Saddlebrooke resident throws hat into county supervisor race
By Tim Howsare
Fred Mackenzie lives 103 miles from Maricopa, but he wants to tell residents here he is serious about representing them if elected to the District 4 seat on the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.
Mackenzie, who lives in Saddlebrooke near Oracle and north of Tucson, announced at January’s meeting of the Maricopa Tea Party he will challenge fellow Republican and Maricopa mayor Anthony Smith for the seat.
Henry Wade, organizer of the Copa City Democrats, is in the race as a Democrat.
Mackenzie said this is his first time running for political office.
“My goal is not to be the supervisor from Saddlebrooke, but to be the supervisor for all communities in Pinal County and bring them together instead of trying to get earmarks or favors for own community, which has been the custom in the recent past,” he said.
Mackenzie said he has made several trips to Maricopa to become familiar with the city.
“I’ve been coming to Maricopa and getting to know the issues,” he said. “I was at the (Jan. 28 city election) debate on Saturday where I made some contacts learned some of the issues.”
Mackenzie said he is interested in building a bridge over the Union Pacific railroad tracks, the dust problem and the negative image of Maricopa and what could be done to reverse it.
“I’m interested in learning what the problems are and to raise all boats, as we used to say in Navy,” he said. “We need to all strive in the direction of prosperity.”
He and fellow committee members have attended nearly every board meeting of Pinal County Supervisors in the past several years, Mackenzie said, and last year they pressured board members to resist excessive spending.
“I think they have become a little bit reluctant to spend citizens’ money because they know one group is watching them,” he said.
Along with cutting unnecessary spending and creating balanced county budgets, Mackenzie has pledged to create more jobs, monitor the assessor’s office to ensure fairness in property taxes, consolidate inefficient and failing school districts, and ensure county personnel policies are enforced fairly and employees are held accountable in their job duties.
