Interview with Grady Gammage - Central Arizona Project

Q. It’s kind of interesting that you were in a float trip against the dam.
A. Right, right. I don’t know if I ever told the guys at SRP that or CAP.
Q. Is that the same Orme family that had the . . .
A. Yes, yes. I don’t know the whole history of that family, goes way back in Arizona
history. Lin Orme would have been one of the, I think it would have been Lin
who was one of the organizers of the SRP initially.
Q. So then getting on the Board was the first time you were really deeply involved in
the Central Arizona Project
A. Yes, yes it really was. I tell people when I first got on the Board, I got lost every
time I tried to drive to the CAP offices. You know they are out there in the middle
of nowhere. And I’ve often thought if CAP’s offices had the physical prominence
that SRP’s offices do, it would have a different feel and a different history. It’s
way out by Deer Valley Airport and sort of confusing how you get into it and the
Boardroom is kind of buried little bat cave of a room. I had done virtually nothing
to get elected. I didn’t even circulate my own petitions. Bill Chase, who was the
Water Advisor of City of Phoenix at the time, came to me and said can we get
you to run for this I had always thought it would be fun to be in elective office. I
flirted over the years with thinking I would run for something. I thought sure, I’ll
do this. He recruited people to circulate the petitions. He got me on the ballot. I
didn’t spend a dime. Never put up a sign. Never made a campaign speech.
Never kissed a baby. Never shook a hand. Nothing. Zero. And I got like two
Interview with Grady Gammage
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