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MEET THE CANDIDATES: A Q&A with mayoral, City Council candidates

Posted 6/21/20

Take a look at the candidates vying for the mayor and city council positions in Glendale.

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MEET THE CANDIDATES: A Q&A with mayoral, City Council candidates

Posted

Mayor

Jerry Weiers

Incumbent

Why are you running for reelection?

We’ve lived in Glendale for 23 years and just love our city. Being able to bring it from near bankruptcy to where it’s this growing, energetic city, with new residents, new companies, new jobs, all at once, it’s just an incredibly satisfying feeling.

But even as each year is better than the one before, the Council and I are still trying to get better. We’re about halfway through our road repavement plan and it is going to be great to finish fixing the roads. We’re working on a lot of new opportunities for even more high-paying jobs and growth that will make life better for everyone. We’re happy the crime rate is lower, but we want to keep those numbers improving. So, there are lots of reasons why I’m running.

In addition to the forward-looking reasons I also know that there are people who want to take our city backwards, to where special interests from outside the city call the shots for their benefit, instead of the people of Glendale being in charge. My opponent is supported almost entirely by unions from outside of Glendale, and they want to control our city and our wallets and push us into lousy deals like $800 million worth of light rail that only goes 3.5 miles. That’s how Glendale nearly went under the last time, so while I’m excited about our progress and how well we’re doing overall, I’m also mindful that these groups are going to spend a ton of money to try to undo all of the good we’ve done.

Our city has gotten where it is through teamwork, community involvement, civic engagement and long-term planning guided by a ton of public input. I think we need to stick with our good governance model, and I’m running to keep Glendale improving.

Why are you the right person for the job?

EXPERIENCE — Obviously I’ve been mayor and appreciate the recognition we’ve received as a city, but several decades as a small business owner, as an activist for charitable causes, and some time in the legislature gives me a very broad skill set.

DEEP COMMUNITY ROOTS — I’ve spent decades here, working in the community and with local charities like Shriners, food banks, women’s shelters and others. When you help open a place for kids to go and be safe after school the whole city doesn’t notice it or even know about it, but it makes a huge difference to that neighborhood and to those families.

WORKING WITH EVERYONE — We’ve got a very open and transparent government in Glendale. If you watch the Council meetings, you’ll see we’re seven really different people, but I’ve been endorsed by almost everyone on the Council because they know that even when we disagree, we’re all trying to do what’s best for the City. We’ve also done amazing things with community groups, churches, small businesses and our Chamber of Commerce.

My STRONG GOVERNMENT CONNECTIONS are great for Glendale because I meet with legislators, our federal delegation, our governor and even the president of the United States (twice) to talk about issues that matter to Glendale. That makes a huge difference when we talk about issues like infrastructure, public safety, dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, or attracting major events like Mecum Auto Auctions, the NCAA National Championship, and the Super Bowl.

COMMITMENT — My opponent tells people she will keep her 9-5 job and the second salary if she’s elected, and I can’t imagine giving anything less than 100% to this job. We’re a city of 250,000 people, and Glendale deserves a full-time mayor.

How has your tenure as mayor improved Glendale?

Public safety is always huge for us – believe it or not, two-thirds of our entire city budget is now spent on public safety. We’ve brought down our crime rate, which is good, and we now have a better ratio of firefighters to residents than cities like Surprise, Peoria, Tempe, Chandler, Avondale and Gilbert. This makes a difference in response times, too, so we now have faster response times than neighboring cities like Peoria, Surprise, Goodyear and Buckeye.

The unions come after me every four years complaining how I and Glendale don’t care about public safety, but that’s not true at all, and the numbers back us up. Our fire department has the best compensation package of any fire department IN THE STATE, over $160,000 a year for an eight-year firefighter. A police officer with the same eight years has a compensation package over $170,000 a year. We rarely have vacancies, but when we do, we get as many as 600 applicants for one fire position. So, we’re definitely improving Glendale’s public safety.

Bigger picture, we went from near bankruptcy eight years ago and being saddled with really bad deals related to sports complexes, to a budget surplus, improved parks, new roads (with more on the way), improved infrastructure to deal with our growth, great new businesses like Topgolf, American Furniture Warehouse and others, and great new employers like White Claw and Red Bull.

We were sorry to lose the Thunderbird School of Global Management when it folded into ASU but helped make a great deal to bring Arizona Christian University to that campus, which is great because education plays a huge role in a city’s success. I started an annual Christmas Parade for downtown Glendale, brought July 4th fireworks back to Glendale at Westgate, and have organized amazing events to help veterans and their families.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your next term?

Before COVID-19, Glendale was one of Arizona’s fastest growing cities and had a booming economy, because we worked hard to help our mom-and-pop shops while also going out and attracting new employers eager to move someplace with a dynamic workforce, a solid transportation system and an environment ideal to both work and live in.

As we work to reopen Glendale as safely as possible, we know that as 2020 gives way to 2021 we are going to be returning to a more normal life, and I want to keep Glendale on that upward trajectory. I want to ensure our city’s finance remain stable, our rainy-day fund remains intact and growing, and our taxes as low as possible. I can’t wait to finish the repaving and/or replacement of our streets, and I’m excited that we’re ahead of schedule to do just that.

We’ve taken steps to bring life back to downtown Glendale, and I look forward to seeing its complete rebirth and renewal. It is a great part of our city and where a lot of our history is.

Part of my job is travelling to other cities and building relationships that can result in economic or cultural benefits to both cities, so I look forward to being able to once again promote our amazing city to future visitors or partners. And then I think I just keep doing what I try to do each and every day — look at the city, find problems and solve them, find broken things and fix them, find things that need care and take care of them. That’s my passion and helping people will always be the best part of the job. Thanks for the opportunity to share with you and your readers. I hope I’ve earned your votes!

Michelle Robertson

Challenger

Why are you running for mayor?

I am running to give Glendale a voice in the decisions affecting us daily and long-term. You can count on me to be engaged at every level, conduct myself and represent our city with integrity, and work in the best interest of all aspects of our community. Working together we can move Glendale forward, making it a better place to live and work! I hope to earn your support and vote for mayor on Tuesday August 4, 2020.

Why are you the right person for the job?

In 1987, I graduated from Apollo High School, then I went on to attend Glendale Community College, Arizona State University West and the University of Phoenix. I am still here because I care about this city and want to see it thrive.

I have built my life around being a servant leader and advocating for Arizona families, education, women’s issues, fair wages and benefits, and safe working conditions. In addition to a career in education, I have a background in social services and the medical and behavioral health field.

The skills I’ve gained in my life of public service will transfer well when working with the community transparently to develop great infrastructure, hiring adequate public safety personnel to reduce crime and response times, and negotiate compromise with all Council members to move Glendale forward. I value people and know how to connect with them, build effective teams and find consensus solutions to difficult problems.

What would you do differently than the incumbent, Jerry Weiers?

Glendale needs a mayor you can trust. One who is transparent and ethical. As your mayor, I will restore Glendale’s internal, independent, investigations office and oversight of all city contracts and expenditures.

The current mayor has refused to cover cancer treatment for first responders who’ve contracted it from their work putting their lives on the line to keep us safe, refused to provide training for our police, and refused to staff to appropriate levels to reduce response times. As your mayor, I will work relentlessly to make sure our public safety departments have the personnel, equipment and training needed to keep all of us safe.

Our citizens must have access to their mayor and Council outside of one to five minutes at a City Council meeting for their ideas, issues and solutions to be heard. Our business community must have that same access. And clearly, the employees who work for the citizens of Glendale, especially our rank and file folks who are on the front lines, must be heard. All too often they are not provided with an opportunity to identify or fix something before it becomes a problem, thereby saving taxpayer dollars.

As your mayor, I want to hear from you. I will be accessible and engaged at every level. I want your voice to be heard when decisions are made that affect all of us daily and long-term. Working together, we will move Glendale forward.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your first term?

I hope to accomplish:

  • Making transparency and accountability within our city government the norm to include oversight of all city agreements and expenditures
  • Increase citizen input and participation
  • Focus on proper hiring, training, funding for our police, firefighters and all public safety departments
  • Address critical infrastructure and public facility needs
  • Partner with our business community to make sure they are provided with every opportunity and needed assistance available
  • Regular open agenda community meetings across our city

Yucca District

Joyce Clark

Incumbent

Why are you running for reelection?

I am running for re-election as the Yucca District Council member because I love Glendale and am very proud to represent it. I have lived in Glendale for more than 50 years. I am almost a native of the city! I have watched it grow from a small, farming community of 45,000 residents to the sixth-largest city in the state with a population of over 250,000.

I want to continue to ensure that Glendale is a financially secure, well-run city with a great quality of life for all. That is my focus and my only focus.

I believe in being an advocate for and the voice for many residents, and I have worked hard to keep my district’s residents informed through social media, weekly e-newsletters, twice-a-year newsletters mailed to every household, and hosting district meetings. I intend to continue to offer as much information and transparency to our residents as possible.

I am a problem-solver, and as new, difficult issues appear, I work well in conjunction with others to reach an equitable solution for all.

I have a proven record that demonstrates that I do the job well. I am intelligent, thoughtful and deliberative when making decisions. I continue to seek the position not for financial gain. For in fact, I believe I spend as much as I make in service. For instance, some may pay for Chamber of Commerce membership out of Council budgets. I pay my membership from personal monies. I respect that I am responsible to the taxpayer for the decisions I make on all of my Council member expenditures.

I believe I have earned my constituents’ respect and their vote and I ask that they visit joyceclark2020.com and vote for me on Tuesday, August 4th, Primary Election Day.

Why are you the right person for the job?

I am the right person for the job because of my extensive knowledge not only of the Yucca District but of the city of Glendale. My time as a City Council member has equipped me to find the right “go-to” person on city staff to solve constituent issues. I have an in-depth understanding, achieved over time, of the city’s budget. I work well with other Council members and disagreement on a single issue does not preclude my working with anyone on a different issue.

I have been extremely responsive to my constituents and consult with many frequently. I value constituent input and seek it out. It is important to me to keep residents fully informed on current issues, and I do so regularly through the use of social media, newsletters and meetings.

I am conscientious and do my “homework” consisting of research and reading on every topic that comes before the City Council. I am able to deal with multiple, diverse issues simultaneously. I have proven that I have the time to give to the job and I attend not just the requisite City Council meetings but city events and regional meetings as well. I currently serve on the city’s Code Review Committee and chair the city’s Business Committee. I also serve on the League of Cities and Towns Budget and Finance Committee.

I have never taken advantage of my position as an elected official. I do not charge the city mileage for the many times I use my private vehicle on city business. I do not charge for my cell phone usage despite the fact that 90% of its usage if for city business. I am mindful of all of my spending of taxpayer funding. I strive to use my Council member, taxpayer-funded budgets for the benefit of the people I serve.

How has your tenure on Council improved Glendale?

During my recent four-year tenure Glendale has moved from the brink of bankruptcy to having a $50 million “rainy-day” fund. That accomplishment has earned Glendale high, well-secured credit ratings with all of the major credit rating institutions resulting in lower interest charges.

Residential streets are being rehabilitated and soon Glendale’s major streets such as Glendale Avenue and Camelback Road will be recipients of the next step which is to improve our arterial streets.

Next year will see the beginning of a major, four-year rehabilitation program for the entire Glendale park system, including neighborhood parks. Our right-of-way maintenance program now includes a more frequent clean-up schedule and the frequency of street sweeping has been increased. My goal has been to improve the look and feel of Glendale.

Another success story is the street light conversion program to LED lighting. This program resulted in an annual savings to the city of half a million dollars in electricity costs plus the receipt of an annual rebate from a local electricity provider. I advocated for advancing the program ahead of schedule and City Council agreed.

I have been able to bring the city’s attention to the often ignored Heroes Park. I have been successful in securing the opening of the first phase of the Heroes Park Library. I have secured funding for the design and construction of Heroes Park Lake scheduled to be built next year. If the voters of Glendale approve new bond authorization this November, I will have assured appropriation funding to complete Heroes Park.

I have focused on job creation for our residents by targeting the Loop 303 corridor as a commercial/industrial/manufacturing center rather than encouraging the development of more neighborhoods. Thus far, over 2,000 jobs are being created.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your next term?

My primary and overarching goal has been and continues to be the completion of Heroes Park after waiting 20-plus years. If voters approve the city’s bond election this November, there will be over $47 million dollars available to construct a recreation & aquatics center, sports fields for soccer and baseball, expansion of the library, and a dog park. Yucca District residents have been promised these amenities for far too long, and it’s time for these to become a reality for them.

Another goal is to continue past successes in creating an employment zone along the Loop 303. There is still land available for economic development, and my focus continues in that area with an emphasis on the development of office space within Glendale, especially Class A office space.

I am starting a pilot project to install digital speed signs in neighborhoods with the goal of slowing down traffic in our most vulnerable areas — our neighborhoods where our children play.

I also believe we must do a better job with our downtown for our merchants and nearby residents. This includes taking inventory of what has worked in the past to benefit our merchants and incorporating new strategies to make our downtown even more robust.

Lastly, I want to continue to focus on the beautification of Glendale. Part of this initiative will be accomplished with the adoption of Glendale’s new City Code, but another aspect can only be accomplished with focusing attention on the rehabilitation and the maintenance of all parts of our community.

My ultimate goal is to bring diverse stakeholders to a place of dialogue, listening to all points of view and coming to a conclusion that I think will be in the best interest of all persons in Glendale.

Bryce Alexander

Challenger

Why are you running for City Council?

I am running because the reputation of the reputation of the city has slowly deteriorated ranging from general appearance, to crime, and in the executive decisions of the city that raise questions of ethics and transparency. I am running because Glendale needs change.

Why are you the right person for the job?

I have two primary skills that I bring to the table, the first is to be able to articulate a vision and direction for change, and the second is a keen, logical brain. Having had a highly recognized career in the high tech industry, and from experience as a trouble shooter and project manager of multi-million dollar projects, I bring to the office an analytical mind that is able to break down complex systems and relate them in ways that help to make those concepts understandable to non-technical people. City government is one such system that requires leaders able to understand the complexities and interrelationships involved in order to form a positive vision for the city to strive for.

What would you do differently than the incumbent, Joyce Clark?

I am running on the issues, so I prefer not to speak directly to my opponent’s strengths or shortcomings. Instead, I will simply state that while the focus of the current administration has been on bringing new industry and jobs, they have lost focus on the things that attract the holders of those new jobs to retain them and to encourage them to live and shop in the city of Glendale. We gain nothing if those jobs only benefit neighboring communities. The vision of the city must be to overcome the urban decay and the eroding of the poor reputation and crime that the decay has fostered.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your first term?

First is to hold the city leadership accountable to the people and insist that they act in a transparent, ethical manner. Doing so eventually improves the morale of city employees who would know they have done a job right the first time as opposed to having to justify every move. Then second is to work to build up the image of the city in order to become a model community in areas like dealing with homeless and in reducing crime. All this by Glendale’s next Super Bowl (scheduled for Feb. 5, 2023). We need the city to stand proud of our accomplishments when the world’s eyes are focused on us. We need a city that encourages new residents.

Sahuaro District

Ray Malnar

Incumbent (unopposed)

Why are you running for reelection?

I am running for my 2nd full term as Council member for the Sahuaro District to serve my community and finish the work I have started.

Why are you the right person for the job?

Experiences serving on City Council and on various city and government committees have provided me a deeper understanding of the proper role of local government. My education in finance and management and my work and volunteer experiences have provided me the knowledge I need to make logical and informed decisions that benefit residents.

How has your tenure on Council improved Glendale?

During the time I have been on Council, I have been a solid voice in the debate to improve the financial condition of the city, improve city services for residents, and to keep property taxes down. Mayor Weiers and City Council have chosen to control spending and establish a fund balance policy to cover unforeseen events such as what we are experience during the COVID-19 crisis. We have ensured our public safety officers are among the best paid in the state. I have been part of the solution to plan improvements to the quality of our roads, libraries and parks and to establish and serve on the Business Regulation Reform Committee and chair the Code Rewrite Committee. I have also worked to improve the quality of life in Sahuaro District neighborhoods.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your next term?

During my next term, we will complete the business regulation reform and code rewrite reform. I will continue to be a strong advocate to hold property taxes down while promoting economic development. My continued support for economic development will provide job opportunities and tax revenues. Over the next four years, my priorities will also include park and road improvements. It is my desire to continue my efforts to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods by promoting neighborhood block watch and to unify neighborhoods through service and social events.

Editor’s note: Mr. Malnar is serving as vice mayor on a term that ends in January 2021. The position of vice mayor is appointed to a City Council member, and the Council has chosen to rotate it among its members.

Cactus District

Ian Hugh

Incumbent (unopposed)

Why are you running for reelection?

I am a Glendale native. My wife Sharon and I have owned our business in Glendale for 42 years, and we love this city.

Mayor Weiers and I were elected in 2012 when the city was near bankrupt, millions of dollars in the red in the general fund with reduction of police and fire. With Mayor Weiers and Council, the city is now one of the best-run in the state. We have restored police and fire and have just reached our goal of $50 million in our reserve account.

Why are you the right person for the job?

Because I have a track record of successes and understand the importance of economic development. Glendale survives on sales taxes, and we have a very active Economic Development Department working with the city manager. We have new car dealerships on the 101 north of Bell, Topgolf and numerous new hotels.

How has your tenure on Council improved Glendale?

Glendale now has the money by increasing our sales tax base to pay to restore our public safety. We increased our bond rating that saved us millions of dollars, which allowed us to catch up on the road repairs, park maintenance and pay our employees.

What are some goals you hope to accomplish in your next term?

Continue to be a city that people and businesses want to locate in. We have international corporations building in Glendale such as Red Bull, White Claw, Ball and Rauch. They chose Glendale because we are a well-run city.