New resident plans to give Maricopa ‘a voice’

In early April, candidates for multiple seats in Maricopa County gathered at a town hall style political forum being hosted by Maricopa resident John Rodriguez.

The event was to start at 6 p.m., but by 5:30 the majority of the 200 chairs remained empty.

A reporter from the East Valley Tribune looked around the room and asked Rodriguez,. “Do you think they are going to be filled?”

Although he was weary, Rodriguez told the reporter they would be filled. However, in the back of his mind there was some doubt.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say I was having a little anxiety,” Rodriguez said.

By 5:45, however, half the chairs were filled, and by 6 p.m. there was standing room only. “I looked to the reporter to give him a shoulder shrug,” Rodriguez said.

This forum occurred in Rodriguez’s former home town of Ahwatukee. “When I arrived the town wasn’t very involved, so we had to show that we mattered,” Rodriguez said.

During his 15 years living in the town Rodriguez would be an active voice in the community developing friendships with politicians and reporters.

“I have been in at least 30 news articles; they are always coming to me for my opinion,” Rodriguez said.

They sought opinions from him ranging from his views on political candidates to placement for businesses new to the community.

“In Ahwatukee I became a credible voice because I wasn’t trying to shovel a lot of bologna,” Rodriguez said.

That non-partisan view is what drives the political forums he hosts. “When you get special interests sponsoring debates, it tends to bring their issues to the forefront, not what the community members want to hear about,” Rodriguez said.

On Monday, Oct. 13, Rodriguez hosted a debate featuring congressional candidates Harry Mitchell (D) and David Schweikert (R).

The rules for his debates are simple. The participants get no up front knowledge of the questions, are not allowed notes and cannot attack the other party.

“All they get is a chair and a bottle of water,” Rodriguez said.

It is this style of forum that Rodriguez said he believes brings out the answers to the questions, and it is the type of forums he would like to bring to Maricopa in the future.

“Now that this is my home I am going to concentrate more on what is going on in the community,” Rodriguez said.

He was recently named the PTO president of the Saddleback Elementary School and has big plans for the future.

“I want to show people that Maricopa matters,” he said, adding that he believes it is necessary to get the community more involved.

Rodriguez plans to create community involvement at a Nov. 6 invite to Maricopa businesses to meet Maricopa teachers and possibly a post-election forum featuring the winning candidates.

He is also pushing the importance of Maricopa at the forum he is holding this month.

“Lots of residents from Maricopa shop in Chandler and Ahwatukee. The leadership representing the area should realize this,” Rodriguez said.

“Maricopa is a large enough community. It needs a voice, and I will see that it has one,” Rodriguez added.

Photo by Michael K. Rich