Ican remember walking into the city council chamber in December 2018 for a special city council meeting that would determine who would fill the vacancy in District 5.
The seat was left vacant after Skip Hall was appointed mayor by his city council colleagues. I was among eight candidates interviewed, and I was blessed to have been selected. Having volunteered for many years for the city, I was vested in the success of the city, and I wanted to continue to play a proactive role serving the residents.
Local government is incredibly relevant. At this level, important decisions are made at practically every meeting, and they have tangible impacts on our city and residents. The most effective elected officials share commonalities such as compassion, open-mindedness and selflessness. There are tough decisions that need to be made so there needs to be a sincere desire to listen and do what is best for the community.
The city continues to experience an increase in residential growth and the city as a whole continues to change. Fiscal responsibility is critically important to our success and having a finance background, I was honored to have had the opportunity to continue to help increase our services without a tax increase.
The financial impact of the pandemic was felt by every municipality. We continue expending significant resources to combat it, while trying to leverage funding to help our businesses and those in need through our Surprise Resource Center.
During my 22 months on council, I worked with staff and my council colleagues on several accomplishments including the settlement with SCDC allowing development to continue in City Center, public input meetings with SCDC to prepare a downtown that residents want, preparing a master plan from that input, the Economic Development restaurant red banner program, a small business loan program, a Temporary Extension of Premise permit to assist restaurants during the pandemic, housing for the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals and the expansion of Ottawa University are just a few of our achievements.
Building strong partnerships with our state legislators, business leaders, non-profit organizations, and other local elected officials has been paramount to advancing Surprise. To be part of that has been a gift. Getting to know so many of you and having the opportunity to be your voice was a privilege.
As we all know, elections can be divisive at every level of government and the narrative has a tendency to be negative. Surprise is a great city and there are so many exciting things happening. There is so much to come, and it is imperative that we focus on positivity and work together to continue to move the city forward.
Thank you to each and every one of you. It has been a tremendous honor to serve you. I want to again extend my sincerest gratitude for those who never wavered in their support of me. Every one of you who placed your faith in me to make Surprise a better place for the future, thank you. Your encouragement and guidance will never be forgotten.
I look forward to new opportunities to continue to make a difference for years to come.
Editor’s Note: Mr. Sanders served on the Surprise City Council from 2019 until Nov. 3.
