking out CEOs who have retired to Gilbert to get their help in how the town can do more to encourage small business development.
Lewis doesn’t have experience in government. But on Tuesday he showed he could put a campaign together.
He is also demonstrating that he’s an accomplished listener who is asking the right questions. And that will take him a long way.
