District 3 Supervisor candidates Hollenbach and Snider speak out on most important issues for Maricopa

The Board of Supervisors is the governing and policy-making body of Pinal County. It is the legislative branch of county government, authorized to pass resolutions and enact ordinances. Supervisors develop and adopt the county’s budget and set the county property tax rate in order to provide the necessary finances for county expenditures. In addition, they have the authority to fill vacancies in county offices, on boards and commissions.

Each of the three supervisors represents a district in Pinal County. Maricopa is in District 3, which has been represented by incumbent David Snider. The other two supervisors, Lionel Ruiz and Sandie Smith, are retiring at the end of their current terms.

Snider, a Democrat, is opposed by Republican Tom Hollenbach for the District 3 Board of Supervisors position.

inmaricopa.com asked the candidates the following questions, and they responded in their own words:

Who is Tom Hollenbach?

“Tom Hollenbach (Republican) is a registered land surveyor and principle of Hollenbach Surveying Company, LLC. I have been in business going on 25 years. I have lived in the county for almost 40 years and been married for 35 years to Julene, who is the Deputy Superintendent at the Arizona Training Program in Coolidge; we have four grown children.”

Who is David Snider?

“I was elected to the Pinal County Board of Supervisors in November 2004 and took office on January 1, 2005. Prior to election, I worked for the City of Casa Grande for 26 years as Library Director as well the Interim and Acting City Manager on occasion. I was an elected member of the Casa Grande Elementary School District Governing Board (1992-2004) and served as its president for seven of those years. Currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Groundwater Users Advisory Council and the immediate past chair of the Pinal County Governmental Alliance, Inc., I’m also the chair of the Pinal County Water Augmentation Authority, a board member of the Central Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, and the secretary of the Board for Against Abuse, Inc.

I’m a member of the Environment, Energy & Land Use Steering Committee (EELU) and Vice-Chairman of the Energy Committee for the National Association of Counties (NACo); Legislative Policy Committee and the Medium County Caucus for the Arizona County Supervisors Association; Research Committee for the Arizona Town Hall; Statewide Water Advisory Group for the Arizona Department of Water Resources; and the Local Drought Impact Group for Pinal County. I’m also an active member of the Latino Familia Initiative, the Casa Grande Valley Historical Society, the Friends of the Casa Grande Library, and the Chambers of Commerce in both Casa Grande and Maricopa. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) and earned a Master of Science in Library Science degree from Wayne State University.”

What specific experience would you bring to this office?

Tom Hollenbach: “Going on 25 years as a successful businessman, 20 years on the Casa Grande Elementary School Board, where I am the current board president, and my community involvement allows me the experience to lead, evaluate and be accountable for this office.”

David Snider: “As you can tell from my biography I have extensive experience in working with all different levels of government for more than 30 years. While working for the City of Casa Grande, I led policy discussions in the areas of water resource management, information services and technology, energy, utility franchises and intra-government relations – that experience spanned my 26-year tenure with the City. As the secretary of the Pinal County Governmental Alliance (a consortium of seven Pinal cities and towns, three irrigation districts, CAC, and the County) for nearly 20 years, I worked at the regional level on policy and legislation for water, economic development, transportation, and many other issues. My 12 years on the elementary school district governing board provided me with an additional layer of experience in governance.

During the last four years I have honed that knowledge of how to get things done in and for Pinal County. I’ve demonstrated my leadership experience as a regional leader as I developed and strengthened relationships with the new city of Maricopa, our tribal neighbors in the Ak-Chin, Gila River and Tohono O’odham Indian Communities, as well as our surrounding counties, and state government. My past experience as a journalist makes me a good communicator – something I devote myself and the office to on a regular basis. More than 20 years of experience in working on water management policy gives me a unique perspective on how we need to conserve our water while augmenting those supplies with water from renewable sources so that we can build a sustainable Pinal County for future generations.”

What are the three most important issues facing your Maricopa area constituents and what would you do to address each?

Tom Hollenbach: “Transportation: I will form a coalition of city, county, Indian and ADOT groups to address concerns on the highway issue. We will also address other means of ingress/egress necessary to accommodate new growth for both residential and commercial.”

David Snider: “Transportation: We need to continue to develop our long-range plans for how to get our residents around Pinal County as well as to and from Phoenix and Tucson. Those plans must involve the private sector and include rail, mass transit, and air solutions. Other partners in these solutions include the city of Maricopa, Pinal and Maricopa Counties, ADOT, the Federal Highway Administration and the tribes. Our transportation challenges involve issues of funding, coordination with other systems and safety, as well as convenience.

Economic development (i.e. more local manufacturing and commercial jobs): Pinal County and the city of Maricopa need to continue partnering on enticing more commercial and industrial jobs to the region. If we are successful in making our case to the manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, energy and research industrial sectors, then our transportation needs change as our residents can work in close proximity to where they live. That, in turn, adds significant value to the County’s assessed value and tax base across the board, thereby lowering the tax burden on all residents, as well as bringing corporate neighbors to our community table as partners in our schools, cultural amenities, quality of life ventures and overall community image.

Health care: Health care is critical, not only as an industrial sector, but for the well being of our children, our workforce and our seniors. The series of health care summits we’ve had during the last two years have given us a partial road map for the future.”

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