Mayor of Flagstaff Paul Deasy talks housing, flooding, traffic, bike lanes and more.

Mayor of Flagstaff Paul Deasy talks housing, flooding, traffic, bike lanes and more. 

#1315: Thursday, March 2, 2022

https://youtu.be/_xaSmQPSWIM

Affordable Housing?

Mayor of Flagstaff Paul Deasy returned to the Jeff Oravits Show to discuss a host of issues. Affordable housing was an issue Deasy spoke about at length. Flagstaff, like many Arizona communities has seen a large increase in the cost of rentals and the median home price of homes. Several proposals are on the table to address affordable housing but Deasy asked, in Flagstaff, “what does that actually (affordable) mean?” 

 

Housing Regulations

One area of housing Deasy would like to see more strictly regulated is tougher regulations on vacation and short term rentals? He is though, when it comes to owner occupied homes, in favor of allowing property owners more flexibility to add accessory dwelling units to their property which could be used as rentals or in-law quarters. 

 

Borrowing for Housing?

With regard to a push by some of his colleagues to borrow money to address housing issues Mayor Deasy is not convinced this is the way to go. “We gotta be practical with it”. We’ve got public safety issues to deal with and houses that are actually flooding. 

 

Flood Control

Deasy is frustrated with the speed of the Federal Government when It comes to a local flood control project, “let me tell you about bureaucracy” he said. He says the City has ponied up constantly but continues to run into a lot of “headwinds” and that it’s a “constant 2 steps forward 1 step” backwards situation. But Mayor Deasy felt progress being made and hopes that projects like the Rio De Flag project, which when complete wil take most of the South Side and NAU areas out of the flood plane, are getting closer to reality. 

 

Roads and Bridges

Is there an attempt to make it tough to drive on Flagstaff’s roads with reduced lane sizes and a push towards public transportation? “Sometimes it feels like people want to punish cars” he said. When asked about a proposed Flagstaff overpass in the downtown area, Deasy says it’s coming but design ideas continue to change.

 

Bike Safety

As for bike safety, Mayor Deasy discussed a pilot program on Butler Avenue and Beaver Street.  The city placed curbs on the street to separate bike traffic from other vehicles. The problem has been snowplowing and the limitation of lane widths. 

 

Up for Re-Election

Deasy is up for re-election and with three other declared candidates there will be a primary in August. Deasy, who participated in a mayoral forum on the Jeff Oravits Show last election cycle, would like to participate in a future one saying that he is “absolutely game” to doing that and hoped his challengers would participate as well. 

 

The Jeff Oravits Show will coordinate a Flagstaff Mayoral forum sometime in late spring of 2022.