Margaret Morales is seeking election to the Douglas City Council on the vacated Ward 1 seat.
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She has served the city as three-year board member and two-year president of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce; member of the Douglas Noon Lions Club; member of the Immaculate Conception Church; past member, Cochise County Independent Insurance Agents; and starting coordinator, Weight Watchers.
She was also involved in the 2006 Shop At Home campaign, helped bring the Harlem Ambassadors to Douglas and had two successful years of Chamber of Commerce banquets.
She is the current clinic manager for Arizona Family Care Associates.
Morales, a lifetime resident of Douglas’ Ward 1, is married to Douglas native Henry Morales, and have three adult children: Henry, Jr., Robert and Cynthia, and three granddaughters.
Why should I vote for you? I love Douglas, this is a great community to live in and I want to make sure Douglas continues to grow and succeed. Being involved with the Chamber, I have come to realize that everyone should be involved at one point or another with helping the community and I feel it my civic duty to participate. I feel that I am a dedicated worker and team player, and I am open to new ideas. My past experience with managing a business and working with the Chamber of Commerce will bring a different perspective and value to the new council. If elected to your Ward 1 council seat, being a woman, I would bring a good mix to the newly elected members of the council. I am an independent thinker and I will review issues as presented on the agenda and I will make a decision only after discussing with the community and not those of any particular group or special interest. I will always have the entire community’s best interest in mind when making decisions.
What is a primary goal you want accomplished during your four-year term, and how will you achieve that goal? My primary goal is to have a Mayor and council that works together, has open communication, and listens to the needs of the community. I believe community involvement is essential to an open form of government. Setting council meetings at an hour more convenient to working families will help spark more interest from the community to serve on our city boards and commissions. By utilizing the local government channel with Cox cable this will allow us to televise council meetings and post agendas. This broadcast could also benefit the community with public announcements and/or special meetings. In all, an open form of government can only benefit by having more information available to the citizens about the City of Douglas.
What primary goal should the council as a whole have over the next 4 years? Our council should be concerned with maintaining the quality of life for the City of Douglas. There have been major projects and improvements including Airport Park, the Aquatic Center, the Douglas Visitors Center, and the partnership the City has with the Chamber of Commerce and I would like to continue to champion those kinds of projects and support other projects that instill a good quality of life for our residents. Specifically, I would continue to focus efforts on revitalizing the downtown area. I think the proposed Government Complex will have a tremendous effect in sparking further growth and development to the downtown area. One issue that I feel is important to Douglas and the region is to begin efforts to implement a water conservation plan for Douglas. Small efforts at conserving our precious resource can have a huge effect on conserving water. City ordinances pertaining to zeroscaping, low water use toilets, and a program to use waste water effluent would be a start in the right direction. One other focus for Douglas in the next few years will be managing growth and ensuring that Douglas has an adequate plan for meeting the increased demands on its resources. Implementing ordinances that address impact fees, an aging infrastructure, and water suitability are key issues that the new council will face in the future.
What unique characteristic to you bring to the Council? Personally, I am not a politician, but as I stated before I have a great passion for Douglas and I am genuinely concerned about the success of the community. I feel I can present fresh ideas and a new perspective for issues that are presented. The fact that I work in the healthcare field, I have become increasingly aware in the difficulties of recruiting physicians and lack of workforce to support facilities in rural Arizona. By becoming more involved in the community, I will continue to work on promoting further development in healthcare for our community. Further efforts could be accomplished by partnering with Cochise College in developing the skills necessary for the healthcare field in our community.
One area facing all communities is the economy. What are your plans for the Douglas Economy? Recently through the efforts of the Douglas Economic Development office, a potential employer for a call center is looking at Douglas for its operation. The call center will be a great boost to our economy and would help with high unemployment in Douglas. As a council member, I would personally get involved in efforts with the current Economic Development office and partner with other members of the community through the Douglas Economic Council and work towards achieving more job opportunities for Douglas. The City should shift some of the focus from recruiting new businesses to help in retaining existing businesses that are struggling and could use help with city resources. The closing of the Sonic Drive-In is a perfect example of a business that might have been retained. Working closely with the Douglas Economic Development office and Chamber of Commerce will help identify some needs and specific issues. The future of Douglas depends on a pro-active council that will facilitate the process, making it easier for new and potential businesses to come to Douglas.
Thank you for your consideration and I would appreciate your support on Tuesday, March 11, 2008.
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