Tempe Incentive Debate

Someone put together this catchy video criticizing Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman for his railing against development incentives despite Tempe's continued use of them:

Not to be outdone, Hallman answered the video in an impressively quick manner:

We understand the desire to react to criticisms head-on, but linking the critical video on your own website, seems a little silly. Its like, "Hey, welcome to my website, check out the bad stuff people say about me." However, what do we know? We constantly linked to the Mesa Issues impostor when they were trying to steal our thunder. (Speaking of their post from January 2008, Doesn't the Mesa Chamber's endorsement of all three Mayoral candidates seem hilarious now a year and a half later?)

A quick look at Hallman's bio does show that he was elected Mayor in March 2004. I don't remember him weighing in on the ills of incentives when the owners of Tempe Marketplace (which received incentives) railed against Mesa Riverview and used the incentives it was going to receive as one of their major targets.

Was the "meth"od okay back then, but not now? If Tempe had anywhere it could build, they would be changing their tune. In the meantime, enjoy the distraction.