FAQ

City Council District 5

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Name/date of birth: Dina Higgins, 47 years old

2. Educational and political experience: Education: BS Mechanical Engineering; Licensed Professional Engineer; graduate classes in math. Political experience: Board of Adjustment, City of Mesa, chair for 2 years; Mesa Leadership Training and Development Board of Directors; Co-Chair of the Citrus Area Homeowners; Planning Team member for the Citrus Sub Area Plan; Neighborhood representative to the Planning Code Redesign Focus Group; Board of Directors for Spyglass HOA.

3. Occupation/work history: Development Engineer in automotive safety 8 years at TRW in Detroit, MI; Essex, England; and Mesa, AZ. Part time high school math, physics instructor, with continued substitute positions and math tutoring in Mesa and Chandler, AZ.

4. Please detail your work with non-profit or other organizations: My work on the MLTD Board entailed determining the curriculum, procuring the speakers and sites for the class. Communicating with class members, speakers and alumni.

5. Family: Husband Jack, married almost 24 years; two sons, Kyle 16 and Sean 14. Parents recently moved to Mesa from Michigan, ages 90 and 84.

6. How long have you lived in Mesa? 14 years in the same home.

7. What do you like most about Mesa, and what is your favorite place in the city? I love the views that you see when you are on any of the larger arterials. I love the landscape diversity in our city. I love the citrus area but can drive a few miles to the Power and McDowell area and a have desert experience. I can head even further east and be in Usery Mountain Park. I love the mature landscaping found downtown and on the west side. My favorite place is the arroyo in front of the Mesa Arts Center and the shadow walk.

8. When did you move to Arizona and why? I moved to Mesa with my family from our assignment in England at the end of 1993. We moved to Mesa because of TRW’s facility located at the North end of Higley Road.

9. How would you work out disagreements or conflicts on the council? Often times there will be disagreements. A team made up of 7 individuals will not always agree on everything. Keeping the disagreements from getting personal is the only way to keep a group working together.

10. What leadership positions have you held, and how would you describe your leadership style? As Chair of the Board of Adjustment I believe I used Participative Leadership, an approach that is also known as consultation, empowerment, joint decision-making, democratic leadership, Management By Objective and power-sharing. I really am about getting everyone involved, but in the end I am not afraid of making a decision.

11. Which leader do you admire most and why? Ronald Reagan is the leader I admire most. President Reagan was not afraid of making a decision, no matter how unpopular. He was also a man of strong moral character that was willing to stand up for what he believed was right, even if he was on his own.

12. How do you educate yourself on issues that you’re not familiar with? I like to review any written information first. Then I like to go directly to the source and have the pros and cons explained to me fully. This also allows for follow-up questions from information I might have read.

13. How do you resolve moral or ethical dilemmas in your public life?

I conduct every discussion and make every decision so that it is above reproach.

14. What is the biggest risk you’ve taken and what did you learn from it? In 1988 my husband and I took a two year engineering assignment in England that extended to five years. The time in England was invaluable on so many fronts. From the way they do city planning which is very town center focused, how mass transit can work at its highest level for all socio- economic groups, to learning to live within the land mass you have. There is no such thing as “urban sprawl” but there is an extensive amount of money put in, both privately and publicly, to redevelop older areas of communities.

15. Why are you seeking this office? The face of Mesa is changing. We are growing in some areas and declining in others. We need leaders that can think outside the box. We need leaders that can have vision for 20 to 50 years from now. I believe that my experience as an engineer where long range planning is a must, attention to detail is critical, trying things that have not been done before is encouraged, and interfacing with many different departments has made me that type of leader. I also believe that my community experience has gotten me involved with the concerns of the community as well.

16. How have you prepared yourself to be successful in this public office? My professional experience has helped me develop a style that is very transparent and all about consensus building. Active listening is a key to any public official. You need to “hear” what the people are saying.

17. Have you ever been arrested? If so, when, where, for what, and what was the outcome? No

18. What three things do you want to see changed in Mesa? A long term planning approach to how we govern the city. More focus on economic development. I would like to see Mesa spoken of more highly than it is currently. I would like Mesa to be at the top of any list that relocating businesses or employers might have. I would like to see “us” tout the many great attributes we have as a city instead of hearing the usual “woe-is-me”.

19. If you currently are on the council, what progress have you made toward making these changes? N/A

20. If not on the council, what would you do to make them happen? We need to start at the top down and the bottom up. The economic development director needs to look at any company world wide and say “why wouldn’t they want to relocate to Mesa, we have it all”. We need to actively pursue any company we hear of that wants to relocate, especially the higher tech industries. We still have a trained work force available to fill these positions.

21. What’s your vision for Mesa in 10 years? How do we achieve that vision? I would like to see Mesa go from a bedroom community to a boardroom community. I would like to see Mesa’s incredible medical corridor touted and continued to expand. I would like to see the Phoenix/Mesa Gateway area develop under the current general plan that paved the way for general and light industry, high tech industries with convenient airport access, offices and business parks, with a lot of mixed use/employment. We achieve this by looking to the long range results and not caving into compromise on the general plan for possibly quicker gains.

22. What council decisions in the past 10 years have helped Mesa? Council’s support of Waveyard. The increase in the city’s reserves which has given Mesa the highest bond rating that we have ever had.

23. Which have hurt? Any zoning decision that has strayed from the general plan. Not enacting a pay day loan or slum-lord ordinance. The lack of education to the citizens on the Cardinal Stadium issue.

24. Is west Mesa in decline? If you believe so, what possible solutions exist? Dave Richins and the West Mesa Community Development Corp is the model that should be continued in west Mesa. The West Mesa CDC has mobilized the community to get involved with the decision making process in the City. They have done projects to beautify the area and reduce graffiti. This model would work in other areas of the city.

25. Has the city kept pace with east Mesa by providing services, such as fire and police coverage and city pools and parks? How can the city keep up? Both District 5 & 6 have issues with police and fire. The large land mass and growing population, with higher service demands, has taxed the system. The fire department is only meeting their response time of 4 minutes 42.7% of the time for their station at Baseline between Crimson and Signal Butte. Additional police and fire facilities are included in the upcoming bond issue.

26. What is the biggest issue in your city council district, regardless of whether you are running for Council or Mayor, and what do you think you can do about it? The continued development of the Falcon Field and Long Bow areas. These are two areas in district 5 which must be carefully developed along with neighborhood input. We must ensure high quality business parks and general manufacturing to enable long term viability of the area.

27. Does Mesa have an illegal immigrant problem? If so, what can the city do about it? Do you favor involving police in arresting undocumented immigrants? Yes, Mesa has an illegal immigration problem. But making our police force into immigration officers is not the answer.

28. Do you favor a city property tax? Why? No, like any other business or family, Mesa needs to learn how to live within its means.

29. What do you see for Mesa if a property tax doesn't pass? How will you deal with the budget challenges? Mesa needs to focus on economic development to increase its revenue stream. Bringing high wage jobs does not have an immediate effect but has a sustainable long term effect.

30. If the proposed $400-million bond issue fails in November, what steps do you propose? I believe that we should look at a bare bones bond issue in regard to road construction. I think we need to evaluate every project and remove ones that are not critical. By doing this we may show voters we are serious about cutting costs and a smaller bond issue may pass.

31. What steps are necessary to ensure success of the Gateway Airport area? We must hold true to the general plan for the area. We need to look for the long range results and not cave into compromise on the general plan for possibly quicker gains. We can not allow residential developments to creep into the area and jeopardize the long term sustainability of the airport.

32. What other points will you be making in your campaign? The main point of my campaign is economic development. We need to aggressively pursue companies to move to Mesa. We must do a better job of “selling” our amazing community and wonderful quality of life that we enjoy in Mesa.

33. Mesa has for years taken great care to be a city that is the least expensive at providing government services compared to other valley cities. Please explain how this strategy has benefited our city and the service level required by our population. The delivery of municipal services is a vital function of local government. Every effort should be made to continue to pursue the most cost effective strategies in the delivery of those services. Mesa should continue its leadership role in this regard.

34. The City is proposing new bonds be issued for capital projects. Will you be supporting the bonds? What revenue stream will you support to pay for the bonds? The bond, as it is currently proposed, contains too many items the need for which has not been adequately demonstrated. The public safety aspects of the bond are sorely needed, especially in District 5 and District 6 with the continued large growth. A secondary property tax should be attached to this bond issue as a guaranteed revenue stream. The secondary property tax will make the bonds more marketable and will result in a lower rate of interest for the city.

35. Since the mid 1940’s, Mesa has supplemented its tax income with fees and utility charges. What do you see as the negative consequences of this fiscal model? What are the positive consequences? What are the alternatives? Unfortunately getting supplemental income from utility charges is disproportionately taxing the population. One residential 90 gallon trash barrel costs $22.66 per month whether there is one individual in a house or a family of four. It is a flat fee based on having the barrel, not based on usage. This places more of a burden on the retired population and lower income houses. Our fees should be based on usage for greater equity. User fees should be priced as close to costs as possible. So far in the history of Mesa this model has funded the city without a need for a property tax. There is a limit as to how high you can make fees and charge for utilities. This model can not continue to work in a growing city in need of new infrastructure in parts of the city and redevelopment in other parts. There may be no acceptable alternatives to broad base user fees.

36. The public voted down a primary property tax citing distrust in government as the reason. What will you do to address the issue of trust in government? The only way to win back the trust of the public is to show true fiscal restraint along innovation. This may include looking into privatizing some current city services if it makes budgetary sense. Perhaps by becoming trend setters in the landfill to bio-diesel and ethanol market, which has been very successful in California. We must show the public that it is not business as usual in the city and that we are moving ahead with vision and leadership.

37. Previous councils have, on more than one occasion, deferred critical and complicated issues to a public vote, issues that council had the authority to address. Would you likely follow that example? Why or why not? I do not agree with referring these types of issues to a public vote. The council was voted by the citizens to make the tough decisions. Unless there is an overwhelming outcry of the citizens to have a say, the council should do its job and not refer the question to the public.

38. Recently, residential developers have challenged zoning intended to protect Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport and the operations of large employers like Boeing. What would your position be on this topic? How would you approach the overall development of the area? The Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport is the hub for the economic development for the next 50 -100 years. The airport must be protected! The 2025 General Plan called for the majority of the area to be: General Industrial, Light Industrial, Business Park, Offices. This type of zoning will protect the airport for future development. I would like to go after some large European companies that have hinted at finding a location in the US. I would like to see a large automotive assembly plant with the suppliers they bring. I would like to see some Bio-Medical Tech industries utilizing the vast medical education we have in the area. I would favor incentives to bring a large multi-national company to our area.

39. Do you believe the City has placed a priority on economic development? If yes, how? If no, what needs to be done? Before the hiring of Bill Jabjiniak as our new economic development director, we did not have an economic director for over two years. During that time the city should have looked to the Chamber to help pick up the slack and for direction. So before Mr. Jabjiniak was hired, I would have to say there was not a big economic development push. I have seen good things from this director and have great hopes for what he needs to get done. It may require some budget to be moved into his area for this to happen as fast as we need it to happen. It may also take a realization that they need to utilize the Chamber to its fullest extent in a kind of public private partnership to bring the kind of economic development Mesa needs.

40. How competitive do you believe Mesa to be in providing incentives for high wage jobs? If past performance is any indication, we are not at all competitive.

41. What would you do to improve declining area, such as the West Mesa business district? It is the opinion of the West Mesa CDC that currently the west Mesa area is no longer in decline, but is not out of the woods yet. I would side with the neighbors in not allowing any more pawn shops or payday loan centers in their area. I would make sure that strict attention is paid to the area as far as code compliance issues are concerned. I would encourage store owners to contact the non-profit sector of our community such as NEDCO, which specializes in loans for facade and general improvements, so that a business owner who would like to improve his business could find the money to do so.

42. What would you do to address the problem of vacating big boxes in neighborhood strip malls? The vacant big box is a perplexing issue. I have, working with an organization, tried to lease more then one big box. The price per square foot that they are looking for is cost prohibitive for most smaller companies, not too mention the triple net on most properties and the tenant improvements required to make move in ready. The owner would rather sit on it empty and use the tax break than lease it at a lower rate. I think some creative thinking needs to be done in this area. Could the big box owner get some tax benefit from leasing it out for less? Could the property be used for the many charter schools looking for a location, with similar incentives? Could the city use it for an indoor sports complex, soccer fields for example? Much focused discussions must take place. Empty big boxes are not an asset in any neighborhood.

43. Are you in favor of the City investing in development along the light rail line once it is in place? What would you support to encourage this development? I would prefer to see the private sector get involved along the light rail line with condos, loft-shop space, restaurants and office/services.