Kolby Granville, City Council Member in Tempe

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Kolby Granville, City Council Member in Tempe

Over the course of my studies, I had the opportunity to meet with Kolby Granville, one of the members present in the city of Tempe’s City Council. The interview was particularly informal based on the setting. While taking place in the interviewee’s office, I had the chance to ask him about various issues that surround the City Council of Tempe. In addition to this, I asked Mr. Granville about some of the members that were present in the Council’s board. Despite the limited time, the respective interview was a success due to the articulate and informational responses that Mr. Granville provided on such short notice.

One of the main topics that I discussed with Mr. Granville involved the website implemented by the City Council of Tempe concerning the plight of the homeless and the destitute in the locale. Indeed, the interviewee was accommodative regardless of the touchy nature of the subject. From what I gathered, the website, I-HELP was a venture established by the council in respect to the provision of assistance to the homeless. Primarily established by the Tempe Community Action Agency, I-HELP is aimed at the supply of immediate demands to homeless persons. In addition to this, the program is focused on providing the destitute with resources that they can apply in order to scout for employment and attain self-sufficiency.

According to Mr. Granville, the city of Tempe takes part in various campaigns aimed at those in the community that are incapable of helping themselves. For example, the city provides more than $1 million annually to community agencies across the city. Such agencies usually gain these resources in order to help various people apart from the homeless such as those that require transitional housing as well as those that have addiction-based problems. The I-HELP 5K Walk is another illustration of the city’s commitment towards helping the homeless. However, Mr. Granville points out that the provision of financial resources is not sufficient to help such persons since there are other issues that affect them significantly.

Another issue that was discussed involved the provision of security to the homeless. Based on what I gathered from Mr. Granville, the homeless are taken care of by the City of Tempe Police. In addition to this, I learnt that the council focuses specifically on the criminalization of behavior rather than that of status. Part of the discussion also revolved around the selection of a female police chief, which provides an interesting debate on the issue of gender. I learnt that the new female police chief was the first woman to attain such a position in the city of Tempe. Furthermore, the respective police chief was elected out of competence and capability rather than her status as a woman.

To this end, I learnt that the University of Arizona was governed by the Arizona Board of Regents. This was quite new information for me since I assumed that universities located in the state and the local area were governed by the city. Indeed, the city is not involved in the governance of the respective institution. Furthermore, the same situation is evident in other universities located across all states in the United States of America. Lastly, issues of employment and unemployment were discussed. Accordingly, Tempe possesses an unemployment rate of less than 6 percent. Furthermore, the jobs are more than the people in the city are. In this respect, the city of Tempe provides many opportunities for people seeking a job.