What to know about the candidates for 3 Glendale council seats
Early voting in Arizona’s primary election is here, as ballots were mailed out on July 3.
Glendale voters will get to pick councilmembers in three districts — Cactus, Sahuaro and Yucca. Citywide, voters will have a say in Glendale’s uncontested mayoral election.
Incumbent Mayor Jerry Weiers is running unopposed for a fourth consecutive term. Former Councilmember Jamie Aldama had challenged Weiers for the seat but was forced to withdraw from the race after his campaign failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Like the mayoral election, the Sahuaro District race will also be uncontested with the incumbent, Councilmember Ray Malnar, returning to office. Voters in the Cactus and Yucca Districts will have pairs of candidates from whom to choose.
Arizona local elections: Read our full coverage of the Glendale council race
The slate of new and returning faces will enter office at a time when the West Valley is seeing rapid expansion, cities are anticipating revenue shortfalls thanks to new state policies and Glendale is experiencing an economic boon, anchored by its entertainment district.
As city leaders, they'll oversee Glendale’s $1.5 billion city budget and shape policies that will immediately impact residents’ day-to-day lives.
Early voting began July 3. Voters can check on the status of their mailed-in ballot on Maricopa County’s website at https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/voter-dashboard-login. Those who choose to vote by mail are advised to mail their ballot by July 23 or drop it off at a ballot drop-off location or voting location by July 30.
Who’s running in Glendale?
Residents will say farewell to longtime Councilmember Joyce Clark, who has been a city leader off and on for three decades. Clark is resigning her Yucca District seat at the end of her term.
As she departs from local office, two candidates are vying for her seat, Lupe Encinas and Dianna Guzman.
Encinas, 40, graduated from Glendale High School in 2001. She later started small businesses in the Valley, including Goodies Glass Inc. and Cactus State Insurance.
As part of her campaign, she’s focused on supporting small business owners and creating more space for the public to speak freely, ask questions and share their thoughts. She says she wants an informed community where residents know about the programs and resources available.
Similarly, Guzman, 61, grew up in the West Valley and is a small business owner. Alongside her husband, she’s run Big E’s Tire Services & Sales in Phoenix for more than 30 years.
Guzman says she’s running for office because she wants to maintain Glendale's "forward momentum." She fears Glendale's strides in economic development, job growth and public safety will end if the right leaders are not elected.
Over in the Sahuaro District, Malnar’s uncontested path for a third consecutive four-year term is assured. First elected in November 2015, Malnar has advocated for keeping property taxes flat and for investing in street maintenance and improvements.
Malnar, 68, did not submit responses to The Arizona Republic's candidate questionnaire.
Over in the Cactus District, Councilmember Ian Hugh is facing challenger Lupe Conchas.
Hugh, 71, has held his seat since 2012 and is looking to secure a fourth consecutive term — fifth overall after serving from 1986 to 1991. Hugh and his wife, Sharon, are local business owners, having operated Ian Hugh Tire and Auto since 1980.
Conchas, 31, serves on the Alhambra Elementary School District’s governing board as its president.
With experience in public service and grassroots organizing, Conchas has advocated for affordable housing and supports historically marginalized communities. He’s running, in part, he said, because east Glendale deserves the same attention and resources as Westgate.
In July 2019, Conchas had a run-in with the law, being one of 16 people arrested while protesting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in central Phoenix. Though he was charged with unlawful assembly and obstructing a highway, the court dismissed without prejudice those misdemeanor charges the day after spending a night in jail.
He told The Arizona Republic at the time that Phoenix police did not tell him why he was being arrested, and that he was not read his Miranda rights until an hour after the arrest.
Conchas' recounting of his arrest reflects the U.S. Justice Department's findings in a three-year-long investigation into the Phoenix Police Department, which found officers violated demonstrators' civil rights. The feds found that Phoenix retaliated against people engaged in political speech and punished peaceful protesters without adequate reason.
Where do they stand on public safety?
All four candidates in the two contested races have used their campaign materials to express support for providing more resources, including personnel, to Glendale’s police and fire departments. Some had varied and more detailed approaches to accomplishing those goals.
Encinas said she wants to work closely with the city’s first responders “to learn what they need to make their work more effective,” adding that additional firefighters and police, including resource officers, are needed in the community.
Her Yucca District opponent, Guzman, similarly said that she wants to work with local police to implement strategies to curb violent crime.
Conchas’ campaign lists a slate of police and fire measures he would support. They include modernizing police and fire stations and public safety facilities, improving fire and police academies, and supplying the departments with updated equipment and vehicles.
On the overall topic of public safety, Conchas also wants to invest in maintaining well-lit public spaces and after-school programs. He also supports substance abuse prevention programs and other harm reduction strategies like needle-exchange and safe-injection sites.
How about the local economy and small businesses?
While the three council hopefuls said their support for Glendale’s small businesses in general terms, some were more detailed about how the city should maintain the local economy.
For Guzman, that means enacting measures she believes will bring new, well-paying jobs to Glendale, attracting small businesses by imposing minimal regulations and diversifying the city’s revenue sources.
Encinas stated she doesn’t want small businesses to suffer as larger companies come to Glendale.
The sentiment was a departure from Hugh’s campaign, which pointed to his tenure as an official.
On Hugh’s list of accomplishments, he touched on the bevy of businesses’ new facilities that opened locally, which he referred to as “recent economic development wins.” Such companies included Amazon, Dynarex Corporation and Tesla, and car dealerships like Land Rover and Jaguar.
Hugh also noted that he was on the council that helped Glendale rebound from a more-than-$20 million deficit.
As for Conchas, he wants labor unions, local businesses and schools to partner so they can create job training programs geared toward emerging industries. He also wants to see senior workers get connected with part-time or flexible jobs and advocates for affordable childcare services for working parents.
On taxes, Conchas, Guzman and Hugh are opposed to increases — even if the city were to face a budget deficit resulting from the state's new ban on rental taxes. Encinas has stated that while she doesn’t believe the city would need to resort to tax hikes, the city’s coffers “could be spent more wisely.”
“I will ensure that if any cuts are made, that residents and neighborhoods are safe by insisting that police and fire are always 100% funded,” she answered in the Republic's questionnaire.
How would they address local housing issues?
The availability and affordability of housing is one of Conchas’ key campaign tenets. On his website, he outlined his support for attracting affordable housing developers through incentives, nonprofit partnerships and streamlined zoning regulations.
He stated that he would also support programs to assist first-time homebuyers with down payment assistance and low-interest loans and wants to impose regulations protecting tenants from “unjust eviction practices.”
Responding to the Republic’s question on addressing homelessness, Guzman said she wants to spearhead more low-cost, affordable housing developments “to ensure families are not forced to live on the street.”
How about major endorsements?
Encinas and Conchas, along with Councilmember Malnar, picked up key endorsements from the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, which found the candidates to “have demonstrated accessibility and collaboration in support of promoting interests most important to our local businesses.”
Councilmembers Lauren Tolmachoff and Bart Turner have thrown their support to Encinas.
The rest of the city’s leaders, Mayor Jerry Weiers and Councilmembers Clark, Hugh and Malnar, have endorsed Guzman.
The Arizona Fraternal Order of Police is also supporting both Guzman and Hugh.
Hugh’s other endorsements include the Glendale Law Enforcement Association and former Glendale Mayor and retired judge Quentin Tolby. Weiers, Clark and Malnar, along with new Councilmember Leandro Baldenegro, also support Hugh.
Conchas has received endorsements from workers unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 640, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
He's also received nearly $12,600 in campaign contributions as of March 31, outearning Hugh who raised $9,650 toward his war chest.
Guzman's contributions for her campaign totaled $12,125, far above the $2,786 Encinas raised by March 31.
When and where do I vote?
Early voting for the primary election ends July 26. The last day to request a mail-in ballot is July 19. A list of locations to drop off ballots and vote in person can be found on Maricopa County's elections page.
Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Glendale City Council Election 2024: Meet the candidates