Hopefuls vie for City Council seats ahead of July 21 primary election

Three seats on the Cottonwood City Council will be decided in the Tuesday, July 21, primary election.

The public came out to hear council incumbent Councilmen Stephen DeWillis and Chris Dowell, former Community Development Director Scott Ellis and write-in candidate Heather Piper White, make their pitches for why they should fill one of those seats, at the League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona forum held June 15 at the Cottonwood Recreation Center.

Incumbent Councilwoman Debbie Wilden, who is up for reelection, did not attend.

DeWillis cited housing, taxes and infrastructure as his priorities over the next two years.

“We can’t expect to be able to sit here and have our hand out to the federal government. We’ve got to try and figure this out ourselves,” he said. “I don’t have that answer, but collectively, hopefully, we can put all of our heads together and we can come up with an answer.”

Dowell’s three priorities over the next two years is preparing the city for a downturn in the economy because “this is a sales tax-based city,” by making sure there is funds in reserve, managing the growth of the city and bolstering collaboration with regional organizations.

Ellis cited housing infrastructure and fiscal responsibility as his priorities while also discussing a potential economic downturn.

The Congressional Budget Office in February projected moderating national economic growth after the end of 2026. With the Trump administration’s spending omnibus bill boasting “economic growth in the short run,” tariffs reducing foreign investment, “and lowering the efficiency of the U.S. economy,” and changes in immigration policy could slow “the growth of the labor force,” according to the CBO’s February report Budget and Economic Outlook.

The candidates were asked how they would diversify Cottonwood’s economy beyond services and tourism.

Ellis said that the city should partner with organizations to “bring in reasonable businesses,” without Cottonwood losing its character.

“Not everyone in the country drinks wine,” DeWillis said. “Wine’s a good thing, but I don’t think we should concentrate so much on that. … There’s a lot more here to offer, and we need to try to think about them a little bit more when it comes time for our whole trying to bring funds. We need to invite all aspects, and not just tourists, but businesses as well.”

“Our problem is there’s nothing here for our middle age,” Dowell said. “My wife left here when she was 18, because there was an opportunity, because you left, and we wanted to come back, we have to find a way to fill that gap here.”

Dowell said he would like to see Cottonwood partnering with Yavapai College and bolstering workforce development.

“Then we got to find a way to get manufacturing here,” he said, noting the FrameTec corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant of ready-to-assemble framing in Camp Verde.

DeWillis cited improved council culture, wastewater plant repurposing, and the July 2025 decision for the city to purchase the Spectrum building at 651 W. Mingus Ave. to consolidate city operations.

For the incumbents, a sore sport was the Rough Cut building at 635 N. Main St., which the city purchased for $2.95 million in October 2021 with the intention of turning it into a new city hall.

Dowell said his proudest achievement on the Cottonwood City Council is the hiring of City Manager Mario Cifuentez II, who started in August.

“The worst part, and that’s still the Rough Cut building,” Dowell said. “We got to figure out what we’re going to do with that. … It’s been a thorn in the city side for how many years now.”

All three candidates cited housing as an issue, but offered few specifics on how to address the shortage. Dowell fell into asking questions about what to address first between housing versus education versus jobs. Ellis punted the question to being “bigger than just the city.” DeWillis cited greed but “I’m not an expert. I have absolutely no idea.”

The candidates were asked what strategies they would support to address homelessness, including short- and long-term situations.

“I work for the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition, we do have a huge problem with homeless in this area,” DeWillis said. “We do what we can with the Homeless Coalition. We only have beds for 20 people, and we’re full every night. We need funding.”

“As a whole, the homeless coalition is one resource, so they can only do so much. What other resources are out there?” Ellis said, asking “can it be combined to make it a bigger, more helpful entity, organization, whatever it might be to reach out and help us.”

There is no single fix. “We can never end it, only mitigate it,” Dowell said.

Other Candidates

White is running as an official write-in candidate and voters will have to write in her name to cast a vote for her.

Wilden, an incumbent councilwoman and former vice mayor from 2023 to 2026 is up for reelection this year. She did not attend and forum moderator Kevin Cook read a prepared statement on her behalf.

“I [seek] to serve Cottonwood with my deep familiarity with local laws, ordinances, and current issues,” Wilden wrote “This includes understanding economic, social, and environmental challenges unique to the Verde Valley. Transparency, integrity, civil engagement, and experiences are key to what I bring to the city council as a candidate.”