A former councilman, a former council candidate and four others were among the applicants interviewed to fill a vacant Surprise City Council seat.

The council looks to fill the hole left by John Williams, who recently resigned seven months into his third term.

State law required the council to call on District 3 residents to fill the post until the next council election in August 2018.  

The change in leadership on the seven-member council comes at a time of renewed growth for Surprise, a city that shot from just over 30,000 residents in 2000 to more than 130,000 today.

The northwest Valley suburb has seen commercial growth rekindled after being sidelined by the Great Recession. Among the projects slowly gaining traction are developments around the Surprise Civic Center, which city leaders envision as a future downtown, and the Prasada commercial corridor along Loop 303.

Prasada was front-and-center during applicant interviews as the long-sought shopping area is part of District 3, which covers southwest Surprise.

The council applicants also hit on the need for roadway improvements, which could get funding from bond requests going to voters in November. 

Who are the 6 applicants?

The council interviewed all six applicants on Sept. 5. They included:

Patrick Duffy: A financial analyst at Merrill Lynch who has lived in Surprise for eight years, with the last two in District 3. He served on Surprise’s Municipal Property and Corporation Board, which handles debt issues, as well as the Community Recreation Services Department. He graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s in political science. 

James Hodge: An assistant manager at Discount Tire Direct who has lived in District 3 for about seven years. He’s been a volunteer youth sports coach and founded a non-profit that funded funerals for families who couldn’t afford one. Hodge is a high school graduate.

Randal Kidd Jr.: An eight-year resident of District 3 who works as a transition specialist at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind where he helps high school students select career paths. He has an associate’s degree in information and computing studies from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is pursuing a bachelor’s in urban planning at ASU. He expects to graduate in May 2018.

Kevin Loken: A district manager for a supply chain management company, XPO Logistics. He’s lived in the district for less than a year. He has a bachelor’s in English from California State University-Fullerton and a master’s degree in management from National University.

Gisele Norberg: A Planning and Zoning commissioner who unsuccessfully challenged John Williams in the 2016 council election. She’s a distributor at a multi-level marketing company, AdvoCare International, and owned a business in Washington called Direct Connect Wireless. State Sen. Debbie Lesko officially endorsed her for the open position. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Washington State University. She has lived in District 3 for nearly two years.

Gary “Doc” Sullivan: A 16-year resident of District 3 who served on the council between 2003 and 2007 and on the Surprise Economic Development Advisory Board in 2002 and 2003. Sullivan worked in sales for Cox Communications and is retired. He graduated from Grossmont College with a degree in communications.

Make Prasada a priority

The applicants faced a series of questions from council members — one of which was “What do you think are the three biggest problems affecting District 3?”

Criticism of the underdeveloped Prasada development was a common refrain among applicants, who were sequestered in a separate room to prevent those who spoke later from borrowing talking points. 

“As an example of infill development that we need to get going is the Prasada development,” Kidd said through a sign language interpreter. “And also, (at) four square miles, Prasada was made the most important engine of District 3. Yet I have been seeing the same wilted Prasada sign on the corner of Cactus and Sarival since I moved here.”

Kidd said the city needs to work with the developer to prioritize and cultivate growth to transform the development beyond a Walmart and car dealerships.

Duffy echoed the sentiment, saying Prasada needs to capture drivers on the Loop 303.

“We need to give people a reason to stop here and not just continue,” Duffy said.

While most applicants wanted businesses to move into Prasada, a few applicants acknowledged that future development likely wouldn’t include the mall originally promised.

“They’re looking for the mall,” Norberg said of residents. “Sad to say that some of them are not happy to find out that we’re not getting the biggest mall in America there.”

Surprise needs better roads

Kidd said Cactus and Perryville roads need to be improved to accommodate increased traffic around Shadow Ridge High School. Kidd hoped the upcoming bond election would solve this problem.

Sullivan said major roads like Waddell were in dire need of repavement — a problem he feels the city has ignored.

“We have people that travel those roads every day,” Sullivan said. “It’d be nice if they didn’t have to have a four-wheel drive to do it.”

Duffy highlighted Peoria Avenue as a major concern, saying the road was too narrow to accommodate Shadow Ridge High School and upcoming housing developments nearby. He suggested studying more cost-effective types of pavement. 

Though she didn’t name any roads specifically, Norberg said bond money was vital to improve roadways.

Balanced growth

While developing Prasada was a popular goal, some applicants highlighted how District 3 residents have to drive farther than others to buy groceries or refill their gas tanks.

Norberg promised to attend Chamber of Commerce meetings to build relationships with the business community. She also wished to bring more jobs to the city as many residents work and shop elsewhere. 

Hodge shared a similar goal, noting he preferred small-business growth over retail. If selected for council, he said that he hopes to cultivate growth through cheaper business licenses and a first-year tax break. 

Loken emphasized that Surprise must grow at a controlled rate to avoid outpacing the city’s infrastructure.

What’s next?

Residents can weigh in on the appointment by emailing City Clerk Sherry Aguilar at [email protected] by 5 p.m. Sept. 12. The public comments will be posted on the city website.

You can watch a video of the applicant interviews on the city website. 

The council is expected to select the council appointment on Sept. 19 and swear the new council member in Oct. 3. If there is a tie vote, the council will vote again on the top two vote-getters. The council can’t adjourn the meeting until there’s a majority, according to the city code.

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