In December, Joe Pizzillo was promoted to mayor by his peers on the Goodyear City Council following the death of Mayor Georgia Lord. This summer, Goodyear voters will decide if Pizzillo keeps his seat in a mail-in primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Pizzillo certainly has the advantage. His name will be the only one that appears on the ballot, as the filing deadline for traditional candidates passed April 4.
But he's not running entirely unopposed.
So far, one write-in candidate, Carlita Cotton, has emerged as an alternative to the longtime councilmember. Her name, however, will not appear on the ballot as a traditional candidate’s would. Voters hoping to cast a ballot for Cotton will need to write in it themselves.
There is still time for other write-in candidates to file paperwork with the city, a window that closes June 23 at 5 p.m. Votes for non-registered write-in candidates are not counted.
Read on to learn about the candidates running for mayor of one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.
Carlita Cotton is running as a write-in candidates, so while her name won’t appear on the ballot, voters will have the option to write in her name to cast a vote for Cotton.
Cotton was born in Milwaukee and owns her own consulting firm, Premium Business Consulting LLC, which she opened in 2020.
She holds multiple degrees including a bachelor’s in both anthropology and psychology and a master’s in legal studies and public administration from Arizona State University. On her campaign website, she states she has had nearly a decade-long career in academia.
Cotton calls former longtime Phoenix City Manager Marvin Andrews her “role model” and hopes to follow in his footsteps “delivering effective management and public services.”
She states on her Linkedin page she was a contract management specialist for the Arizona Department of Economic Security from 2018 to 2020.
Prior to that, she worked as a senior consultant for SGR Consulting from 2016 to 2018 and as a nutrition and wellness consultant for Chicanos Por La Causa between 2012 and 2014.
Her stated goals include improving technological availability and writes she is “committed to representing the underrepresented communities and raising the voices of impoverished individuals and disenfranchised, oppressed and other disregarded underrepresented minority groups.”
She states on her website that her reason for running for local government “comes from her desire to promote and build an inclusive city.”
Cotton, a Black woman, emphasizes her desire for greater diversity in local government on her campaign website and states she wants to “build a city for all and raise the voices of the minority.”
Cotton states on her campaign website she is divorced with two adult children.
Joe Pizzillo was appointed by the council as interim mayor shortly after the death of Mayor Georgia Lord in December.
He is running to keep his position as mayor and will be the only candidate named on the ballot in August. However, he does face Carlita Cotton as a write-in opponent.
Pizzillo is the most senior member on the council, having first joined in 2009. He previously served as interim mayor from November 2010 to March 2011.
Pizzillo has a background in finance and worked as an adjunct professor of accounting at Estrella Mountain Community College since 2002. He also teaches at Grand Canyon University and Park University, according to his biography on the city of Goodyear website.
Pizzillo moved to Arizona from Maryland in 1986 after visiting the state, according to his EMCC faculty biography.
Prior to his time on the council, Pizzillo worked for the city of Goodyear as its budget manager until 2008. On his campaign website, Pizzillo touts his three decades of experience in government finance.
“At the start of my first term, Goodyear was experiencing a significant structural deficit in its general fund, stresses on its service delivery model and declining revenues,” his campaign website reads.
“The city of Goodyear City Council addressed the recession early on and because of those efforts, we found ourselves in good financial condition to meet both the challenges of the pandemic and the need for future service demands.”
Pizzillo’s stated goals include improving public safety services, maintaining the city’s financial stability, promoting economic development and combating crime and blight.
“In a growing city like ours, there is always room for improvement,” he states on his campaign website, “but Goodyear continues moving forward and is headed in the right direction.”
Pizzillo holds a bachelor’s in accounting and a master’s in business administration.
He and his wife Vickie have a son and two granddaughters who also reside in Goodyear.
Madeline Ackley is a Phoenix-area native who joined Independent Newsmedia in July 2021 as a reporter for the Goodyear-Litchfield Park Independent. She is passionate about delivering hyperlocal coverage of issues that matter to her community.
She has previously covered immigration, policing, homelessness, veteran’s issues and breaking news and her byline has appeared in The Arizona Mirror, The Arizona Republic, The Phoenix Business Journal and Cronkite News.
Madeline is passionate about animal welfare and the environment. She loves to cook, travel and spend time with her family.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here