Arizona crowd cheers Obama’s plan for managing housing crisis
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By DANIEL NEWHAUSER
Cronkite News Service
MESA (Wednesday, Feb. 18) _ When the mortgage crisis hit, Erica Rodgers found her property-management business losing so many clients so quickly that she almost lost her own home to foreclosure.
That’s why the Goodyear mother of two camped out for 12 hours to get a ticket and spent another four hours in line to see President Barack Obama explain how his economic stimulus plan would help homeowners like her.
“It was worth it. I was just so moved to see him speak,” Rodgers said, sitting outside Dobson High School after Wednesday’s address. “He’s here helping. He’s doing something.”
Rodgers’ husband is working temporary jobs to keep the family afloat for now, she said. But based on Obama’s speech, she has faith that the just-passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will put them back on track soon.
“I think it’s going to create more jobs,” Rodgers said. “It’s going to lift this mortgage crisis up.”
Obama addressed nearly 2,000 people as energized as Rodgers in the school’s gym, promising accountability, transparency and opportunity in the government’s approach to alleviating the mortgage crisis.
The crowd roared and surged forward as Obama wrapped up his remarks and stepped off the podium to shake hands.
Mesa Community College student Helen Mezenghie, 18, trembled with excitement after meeting the president.
“It was amazing,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d get that close.”
Next to Mezenghie, fellow MCC student Jade Meeks, 18, said Obama’s plan for the economy makes her feel safer about moving out of her parents’ house.
“It’s going to give the younger generation a chance to have homes,” she said.
Gloria Cooper, who flew here from San Diego for the event, said she felt as if Obama was talking straight to her and her two grown children, both of whom are facing foreclosure in California.
“It was as if we had given him what we wanted him to say,” Cooper said. “This is the change we’re looking for.”
Mesa retiree Ed Ciesla said he was happy to hear Obama promise to prevent another wave of foreclosures. Many houses in his neighborhood, including one next door, have been repossessed, dragging down property values, Ciesla said.
“I think he’s going to turn all of this around,” he said. “We needed that change; we needed that breath of fresh air.”
Minda Elliott, 18, Dobson’s senior class president, said Obama’s visit reflects well on the Valley.
“It’s so exciting for our school and our city,” she said.
But not everybody was as enthused by the president’s visit.
On the street outside the school, Jack Clark, 50, of Gilbert held a large sign protesting the stimulus. It read: “Personal Responsibility: RIP 2009.”
“I’m somewhat disgusted by the reaction of the country,” Clark said. “A lot of what’s happening here is people being irresponsible.”
David Crause, 70, of Phoenix held a sign scrawled with writing that was too difficult to make out quickly. But he left no doubt as to where he stood on the stimulus.
“We can’t borrow and spend our way out of a crisis that that got us into,” Crause said. “Free markets work.”
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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-OBAMA REACTION: President Barack Obama speaks Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, at Dobson High School in Mesa, explaining his plan to help homeowners suffering because of the economic downturn. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-OBAMA REACTION: President Barack Obama speaks Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, at Dobson High School in Mesa, explaining his plan to help homeowners suffering because of the economic downturn. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-OBAMA REACTION: President Barack Obama speaks Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, at Dobson High School in Mesa, explaining his plan to help homeowners suffering because of the economic downturn. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-OBAMA REACTION: Erica Rodgers, a Goodyear resident who attended President Barack Obama’s speech in Mesa on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, said she hopes the president’s plan for helping beleaguered homeowners will help revive the mortgage business because she works in that field. Rodgers said she faced foreclosure because of the economic downturn but managed to keep her home. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-OBAMA REACTION: Jack Clark, 50, of Gilbert, expresses his opposition to President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan before the president spoke Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, at Dobson High School in Mesa. “I’m somewhat disgusted by the reaction of the country,” Clark said. “A lot of what’s happening here is people being irresponsible.” (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)