Gaylord approved in landslide

Wow. Just wow. Prop 300 - the Gaylord Project - passed with 84% of the vote (Tribune version here). Ladies and Gentlemen, you have witnessed an amazing occurrence.

Everything I had heard around town pointed to the Prop passing, but the margin of victory is staggering. Congratulations to Mesa for such an outstanding win.

To put it in perspective, you can take a look at the clerk's page (lower right hand corner) for past elections and this is what you'll find:

2002 Stadium vote - 56.9% No

2002 General plan - 65.7% Yes

2005 Riverview - 56.2% Yes

2006 Tax Election - 60.2% Yes Sales tax, 60.3% No property tax

2007 Waveyard - 65.7% Yes

2008 Election - Slum Landlord - 78.6% Yes, Public Safety - 66.9% Yes, Streets - 64.6% Yes

The closest margin of victory is the slum landlord law, and the Gaylord project still beat that by 6 points! This is probably the only time we'll see something like this happen.

This was a "perfect storm" for Mesa's voters. With the national economy struggling, a city fresh off a round of budget cuts, a brand new mayor who is building hope, and visually stunning project, all the pieces were there. The touting of jobs and revenue became the icing on the cake.

This is truly a great time to be in Mesa. We have a lot of exciting opportunities ahead of us and the biggest blank canvas in the valley with the Gateway project. I think we are all on our way to witnessing something amazing.