Daniel Williamson announces run for mayor of Flagstaff | elections

Daniel Williamson has announced that he will run for Mayor of Flagstaff in the upcoming election.

Williamson is the pastor of Church of the Nations Flagstaff and over his 28 years in town he has amassed a lengthy résumé of public and leadership. He coaches the Flagstaff High School baseball team, founded the Northern Arizona Covenant of Churches, founded New Horizons Christian Academy, served on the city Commission for Diversity Awareness and currently serves as chairman of the board for Teen Challenge of Arizona.

He’s also president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.

“Public service has always been a part of who I am and who my family is,” Williamson said. “That was instilled through my parents and awareness of people’s reality.”

The reality is that many people do not enjoy the same privileges that he has, Williamson said. In recognizing that, he has informed his sense of “shared responsibility,” a value that drives his approach to most issues of policy in Flagstaff.

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Take affordable housing, for example. Williamson would like to see Flagstaff step up to a shared responsibility for affordable housing rather than repeating patterns of NIMBYism that relegate affordable housing projects to neighborhoods that are already high-density, such as Sunnyside.

“I’m not at all against affordable housing in Sunnyside,” he said. “But I think that we’re bordering on the principle of redlining.”

Williamson would also like to see shared responsibility in Flagstaff’s economy by supporting livable wages in the community. He thinks healthy competition is needed to “balance out wages among business owners,” but in the meantime, he’d also like to continue discussions on creating a livable minimum wage.

The need for better wages particularly struck Williamson after he talked to a city employee who operated an 18-foot truck in a waste management position.

“He left his job at a fast food restaurant and took a pay cut to go to work for the city,” he said. “I don’t think that’s equitable. I appreciate Mayor (Paul) Deasy’s approach of asking the council to assess what a $17 minimum wage would look like for our city employees.”

Currently, Williamson is still collecting the 1,602 petition signatures required to qualify him for the ballot. He’s got about 500 to go and feels confident that he will receive the necessary signatures ahead of the April 4 deadline.

“I want current city leadership to know I applaud them and really appreciate their approach to governance,” he said. “I just want to add my name to the list of contributors to the overall well being of Flagstaff.”

The city also has a shared responsibility to work diligently toward carbon neutrality and sustainable water consumption, Williamson said, noting that he would like to see continued expansion of public and multi-modal transportation options and a focus on Flagstaff’s long-term sustainability.

“I think it has to begin with the right growth plan,” he said. “Our natural resources can only sustain us to a certain point.”



Daniel Williamson has drawn papers to run for mayor of Flagstaff in the 2022 election.


Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

Even Williamson’s approach to pandemic protocols are driven by an ethic of shared responsibility. On the subject of masking, Williamson would like to see self-guided common sense prevail over mandates and litigation, but he thinks we must start with a mindset of community care for the vulnerable.

“Other people are more important than my personal preference of whether I wear a mask or not,” he said.

Until a high level of community care is reliably embodied in daily interactions, he takes no issue with mask mandates in certain scenarios, such as in city facilities like the Jay Lively Activity Center.

“It just makes sense because you don’t know the people that are around you,” he said. “If I want rights, I have to take responsibility for the larger community.”

Looking ahead to near-term issues, Williamson weighed in on the movement of Northern Arizona Healthcare to a new campus near Fort Tuthill — a move that will leave the current downtown campus vacant.

“I think its vacancy provides great opportunity,” Williamson said.

He imagines that the current campus could be used to house behavioral and mental health facilities that provide long-term and rehabilitative care.

“I think that needs to be brought into the discussion there, simply because it already fits the infrastructure. A lot of the necessities are already in place,” he said.

While Williamson has not held political office before, he acknowledged his connection to other local politicians — including Coral Evans, former mayor of Flagstaff and current Northern Arizona Director for Sen. Mark Kelly, as well as executive director of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. He has also worked alongside current Mayor Deasy to conduct pine needle clean-ups with the Northern Arizona Covenant of Churches.

City council candidate Lori Matthews, who stirred some public intrigue by accepting large contributions to her campaign, attends Williamson’s church, but they share more common ground through their service to the unsheltered population, Williamson said. “[Matthews] was introduced to me when she was the interim executive director at the Flagstaff Shelter Services.”

Sen. Wendy Rogers also sometimes attends Williamson’s church. He says her influence, if any, would be minimal, but retains a sort of academic curiosity about what he might learn from the connection.

“There are pieces of experience and pieces of awareness at a state level that we need to pay attention to,’ Williamson said, “whether it’s a person of our political preference or not.”

Williamson believes well-balanced representation of Flagstaff is one of the strengths he can bring to the office of mayor.

A Camel Before the Snow

A Camel Before the Snow

Gamal, a dromedary camel, casts a long shadow over a parking lot while visiting Sinagua Middle School on Monday morning during sunnier times before a brief snowstorm visited Flagstaff on Wednesday.

CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Gamal, a dromedary camel, looks out over a class of students during a visit to Sinagua Middle School Monday morning.

CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Gabe Edwards, a student in the Flagstaff Community Training Program at Sinagua Middle School, meets Gamal Monday morning.

CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Sherri Meister, a parapro in the Flagstaff Community Training Program at Sinagua Middle School, meets Gamal the dromedary camel Monday morning.



A Camel Before the Snow

A Camel Before the Snow

Gamal, a dromedary camel, casts a long shadow over a parking lot while visiting Sinagua Middle School on Monday morning during sunnier times before a brief snowstorm visited Flagstaff on Wednesday.



CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Gamal, a dromedary camel, looks out over a class of students during a visit to Sinagua Middle School Monday morning.



CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Gabe Edwards, a student in the Flagstaff Community Training Program at Sinagua Middle School, meets Gamal Monday morning.



CamelVisit

CamelVisit

Sherri Meister, a parapro in the Flagstaff Community Training Program at Sinagua Middle School, meets Gamal the dromedary camel Monday morning.

“I think I’m competent in principled leadership that is aware of the whole, rather than just a few,” he said.

Sean Golightly can be reached at [email protected]

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