Three slots will be open on the seven-member Cottonwood City Council this coming fall: Seats held by Vice Mayor Kyla Allen and council members Karen Pfeiffer and Linda Norman. Both Pfeiffer and Norman are retiring, leaving two open seats, while Allen runs for reelection for the first time for the seat she was appointed to in 2016.
May 30 marked the deadline for candidate nominations for city council. Candidates were required to have at least one year of residence within the incorporated city limits of Cottonwood, and collect 210 signatures, in order to be eligible for the ballot.
Five candidates filled out paperwork for the three seats: Allen; Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Doug Hulse; local real estate businessman Michael Mathews; social worker and Library Advisory Board member Jackie Nairn; and retired real estate agent Bill Tinnin, who also sits on the airport commission.
The candidates will face one another in the Tuesday, Aug. 28, primary election. In that race, if any candidate receives a majority share of the votes, he or she is automatically seated on the council, without having to compete in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Since voters are offered the chance to vote three times for the three open seats, this leads to a somewhat convoluted calculation to determine what counts as a majority share.
“To determine the majority of votes, we would add the total number of votes cast for all candidates for an office; dividing that sum by the number of seats to be filled at the election and then dividing the result of that calculation by two and rounding the number to the highest whole number,” Cottonwood Deputy Clerk Matt McLean wrote in an email. “For an example at the last primary election in 2016 there were five candidates for three council member seats. There were a total of 4,587 votes cast between them. Taking that number and dividing by three equals 1,529, and then dividing that by two equals 765. So the candidates needed 765 votes to be elected outright in the primary.”
Members of the city council serve four-year terms and receive a $500 monthly stipend. Once the full city council is formed, its members vote on a vice mayor, who is not given an extra financial incentive.
Residents of the incorporated city limits of Cottonwood who are citizens over the age of 18 and not convicted of certain disqualifying crimes are eligible to vote in the election. The registration deadline in Arizona is 29 days before the election. All voters are permitted to vote by mail. Ballots will be mailed out in early August.
All five candidates have said the city’s finances and economics will be one of the most important issues in the upcoming election.
Allen has voted in favor of moving forward with a 0.5 percent sales tax increase as a city council member. Hulse similarly expressed his support for a tax increase, while Mathews has spoken at city council meetings opposing the increase. Nairn has not taken an official position on the tax increase, but has said the city needs to spend its money better. Tinnin has similarly not commented specifically on taxes or the budget, but has expressed a belief that the city needs to improve its economics and logistics.
In addition to the race for city council in Cottonwood, two seats of the Clarkdale town council will also be up this fall. Benjamin Kramer and Bill Regner will be running for re-election, challenged by Bob Ingulli and Eileen Sydow.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
