Welcome, Guest. Please login or register | Request Password
For Our City - Tempe
Mayor Hugh Hallman of Tempe Proclaims "For Our City Day" March 5, 2008
Tempe leaders, faith groups begin dialogue
Eugene Scott
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 11, 2008 12:04 PM
More than 50 Tempe government leaders and members of the faith community gathered early Friday to discuss how they could better work together.
The meeting was hosted by For Our City, a group aimed at strengthening the partnership between city and faith leaders. "The premise for this For Our City is God loves people. And the city is people. It is not government. It is not some organization. It's people," said Jon McHatton, a member of the For Our City host committee. Establishing relationships and dialogue are perhaps the best way the communities can work together, many in attendance said."This is not an event, this is a process," McHatton said. Tempe Vice Mayor Hut Hutson agreed. "You need to get more of this," he said. "And have smaller groups in different areas of town."
Attendees entertained a lot of discussion about the role religious organizations would play in the event of a natural disaster or other local emergency. "Maybe we could have the faith community not only a part of the support system, but a formalized system to do that," Mike Reichling, Tempe fire spokesman, said. Public safety officials talked about the need for volunteers in emergency situations and the importance of training them. "Our speakers bureau can go out and speak to people," said John Rush, Tempe Police assistant chief. "I need to know what resources you have available and you need to know what resources we have available." Hallman said he would take all the ideas into consideration. The group plans to meet again in the near future.