The 36-year-old software engineer officially launched his quixotic campaign against the Gallego machine in May. He’s criticized the mayor’s elite education at Harvard University and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, her wealthy campaign backing and especially her tight-lipped facade and inaccessibility to the people of Phoenix.
Indeed, it is near impossible to have an open-ended conversation with Gallego, whose team fastidiously controls who gets to speak with her. City Hall also has become less accessible to the public under Gallego — try walking into the building, and you’ll be accosted by security guards demanding to know if you have a meeting scheduled.
Evans is on a mission to counter these developments. In that spirit, he sat down Wednesday for an hour-long conversation with Phoenix New Times.
Though the mayoral race is nonpartisan, Evans said he switched his party affiliation from Independent to Republican in June and called himself “more conservative” than most Republicans. His only public endorsement comes from Republican Maricopa County Sheriff candidate Jerry Sheridan. Evans has never held political office, though in 2022 he ran to unseat against Phoenix City Councilmember Jim Waring and finished third.
His main policy focus — and the only one to which he devotes a full section of his campaign website — is the homelessness crisis, emphasizing that the city’s “laws need strong enforcement.” He seemed most upset about unhoused people doing drugs in plain sight. He’s also fired up about retail theft, which Republicans such as Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell have made a key issue in this election.
He said he was not very knowledgeable about Phoenix’s water future but was open-minded and has been taking steps to learn more about water policy and supply.
The interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Phoenix New Times: What led you to run for mayor?
Evans: A couple years ago, I started a second job driving Uber. That really opened my eyes to how bad the homelessness crisis has grown out of control in our city because it gave me the perspective of seeing parts of our city that I wouldn’t normally see.
I did what any frustrated Phoenician would do: I reached out to my city councilman, I started talking to police officers, I spoke with the assistant deputy city manager. I felt like everything I was saying was falling on deaf ears — that they’ve heard this a million times from everybody else, and they have their canned responses. I felt a calling, and I decided that I was going to run and face Kate Gallego. My campaign is really an indictment on her failures as mayor.
Also, she got caught red-handed using the Signal app and having encrypted conversations with city officials. How can you come to the people of Phoenix and expect their trust and to tell them that transparency is a priority when you get caught red-handed having secret conversations with city officials? I will never do that as mayor. I actually would encourage really cool ideas like having live streams.
To what do you attribute the rise in homelessness? What can be done to tackle that rise?
In my opinion, the majority of the cause is due to our drug addiction problem, primarily fentanyl and methamphetamines. That’s not to dismiss affordable housing. But while we have to have enough housing and affordable housing for our community, we have to focus on mental health and rehabilitation and treatment. Arizona ranks one of the last in the entire country when it comes to mental health.
Republican mayoral candidate Matt Evans criticized incumbent Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego for "advocating for homeless rights."
Morgan Fischer
You criticized Gallego for “advocating for homeless rights,” even as the city has passed anticamping bans that further criminalize homelessness.
She and the city council have had a reactive approach. It’s encouraging to some degree to know that our community pushing back on our leaders is having some effect, but it’s concerning that it’s taken so long for this to happen. For me, it’s too little, too late.
What kind of affordable housing solutions would you seek?
Airbnbs are taking over our neighborhoods. What happens is you run out of inventory. When you have less supply and more demand, prices go up. A lot of individuals — whether they’re regular couples or big corporations — are trying to turn Airbnbs into a business. The short-term vacation rental industry has had a big impact on affordable housing.
As a Phoenix native, I have seen gentrification happen right before my eyes. I am being priced out of my own hometown. I’m not trying to strip everybody’s rights to free enterprise, but there has to be a balance. We need to have some ability to regulate short-term vacation rentals.
We do, to some degree, need to build our way out of the situation. But, we can’t just keep building luxury apartments. We have to build affordable housing. But all I see coming up in my community are luxury condos and apartments, and I’m sick and tired of it.
Phoenix’s police budget increased from $850 million last year to $979 million this year and now amounts to about 41% of the city’s total spending. Should police funding continue to increase?
I believe that there’s no point in having laws if you have no one to enforce them. I’m willing to spend whatever it takes to make our neighborhoods safe and clean. I don’t put a price on our safety.
The city council passed new police reform measures Tuesday, though it continues to resist reaching a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice after a damning report on the police department. Do Phoenix police need reform? Would you support a consent decree?
For the last 20 years, Phoenix has been led by the Democratic Party. Under their leadership, we are under investigation by the Department of Justice.
I believe there is no room for federal oversight in our city — the federal government has no right to encroach on our right as a city to govern ourselves. When I’m mayor, I will not support a consent decree. I will not support a technical assistance letter. The way that we solve the problem is by holding those who have failed our city accountable and voting them out of office.
I will also say that I applied to be a member of the Civilian Review Board. It’s important that we have multiple perspectives on that board so we can have transparency.
