Reader not enthused about choices for city council

As an educated voter in Maricopa, I am underwhelmed by the slate of candidate choices we have this election for the three City Council seats. I thought there would be more choices as 10 people picked up election packets for the election.

There are four candidates: Rosalin Sanhadja, Bridger Kimball, Leon Potter and Marvin Brown.

Brown is the only incumbent who is seeking re-election this cycle. However, he has been known to be disrespectful toward others in Maricopa. Most recently, he embarrassed our city by criticizing our state Sen. Steve Smith.

Understandably, political figures are heavily scrutinized; however, it discourages public discussion when people see that those who choose to approach the podium at a city council meeting are lambasted for doing so. Another heated argument Brown engaged in at a Copa Seniors meeting led to that club's president, Joan Koczor, to approach the podium at a City Council meeting to vent her frustrations with his behavior at their function. I personally witnessed the hostility expressed toward Smith by Brown and will not vote for him as a result.

Sanhadja ran for council in 2010 and lost that election, receiving the fewest votes. She appears to be a spender and that is cause for concern with me in this economy.

She disagreed with the council's decision to terminate the city's relationship with the Central Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, an organization that cost Maricopa $64,000 a year to help attract businesses to Maricopa, but failed to do just that. In February 2010, she went on record in support of the then-current MUSD override. She also supports the Maricopa Express, a bus program that served very few, but cost the city lots of money.

Potter ran for the mayor’s race in 2010, losing to Anthony Smith. He was a co-chaiman for a political action committee that sought the passage of the MUSD override. On Feb. 17, 2010, when pressed for an answer on whether he supported the MUSD override, his response was “I would rather not state my position.”

That lack of transparency of his position on issues facing the residents of Maricopa is something I am deeply concerned about.