Winslow citizens elected Thomas “Tom” McCauley as their mayor last week following a mail-in ballot. The city’s three vacant city council seats were filled by Samantha Crisp, Rickey Jackson and former mayor Robin Boyd.
McCauley was born and raised in Winslow and has owned multiple businesses in town. Currently, McCauley is an adjunct teacher for the Arizona Department of Corrections through Northland Pioneer College and the owner of The Route 66 Trading Post in downtown Winslow.
McCauley said in a post-election interview that he strives to, “Work together will all of our stakeholders to reach our common goals. When I say stakeholders, I mean all city staff, to include the council and administration. I want to have a really good working relationship with Steve Pauken (city manager). And, of course, our citizens.”
He explained that he would like to have an open-door policy as mayor. “I would encourage the tax paying citizens of Winslow to come to me, come to city hall, call me directly if they have a comment or concern. If I don’t have the answer, I will find someone who does.” He explained that he feels being open and transparent at city hall is important. “We have to be all inclusive and encourage our citizens to speak up and ask questions.”
McCauley acknowledged the many cultures that are represented in Winslow and that race relations are not very good in the city. “They aren’t great,” he said. “I would love to be the peacemaker. My family is very diverse, and I love that fact. I would like to see that happen for the whole town. We have to make genuine positive steps to make sure that what we do as a council includes everyone.”
In addressing the widely held concern of intoxicated and homeless people in the city McCauley said, “We have the exact same struggles as every border town. But we need to be able to bring all of the stakeholders to the table and lay out a game plan. I don’t believe that we can do it in the collective, meaning, I don’t think we can just round everyone up and say this is what we need to do with everyone. Everyone is here for a different reason; everybody has an addiction for a different reason. We need to participate with CBI (Community Bridges Inc.), Change Point, the Indian Health Center, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and the State of Arizona. When we can all sit down and look at everyone as an individual, everyone needs to be treated as an individual, with dignity and respect because their hearts still beat.”
The economic success of Winslow depends on partnership with the Navajo and Hopi tribes as well, according to McCauley. “I would love to bring to the table the economic development directors of the Navajo and Hopi Nations. They own large pieces of land in and around Winslow. If we could help them to develop, that is only going to bring us more jobs.”
McCauley recognized the need for development, “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel; there are a ton of cities around the state that are developing. What we are going to need to do is be willing to make concessions to attract light industry without killing off our mom and pop small businesses. There are three cogs to this wheel. We need to attract light industry, we need to build affordable quality housing and we need an educated work force. Then the small businesses will thrive, more people will come to town and recognize the available opportunities.”
The new mayor and council members will be sworn in to office at a special meeting to be held June 5 after which the council will be asked to approve a preliminary budget. One of his top priorities as mayor is reallocating funds to better support the police department. “That is a top priority for me right away, we need to get more boots on the ground. There is money and I would like to be able to have a meeting before we have to approve the budget. I want to be able to move about $300,000 more dollars to PD to get four new patrol officers on the ground right now. That money is going to come from the taxes that we are collecting because our economy is doing so well.”
“I want everybody to win. As any mayor and council know, the biggest hinderance to your grandiose ideas is your budget. So, we have to pick and choose exactly what we want to do that is going to benefit the community as a whole. I think that we need to really consider some concessions that we are willing to make to compete with surrounding markets, and I am ready to lead that discussion.”
The swearing in of mayor and council will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, in the council chambers located at 115 E. Second St. The public is invited to attend.
