Experience has value…

Maricopa’s municipal elections are once again upon us, and you’re being asked to decide who you feel is best suited to represent you as your mayor and city council.

This year marks the first time our city will utilize an all mail-in ballot, and candidates have found they’ve had to modify their strategy on reaching out to you – the voter. The reasoning for moving to an all mail-in ballot is the hope of increasing voter participation in the election process.

Some of us prefer to vote in person at our local polling station, and others prefer to vote by mail, but my position will always be to support whichever method, or combination of methods, produces the highest level of voter turn-out.

I can tell you from experience that being a member of your city council is challenging, requires commitment, determination, and a lot of one’s personal time. Not only do councilmember’s have regular full-time jobs, or operate their own business – they also have families, and bills to pay; just like everyone else. On top of that, we have to familiarize ourselves with every aspect of what it takes to run a city.

I don’t believe any new member of council, or inexperienced mayor, will hit the ground running, as there’s just so much to learn about what it takes to keep this machine, we call Maricopa, running. The experience that comes with serving as a member of your council is of great value. Not only is it an investment on the part of the councilmember or mayor, it’s also an investment of you, the voter, and your tax dollars, in an individual to represent your interests.