On June 30, Cottonwood City Hall hosted a candidate meet & greet, featuring two of the three candidates running for three seats on Cottonwood City Council.
Incumbent Councilwoman Debbie Wilden and official write-in candidate Stephen DeWillis were in attendance, while the third candidate, Lisa DuVernay, was out of town.
Also in attendance were Town Manager Ron Corbin, Vice Mayor Jackie Nairn, Councilwoman Helaine Kurot and a few members of town staff.
While the meeting was open to the public and announced beforehand, only one member of the public was in attendance for the first hour of the event.
The attendee, a Cottonwood business owner, remarked on the lack of community attendance and asked why there weren’t more people there, which lead to a conversation with the candidates and members of city government about community involvement.
Members of government said that people tend to come to city hall in greater numbers to address “specific issues.”
“There was a lot more people back when people were not happy about how the city was spending money, including myself, which is a reason I got involved,” Nairn said. “There was a lot more communication from people then, to the council, about how they were spending money. But now that we’ve changed that around, we’ve increased our reserves, and reduced our debt and we’re doing the things that I for one, told the public we would do, and we’re doing that, so people are not as upset about what we’re doing with the budget, so they don’t come out.”
“So, it seems like we only get the people who are upset about something that come,” she added. “We don’t really hear from the ones that are good with what we’re doing, although we would like to hear that too, because it helps us. We need to find a way to engage both sides of every issue somehow.”
Stephen DeWillis
DeWillis said that increasing community involvement is at the forefront of reasons why he is campaigning for council.
“I want to try and do some good for the city,” he said. “I’ve been here since 1975. I don’t have political aspirations of anything; I don’t know what I’m going to be able to do because I’m only one voice on the council, but if more people, more residents would get more involved by coming to these types of meetings, and that is something I want to try and figure out.”
DeWillis added, “No offense [to the current council], I don’t mean to throw you under the bus, but where did you go wrong? How come there’s not more seats here? What do we need to do to work together to get the community to come in?”
DeWillis said that even getting the required signatures to pursue his write-in status was difficult, because “people don’t want to have anything to do with the city council. But what people don’t understand is, without the city council, nothing’s going to get done.”
“We need to try to advertise on the local radio,” he said. “We need to try and hand out some sort of flyers to put in businesses [letting people know when council meetings take place] saying ‘all residents are welcome.’ Something of this nature is what we need.”
“There’s some things we could do if we want to,” Wilden said. “We’ve got utility bills that go out.”
While DeWillis has never held a position in a public office, he was “encouraged” to run for council by Kurot, who he met through his automotive business, which he sold earlier this year. Prior to operating his business, DeWillis worked with the Air Force in nuclear security, and has a background in law enforcement and communications.
Debbie Wilden
Wilden’s background includes two years as president and CEO of the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce, 18 years of management of the Greater Surprise Chamber of Commerce — formerly Glendale, Northwest Valley — and a lengthy career in real estate and public administration.
Wilden was appointed to replace Councilwoman Deb Althouse in 2019, then elected in 2020 to finish out the final two years of the term. In the 2022 election she is seeking a regular four-year term.
Originally from Litchfield Park, Wilden has lived in Cottonwood for 8 years. She said her main priority is housing.
“[Council] has a number of projects going on,” she said. “At last count, I think we’re like 2,600 housing units short of what we need. So, that’s a big deal, but we’ve made a lot of inroads.”
Wilden said that another priority is “controlled, more involved” commerce, and that she’s made a “mental note” regarding what could potentially fill vacant space near Wal-Mart.
“It’s a good space; I’ve been thinking about trying to get a Kohl’s in there,” she said.
“There is a great need for a lot of business; I just don’t know exactly what the need is at the moment,” DeWillis said. “Personally, I’m going to say, is there a way to bring back JC Penney or Sears, something like that?”
Beyond housing and commerce, other topics included volunteer opportunities and community meetings.
Nairn reminded everyone that there are community meetings every fourth Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Cottonwood Public Library.
The meetings are intended to “help connect citizens with the government process” and do not require prior registration.
More information about the meetings is available on the city’s website.
Election Information
Currently, there are three open seats on the Cottonwood City Council.
While Wilden and DuVernay’s names will be on the official ballot for the Tuesday, Aug. 2 primary election, DeWillis’ will not, because he did not obtain enough signatures for that purpose. However, he is listed on the city’s website as an official write-in candidate, and has filled out required paperwork with the city.
“I am available for write-in,” DeWillis said. “That’s why on the back of my card that I’m trying to hand out to everybody, basically telling you exactly what you have to do.”
Those who wish to vote for DeWillis must write his name on the ballot.
If he does not receive at least 129 votes at the primary election, he will not be on the official ballot for the November 8 general election.
Additionally, City Manager Ron Corbin stated that if Wilden and DuVernay receive at least 50 percent of the vote, they will be elected in August.
“If they fail to receive 50 percent of majority, then depending on the number of empty seats, they could be on the November ballot,” he said.
Corbin also said that last election, “everyone was elected in the primary.”
If the official candidates do not receive a majority vote in the primary election and DeWillis does not receive enough votes to continue to the general election, that could theoretically leave 1 empty seat to be filled after the November election, if no new write-in candidates were on the November ballot.
If that scenario were to occur, council would put out a notice stating that the position is available. They would then interview potential council members before appointing someone for the position.
The registration deadline for voting in the primary election was July 5.
The registration deadline for the general election is Tuesday, Oct. 11.
For information about early voting, vote-by-mail, and in-person voting locations, visit Yavapai County Elections and Voter registration at yavapaivotes.gov or call (928) 771-3248.
