Phil Gordon (politician)

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Phil Gordon (2011)

Phil Gordon (born April 18, 1951 in Chicago ) is an American politician ( Democrat ). He was the 58th Mayor of Phoenix from 2004 to 2012 and the first of the Jewish faith in this capacity.

Life

Phil Gordon was born in Chicago in 1951, the oldest of Sid and Judy Gordon's three children. One grandfather was a Lithuanian immigrant of the Jewish faith. In the mid-1960s, the family moved to Phoenix, where he attended high school. After completing the Bachelor in Education at the Arizona State University , he remained at that institution and studied law , he cum laude graduated.

After various activities - including teaching and self-employment - he became office manager of the then incumbent mayor of Phoenix in 1996. In 1997 and 2000 he was elected to the Phoenix City Council.

politics

He won the election for Mayor of Phoenix on September 9, 2003 against the Republican Randy Pullen with almost 72% of the vote and was sworn in on January 2, 2004. His three priorities for the city were: public safety, education, and jobs - three things he describes as "intertwined" because education leads to jobs and jobs keep jobs from crime. His re-election as Mayor of Arizona took place in 2008 with almost 80%. He received significant support especially from entrepreneurs and from the real estate industry.

Regarding the comparatively radical measures taken by Sheriff Joe Arpaio , Gordon, as mayor of the metropolis of Phoenix, which belongs to Maricopa County and thus belongs to the sheriff's sphere of influence, opposed the sheriff's popularity. As a result, Gordon was praised for this courage from the Jewish community on the one hand, as he was the only high-ranking politician to actively speak out against Arpaio's bundle of measures (including pink underwear for prisoners and moldy sandwiches for food). On the other hand, Gordon also received criticism from the Jewish community: He should not undermine the legal measures or initiate FBI investigations. For this reason, Gordon drew a mixed interim conclusion: "Certainly from a political point of view it is not the smartest thing to stand against the sheriff, but from an ethical and moral point of view it was the right thing" ( English "Certainly standing up to the sheriff isn't the." wisest thing to do politically, but it was the right thing to do ethically and morally " ). Arpaio also complained that Gordon was building his allegations on newspaper articles and avoiding a direct confrontation with him. In 2015, Gordon first reported that the controversy had raised false allegations of child abuse.

Although he belongs to the Democratic Party himself, he spoke out in favor of John McCain in the 2008 Republican Party primaries . In the presidential election himself, however, he positioned himself neutrally.

When the then incumbent US President George Bush traveled to the Middle East in 2008 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, Phil Gordon was selected as a member of the delegation and also took part in the trip.

In 2017, Gordon considered applying again for the office of Mayor of Phoenix. However, since he did not receive the encouragement he had hoped for, he put these plans back in the drawer in autumn 2017.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Dan Friedman: Phoenix Mayor Challenges Popular Sheriff's Anti-Immigration Tactics. In: forward.com. July 24, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c AIA Arizona: Biography ( PDF , approx. 16 kilobytes ), in: aia-arizona.org, accessed on November 5, 2018.
  3. ↑ City of Phoenix: Mayor and Council Election - September 9, 2003 - Official Results ( Memento from June 23, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Mike Sunnucks n: Gordon sweeps mayor's race, sales tax increase passes. In: bizjournals.com. September 23, 2007, accessed November 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Jayme West: Arpaio ups ante in war of words with Gordon ( Memento of July 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: ktar.com . April 17, 2008 (English).
  6. ↑ Wendy Halloran: Former Phoenix mayor confronts false child-sex-crimes allegation. In: 12news.com. June 24, 2016, accessed November 5, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Eli Lake: Bush Visit May Boost Olmert. In: nysun.com. May 13, 2008, accessed November 5, 2018 .
  8. ^ Former Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon staying out of race. In: ktar.com. October 11, 2017, accessed November 5, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Gordon, Phil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois