Mayor standing up for Gateway

Mayor Scott Smith is making a strong case for the future of the Gateway area. He has become a leader on this issue and really appears to understand how he wants to make the pieces fit together. He also appears to be making sure everyone is headed in the same direction.

First, he is taking shots at ASU, criticizing their cuts at ASU Polytechnic saying that they are hurting the school and dampening Gateway's potential. He also takes the new provost to task for not being a part of the community. I agree with Smith's assessment, but think he should go even further. He should be challenged to ponder the university perhaps outside of ASU's control. If ASU doesn't want it, is there someone else who gets what it means to the area?

Next, he is defending the Gateway plan telling developers that its going to be hard to make any real changes to what has been established. He is sticking to the council's vision, and its going to be difficult for anyone to change direction on that.

Finally, he is out stumping for the Gaylord Project. If you have turned on a TV lately or opened the mailbox, you probably have seen that the mayor is in favor of this project. Someone sent along the TV commercial which has also made its way to Youtube: