The valley has lost one of the truly good guys.
Art Kaufman, 86, passed away February 27, 2000. He was born in New York and raised in Pittsburgh. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Following the war he came to Phoenix and eventually founded Valley Venders, a vending machine business. His business became very successful and later he had 35,000 square feet of space and 70 employees doing $3 million in sales. He's been Chairman of the Maricopa County Red Cross, Chairman of the Phoenix YMCA, Treasurer of the Phoenix Charter Government organization. He founded the 120 member Phoenix Citizens Council, a key player in removing Arizona's tax on food, the Phoenix excise tax and a Phoenix one-cent sales tax. He was active in fighting unfair taxes and was opposed to using the public's money and property without a vote of the people. He also initiated the drive to put the baseball stadium on the ballot and collected 131,000 signatures. Art Kaufman was also the 6th top competitive swimmer in his age group in the world. He is survived by his son Joel Kaufman of Phoenix, his daughter Evelyn Silverman of Rancho Palos Verde, CA and his brother Saul Kaufman of Pittsburgh, PA. Also survived by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Graveside services Tuesday February 29th at 12:30 pm Beth Israel Cemetary, 305 S. 35th Ave.