Cottonwood City Councilman Tim Elinski has announced his candidacy for mayor.
At only 37, the historical-home renovator is a 10-year veteran of the council. Prior to that, he spent one year on the Cottonwood Planning and Zoning Commission — by his own admittance, as sort of as a gag. To his surprise, he found a reason to stay involved in local politics, investing much of his time and resources to community concerns.
“There’s a lot of ins and outs to a City Council meeting,” Elinski said. “Once you get involved, you realize how many big decisions are made in those council chambers. I realized it was important for me to be there …. We’re really here to solve problems.”
Asked about his campaign slogan for the biggest office he has yet sought, however, he rolled his eyes.
“I don’t like politics at all. I really don’t.” Nonetheless, when pressed Elinski summed up his slogan, which encompasses his vision of a city wherein individuals are inspired to interact with their officials and administrators: “To make your community matter.”
According to Elinski, there can never be too much public participation in municipal matters. “You can’t sit back,” he said. “It’s not for spectators, and yet I’m often surprised by the number of concerns our citizens have that aren’t brought before City Council …. People have a lot more power than they think. I’ve seen decisions made just because we had a roomful of people.”
The most pressing concern of Cottonwood’s citizens, Elinski acknowledged, mirrors the broader concerns of the country as a whole: What can we do to stimulate the economy, encouraging growth while not overstepping our bounds and changing the character of our community?
“The boom-and-bust cycle is what Arizona’s known for,” Elinski said, recounting the story of his grandfather — a man who came to the state during the Great Depression, when more tumbleweeds than cars traveled the roads. Elinski’s father lived in Glendale when it held only 15,000 people. These stories have led Elinski to believe that growth is the written into Arizona’s future.
“It’s got to be managed properly,” Elinski added. “I think the best thing we can do is plan for the inevitable.”
To that end, Elinski sees the purchase of six water systems over the course of the last decade — still a hotly debated topic — as a necessary expenditure resulting in the city’s residents essentially owning their own water resources.
“We paid an awful lot of money for those systems, and we paid a lot more to fix them …. Still, it’s better to have the water in the hands of private citizens.”
Elinski praised Cottonwood’s municipal government, saying that though partisan politics are increasingly coming into the occasion, for the most part proceedings are dictated by practical considerations for the well-being of the citizenry. Having grown up in a similarly close community north of Payson, Elinski said he can sympathize with his neighbors’ concerns.
“When I went looking for a place to live, I chose Cottonwood specifically,” Elinski said of his move in 2000. “It’s a much more vibrant community than a lot of communities around here …. It has such a unique blend of character.”
Among his accomplishments during his time on the City Council, Elinski said he is proudest of establishment of the Historical Preservation Society, which exists to “promote and preserve the history of our community.” Elinski added that the running of the society — and its signature event, the Historic Home and Building Tour — costs taxpayers nothing. It is self-funding and even contributes to a recently established “matching grant,” offering funds to qualifying owners of historic buildings to renovate.
At the same time he praised the city, Elinski also offered criticism. According to him, events like Thunder Valley Rally run the risk of alienating businesses adversely impacted by disorderly conduct of participants. Moreover, he said that the $116,000 the city used to subsidize the event in 2015 is unsustainable.
“We can’t afford it all,” Elinski concluded.
