Simplot isn't going anywhere

Ever since Tom Simplot got a new job in the private sector, City Hall types have been wondering about his political future.

In June, you'll remember, Simplot became director of the trade group representing rental housing and apartments in Arizona. The Arizona Multifamily Association represents more than 215,000 rental units and the developers who build them.

At the time, observers said the move was a likely indicator that Simplot wouldn't run for the mayor's seat the next time it came available. But lately, speculation has grown that Simplot wouldn't even seek re-election next year.

More than one person stopped by our office at City Hall to pass along the latest bit of conventional wisdom - that Simplot had grown tired of City Hall bureaucracy and wanted to focus all his energy on his new job.

It turns out, though, that the conventional wisdom was wrong.

"I'm running," Simplot told us over coffee recently. "I feel like I have so much left to do."

Simplot acknowledges that after taking the new job, he spent a few months weighing whether he would be able to lead the multifamily association effectively while representing his central-Phoenix district.

But four months later, he says, he's comfortable that he can balance his two jobs.

And he's already started raising money for his campaign next year. Through June, the most recent reporting period, Simplot had more than $30,000 on hand.

That's not a huge amount, and he'll raise much more before the campaign is over. But it's a good start - and evidence that, whatever people say, Simplot is definitely in the running.

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Failure to signal . . . If the City Council's non-decision on reversible lanes this week left you scratching your head, you weren't alone.

The Street Transportation Department, which the council charged with completing a new study on Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue, wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to be studying.

"We're still kind of sorting that out," said Wylie Bearup, street transportation director, who requested the minutes of the meeting in an effort to see what the council was asking for. (We attended the meeting, and we're not sure.)

The thing is, the streets staff performed a study of the reversible lanes last year. When the results favored keeping the lanes as is, the council members who want to eliminate them sought a new study from a think tank at Arizona State University.

That study, designed to gauge the lanes' effect on quality of life, showed that most residents who live near the lanes want to see them improved or eliminated.

Each study had its supporters on the council - Greg Stanton waved the banner for the streets study, and Simplot cheered ASU's report - but neither persuaded a majority of the council.

Hence the council's decision to discuss the issue again next June, when the third study of reversible lanes is due.

Now if only streets knew what to study.

Phoenix councilmember and METRO chair Tom Simplot holds a plaque to be placed in cement at the Camelback and Central station.