Executive Committee Spotlight: Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Town of Fountain Hills

Name, title & city/town:
Linda M. Kavanagh, Mayor, Town of Fountain Hills
Year elected to office: Elected 2012; Re-elected 2014
Years served as mayor: 2 1/2 years
Years Served on Executive Committee: New member of the Executive Committee as of August 2014
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Town of Fountain Hills
Incorporated: 1989
Population: 22,489
Elevation: 1,700 ft.
County: Maricopa
Area within Limits: 20.32 sq. mi.

Why did you decide to serve in local government?
For many years I worked with the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce and, to my dismay, I too often witnessed stores closing or struggling unnecessarily in Fountain Hills. Something had to be done to stop the closings and to help struggling businesses keep their doors open. As chair of the chamber board, I proposed several changes to the current ordinances that I believed would help the business community. Unfortunately as chamber board chair, I couldn't get anything passed. As my husband always said to me, if you want to get something done in the town, you have to have the vote. So I ran for mayor to get that vote.

What are the biggest challenges facing your city today?
Being a small community, we have many challenges. The town of Fountain Hills does not have a primary property tax, so we rely predominately on sales tax revenue. Sales tax revenue is volatile, depending heavily on the condition of the economy. Our biggest challenge is to meet the needs of our residents, and to ensure a good quality of life, without increasing taxes. To achieve these goals we must create a positive environment for our businesses so that they sell more and generate more tax revenue. In addition, we must budget conservatively giving top priority to our core town services - public safety.

What opportunities do you see for your community?
Our community is uniquely different from the larger cities that surround us. We offer residents a small town lifestyle, not just a place to live. Our town is blessed with breathtaking mountain views surrounded by the pristine Sonoran Desert, which makes it a great place to live and raise a family. As other cities grow in population and become less personal, Fountain Hills remains a friendly small town where everyone is a neighbor to each other. This is a great opportunity for us to attract both residents and businesses.

What are you most proud of during your time in office?
I am most proud of my protective actions during the proposed TPT state sales tax changes. I was able to alert other towns and cities and rally their support to take a closer look at the dire consequences that those changes created for smaller municipalities. Stopping that ill-conceived "reform" saved small towns and cities millions of dollars in tax revenue. I am also proud of my track record of getting things done on the Fountain Hills council. Many good projects and policy changes were languishing without final action. I helped get those tasks moving forward.

Why is the League important to cities and towns in Arizona?
The League is important because it looks after the best interests of our cities and towns and protects them from a sometimes overreaching state government. While generally the legislature does a good job for our state, one size doesn't necessarily fit all when it comes to the needs of each individual city or town. Each should be allowed to govern in a way that best serves its citizens.
 

League of Arizona Cities and Towns
1820 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ  85007
Phone: 602-258-5786
Fax: 602-253-3874
http://www.azleague.org

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