Mark Stewart says if the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can be transparent with voters, it will make a big impact.
That’s one of several priorities and ongoing considerations Stewart plans to keep in mind as he takes over for Jack Sellers as the county’s District 1 supervisor.
Representing a district that includes all or a significant part of six municipalities plus unincorporated Sun Lakes, that has a bigger population than four U.S. states and Washington, D.C. and has more Hispanic residents than the entire population of Surprise, Stewart will be in a much different role than in his last eight years on Chandler City Council.
Stewart, a native of the Midwest who’s lived in Chandler since 2001, he runs both a marketing agency and men’s health clinics. Both of his children are Chandler Unified School District graduates.
He’s served on many boards, committees and subcommittees, frequently focusing on minimizing tax burdens and fiscal government responsibility.
In July, Stewart defeated another former Chandler City Council member, Jack Sellers, in the Republican primary by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Sellers later told Independent Newsmedia he was “really, really surprised” at the results.
Stewart went on to beat Democrat challenger Joel Navarro by a small percentage in the Nov. 5 general election.
Chandler Independent: Were there issues or problems raised by voters during your campaigning, that weren’t already on your radar?
Stewart: Absolutely. A lot of regulation issues. Things like from restauranteurs getting environmental permits or things that involve the county’s health department.
People were concerned about the election. The primary went well. People seemed happy with the process. I felt good about the general election process. My hang-up with the general is that we have to wait two weeks to get our results.
There are various fixes that have been discussed, but it comes down to this: The legislature needs to give the governor a bill, that she’ll sign, that essentially says ‘We must get our results on election night.’
Independent: A lot of residents might know the county oversees the Sheriff’s Office, jail and elections. Were voters unclear on the county’s many other responsibilities?
Stewart: At every stop I made, yes. People didn’t know what the supervisors it, beyond the sheriff’s budget and elections. I’ll give you an example: I had a guy tell me he couldn’t get a campsite in a regional park campground because out-of-staters have the same priority as people who pay taxes (in the county) for the park. So that’s the kind of thing we can take a look at.
Independent: Did county islands come up much, in any context?
Stewart: Not much. Mainly with development services. Those separate silos need to have more ways to talk to each other.
Independent: What are some other priority areas?
Stewart: We’ve had federal oversight of the Sheriff’s Office for, I want to say, 13 or 14 years. That’s essentially fleecing the taxpayers of money we could be using to hire more deputies, buy better equipment, have more and better training. Ninety percent completion of this oversight should be a 90% reduction on our federal bill. Frankly, a lot of the issues we had a decade ago were training issues anyway.
I think we also need a first-principles approach to our animal control department. Make sure it’s funded correctly. Make sure we’re doing the right things with euthanasia and things like that. Get some subject-matter experts in the space to understand what’s really happening in shelters and in the public and get to root causes.
Keeping fees low, taxes low and regulations and finding what’s redundant is another priority. We’ve got federal, state, county, city, HOA regulations. We need to remove what we can — especially redundant fees.
I’m going to advocate for an I-11 corridor study. There’s support for it up north, but here, it’s hit a lot of federal roadblocks. We need some state-level support on that one.
Regarding air quality, we’ve hit a point of diminishing returns. EPA regulations are punishing Maricopa County in unattainable goals. This could really stymie our growth — especially in the semiconductor industry.
On water quality, it’s hard for a city to do much on its own. We need to pull the hormones and microplastics out of our water.
We want to build an innovative mindset at the county, like we’ve done in Chandler. We want to champion A.I. in solving problems, hopefully saving money, but mainly improving customer service. And we want to look at blockchain and cryptocurrency for security.
Independent: What can the county do in innovation on developing new water sources?
Stewart: We’ll need to governor to champion some of that, and for her and the legislature to provide the funding. Water safety is where the county can look at and regulate better.
Independent: Do you think three new faces on the Board of Supervisors will help ‘turn the temperature down’? Or will even small missteps make new targets for vitriol out of new supervisors?
Stewart: If we don’t do our job, and aren’t 100% transparent with the public, yes, that (vitriol) will happen. Accountability is a big part of leadership. We’re the end of the road when it comes to accountability. One thing I’ll do is take accountability for is areas we missed and areas where we made mistakes.
The same folks who are frustrated with us (Arizona leaders) now are gonna be the same folks frustrated with us in 2026 if they have to wait two weeks to get their election results. I don’t want to hear that it costs too much. We have a black eye over this. The Maricopa County voter expects and deserves results as fast as other states can get them — and now, the whole nation expects that of us.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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