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| Affiliation | Nonpartisan |
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| Name | Manuel "Manny" "Sookie" Cortez |
| Address | 2837 E. Emelita
Mesa, Arizona 85204, United States |
| Email | cortez.2008@yahoo.com |
| Website | http://cortez08.org/ |
| Born |
Unknown
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Thomas Walker
Mar 21, 2008 04:26pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Manny Cortez
I heard through the grapevine that my name came up at a city meeting and the city manager asked, “Who is this Manny Cortez?” Fair question. If you have lived in Mesa and voted in the past, you have probably seen my name on the ballot. When I told my brother Vidal that I was running again, he said, “Your sure are a glutton for punishment!” Yes, I am running again for Mesa City Council. After much soul searching and talking with my family, I decided to run because I feel I have something to offer.
I say I was born and raised in Mesa, but that isn’t completely true. I was actually born in a converted chicken coop in California. That just happen to be where my parents were when I was born. My parents, Pablo Sr. and Mercedes came to Mesa before Arizona was a state. They brought me home to Mesa a few days after I was born and I have lived here ever since.
I started school at Webster Elementary School. It was segregated at the time. We walked the mile to and from school, past Irving School which was only a block away. Passing Irving and the segregated public swimming pool, started me thinking, and probably in some small way contributed to who I am. Desegregation occurred during my second grade and I still have friends that were a part of the desegregation process. I went on to attend Irving, Franklin, Mesa Jr. High, and am proud to have graduated from Mesa High School, class of ‘56.
I have always been involved in politics, sports, coaching, volunteering, serving on boards and committees. I don’t get involved to have a good resume, I get involved in things I believe in. I don’t want my children to have to go through the things I had to. Of all the things I do, I am most proud of the many years I have worked with the youth of our city. In coaching, volunteering, and speaking at schools, I am able to speak to children about staying in school, being respectful, avoiding gangs, and staying away from drugs.
Mesa is my home. I have been a business owner here, I have been on the mayor’s advisory board, Mesa Parks and Recreation Board, Crime Prevention and Gang Prevention Board, Mesa Citizen Police Academy, Mesa Day Labor Task Force, Mesa’s Ad Hoc Committee on Smoking Issues, and Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee. I have volunteered my time with coaching for 49 years, Community Bridges, Optimist Club, Irving PTO, and participated in the Veteran’s Day Parade and Martin Luther King Jr. Parade.
I am running to represent those, who in my opinion, have not been adequately represented in the past: middle and lower income families, small businesses, and our youth. My vision for Mesa is to be a place where small businesses and families choose to settle, with adequate parks for our youth, police and fire protection, and the quality of life we all want. Regarding my campaign, I plan to run it like I run my business, by word of mouth. I will ask anyone that wants to contribute to my campaign for one dollar. I’d like to show that you don’t have to spend a fortune to be elected. I would like to encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the issues and the candidates, and vote.
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