Meet the mayor candidates
Are you ready to vote?
Early ballots were mailed out today for the city of Yuma's Sept. 1 primary election.
Eight candidates are vying for a spot on the Yuma City Council, while five candidates are running to be the next Yuma mayor. Judge Doug Stanley is running unopposed for municipal judge.
The last day to request an early ballot is Aug. 21. In order for the ballot to be counted, it must be turned in by 7 p.m. Sept. 1
Or, voters can head to the polls to vote from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 1.
Ballots can be requested from the Yuma County Recorder's Office, 410 S. Maiden Lane. Call 373-6034 for more information.
Meet the candidates and ask them your questions at a forum at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Historic Yuma Theatre. This free event is sponsored by the Yuma Sun.
Here is a look at the mayoral candidates. The profiles for the city council candidates will appear in the Friday edition of the Yuma Sun.
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Elgin Everly
Retired after several years in civil service as a fire chief, Elgin Everly said he has no agenda in seeking office as mayor.
"I'm just a concerned citizen and think I can help turn around the city to the nicer way it once was."
One thing he would like to see, he said, is more transparency in city government and more cooperation with the citizens it serves.
"I see people go to the council with viable problems," he said. But nothing happens, he added.
From his experience with the Yuma Proving Ground fire department, and service as fire chief at Navy Fleet Center in California then at Pueblo Army Depot in Colorado, he said he's learned that trust is paramount to gaining people's cooperation.
Another concern, he said, is that he sees the city as focusing attention and resources on new development while neglecting existing commercial centers and subdivisions. For example, he said his neighborhood has 40-year-old water lines and streets that aren't being fixed.
"There's a lack of care for existing infrastructure," he said. "We need to take care of the city that's already here. I'm not against growth, just destructive growth."
Everly said he also would like to see Yuma Fire Department take over ambulance service in the city.
He and his wife, Sandra, returned to Yuma upon his retirement in 1993. His three children are all Yuma High School graduates.
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Alan Krieger
Alan Krieger served one term on the Yuma City Council from 2004 through 2007, a position he said he really enjoyed.
"Absolutely, I would like to come back," he said, this time with the stakes a little higher as a candidate for mayor.
In need of a job, Krieger moved to Yuma in 1983 upon the advice of his in-laws, who lived here. "I was looking for opportunity and sunshine," he said. "Yuma has both."
He began working in the construction business here, and since 1997 has owned Al Krieger Construction Services Inc., a steel building contracting business.
Service on the city's Commercial Building Advisory Board got him interested in city government and led to his term as a councilman.
"I've gone through the learning curve," he said. "I've learned about processes and regulations. I learned how council functions and how municipal government works."
He also learned, he said, "how difficult it is to get things done" and what he sees as a need for more open dialogue between the mayor and council and between the city and the citizenry.
"The most important thing leaders can do is listen to what people want for their community," he said "Not tell them what they're going to get."
He continued: "I've been helping to build Yuma since 1983. I would like to continue to build Yuma at City Hall."
Krieger and his wife, Mary, have three grown children.
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Jack Kretzer
Longtime local political activist Jack Kretzer would like to be Yuma's next mayor and wants registered voters to cast their ballots for him during the primary election on Sept. 1.
Kretzer, 74, is a retired engineer who moved to Yuma in 1998. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Kretzer said he would push to make city government more accessible if elected mayor.
"I am a realist," Kretzer said. "I am a person who has spent my professional life working in government, and I am the only candidate running who has no allegiance to any special interest group. The only people I am concerned with are the citizens of Yuma who pay their taxes and want their government to treat them right."
Kretzer said he would like to put a cap on unnecessary city spending.
"We need to make our infrastructure a freestanding enterprise, which means citizens only pay for the actual cost of the services they get. I believe there needs to be a forensic audit of the city of Yuma, because we need to keep the government honest."
Kretzer refers to himself as an ombudsman, which is an official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against maladministration.
"I help people who have problems," Kretzer said. "Information is power, and I want people in the city of Yuma to be empowered by making the city government more accessible and transparent. People need to come vote for me because I am the agent of change in Yuma."
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Larry Nelson
Incumbent Larry Nelson is making a bid for his third - and what he says would be his last - term as mayor of the city of Yuma.
He believes that the city has made strides in offering an improved quality of life to residents while he's been in office. That includes the development of Yuma Palms Regional Center, which added 1 million square feet of retail space to the community.
The city has worked with Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and Yuma Proving Ground not only to protect military ranges, but also to enhance their missions, he said.
Despite the economic downturn, Nelson also noted that the city "has stayed ahead of the game" by being proactive in making budget cuts as revenue has declined. "Yuma isn't nearly as bad off as other cities. We took the necessary steps."
He would like one more term to continue to build on his experience and contacts to help revive the local economy and create jobs through the attraction of defense-related job opportunities, solar energy and a turnaround of the construction industry. Protecting the area's water rights is another priority.
As the retired division manager of Arizona Public Service Co., Nelson said he brings management experience "under fire" to the mayor's position. He's also served in leadership positions for a number of organizations and currently is president of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns.
He and his wife, Shirley, have four children and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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Ken Spencer Jr.
As a businessman in Yuma, mayoral candidate Ken Spencer Jr. said the city needs to have a more business-friendly approach and take a more conservative approach to spending.
"We have to do things differently now," Spencer said. "We have to look at how we are spending our money based on the economy."
Spencer has lived in Yuma since 1970 and, as the owner of Sound Depot, 2098 S. 4th Ave., he has been in business here for 32 years.
"We all know the economy is bad everywhere," Spencer said. "I intend to control the budget through non-essential spending."
Spencer added one of his main reasons for running for mayor, given the tough economic times, was to find better ways to use the city's money through what he called "sensible spending."
If the project is non-essential, it should be postponed until the economy gets better," Spencer said. "It will get better, but as bad as it is right now there is still the possibility it will keep getting worse."
As a Yuma businessman himself, Spencer said the city should be doing more to help small businesses because it will help keep Yuma's economy stable.
"The stronger the local economy is, the stronger Yuma is going to be," Spencer said.
Spencer suggested the city should consider using more competitive local businesses for expenditures when possible and relaxing some of the non-safety regulations that are more for aesthetics than the practicality of assisting business growth.
"A conservative approach to spending as well as running a leaner, more efficient city government that is friendly to business are my reasons for running," Spencer said.
