Meet the Candidate: Yuma County Board of Supervisors District 5

Name: Lynne Pancrazi

Age: 66 years young; 42 years married to Mike

Office running for: Yuma County Supervisor District 5 Political experience:

Three and a half years as

Yuma County Supervisor

District 5, Four years as Arizona State Senator District 4, Six years as Arizona State Representative District 24

Family: Husband Mike Pancrazi, Stepdaughter Angela Moreno, Son in Law Moses Moreno, Grandkids Madison and Michael Moreno, Sisters Diane Hansberger/Mark Hansberger and Danelle Palmer/Dane Palmer; Brother Danny Blair; Sister in Law Nancy Huerta/Joe Huerta, Carolyn Marquez, Mary Beth Goff, Jo Estele Mellon (deceased); and Brother in Law Bob Pancrazi; and numerous nieces, nephews and more.

Please describe your platform:

A County Supervisor’s first job is to provide quality services to the citizens of Yuma County with the smallest property taxes possible. One example: we lowered the tax rate to help offset the increase in property values.

Yuma County’s water will always be a top priority. Attempts to buy, trade, and steal it are never-ending. Our water rights not only feed our Ag industry (one of the largest industries in the State of Arizona), it helps attract business and industry to Yuma County.

My promise to Yuma County: • Protect the Agriculture industry

• Protect both YPG and MCAS for our community and our Country.

• Focus my every effort to advance Yuma County to be the best place to work, live, and raise a family.

What is your background? What are the past experiences that help qualify you for this seat?

I am a native Yuman.

As a teacher for 30 years, I taught kids to read, to swim, to play, and as a realtor, I helped families buy and sell their homes. When elected to the State Legislature, I always did my very best to represent the needs and concerns of Yuma. You elected me as your State Representative for three terms, then as your State Senator for two terms. When Greg Ferguson retired from the County Board Supervisors, I realized I could continue to serve Yuma County without traveling to Phoenix, and I would love to continue to serve as your District 5 Yuma County Supervisor.

The Board of Supervisors is the governing body of Yuma County. The board is empowered within the limits of Arizona

State law. My experience and understanding of our Arizona State Legislature and my love for this community makes me qualified for the position of Yuma County Supervisor.

If elected, what is your first priority?

Yuma County needs to survive this pandemic with as little loss of life as possible. I want to continue to provide the funds necessary for the Health Department to purchase PPEs and testing kits to protect our First Responders, community, and employees.

My next priority is to get local businesses open and operating at full capacity, while being safe and prudent.

I will continue my efforts to get our PM10 classification eliminated.

I will continue our work to get Highway 95 widened. It is dangerous every day but especially at harvest time. My first priority is to get the road widened to YPG, then to the Interstate 10 corridor for commerce.

Arizona takes treated human waste from California and disposes of it. We are working with ADEQ to make sure we protect the land near communities or crops that are consumed by humans.

There are many county islands in District 5, and with the help of the residents of one county island and DDS, we have gotten all but one home cleaned up.

What sets you apart from your opponent(s)?

I have the knowledge gained from representing Yuma County for 13 1/2 years both at the state and local levels. During that time, I served four years on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where I refined my knowledge of budgets.

I understand Yuma County’s water, agriculture, and transportation needs.

The HURF funds we receive are not nearly enough to allow us to maintain and upgrade our roads. We need to work with State and Federal Legislators to find additional funding sources.

I have four family members who are small business owners in Yuma County. They have helped me to understand better the day to day struggles and rewards small business owners face.

Most importantly, I LOVE this community and the people who make it such a wonderful place to live and raise a family. I want to help it grow and prosper without losing the rural roots that make Yuma County an extraordinary place.

What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans?

Our federal, state, and local economies are in distress because of COVID-19. We have to get through this tremendous challenge and help our local businesses get back on their feet. The county, along with our local cities, have designated money from our federal relief funds to provide grants to our small businesses. The county has assigned funds for mortgage relief grants to small businesses located in the unincorporated areas of Yuma County. Please, please, please shop local whenever you can. Please don’t buy something online that you can get right here in Yuma. We are all impacted by COVID-19, and by doing the small things like buying local, we can all make it through these trying times.

What would you do, if elected, to help change that?

As a current Supervisor, I am doing everything I possibly can. Our board approved additional funding for the health department for PPEs and tests. We approved the hiring of UA medical students to increase our ability to do contact tracing and we approved additional funding for equipment, and computers to allow employees to continue to work from home. We just approved funding for the equipment and supplies needed to begin opening up our offices while keeping our employees safe. An example would be clear New Plexiglas shields for those working directly with customers. I also volunteered my time at the last COVID-19 testing blitz held at the Civic Center.

I promote wearing of masks and shopping local, I also pray every day for an approved safe vaccine. Please join me and pray for this as well.