Meet 'Phil the Thong Man': Laveen's unofficial mayor serves his community in neon Speedos
He's the man to call with neighborhood concerns. He knows what's being built where and how to stand up to developers. He advocates for the area's interests and has become a staple in Laveen, the small, but growing, farmland community 25 minutes southwest of downtown Phoenix.
He loves Laveen, the place he's called home since 1988. And Laveen loves him. Residents sometimes affectionately refer to him as the area's unofficial mayor.
Phil Hertel has had his hand in almost every development Laveen has seen in the past three decades, be it a grocery store, gas station, subdivision or shopping mall. And he's helped train new residents to get involved, too.
Residents also have another name for him.
Phil the "Thong Man."
Hertel started wearing colorful Speedos as part of a dare in the mid-1970s. He was surprised by how comfortable the getup was. Also, by how quickly his peers' shock wore off.
So, he decided to keep wearing them. Over time, his collection expanded. Hertel has multiple cuts and colors, ranging from more full-coverage Speedos to moderate-coverage "Brazilian" thongs, and low-coverage "Rio" thongs.
He also matches his getup to whatever task he's completing: washing the white car means a white Speedo, spraying weeds means a yellow Speedo. He matches his shoes, too.
Sometimes, when a new friend comes over for a visit, he'll start the day in a full-coverage Speedo, then transition every few hours to the smaller thong, he said.
"I thought it was too shocking for the first time people saw me, so I'd tone it down and then work my way toward it," Hertel said.
New residents to Laveen are sometimes shocked by Hertel's attire.
In early December, a resident posted a photo of Hertel to social media. He was watering plants in his front yard in a thong. She called it inappropriate and indecent, and asked if anyone had called the cops.
A similar comment was posted to Facebook weeks later.
In each case, the comments were quickly flooded with support for Hertel.
One commenter wrote that Hertel "lives his life. He is a good guy. No, you cannot complain about him or turn him in anyway. Laveen will come for you if you do."
A second commenter piled on. "I'll be right there next to you to take on anyone who wants to complain about Laveen Phil!"
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office confirmed deputies were called out to Hertel's house in September 2023. Someone had complained about a naked man.
"Once on scene, it was determined it was a Speedo. There was no action taken," Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez said. He added that state law says Hertel "is in his right to wear a Speedo."
Hertel, for his own part, said he doesn't wear what he wears to provoke anyone. He does it in the name of comfort.
It only sometimes leads to conflict.
He doesn't wear Speedos out in public, but he does wear short-shorts. Again, for comfort, he said.
A man in Walmart once grew angry by his short-shorts, Hertel said, and started spewing profanities at him about how the attire was inappropriate around kids.
Hertel said he told the man if he was concerned about the kids, he should stop cussing out loud. Kids could turn around if they saw his attire, but they couldn't un-hear inappropriate language, Hertel said.
Asked whether he thought his outfits should be re-thought around children, Hertel said, "In my opinion, I'm not doing anything wrong. It's just your perception is a little different than mine."
He added, "Smaller kids, like everything else in life, don't realize that there's an issue until you tell them there's an issue."
While Hertel's colorful, barely-there Speedos have lent themselves to many entertaining conversations in Laveen over the years, residents say it's his commitment to community that has earned him a special place in their hearts.
"I love him!" said Claudine Reifschneider, who moved to Laveen in 2005 and met Hertel in 2007. "He's taught us everything we know."
"It doesn't matter what you wear," she added. "It only matters what you leave behind, and he leaves an amazing legacy."
Long-time roots lends way to skilled south Phoenix advocacy
Hertel grew up in south Phoenix and only moved away for a short stint in Maryvale when he was in high school.
He developed a love for stock-car racing as a child and "virtually grew up" at Manzanita Raceway at 35th Avenue and West Broadway Road, he said, until it closed in 2009.
Sports coverage in The Arizona Republic documented his races multiple times, including in the 1985 Western World Championships in which Hertel competed.
After he graduated from West High School and turned 18, Hertel's parents bought him a tow truck and rented him a plot of land near the raceway so he could start a business selling used car parts.
Hertel still runs Speedway Automotive today, at 28th Avenue and West Broadway Road.
His interest in local development started after he moved to Laveen in 1988 and bought a home on Dobbins Road, west of 43rd Avenue. He was surrounded by farms and loved the area's rural ambience. The view from his entryway door looks south to the expansive and towering South Mountain.
But a decade after Hertel moved to the area, developers started buying up farmland and building more subdivisions. Hertel didn't like it, and at first, tried to stop it.
But he quickly realized it was no use.
"All we could do is try to try to make sure that the quality was there," Hertel said.
So he and friends co-founded a group called Laveen Citizens for Responsible Development in 1998. The group isn't city-sanctioned and has no official power.
But Hertel said it's better that way. It means the city doesn't dictate what the group can say or do. Essentially, less bureaucracy.
Plus, Phoenix City Councilmembers know best not to ignore the concerns of LCRD. Because when they do, LCRD members make sure the councilperson doesn't forget it.
Hertel's proudest accomplishment in his three decades of advocacy is the Walmart at the southwest corner of 35th and Southern avenues.
When the big-box chain set its sights on Laveen, Hertel said his first instinct was to fight. Then, he decided to negotiate.
If residents couldn't stop Walmart, they'd do the next best thing: decide where it would go and what it would look like.
Hertel said Walmart representatives "brought (a plan) to us and said, 'What do you think about this for a place to start talking?' I took the plan, turned it over to a blank page and said, 'That's where we're going to start."
The Republic documented Hertel's tireless efforts in the newspaper in 2004 and 2005. He presided over nearly a dozen meetings with Walmart representatives and the community, helping to mold what would eventually become its first-of-its-kind storefront design.
Laveen's Walmart would have farm-style flair. Reclaimed wood, metal fencing, sheet metal accents, plus brick and rock would adorn the facade, resembling a barn. The store's curb appeal today blends into the agrarian feel of the area.
And Hertel's work on it earned him an award from the city in 2005.
But Hertel has lost battles, too. In 2002, he unsuccessfully fought for Salt River Project to underground power lines placed right outside his house. In 2003, he objected to Safeway coming in at 51st Avenue and Baseline. The way he saw it, there was already a Fry's at the intersection. Why not add something else, like a movie theater or shopping?
While on LCRD, Hertel was appointed to the city-sanctioned "Laveen Village Planning Committee" in 2000. There, he could formally recommend approvals or rejections of developer's proposals to the Phoenix Planning Commission, then to City Council.
"I would listen to these cases and all the things being said, come up with a balance, and make a motion that says, 'OK, we're going to approve this case, but you gotta do this, and you gotta do this .. and you can't do this, and you can't do that. We'd made this big long list of stipulations, and that would allow us to somewhat control the development," Hertel said.
He departed the VPC after 12 years, and decided to focus more of his energy on LCRD.
Jon Kimoto, Hertel's long-time LCRD friend, said Hertel has never missed a meeting, even when he had knee surgery.
Hertel said in another instance, he rescheduled heart surgery to ensure it wouldn't conflict with LCRD meetings.
Reifschneider, also an LCRD member, said she remembers Hertel's impeccable attendance anytime she wants to skip a community meeting.
"He keeps trying really hard to get the community involved to be the best community we can be," Reifschneider said. "I find that to be commendable."
Hertel's next challenge: A 300-acre development near South Mountain
As the LCRD treasurer, Hertel still plays an active role in taking developers to task and corralling the community to speak up about what they want.
Three dozen residents crowded into an old elementary school building Feb. 5 to discuss Laveen's most recent controversial development.
Gila Foothills is a 300-acre property near Estrella Drive and 51st Avenue, about two miles northwest of the Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino. It sits on the western edge of South Mountain Park along Loop 202.
Developers are proposing an 80-acre auto mall, a hospital and a resort. Residents are unhappy about the car dealership and want to see a 100-year building on the land preserved. They're nervous the density of the apartments will disrupt the families who own farms with horses just across the street.
Hertel's opposed to the development as it currently stands, though he thinks something positive could come of it. At the meeting, he helped community members craft their argument to City Hall.
"At some point, we have to get to where the developer is not happy and you're not happy ... because that's a compromise," Hertel told John Bzdel, the resident leading the community opposition to the project.
He stressed the importance of residents continuing to show up.
"You need to understand you're in it for the long road," he warned. "This isn't something that is going to happen in two meetings."
It's unclear how the Gila Foothills project will play out, but Hertel plans to follow it every step of the way. He'll attend the presentation to Laveen's Village Planning Commission, then to the City Planning Commission and ultimately, Phoenix City Council.
Councilwoman Kesha Hodge Washington will play arguably the largest role in the proposal's success or failure.
The entire nine-member council, including Mayor Kate Gallego who also lives in south Phoenix, will get to weigh in. But there's a culture on City Council to follow the lead of the member whose district the project resides in.
Hodge Washington will have to balance her own thoughts of the development against that of Hertel's, the LCRD's and the city as a whole.
Asked if she knew of Hertel, Hodge Washington replied, "the man, the myth, the legend."
Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Neighborhood icon 'Phil the Thong man' has shaped Phoenix growth
