Henderson: Safety, business tops priority list

Hi my name is Kawika Henderson and I’ve been a Surprise resident for over 20 years.

I’ve seen Grand Avenue and Bell Road go from a four-way intersection to what it is today.

Also, I have seen the orange groves and the flower fields slowly disappear and transition into the communities that we have today. That amazes me.

I currently own and have been operating a small business here in Surprise for the last five years. Through my business I’ve been able to work with the city of Surprise Police Department, AZ Special Olympics, Dysart High School, FBI Counter Terrorism Unit, L.A. Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, New York Giants, Milwaukee Brewers and so many others — as well as training our first responders, professional and student athletes while fundraising for many nonprofits.

Considering the continued growth of our young families to mature active adults, seniors in Surprise and expansion of our business districts, communities and neighborhoods, my most important agenda is to ensure the safety and response time of our emergency personnel to these areas.

Prioritizing safety response time for our police and fire as well as developing a town square for small businesses will always remain my No. 1 priority.
On the other hand, our current District 5 Councilman David Sanders within the last year has voted against the additional safety response parameters for our fire department and police.

I fully support Gov. Ducey’s Executive Order 2020-21 dated 04/06/2020. Here are also some of my main issues that I will either initiate or support:

• No. 1 — stated previously response time for emergencies.
• No. 2 — maintaining lower or reasonable property tax rates.
• No. 3 — developing the town square for local businesses with community involvement and engagement from our Chamber of Commerce and City Hall.

Promote easy connection opportunities in the community and offer small business support in our designated economic opportunity zones. This will increase revenue and allow residents to live, work and play here.

I see Surprise supporting its own youth not just through state and local community grants but support from the chamber of commerce. This act will support public school and homeschool children’s curricular and extracurricular pursuits.

This city and community supported education Stimulus is a program that will not increase taxes in any way and will engage our community to root for our young students to succeed. We want to give our young adults a head start in life.

I want to see the city of Surprise continually grow in a way that is business- and family-friendly. Our motto is live here, work here and play here.

Please take a look at my website. If you’d like to get to know me more, as well as, my vision for Surprise.

I’d like to build support for small businesses, support our first responders, bring in more careers, create more accessible entertainment, enhance/create competitive sports programs and extracurricular activities for all Surprise residents while staying committed to our small-town feel.

Editor’s Note: Kawika Henderson is an official write-in candidate for the Surprise City Council in District 5.