A twitter pic posted by Mario E. Diaz touting that ex-mayor Phil Gordon and Ellisa Mullany, Gordon's ex-girlfriend/fundraiser, are part of the "money team" for Pastor Warren Stewart's campaign is raising eyebrows in some political circles.
An interesting political tactic, to say the least, given the pair -- Gordon and Mullany -- evoke reminders of questionable dealings during Gordon's last years in office.
Diaz is working as a campaign consultant for Stewart, who is running for a Phoenix City Council seat in District 8. The senior pastor of First International Baptist Church is facing Lawrence Robinson, a professor at Phoenix School of Law, and Kate Widland Gallego, a business liaison for SRP, in that August 27 election.
Stewart says his campaign is about new ideas and that he believes in carrying himself in a "way that is worthy of the office I seek."
But it wasn't so long ago that Stewart's volunteer money-man was apparently using the Mayor's Office as a perk-paradise for himself and his significant other.
The mayor who may be remembered for bringing Arizona State University and other major developments to downtown Phoenix can't easily shed the unsavory parts of his political past.
Accountability should matter, but there are many questions that went unanswered.
Gordon helped Veolia, the transit company that won a city contract while it had Mullany on its payroll, to muscle about $30 million from the city. He gave special access certain lobbyists, such as Billy Shields. He gave special treatment to developer Steve Ellman, who hired Mullany. He set up jobs for Mullany. He inexplicably funneled tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Mullany, including gobs of green from a federal political campaign fund he set up. The pair jetted off around the world, at time in private jets, under the banner of the Mayor's Office. One e-mail suggested that Gordon and Mullany's travels were a way to boost a global connections company that she had started.
Diaz tells New Times that it is "absolutely not" a concern to have Gordon and Mullany associated with Stewart's campaign.
He says the two are just volunteering, calling their friends to raise money to help the Stewart campaign get their message out.
The campaign is also trying to get the message out with a tele-conference town hall that kicks off tonight. Diaz says that some 10,000 people have been invited to call in.
