Dueling protests over a drug testing company's plans to build in Chandler drew an overflow crowd of more than 200 to a City Council meeting Thursday night even though there is nothing for the council to decide on the issue.
Activists turned a routine policy session into nearly two hours of unscheduled speeches as supporters and detractors of Covance Inc., some wearing anti-Covance T-shirts, did their best to convince the elected leaders to oust the company or welcome it. Opponents appeared to be in the majority.
Organized factions on both sides, including national animal rights groups, have mobilized to put pressure on city leaders since Covance announced last year it would build one of its largest facilities in Chandler. Until this week, that pressure has been in the form of hundreds of e-mails, fliers and sparse protests along Arizona Avenue.
Attorney Jose Cardenas, a longtime Chandler resident and vice chairman of Greater Phoenix Leadership, was one of the supporters who spoke Thursday. He read a letter from MaryAnn Guerra, CEO of Translational Genomics Research Institute, that said Covance's arrival would put the city "in the forefront of the bioscience industry" and benefit the state's economic expansion.
Several Covance critics said the firm mistreats animals used in the drug tests and stands to bring biohazards into the community.
"Why would you go behind closed doors to make a deal with them ... in spite of the fact you know we are repulsed by them?" said Pauline Sutton of Chandler.
Earlier this month Covance announced it was switching locations to 50 acres near Gilbert and Ryan roads. The land is already zoned for industry, and Covance requires no public vote to build. The company's previous location near Price and Germann roads needed rezoning, a mandatory public vote and faced the possibility of a referendum.
Several of the anti-Covance speakers accused city officials of "back room deals" that cut the public out of the process.
"You have created a dangerous precedent," said Tracey Sabiers of Chandler, who challenged the secrecy.
Mayor Boyd Dunn said Covance's site change was a business decision that he and council members knew about only after it was made.
Some of the most impassioned pleas to welcome Covance came from residents who said family members were touched by serious medical ailments.
"My father is dying of bone cancer," said Wendy Crites of Chandler. "I'd do anything to save my dad's life." Crites said Covance's original location was near her home and she would have welcomed them there.
Dunn said before the meeting that he was alerted to the possibility of crowds drawn to the meeting by mass e-mails. Extra security was on hand, including police bicycle officers in the downtown library lobby.
But the crowd was polite and orderly after the mayor announced he would hear everyone who wanted to speak but would end the meeting if the audience applauded, booed or intimidated speakers.
Chandler resident Ron Enderle was one of the few speakers who got a brief negative reaction from the crowd when he said, "This is not a pro or con Covance issue; this is a pro and con PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) issue. This is a group protects cockroaches!" |
