On Feb. 5, the Cotton- wood City Council gave a plaque to outgoing Vice Mayor Kyla Allen, thanking her for her service and accepting her resignation from the position due to her moving outside the Cottonwood city limits.
On Monday, March 11, Jackie Nairn was sworn in to take her position on the Cottonwood City Council until 2020.
The council voted unanimously for Nairn at a special meeting to fill the vacancy on Thursday, March 7. She joined three other candidates — Albert C. Hilberger, Joyce Gonzalez and Mike Cosentino. All four candidates sent written applications to the city clerk and were asked a series of seven questions individually at Thurdsay’s meeting.
The council then went into executive session to discuss the applicants before returning to unanimously vote in favor of Nairn.
Nairn, who is employed as a community manager for an apartment complex and as a caregiver for an autistic child in the community, previously ran for Cottonwood City Council in the 2018 election against Allen and some of the current members of the council. Nairn is involved in numerous community service groups in town, including the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition, and formed the Cottonwood Community Awareness Group following her election loss as a means of galvanizing residents to get involved in local politics. She has been a frequent attendee of city council meetings.
“We are fortunate to have Ms. Nairn join our council,” Mayor Tim Elinski said. “For years she has proven herself a dedicated member of our community and has worked hard to move a lot of council’s strategic goals forward through her work on the library advisory board and the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition. Her self-started initiatives in public engagement are impressive, and I believe she will be a great asset to our team. Given the caliber of the other candidates, all of whom were capable and deserving, our decision was not easy. We welcome Jackie and look forward to accomplishing a lot in the coming years.”
Nairn said that she hopes to continue her efforts to connect the City Council directly to members of the community now that she is moving from a citizens’ group to a place on the council.
“I want them to feel like if they have a concern or question that they want to say to the council members that they can approach me, that they can call me, that they can email my city email address,” Nairn said she hopes to respond to any comment or complaint she receives from a member of the public within 48 hours. “I want to be approachable and I want to be responsive.”
“I’m not sure that council members historically have always understood what their role should be,” Nairn said. “I think, for me, my role is to engage the public and find out what they really think.”
Allen had just been reelected in 2018, meaning she was supposed to be on the council for a full four-year term. The council, however, decided to give Nairn a two-year term before giving voters a chance to reelect her in 2020 for another two-year term, after which the council seat would return to normal four-year terms. This way, voters can make a decision about the seat soon without messing up the staggered schedule of council elections in the long run.
