I grew up in Casa Grande where I attended elementary school and high school. I then enrolled at Arizona State University where I received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Communications. I learned from a variety of work experiences in companies such as Xerox Corporation, Shearson Lehman Brothers in New York, and The Pepsi Cola Company for 10 years. I returned to Casa Grande to raise my family, where I worked for several local companies including United Way of Pinal County and Fidelity National Title. I ultimately joined our family law firm, Fitzgibbons Law Offices, as the Director of Business and Marketing Development, where I have been for the past 17 years. I was appointed to the City Council in 2010, and the citizens of Casa Grande elected me on three separate occasions to serve on their City Council. While on the council, I served as Mayor Pro-Tempore twice. I have been married to my husband Denis for 34 years, who was also raised in Casa Grande. We have three wonderful daughters who are all proud graduates of our local schools.
While on the City Council, I felt fortunate to serve alongside some amazing council members and City staff. I became involved with critical decisions that will shape the future of Casa Grande. I know that many decisions, made years ago, continue to positively impact our community and will do so in the future. I chose to run for Mayor because I am passionate about our City and know many important decisions will need to be made that will continue to mold and shape our community. I bring a unique business background to the City Council, and by growing up in Casa Grande, I learned to appreciate the tapestry of our diverse cultures. We all benefit from the rich history of the various people in our community. If I am fortunate enough to be your Mayor, I want all people to be heard and want all those cultures to be celebrated. I see our future as incredibly bright, a unique City, with charm, history, and a strong sense of community.
- If the decision was solely yours, what would you do with the old high school auditorium and how would you fund it?
There have been numerous discussions and studies regarding the old high school auditorium. Although I have strong historical connections, based on the studies received thus far, it is not economically feasible to remodel the building. I would like to continue the discussions, until we exhaust all options for the auditorium. If it is not economically beneficial to the City to restore the auditorium, I support evaluating improving the Frank Davidson Auditorium as a community performing arts center. This would be funded as a joint project between the City and the elementary school district. A performing arts center is important for the quality of life of our community, so I would prioritize this and use general fund money. If we cannot restore the auditorium, I want to continue to evaluate expanding our City campus. Fire Station 501 needs to be replaced, but we need to first determine the best strategic location for it. If we place 501 where the auditorium is currently located, I would use general fund money, and, hopefully, voter-approved bonds to pay for this because public safety is critical for our community.
- Community members have indicated the need for improved city infrastructure. What would be your priority projects, and how would you fund it?
With growth comes challenges, especially with our roads. Safe and efficient roads are needed and the City needs to invest in traffic improvements. In the FY 2024-2025 City budget, we will invest $65 million to improve the local streets — $7 million of this will be used for immediate traffic improvements. Thanks to our citizens, we have $51 million in voter-approved general obligation bonds to fund these upgrades. In addition to traffic and road infrastructure, the City must keep up with our sewer infrastructure. Presently, the City is investing $80 million to upgrade our sewer system on Kortsen Road.
My priority infrastructure projects would be to continue to upgrade our roads like we are doing on Pinal and Cottonwood roads, and Peart and Kortsen roads. We need to identify alternative routes so that the truck traffic stays on the freeways and off Pinal Avenue. I would work with the ADOT to improve Pinal Avenue and the overpass at I-10. I would seek as much federal and state funding as possible for these improvements.
To me, City infrastructure is more than just the above — it also involves making sure that our public safety departments have the equipment, facilities, and necessary tools to continue to provide a safe community. And it involves making sure our Parks and Recreation Department is properly funded so it will keep our community active and engaged. For the ongoing expenses of these departments, I would use general fund money. For any new parks and capital projects, I would look for federal and state grants, our general fund, and voter-approved general obligation bonds to fund these improvements.
- Homelessness is a growing problem. What would you do to help solve this issue, and how would you fund it?
Homelessness is a growing concern in cities across the country. During my time on the City Council, we have brought together stakeholders to address the homeless in our City. We started the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, which is now the CG HELP Coalition. I have been active with this group where we started the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging program, which rotates overnight shelter for the homeless among local churches. This program is one way to address the homeless problem but only targets a specific population. I would continue to support this program. The City does not directly fund this program, but it supports it by providing an office at Peart Park. The private churches and local nonprofits financially support this program through monetary donations and countless volunteers. It is a good public-private partnership.
I would like to eventually have a shelter in town so that we can provide a place to stay, a centralized location for services, and get the homeless off the streets. I would hope that we could obtain private donations, grant funding, and tribal gaming funds to build the shelter.
I would continue the housing roundtable discussions, where we bring local homeowners, realtors, property managers and social service agencies to discuss the current issues and solutions for getting families into houses and apartments. Because of the lack of resources, it is important to bring together all those who serve this population and try not to duplicate services.
- Driving through Casa Grande, there are many areas with blight (weeds, trash, poor upkeep), including several city-owned properties. How would you beautify Casa Grande, and how would you fund it?
As a City, we need to take the lead and make sure our properties are well-kept. Addressing blight is so important for our community. Property owners need to ensure that they eliminate all forms of blight on their property, especially graffiti. Since I have been on Council, we expanded our Code Enforcement team to address this growing concern, and I would support further expansion of Code Enforcement. I would support further funding of the Keep Casa Grande Beautiful program, which has been successful with its clean-up days, and our graffiti abatement program. I would like to expand those clean-up dates and keep all our community informed on how they can get involved. I would fund the expansion of Code Enforcement from the general fund because this needs to be a priority for our City. I would also solicit donations and volunteers from our private companies and public entities to help us clean up our City. When employees take pride in our City and want to live in our City, this helps our private companies. It is good for everyone. I would also support an infill ordinance that encourages development to vacant lots. We need to recommit as a City that blight will be a priority. We all need to do our part to keep our City clean and beautiful, so we are proud to call Casa Grande our home.
- Should Casa Grande build a new City Hall and find a new purpose for the current building (Old Main)?
Casa Grande has a unique history, including our City Hall because of all of its history. I believe there are more critical infrastructure improvements that need to be made so I do not feel we need to build a new City Hall now.
- Do you support consideration of additional funding opportunities to help “catch up” on needed projects? If so, what would those be? Increased property tax? Sales tax? Something else?
It’s important to continue to provide a safe, vibrant, and active community where people want to live, work and raise their families. However, we must live within our means. Over the years that I have been on the City Council we kept our property taxes low, and I will continue this if elected Mayor. I do not believe in raising taxes unless absolutely necessary. Many of our residents survive on fixed incomes and I do not want to burden them. The City has strong reserve funds that have been built up while I have been on the City Council, and we should use some of these funds during this time of growth. With all of the new construction, we have solid construction sales taxes that we can use for capital improvements and one-time expenses. If we have to increase any of our tax rates to address our infrastructure needs, it’s important to inform and engage our community to make sure that they understand and agree with how we proceed as a City.
