Kesha Hodge Washington
Votes & record.

On April 22, 2026 — just days ago — Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington voted YES on an 8-1 council vote to raise Phoenix's monthly residential trash rate from $37.32 to $51.32 over three years. A 37.5% rate hike. Plus automatic 5%-per-year escalators through 2033 — with no future vote required. Only Councilman Jim Waring voted no.

On March 18, 2025, Hodge Washington voted YES on Ordinance G-7369 — raising the Phoenix Transaction Privilege Tax (sales tax) from 2.3% to 2.8%. That's a 22% increase in the rate, $249 million in new taxes per year, and the first general-fund sales-tax increase in Phoenix since 1986. She called it a “trifecta of circumstances.” Councilman Jim Waring was the only no vote.

Just 72 days into her first term — on June 28, 2023 — she cast her very first rate-hike vote. A 7-2 YES on water rates up 26%, wastewater up 20%, and a new $0.25/month Stormwater Excise Tax. The council also reduced your monthly water allowance so 90% of households would pay an overage. Her defense? “We are now dealing with the consequences of prior leadership.”

Twelve weeks into Hodge Washington's term, Maricopa County Superior Court had to order the City of Phoenix to clean up “The Zone” — a 7-block homeless encampment the Council had allowed to grow to 1,000 people. A judge set a July 10, 2023 deadline. A year later she told KJZZ: “we pride ourselves in cleaning up The Zone.” She took the credit for work a judge forced them to do.

Kate Gallego personally endorsed Hodge Washington over incumbent Carlos Garcia in 2023. Since then, Hodge Washington has cast ZERO recorded No votes on any substantive Gallego-priority item. Every budget. Every tax hike. Every downtown subsidy. Every MOU. Then on January 7, 2026, her council colleagues made her Vice Mayor. She is the second-most-visible person in City Hall — and she has never once said no.

On May 15, 2024, Hodge Washington voted 7-2 YES on the 2024-2026 PLEA MOU — delivering $60 million in raises to the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association over two years. Meanwhile, PPD has a 600-officer staffing shortage and has overspent its billion-dollar budget by $5 million every year three years running. She funded the union. She did not hire the officers.

On June 13, 2024, the day the Department of Justice released its 126-page report documenting excessive force, racial discrimination, and rights violations against the homeless at PPD, Hodge Washington co-signed a letter to AG Merrick Garland rejecting the consent decree. She called it a “broken model.” Then, four months earlier, she had pitched a progressive debate crowd on paying police misconduct settlements out of officer pensions. Which Kesha is real?

While serving as Vice Mayor of Phoenix, Hodge Washington remains listed on the Arizona and Virgin Islands Bar rolls as a practicing commercial, civil, and real-estate litigation attorney at Ball Santin & McLeran PLC. She votes on every zoning change, every GPLET abatement, every development subsidy. Phoenix District 8 is paying for a councilwoman who still has a day job — and a private client list the public has never seen.

“Housing is the bedrock of human stability,” Hodge Washington said at The Moreland groundbreaking. The Moreland is a $137M, 237-unit apartment project in downtown Phoenix. Phoenix taxpayers chipped in at least $18M of Phase I funding to Chicago-based Brinshore Development, stacked on top of LIHTC tax credits and CVS Health ESG money. Meanwhile D8 families pay 22% more in sales tax and 37.5% more for trash pickup. The subsidy flows downtown. The bill comes to Laveen.

At the February 25, 2025 Phoenix City Council policy session, Hodge Washington defended the 22% TPT increase with this quote: “It is primarily due to what I call a trifecta of circumstances. It is what we have seen with state action, what we have seen with inflation, and what we have seen as an increase in demand for the quality services that we provide.” Three excuses. One vote. You pay the bill.

At a Greater Green Gables neighborhood meeting on January 31, 2023, Hodge Washington told homeowners: “I believe in consequences… at a certain point, if they continue to refuse, now they're making a choice.” Three years later, she's Vice Mayor. Phoenix spent $140 million on homelessness. The Zone came back in pieces all over District 8. And the consequences? Still on you.

On April 9, 2025, the Phoenix City Council unanimously approved higher Development Impact Fees and Water Resources Acquisition Fees — effective June 23, 2025. The new fees get passed straight through to every working family trying to buy their first Laveen home. Hodge Washington voted yes. Every first-time homebuyer in District 8 is paying her new tax at closing.

On June 4, 2025, the Phoenix City Council — Hodge Washington included — approved the first Sky Harbor taxi-fare hike since 2012. Minimum fare up $3. Downtown flat rate up $3. First mile up $2. Traffic-delay charge up 57%. Who pays? The overnight airport workers, the seniors who can't navigate the Sky Train, the disabled travelers, the service economy. Everyone who keeps Phoenix running.