Bobby Nichols is Running for City Council to Make Tempe Affordable for Everyone

Bobby Nichols is Running for City Council to Make Tempe Affordable for Everyone

Assistant Attorney General Robert “Bobby” Nichols, is gathering signatures to run for Tempe City Council in Tempe’s 2026 elections.

Mr. Nichols built his career by serving workers, survivors of domestic violence, vulnerable adults, and children who have been abused and neglected by their caregivers. Now he hopes to serve the people of Tempe on the City Council after next years elections.

Running on an agenda of housing affordability, lowering the cost of living, and reinvigorating community engagement, Mr. Nichols pledges to be a dedicated public servant for the residents in his hometown and will not be beholden to corporate and plutocratic self interests. 

Mr. Nichols graciously took the time to interview with Blog for Arizona to discuss his candidacy for the Tempe City Council. 

The questions and his responses are below.

Please tell the readers two reasons you would like to run for the Tempe City Council.

“First, I want to make Tempe affordable for everyone.

Tempe has a cost-of-living crisis on its hands. Our rents rose 70 percent between 2010 and 2022. Our housing costs are 37 percent higher than national average. Tempe residents pay 13 percent more than the average American for groceries, utilities, transportation, and other necessities of life.

That’s unacceptable. We deserve better, and I know we can have it.

As a protective services attorney, I know that social services and affordable housing are essential to preventing homelessness. As a public policy expert, I know that Tempe has the tools to address its cost-of-living crisis. As a democratic socialist, I know that when workers, tenants, students, and immigrants unite, we win.

Second, I want to refocus City Hall on community engagement.

Tempe residents have lost their voice and our municipal government. There’s an artificial 7-0 Council, which has positioned itself in opposition to voters who are frustrated by the use of secret meetings to make important decisions. That causes community groups to feel isolated from their elected representatives, and drives down civic engagement.

If elected, I will not betray my values in public because of private meetings. I’m not going to compromise my campaign by accepting money from corporate developers or their attorneys and lobbyists, And I will not be taking the easy way out on difficult votes by skipping the community engagement process.”

What are at least two issues you will focus on as a member of the Tempe City Council?

“My first priority is eliminating housing insecurity in Tempe. 

To address our housing emergency, Tempe should adopt the historically successful Housing First Model of homelessness prevention. To address immediate pains felt by individuals experiencing homelessness, Tempe should buy more non-congregate care facilities, reopen City shelters, reopen cooling stations, and allow residents to provide mutual aid without fear of criminal charges.

Tempe should create rent controls on property that is owned, financed, or subsidized by the city. That is explicitly permitted under state preemptions per ARS 33-1329(b). Tempe should also expand and subsidize the development of multi-family residential properties like townhomes, duplexes, triplexes, apartments and accessory dwelling units, which would then be subject to city rent controls. To ensure that necessary housing developments are completed, Tempe should establish a city-wide residential missing middle zoning overlay and subsidize the development of multi-family properties across Tempe.

Finally, to prevent Tempe residents from becoming unhoused, Tempe must launch a Tenant Right to Council Program modeled after successful programs in Toledo, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Denver, Kansas City, Louisville, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

My second priority is lowering Tempe’s cost of living.

Our transportation expenses, like bus and gas prices are five percent higher than that national average. Our grocery prices are three percent higher than the national average. Across the board, Tempe residents pay 13% more for the necessities of life. That adds up quickly.

To provide healthy food for our residents at wholesale prices, Tempe can invest in city-owned grocery stores modeled after the successful projects in Kansas and Wisconsin. To reduce transportation costs, Tempe can expand our low-cost and no-cost public transportation options, like the Orbit bus and the Tempe streetcar.

In a perfect world, to ensure that public resources are used for the public’s benefit, to diversify the city’s Revenue streams, and to protect our city’s finances from big banks and billionaires business interests, Tempe would also launch a public bank (or at least a Non-Depository Municipal Finance Corporation that will partner with local credit unions) to offer low-interest first time homeowner loans to young families, to provide low-interest small business loans to local Tempe companies, and to manage the city’s investment portfolio. 

These public projects will do more than just reduce expenses for Tempe residents and reinvigorate our local economy. They will create stable, good paying, municipal jobs in construction, finance, retail, and public service.

These jobs are going to stabilize life within Tempe and incentivize young families to lay down lifelong routes.

My third priority is ensuring civic engagement by increasing government transparency and accountability.

If elected, I will introduce legislation to close or, at least, significantly narrow the staff-prepared-legislation loophole, which allows our mayor and council to ignore our standard community engagement process for amending the city code. I think that is particularly important, having seen what happened recently with the Special Events Ordinance and the parks referendum. 

That ordinance was fast tracked because it was prepared by staff. At least, that was the reason the city provided when asked why they didn’t engage with the Parks Commission or hold the community input sessions. I will also use my platform as a city leader to push for the repeal of overreaching preemptions forced on Arizona cities by austerity hawks in our state legislature.

Finally, I would introduce legislation to create an independent office of oversight and accountability to investigate reports of city employee misconduct, review city policies and practices to ensure compliance with state and federal law, and take appropriate actions to ensure that our individuals and institutions are always accountable to our residents.”

Please explain at least two reasons voters should have select you for the Tempe City council. As you are aware, there are three slots for the next election, and all three incumbents have signaled that they are running again. Why should the voters pick you over one and three incumbents? 

“I am the only candidate who has committed to refusing money from corporate developers, land use attorneys, and their lobbyists. That protects me from their influence both on the campaign trail and in office. I will not be influenced by the people who created and then exacerbated Tempe’s cost-of-living crisis.

I’m also a dedicated public servant. I want to work for my hometown.

I have been writing laws and fighting to pass them on the state and municipal levels since law school. That includes laws on housing justice, progressive taxation, social housing, government transparency, orders of protections, emergency protective orders, tenant right-to-counsel, and much more. I will not be reliant on lobbyists, developers, or even city staff to write my legislation, if I must, I can do it myself.

I currently serve the people of Arizona as an Assistant Attorney General. I represent our great state in cases involving the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children and vulnerable adults. 

To be clear, I am running for city council in my capacity as a private citizen, not as a state employee or in connection with any of my professional duties, but my willingness to spend my professional life addressing such brutal subject matter shows, if nothing else, that that I am a dedicated public servant who will persevere through stressful and discouraging days.”

Can you share with us how you will reach out to voters and convince them that you are one of the right candidates for the Tempe City Council?

“I am going to be out knocking doors every weekend.  I’m going to meet voters at their homes, at the places of business, at their churches, at their synagogues, and at their mosques. I am going to meet Tempe’s voters wherever they are, to learn what they want for Tempe and show how my vision of an affordable Tempe will benefit everyone.

A lot of my outreach is going to be door knocking with a team of volunteers and organizing Tempe residents to discuss important topics.”

What about social media outreach like Tik Tok?

“I am on social media @bobby4tempe. Right now, I’m most active on Facebook and Instagram, but I just posted my first TikTok videos and more are in the works.”

Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like readers to know about you and your candidacy for the Tempe City Council?

“I’ve lived in Tempe for 25 years. I was six years old when I first arrived, and before that, I moved around a lot. In my mind and my heart, Tempe is my hometown. This is the first place that I ever really established any roots, and I want to live here for the rest of my life. I have a good job. I work hard, and I am proud of what I do. But at this rate, I will never own a home in my hometown. 

Thankfully, it is not too late to turn this around. Tempe can be affordable for everyone if we refocus city resources on reducing rents, decreasing the cost of living, and prioritizing accountability in city government.”

Please click here for more information on Mr. Nichols and his candidacy for the Tempe City Council.