Former Tempe Mayors Harry Mitchell, Neil Giuliano, Hugh Hallman and Mark Mitchell have endorsed Propositions 301, 302 and 303 to create the Tempe Entertainment District.

The four of them led Tempe from 1978 to 2020. They don’t agree on all the issues, but they do agree these propositions represent a historic opportunity to improve Tempe’s environment, generate more tax revenues, boost the local economy and improve Tempe’s quality of life, a press release explained.

These former mayors have made key decisions that have kept Tempe moving in the right direction.

That’s why they have endorsed this plan that would see a development group led by the owner of the Arizona Coyotes buy the old landfill next to Tempe Town Lake, clean up that landfill and then invest $2.1 billion to create the first privately funded sports and entertainment district in Arizona that includes new retail and restaurants, new housing and a new arena for the Arizona Coyotes.

In the release, the four former mayors urged residents to support the passing of these propositions.

Harry Mitchell said, “This project is a win for Tempe. The city ensured that there would be no cost or risk to the city, while also benefiting from the thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions in revenues and billions in spending this project will bring. This is an important project and one that will have an impact on Tempe’s future, and I hope voters join me in voting ‘yes.’”

Neil Giuliano said, “Not one dime of public money is at risk to develop a project that will create nearly 7,000 sustainable, good-paying jobs and bring a massive financial windfall for our city to help fund municipal services into the future such as affordable housing, park improvements, public safety, emergency medical response and more.”

Hugh Hallman said, “It was an honor to work with the Tempe City Council to write an agreement that benefits the people of Tempe. We drove a hard bargain that uses private sector dollars for the greater good.”

Mark Mitchell said, “We have an opportunity to turn an existing landfill site with huge environmental liabilities into a project that will provide future resources and revenues. The current site is not generating any property tax or sales tax to the city. Once complete, the proposed development will generate city sales taxes which will benefit Tempe’s quality of life.”

The old landfill currently generates no funds while all the trash remains a health and safety hazard, most recently catching fire in 2022.

The developer has committed to cleaning up that landfill through the use of a small surcharge on purchases within the limited entertainment district, the release noted.

If you make no purchases inside that district, you don’t pay the surcharge. The project is expected to create neatly 7,000 permanent jobs and generate over $690 million in net economic and community benefits for the city of Tempe.

All four former mayors are urging residents to vote “YES” on all three propositions on or before May 16.

To learn about Props 301, 302 and 303, visit www.TempeWins.com.