Gusse: I will find right solutions for Maricopa

By Julia Gusse

At the start of this election I requested your vote for the privilege to represent the great people of Maricopa as your councilmember.

I spoke on my resilience to represent you, just recently a local resident called me about an issue he was having with ED3. He (like myself and Mayor Christian Price) are Solar City customers with leased solar panels on our homes. This Maricopa resident purchased a new home and was requesting to have those panels transferred to his new property. Solar City had this option when we purchased the lease and therefore we all assumed this was a simple task. With the new solar regulations ED3 had established in 2015, this was not possible until I brought this to the city’s attention. Mayor Price worked with ED3 to have the terms of these lease transfers honored and as a result this issue was resolved. This is just one example of the resilience for which I will fight for, to assure that our residents are satisfied with my commitment of representing you.

I spoke on my resourcefulness to represent you, a few years ago (2011) when I started the Let’s Move program for our youth to stay active during the summer months, we did not have Copper Sky and had to rely on the generosity of our community partners (Maricopa Unified School District). I approached MUSD for their indoor gymnasiums to run basketball and other activities for the program, and they generously donated their facilities. Just recently the City Council debated the relocation of our senior groups once Copa Center is demolished for the overpass, and they came up empty without a solution. If I am elected, I will work with MUSD to see about facilitating a location for our seniors and creating a Memorandum of Understanding that will benefit all the taxpayers that contribute to MUSD regardless if they have children in the schools or not.

I was a teacher for MUSD and worked at Santa Cruz Elementary in the Tortosa community. I know for a fact that many of the classrooms at that location sit empty all year long. As taxpayers, our residents are paying for these classrooms to sit empty, why not use these locations for our seniors or an additional library since this city has outgrown our only library? This is a matter of being resourceful with what we have available within this city and I will work to assure that our residents are satisfied with my commitment of representing all of you.

Lastly, I spoke on my proven record as your councilmember (2010-2014). I missed all of two meeting dates within the 4.5 years that I served as your councilmember.  How many of you are aware that we have a councilmember that is running for reelection with a record of 32 absences in his 4.5 years of service?  I am committed to representing you and have a proven record of doing so.

I am resilient, resourceful and reliable with a proven record of keeping informed, actively participating at the decision making table and standing up for our constituents. I love the city we all call home and ask you for your vote but more importantly, please make an informed decision and vote.

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Julia Romero Gusse is a candidate for Maricopa City Council.