Meet the Candidates: Yuma City Council
Editor’s Note: Here are four of the seven candidates for Yuma City Council. The remaining three candidates will appear in the June 21, 2022, edition of the Yuma Sun.
Age: 61
Office running for: Yuma City Council
Political experience: Prior City Councilman
What is your background? What in your past experiences helps qualify you for this seat?
as a former City Councilman and deputy mayor, I have held this position for 4 years and have the experience of doing the required research in order to come to each Council meeting fully prepared. This helps in order to ask the right questions to get to the needed answer.
Why are you running for this office?
To be able to serve the people of Yuma again.
What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans?
Currently the Public Service department needs to be reviewed for retention and recruitment opportunities.
What would you do, if elected, to help change that?
Having served on the Police and Fire retirement boards for 9 years (4 as Chairman) gives me an insight that allows me to be able to speak to these officers and firemen. The City needs to review the budget and work with these departments to find alternatives that address these areas.
Holding elected office
requires a significant time commitment for meetings, as well as “homework” prior to meetings to be prepared. How will this fit in with your other commitments?
Having already served a fouryear term, I understand the time and research commitments. my family and my job already accept the time requirements.
What is your approach to
handling controversial and complicated issues?
I have found that typically an initial meeting to discuss the parameters of the controversy goes a long way to understand. after we agree on the facts, the discussion of how to handle the issues gets easier. I have always listened to see how the facts are presented and work to an agreement.