From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: Symington fighting Prop. 400 behind scenes Date: Friday, October 29, 2004 4:39 PM Symington fighting Prop. 400 behind scenes Ex-governor's effort to stop light rail upsets former aide Pat Flannery The Arizona Republic Oct. 29, 2004 12:00 AM The campaign against Proposition 400 has put Gilbert millionaire Dave Thompson in the spotlight, but former Gov. Fife Symington is the man behind the curtain staging the production, a former top Symington aide and key supporter of the transportation measure says. Though Symington has tried to avoid the limelight by refusing interviews and steering clear of campaign events, his political consultancy is running No On 400's campaign, and the former governor has tried to woo other key politicians into the opposition ranks. Republicans approached by Symington or his consulting partner, former Department of Corrections spokeswoman Camilla Strongin, include Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona House Speaker Jake Flake and former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon. "He was disappointed that I took a position opposite of his," Salmon said. Salmon, a staunch supporter of Proposition 400, said Symington's opposition surprised him. Flake also supports the measure, though his nephew, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, is opposed. Franks and Arpaio have declined to take public positions on it. This campaign is the most outward public political activism by Symington since his fraud trial, gubernatorial resignation and subsequent presidential pardon in the late 1990s. Symington also hosted a political fund-raiser for Franks earlier this year, further defining his re-emergence as a conservative force. But his work against Proposition 400 was especially noted in political circles because it is two of his former top staffers and longtime loyalists, Chuck Coughlin and Douglas Cole of the consulting firm High Ground, who laid the groundwork for the pro-400 campaign. Cole, formerly Symington's press secretary, declined to discuss the split. Symington also declined several interview requests about his role, but Coughlin angrily denounced his ex-boss' work as political betrayal. Coughlin, who had been Symington's deputy chief of staff, gave this version of events: Symington was approached for his support early this year. He told Coughlin he did not support light rail and seemed surprised when told a 20-mile starter segment already was approved by Phoenix voters and would be built regardless of Proposition 400's outcome. He told Coughlin and Yes On 400's chairman, Doug Pruitt, head of Sundt Construction Inc., that he'd stand aside. "Clearly, he said . . . that he would stay out of the fight," Coughlin said. A few weeks later, Symington changed his mind. In August, Cole and Coughlin accepted Symington's invitation to visit with him on his yacht off Santa Barbara, Calif. They tried to dissuade him. "He kept insisting he would stay in the background," Coughlin said. "He figured they'd (Proposition 400 opponents) spend $200,000 or $300,000, he'd just support Dave (Thompson) . . . and he played the volume of this negative campaign way down. I think he misled us." Symington and Thompson, who has provided the bulk of the funding to defeat Proposition 400, have been friends since the early 1990s, when the then-governor helped lure Thompson's company, Spectrum Astro Inc., to Arizona from California. Thompson recently sold the company. Campaign finance reports show Thompson has given or loaned nearly $1 million to No on 400 for a TV, radio and mail campaign run by Symington's firm, Strategic Vision. "I know Fife when I see it - he'll come at you hard, throw a lot at you in a blitz, then see how you respond," Coughlin said. Neither Symington nor Strongin chose to respond to Coughlin's assertions. Strongin released a brief written statement Thursday saying, "When Strategic Vision LLC was professionally engaged to run the No on 400 campaign, Fife Symington personally notified his friend Chuck Coughlin. This campaign is about an important issue facing the residents of Maricopa County and their transportation needs." Though the main target of that blitz is light rail, Symington hasn't always been a light-rail foe. As developer of the Camelback Esplanade in the late 1980s, he publicly supported light rail. In the mid-1990s, while governor, he also expressed interest in it. Though anti-400 ads call for more freeways, it also was Symington who, as governor, scratched the Paradise Parkway from the Valley's freeway plans in 1995. The freeway would have linked the West Valley to central Phoenix via a corridor near Camelback Road. Symington killed the Paradise Parkway proposal amid heavy neighborhood opposition and sky-high right-of-way costs. Phoenix cites those same reasons for embracing light rail instead of building more urban freeways. "That issue's been settled, and he's the one who put the spike in it," Coughlin said. _____ To unsubscribe, please Click Here