Mesa votes to appoint Heredia as new councilman to replace Winkle

LILY ALTAVENA

The Mesa City Council voted, 5-1, Thursday to appoint Francisco Heredia to the District 3 seat left vacant by Ryan Winkle.

“There’s a lot of things that are happening in District 3 and across the city,” Heredia said. “There’s a learning curve, of course.”

Kevin Thompson was the lone “nay” vote on the council, which interviewed four candidates. The fifth finalist, Christian Stumpf, withdrew from consideration.

The city clerk swore Heredia into office immediately after the appointment was approved. The council also will also hold a formal swearing-in ceremony during the Oct. 2 council meeting, a city spokesman said.

The council unanimously voted to remove Winkle, a first-term council member, in August after he pleaded guilty to a DUI in Tempe.

Heredia will fill the District 3 seat until next August’s election. He envisions running for the council seat then.

“I do think this district needs continuity,” he said.

His brother, Luis Heredia, is a district director in Rep. Ruben Gallego’s office and a national committeeman for the Arizona Democratic Party.

Immediately after he was appointed, Heredia sat in the District 3 council seat and began hearing a presentation about city employee benefits, a routine agenda item for the day’s meeting.

Heredia is a former field director for Latino civic-engagement organization Mi Familia Vota and director for One Arizona.

More recently, he was in community relations at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office but left that job to pursue other projects, including consulting and working with non-profits.

He has a master’s degree in public administration from Arizona State University.

The new councilman moved to District 3 in the Dobson Woods neighborhood in 2015 after living in Chandler and then Tempe.

“I fell in love with the neighborhood when we moved in,” he said.

Of the final candidates, Heredia is the most recent addition to District 3.

During interviews, council members asked candidates about looming city issues, problem solving and what they like to do beyond council chambers.

Heredia said he would like to help revive the Fiesta District in Mesa, which lies within District 3.

He has three children and roots for the Sun Devils during sporting events. His parents came to the West from Mexico as migrant farm workers. He believes they instilled in him a multitude of core values, including family, faith and education.

“My passion has been my service,” he said.