Carrying on with our goal of getting Asia Today readers more information on local politics and candidates so they can make decisions on voting for candidates that align with their values, we had the lovely opportunity to sit down with Councilman Daniel Valenzuela who will be running for Mayor of Phoenix in the upcoming elections. Currently on the Phoenix City Council representing District 5, Councilman Valenzuela is very passionate about the city of Phoenix where he has spent a majority of his life.
Councilman Valenzuela was born and raised in Phoenix and did not have the easiest childhood. Being raised by a single mother and the youngest of 6, he did not have much growing up and spent part of his childhood homeless. He attended 13 different public schools in the City of Phoenix and credits social programs such as Greater Phoenix Urban League, Arizona’s Call-A-Teen, Boys and Girls Club, and many others for keeping him out of trouble and giving him the opportunity to grow and support his family. It was these programs that allowed him to start working at the age of 14 so he could help his mom and siblings and buy school clothes. The support from these organizations and the direct positive impact it had on his life is what led him down the path of public service. Married to his beautiful wife who he met at a Hispanic Leadership event in 2005, Wendy Valenzuela, they both are very passionate about making their community better and stronger together.
Councilman Valenzuela’s contributions to public service can be traced back to the days when he wanted nothing to do with politics but just wanted to help people by becoming a firefighter. While a firefighter, he was involved in many community programs that were dedicated to public service and while trying to make a difference in those efforts, he realized how critical it was to have a seat at the table making policies. This is what led to his decision to run for Councilman and he became a member of the Phoenix City Council, representing District 5 in November, 2011. District 5, which at the time was the most underserved district in the city is no longer in that state and has come a long way since then. It currently has more than $1.4 billion dollars in capital projects and Grand Canyon University, part of that district, is the fastest growing university in the country.
In addition to his efforts with GCU, he has also been a strong supporter of public education and given from his own sources to support public education. He helped start the Great Hearts campus in Maryvale to give children in that area an opportunity at a quality education. In his own words about public schools, he states “If it was up to me, I support hem every day of the week. As a kid that attended 13 public schools we need strong education and must invest in quality education and infrastructure.” This is why he is in support of the Red for Ed movement going on in Arizona. With four family members being teachers, he understands the conflict they face between doing what they love and being able to support their families. As he eloquently put it, people in public service (firefighters, police, teachers) are not in it for money and will not become rich doing this but do this because it is about serving the community and should not be taken advantage of. Teachers are living at poverty levels paying out of pocket to t3each children and something has to change. He mentioned his own nephew a teacher but also a husband and father of two that struggles daily with his passion to teach and providing a quality life for his family. If teachers are continued to choose between these difficult choices, they will either leave to teach in States that value them as a teacher or look to do other things, something we cannot afford with our already high teacher shortage crisis.
While many argue that education is not in the purview of local government, Councilman Valenzuela believes that by extracting the politics out of it, the platform can be used to bring the public and private sector together to come up with solutions that enrich our communities. An example where he has successfully done that is codephx (www.phx.gov/codephx). CodePhx started with the recognition that technology is at the heart of all we do and not all communities have access to that knowledge. When his son came home excited about an after-school program that taught STEM with a partnership between his school and an organization, Councilman Valenzuela considered himself fortunate as a father that he could afford to write the check for the program’s fee and have his son participate. But given his own humble beginnings and as a human being, he couldn’t help think of all the children that could not afford it and all those that would have not even taken the flyer home looking at the cost on it and codephx was born. He brought the private sector to the table to create a program that is free of cost for children ages 4-17 to learn more about STEM, opening the door for thousands of children that may not have had the opportunity if there was a financial barrier. He recognizes that the future of our economy, the future of Phoenix, and the future of Arizona depends on talent – we have to be able to attract, retain and develop talent. CodePhx is the first program of its kind and is now being used as a blueprint to create similar programs.
Keeping with his approach to extracting politics out of problems and solving the problem for what it is, he was also influential in a hiring freeze that impacted his district when he was first elected. When he was first elected, the city had a hiring freeze due to budget constraints where they had gone 5 years without filling 1st responders and other critical positions. He was able to work with organizations providing grants and neighborhood leaders to hire and lift the freeze. It didn’t take months or years to get this done; just a new approach of extracting the politics out of it and coming up with creative solutions.
Councilman Valenzuela’s final message to our readers is to share his hopes to work closely with friends from the Asian community to address their needs. He has many fond memories of his family attending South Asian events across the valley and his children tasting Indian food for the first time at Festivals. He recognizes that Phoenix is a diverse city with 50+ languages spoken here and he seeks to not just lead the community but follow the leaders in the South Asian community and all other communities to create the best version of Phoenix possible. For more information about Councilman Daniel Valenzuela and his position on various political issues, please visit www.danielforphoenix.com. Asia Today thanks Councilman Valenzuela for his time and wishes him the best in his run for Mayor!
