Q&A: Chandler’s next mayor

With more and more voters in Arizona and across the country getting fed up with business-as-usual politics, a résumé with decades in office has proven a liability for many an elected official.

But not for Matt Orlando, who has served on Chandler City Council for a total of 25 years and, in July, won a decisive victory against Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger to become the East Valley suburb’s next mayor.

Being Capitol rats, we had our eye on Weninger, who also served on the council for eight years before heading to the Legislature.

But Orlando — who’s effectively a moderate Democrat but avoids partisan labels — blew the GOP lawmaker out of the water in a more than 16-point victory.

And his experience goes beyond holding office in Chandler. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel, spent 25 years on reserve for the Arizona Air National Guard, owns a small business and retired from Honeywell after a 35-year career with several defense and aerospace companies.

He’s been married for 48 years and has three kids.

In the aftermath of the elections, TJ reached out to Orlando to chat with him over Zoom about what made his campaign so successful.

Here’s our interview with Chandler’s mayor-elect, edited lightly for clarity and brevity:

Congrats on your victory. You put a pretty solid margin between yourself and Rep. Weninger. What do you think were the key factors that led the voters of Chandler to so resoundingly put you in the mayoral seat?

When you look around the Valley, many incumbents did not get reelected. I mean, Tempe, Gilbert, Fountain Hills — there’s just a bunch, I can go on and on.

I think it boils down to trust. The Chandler voters have trusted me, trusted this city for many years.

We stayed in our lane of potholes, firefighters, water, that type of stuff. I think that made the difference. And the other thing is we had a grassroots campaign. I’ve always run grassroots campaigns. My first one in 1990, I knocked on 7,000 doors.

What do you see as having changed since your first run in what was a very different city in 1990?

The problems have become so much more complex. We have homelessness, we have mental health issues, we have school issues, suicide, veteran suicide. And the bottom line is the federal government and the state government have been reducing funding for those things that they funded in the past, so it’s left to the cities now to address those problems. You know, being a military guy, I always like to use the equation: We (at the local level of government) are the last foxhole before they get to the command post. We’re the front line.

We also have a much more diverse population. There was a school report that says 64 different languages are spoken in the Chandler Unified School District when students go home. Think about that. And I’m trying like hell to — I’m sorry, I’m from Newark, New Jersey, and once in a while, I get a little colorful with language — I’m trying the best I can do to keep this stuff nonpartisan and keep hyperpartisanship out of our elections.

In some cities, there’s been a growing disconnect between the people and the council or government. How do you maintain a connection to the residents of Chandler — and how do you expect to do that as mayor?

I tell people I have a different title, but I’m the same guy.

I go to neighborhood meetings. I go to political meetings. In Chandler, it’s required to have two neighborhood meetings anytime you do a rezoning case. I go to a lot of those, and I listen to the people there.

Some of our political figures are more interested in getting clicks and all that great stuff, which is fine. I’m not gonna judge that. But I do the hard work. I’m out there every day talking to these people, building a relationship with them.

And it’s a lot of work, TJ, but it pays off. Like with you — it’s the first time I met you. Now I know what you look like, I know you got a great ’stache. That’s the type of stuff I’m looking for. By the way, I had hair like you many years ago.

How long have you been sporting your mustache?

I was 10, 11, 12. I’m from an Italian background — you’re born with a mustache.

In your decades of work as a council member, what do you see as your most important accomplishments that prepared you for being mayor?

I think being fiscally responsible and also being able to have quality of life (in Chandler). It’s a balancing act — and we did both. Obviously we had Intel here, which gave us a kickstart with all the multibillion-dollar investment. We have a robust aerospace business here. We have a robust semiconductor business. We have a robust advanced manufacturing business.

So if you look back, it’s not any one thing. I could say, “Yeah, I did the veterans memorial, I did the Chandler girls softball field.” But if you look at a global picture, what I’m going to be looking at over the next four years is economic growth.

One of the things you ran on is attracting international companies to invest in Chandler. How do you plan to do that?

So we have an economic advisory board. I want to revamp that board. I’ve talked to the city manager about this. My goal is to bring investors in here.

We’ve done this before, it’s just a matter of scaling it now. You know, like, who do you know in Taiwan that wants to come here? I’m meeting with the Mexican consul in two weeks, and then the Filipino consul. And I’m going to get the feel for what they want to do.

What’s good for Chandler is good for the Valley and good for Arizona. What’s happening at TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), I don’t look at that as competition. I look at that as growth for all of us.

Data centers are the big issue heating everybody up right now. How do you balance the economic interest and potential benefits with concerns about what value they bring to the community, and how much water and electricity they use?

I had a meeting with a data center, which will remain nameless right now, about a year ago and I said, “Look, your problem is you’re not contributing to the city. You’re not paying any taxes.”

If you guys are paying your fair share, it would make it a lot easier for me to go to the residents and say, “Hey, these guys are contributing to our economy.” That’s the first piece of this puzzle.

Why is it good for Chandler? I think more political bodies need to ask that question. Why is it good for us?

Any thoughts on the three-year freeze on sales tax exemptions for data centers that the Arizona Legislature just passed?

It’s about time. Yeah, but what’s happening is there’s 100-something data centers that are flooding to get their permits in before the time comes.

Come on, guys — you’re playing games here. I don’t like that. That’s what’s pissing people off is these political games. Be upfront with your folks.

What does securing that quality of life and prosperity in Chandler you’ve talked about look like?

Obviously you need economic growth. But you need a sustainable life. And up until about four years ago, we never even addressed sustainability as a city. That’s something I’ll be addressing a lot now.

We’re redesigning the way we put our trees in because they’re just not handling the heat. We hired an arborist just to do that, to take a look at that. Where do we plant these trees? How do we put bushes in?

And water conservation. All of those things make up for a vibrant community.

What’s your favorite restaurant in all of Chandler? Your absolute go-to?

If I had to say my favorite restaurant — oh, man, it’s a tough one. Elliot’s is great. Acqua Di’ Mare in Downtown Chandler. Crust is good for a quick pizza. The New York Pizza Department is good.

I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s hard and it’s not because I’m being political. I love food!

I understand that you coached baseball or softball years ago and now you umpire. Are you going to continue to be an umpire while you’re mayor?

I won’t do a lot of games, but some. “The mayor behind the plate” or something — we’ll come up with some catchy phrase.

I’ve always enjoyed umpiring. People always ask, “Why umpire?” My whole life, you know, I had people tell me what to do — my teachers, my parents, family members. But for two hours I’m in charge and you can’t tell me what to do.

I do fast-pitch softball. I did baseball for years — too much testosterone. And I don’t want that anymore. The ladies are just as competitive, and I just love being out on the ballfield.

Do you have any other hobbies or pastimes?

I’m an avid reader. I’m gonna have three books I’m taking with me on vacation.

Which ones?

I got “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.” It’s a pretty heavy lift.

That’s, like, 1,300 pages — quite the vacation read.

And I got another one called “Navigating the Age of Chaos,” which I think is pretty darn good. How do we make sense out of a world that we’re in now?

And I got “The Sun Does Shine.”

I’ll be on the beach. Here’s my goal, buddy. I’m heading for San Diego tomorrow morning. I’m bringing books, wine, coffee and a pair of swim trunks.