To see the council candidate profiles of Celia Barotz, Scott Overton or Bruce Kennedy, click their respected photos. This is part two of this series covering the Flagstaff city elections; to view the previous week’s candidates, scroll to the bottom and click their links.

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David Arendt
Age: 46
Length of Flagstaff residency: 4 years
Education: Bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice administration and nursing
Current occupation: Registered nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center
Past occupation: Retired law enforcement officer

Why are you running for city council?
Since moving to Flagstaff, I’ve noticed a disconnect between the mayor and city council and the voters. The mayor and council members have become responsive to a well-organized vocal minority who want to limit growth and business development, which impedes progress and economic expansion. I feel that this is not in the best interest of the community, and that we need to aggressively attract business and employment to the area. Our city is not addressing the needs of the homeless. We need to show compassion for the less-fortunate, and we have the resources in this city to provide shelter, food and health, and social care.

If elected, what skills or experience would you be able to bring to the city council?
My background in law enforcement and nursing has developed the skills of decisive leadership, while my computer programmer experience aids in my analytical skills. Both these assets will help my impact on the council. I also know how to effectively listen to the needs and concerns of others.

What makes you stand out against the other city council candidates?
I believe that I am the only candidate running without financial support from community organizations or individuals before the primary election. I have chosen to do this, as it makes me completely free from outside influences, which could interfere in decisions on the council. I am not a politician, nor do I wish to become one. I want to represent the citizens of this city and make Flagstaff a better place to live.

How do you think you relate to the citizens of Flagstaff?
Like most other residents of Flagstaff, the environment and the “small-town” feel are important to me. My wife and I have struggled throughout our entire married life and finally have the financial opportunity to live in a healthy, clean community. We enjoy living in a university town with energetic, future-looking students. We are involved in numerous volunteer activities — with Northland Hospice & Palliative Care, our church, the hospital, and we started a program to send high school students to a leadership camp each year, all expenses paid. I don’t want Flagstaff to become like Phoenix but I do want it to grow and become more business-friendly. We need to create more jobs so that our university graduates can stay here if they want to. We also need more places to shop and keep the Flagstaff money here instead of taking our shopping to another town. It’s been a while since I graduated from a university but it seems to me that there are not many places for young students to hang out. We need to support the university and the population by providing more student-friendly venues.

What are some of the ideas you would bring to the table?
The city must start to work within its budget. We, as private citizens, live within our means, and the city management must begin to make the hard decisions to do the same. The emphasis must be on public safety (police, fire, water, sewer and streets) with other programs fair game for cost reductions. I want to push for making snow on the Peaks; I would like for our banks to work with the building industry in Flagstaff to promote building and job creation; I think we need to develop the historic downtown, making it friendlier to residents and to tourists. I am in favor of ‘green’ building projects.

What cause / topic are you most passionate about? And how would you advocate that in office?
As a registered nurse in the emergency/trauma department we are constantly confronted with the problem of homelessness. The city must partner with community service associations in caring for the homeless. We could provide shelter and food but also give students hands-on experience working in the realms of health care, social services and job training. Ultimately, the responsibility should be transferred to the private sector, which I believe can work more effectively than the public sector.

Watch the SMC Mayoral Debate with Kara Kelty, Sara Presler and Joe Haughey.

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