Interview with Mayor Jim Lane

I have met Mayor Lane at various events in 30-second segments… I hope this read will help you understand the man I met for the first time today. I have vested interest in our City. Our business operations are in Scottsdale and my wife & newborn son live north of Old Town. I'm a fiscal Republican and have lefty social leanings. Though I have never met Lane's opposition, I'm a guy who feels like my gut is right 70% of the time and Mayor Jim Lane feels right for our City.

I was told by the OurLocal.Life editors not to write a boring article. That is a high benchmark… here's my best shot.

DeFrates: Thanks for meeting with me, OurLocal.Life was kind enough to organize this interview and I'm excited to ask you a few questions.
Mayor Lane: I appreciate you coming by. I don't recognize OurLocal.Life and before we get started with our conversation, can you tell me why you're here?

I assumed this was going to be a softball interview. I was not there to challenge Mayor Lane but he made it clear he has had challengers and knows how to handle them. After I explained the intention of the article, he opened up and I had an honest conversation with my new favorite Mayor.

From my research prior to the interview, Mayor Lane has championed businesses both as an entrepreneur & executive. He was/is the founder, manager and/or CEO of a technology, financial consulting & telecommunications company. Politics was a next step aspiration and he has been successful in most all his ventures.

DeFrates: My first question – after a stressful day, what is your "happy place?"
Mayor: I love being with my grandkids, one of my favorite places to take them is the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park.

I know the railroad park well, my office is across the street; I honestly didn't know its full proper name!

DeFrates: What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
Mayor: South Park, I love that show.

Those were my break the ice questions, here's where we get a bit more serious:

DeFrates: If you were on a deserted island, what celebrity or artist would you prefer to be stranded with?
Mayor: Well, I suppose when in a life or death situation – I would want to be with someone I can outrun!

DeFrates: Haha, That's the first time I've heard that answer! Let's assume survival isn't a problem – who would you choose?
Mayor: I would enjoy spending time with Teddy Roosevelt.

Lane thought about his answer a moment and explained.

Mayor: Roosevelt had a range of interests and circumstance that allowed him to think & draw his opinion from diversity. You mentioned you're in real estate? In most financial sectors, the guy with the most & relevant information profits. Roosevelt had a passion for defense, moral code, hunting, family, government, many things – a deserted island would give me plenty of time to bounce ideas off him!

That answer alone made up my mind to support this guy. Keep reading, he's an interesting guy.

Getting to Know Mayor Lane

Android or iPhone? Apple or PC? I have both PC and Apple. My wife has Android; I have an iPhone.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure? South Park is my go-to guilty pleasure.

Desert island: If we're both going to starve to death, I want someone I can last longer than. If survival isn't a problem — Teddy Roosevelt. A guy that has such a variety of interests and thinking mirrors a whole lot of varieties of background. When you draw from different areas in the development of opinions, perspective is the critical word: defense, moral code, hunting, family, government. Specifically about government, I like the idea of someone who has such varied and even sometimes exotic perspectives.

Who do you go to for business advice? I used to go to my dad. I've always respected his opinion — he was bigger than life as far as I was concerned. I have a small circle of friends. I feel secure about how I think of things, but in a conversational theory — "what do you think" — I appreciate seeking people who will tell you the truth in times of possible delusion.

Where do you go to find your creative energy? I have a place in Pinetop; this is my place of regeneration. Get together with friends and regenerate at Pomo's — a favorite spot. Young people, residents — arrange gatherings and be a part of the community. Some folks are about as disengaged as they come; I'm almost surprised that we get 12–15 people at some of our small events. Focusing on businesses and being part of the community helps. Getting around to the schools helps.

After a stressful day, what's your happy place? With my grandkids — the railroad park is a wonderful place to be with family.

If you have one thing about Scottsdale — what's your favorite thing? Scottsdale is a relaxed place. This is an easy place to live.

Revitalization & Neighborhood Stewardship

Revitalization and neighborhood preservation — how to encourage proactive neighborhood stewardships. Neighborhood college.

Running for a third term, running a sheer. Erin has been studying for a number of years, having difficulty coming to reasonable agreement as to what will be in the plan. The state needs to grow smarter; there is a desire of some members of the community to be prescriptive of land use. Property rights — is it a zoning / legislative act?

Government is complicated; we have a diverse neighborhood base and demographic. Different folks, cultures, and backgrounds.

"Full inclusion, working together as one community. It is easy for some to become self-segregated — participate as a community together as Scottsdaleians."

We lowered the age in downtown; overall the city is roughly 47. I'm overall responsible for pushing that number up. We've lowered that age by virtue of technology companies to 31. It's been an interesting yet dramatic difference and it tends to get pushback from the last generation.

Providing housing for the younger generation of technologists — live, work, and thrive in this demographic. Entertainment district, law enforcement, transportation, public safety, and housing trends.

Revitalize and regenerate these areas — there needs to be vitality for the growth and creation of the next Scottsdale: downtown, McDowell Road corridor, economic centers. Midtown and uptown — Airpark, 2nd–3rd largest, net importer of labor. We entertain 9.1 million visitors. Tourism funds itself; the citizens don't have to pay for the tourism requirements and infrastructure.

You may not be able to get into your favorite restaurant in Scottsdale during peak seasons, but our job is to make sure your car can get there.

Economy, Innovation & Jobs

Cure Corridor — bioscience, biotech, and associated businesses — facilitate the platform for them to operate. How to make sure that all the companies and associated facilities know that everyone is here.

We are very interested in building jobs and investment in Scottsdale. Businesses that are not looking for a handout but looking towards a productive element. We're not interested in big splash companies from California, New York, and Philadelphia. Cybersecurity — everyone focuses on clusters. Diversification in the economic engine.

We've attracted Standard Aero; most of the companies have been small startup companies. #8 in the country for entrepreneurial startups; 8th best-run city in the country. Coming here without knowing — the clustering.

Take a company that has an outpost or wants an outpost — we go to the CEOs and help them determine that they want to have a presence in Scottsdale. We're building a workforce pool with ASU and other institutions. We're building a market within a market so that in this new employment world we're creating competition — what you're able to start is not where you finish.

When I moved out here in 1973 they paid me in sunshine. When someone comes from California or other more expensive markets they may be starting, but the outposts will create the next job upward movement. Outposts are growing faster than their headquarters. Being in NY and California is irrelevant.

Wife or husband — "I got a job, what is he or she going to do?" The growth has dismissed that type of concern. Our business community is a partnership; they are our adversaries and they are the ones that end up being our primary advocates.

Operation Fix-It

Our code enforcement officers founded it, grew it, and drove it to where it is now. Operation Fix-It — in the crash people were barely holding onto their homes, let alone being able to perfectly maintain every detail. Our code enforcement officers were truly helping our community members clean up their yards downtown.

State of the City — $25K to Operation Fix-It. 200 homes, 700 volunteers. Neighbors helping neighbors. Neighborhoods getting involved with neighbors; the stories have been moving and touching. The elderly may not have the ability to take care of their yards; we want to bring the life back into our community.

For our cities — volunteers trying to help in neighborhoods. The cities and neighbors are better than in the crash.

I apologize, I get excited about this stuff and at times I get into tangents. "You're a politician." Politician is not a title I embrace.

Security Canyon & Welcome to Scottsdale

Security Canyon — technology and investment. We're not in the business of paying to bring jobs; we have what companies want. We have the ability for young people and individuals to generate personal wealth.

What do you want a new person to know? We want to know about you. We're glad to know who is here and what they are doing. We're not a networking organization, but we're looking to group complementary businesses together. If you're considering a Scottsdale move, we're looking to provide a clear message — low tax, low regulation, stay out of the way.

We want to stay the heck out of the way. We're not in the business of thwarting the opportunities that may present themselves for new business, even in the possibility of disruption of existing and in some cases protected businesses. Don't thwart innovation. There is success and failure in a scrupulous free environment. There is not true success without the prospect of failure. Crony capitalism is something that we must avoid.

Our sister city in China is an incredible mix of capitalism and government control. They are trying to massage their market which creates risk. Haikou — must get a nod.