Lee Feiles to run for Maricopa City Council

Maricopa businessman Lee Feiles has announced his candidacy to fill a two-year term on the Maricopa City Council. He is running to fill the seat vacated by Leon Potter who resigned to run for mayor.

Feiles owns ATA Martial Arts and Karate for Kids and came to Maricopa in 2010. After several months of commuting from Glendale to Maricopa and home to Tucson on the weekends, Feiles said in a press release he decided to make Maricopa his home. His family lives in Glennwilde.

“I believed in the future of this city, and felt an immediate connection to the families here; my wife and I decided this was the right place to begin to raise our family and plan our future.”

Previously, Feiles was an engineer and surveyor in Tucson, working with commercial and residential land development. A longtime practitioner of martial arts, he was certified as an instructor in 1992; during the next 10 years he opened or acquired seven commercial locations in the Tucson and Phoenix areas.

“My entire adult life has been dedicated to teaching and leading, operating through a strict code of behavior and ethics (such as respect, discipline and honor), among them a commitment to goals within the community,” he said in a press release.

Feiles said he applied to the council when an appointment position opened in 2012. “While honored to be chosen for the interview process, it was not my time to serve,” he said. He then became a member of the Parks, Recreation and Libraries committee.

He offers classes through the Parks and Recreation Department, holds safety classes for the public, and is involved in youth camps and other projects.

While Feiles said he considered running for a four-year term, the two-year term offered through Potter’s resignation “fits very well with my business and family plans. This shorter-term commitment would allow me the opportunity to offer my education and experience as a former engineer and as a multi-location business owner, now, when it is needed on the cusp of such potential growth; while allowing me the opportunity to re-evaluate my business plan and decide if continuation of service will be of benefit to this city.”

He supports economic sustainability, including the recruitment of businesses and jobs to Maricopa, and local business owners. He said he will promote positive growth, including working on getting a State Route 347 overpass, quality of life issues for residents and businesses, public safety and fiscal responsibility.

More information is available at [email protected].