Three People Who Will Determine The Future Of Downtown Phoenix

"...[T]he departure of Assistant City Manager Sheryl Sculley for the city manager's job in San Antonio and the retirement of Downtown Development Director Pat Grady should have little effect on progress in the city.

While their replacements are, according to the city payroll, in charge of development, they are not the real drivers of what happens - or doesn't happen - downtown. That powerful role is shared by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Jeff Trent, president of Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen. As a trio, they have supplanted longtime downtown booster and sports executive Jerry Colangelo."

"..."ASU has been the linchpin to have everything else take off and to generate interest and activity in downtown," said John Chan, acting director for downtown development."