First education committee meeting

Last night for about two and one-half hours a committee of 15 met to discuss how we can bring ASU to Goodyear. The committee was comprised of two members of council including me, four city staff leaders, three ASU representatives, two Franklin Pierce representatives and four business/community leaders. The newspapers recently grabbed attention by emphasizing that ASU wants the city to provide $35-50M up front to build a facility housing classrooms for the potential ASU College at Goodyear. The papers are correct, however that number is only an expression of what a facility might cost. It is way too early to declare there is only one option for construction of a facility. We simply do not yet know what we the residents of Goodyear will be expected to finance. Bringing ASU and other colleges to Goodyear is an opportunity we absolutely cannot afford to miss, however how we and the colleges can accomplish this feat is not even close to being determined, let alone making a recommendation to the citizens. That's why we have established this committee. More on the committee's actions for tomorrow's blog.