Sal DiCiccio is using light rail and the city manager to make a power grab Opinion: Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio may not like light rail or the city manager. But his attempt to thwart both has nothing to do with residents' concerns.

Elvia Díaz | The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio smells blood over City Hall’s power vacuum and is going after the jugular, demanding to put the brakes on a voter-approved 6-mile light rail extension and fire the city manager.

The conservative rabble rouser is seizing on a dramatic City Council transition that began with Mayor Greg Stanton leaving to pursue a congressional bid.

DiCiccio’s objective of seizing control of city government was crystallized this week during the three-hour-plus light rail hearing where he and his colleagues went after each other’s throats, prompting a resident to tell them he was “embarrassed” about their behavior.

DiCiccio sees a chance to gain allies

This is how the tug-of-war is playing out.

Stanton’s departure has left an 8-member council, but soon two progressives, Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela, will resign to pursue a mayoral bid. The remaining six council members, three Democrats and three Republicans, get to appoint their replacements.

This is as close to a Republican, anti-light rail, anti-government spending majority as the City Council has been – at least in recent history. It’s DiCiccio’s chance to influence the appointments and finally have enough allies to do the things he’s always wanted to do, like killing light rail extensions.

It’s evident he sees the power within reach and has gone out of control, rudely making irrational demands and attempting to publicly humiliate City Manager Ed Zuercher.

“Since we were prevented on voting on your job performance review, I’m requesting you place your position on the July 5 council agenda,’’ DiCiccio said in a letter he sent Zuercher Tuesday during the heated public hearing over the 6-mile light rail extension from downtown to Baseline Road in south Phoenix.

This is a power play, pure and simple

Allhands: If south Phoenix doesn't want light rail, why force it? Extending light rail down Central Avenue is kind of like cough syrup for some south Phoenix residents, columnist Joanna Allhands says.

DiCiccio, who was furious Tuesday because the council didn’t vote to kill light rail, said in the letter he didn’t like how Zuercher “handled the light rail fiasco” and “strongly pushed to add over $2 Billion in new debt, destabilizing the police and fire pension fund.”

Wait. Say what?

On the surface, DiCiccio’s Tuesday maneuver to publicly call for Zuercher’s head looks like a child’s tantrum that eclipsed residents’ concerns over light-rail construction.

But don’t be fooled. It’s a calculated political ploy to remove any obstacles in his power-grab.

MORE: Phoenix passes $4.4B budget with more money for public safety

The City Council can hire and fire the city manager. Zuercher, by many accounts, is serious and meticulous about his job, and overall respected. His job is to manage more than 14,000 city employees and implement the council’s policy. Gallego said she fully supports Zuercher, adding that he's a good public servant.

At this point, it’s hard to discern whether DiCiccio has legitimate questions over Zuercher’s performance or simply carried out a perfectly orchestrated ploy by calling for a public vote.

DiCiccio is already suing his colleagues

DiCiccio's Tuesday stunt should give south Phoenix residents following his anti-light rail crusade pause.

DiCiccio, who represents the posh Biltmore area and Ahwatukee, did echo many of south Phoenix residents’ fears of narrowing Central Avenue from four to two lanes – one in each direction.

But in the process, he called attention to himself, his ambition and his bickering with colleagues.

Don't forget, for instance, that earlier this month, he subpoenaed councilwomen Debra Stark and Laura Pastor and interim Mayor Thelda Williams and planned to depose them for a lawsuit he recently filed against the city.

And the plight that brought the angry residents to City Hall?

Most who spoke at Tuesday's meeting were against the $700 million extension, saying transit staff have left them in the dark and that they’d rather use the money for buses and improved the crumbling infrastructure.

Light rail has been in the works for years

Never mind that the city has been talking about this particular light rail extension for more than two decades.

Never mind that the council approved the two-lane configuration in 2014, that voters overwhelmingly approved a transit tax in 2015 for that purpose and that the city had countless public meetings.

Construction of this magnitude is always painful for business owners along the route, and transit staffers can do a better job communicating with them. Demand help and better information, yes.

But council members, who are poised to take a vote as early as Wednesday, shouldn’t forget that the rest of south Phoenix residents want light rail and that our opinion should count, too.

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.

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