After nearly five years on the Sierra Vista City Council, Mark Rodriguez is running for mayor, campaigning on public safety, government transparency and stronger support for the city's veterans, small businesses and youth.

Rodriguez, an Army veteran of 21 years, is originally from San Antonio but has called Sierra Vista home since 2014. He works as a government contract instructor at Fort Huachuca alongside his role on the council.

Mayor Clea McCaa, who has held the seat since 2023, announced in December that he will not seek re-election, instead planning to pursue a run for Arizona's 6th Congressional District. Rodriguez will face incumbent Vice Mayor Carolyn Flowers, Brandon Martin and Steven Stefanov in the Nov. 3 race. The election will also fill four council seats, one more than usual due to a recent council resignation.

Rodriguez said his years on the council have shaped how he approaches the role.

"There are a lot of things that I normally do in just my day-to-day council and duties that I really enjoy and that's … being out in public talking to people," Rodriguez told Tucson Spotlight. "I've always wanted to do that from day one."

Rodriguez said he believes it's important that public officials are accessible to community members and listen to the people they serve.

He also sees economic health as central to that mission, saying that supporting Sierra Vista's small businesses is paramount in maintaining the community.

"In a community like ours, it's very important. We don't have a lot of (those) big box stores like Tucson and Phoenix do, so we really rely a lot on small businesses, those local businesses," Rodriguez said. "I'm trying to do whatever I can to help them keep going because there's been a lot of negative feelings towards the city, that the city is not pro-business. I'm trying to, whenever I encounter those … sentiments or people have those stories, I want to hear about it. I want to know what happened, how it went wrong, how I can help. If it was (local government), if it was the county, you know, what was the problem?"

Rodriguez brings a personal connection to another of his priorities: supporting the city's large veteran population.

"I'm a veteran, so obviously I support veterans and all those organizations out there, whether it be the (Veterans of Foreign Wars,) the (American) Legion, or Cochise Serving Veterans or Warrior Healing Center. I'm part of all those organizations," Rodriguez said. "Along with that, the history associated with that and the ties to Fort Huachuca."

Young people are another valuable part of the community and its future, Rodriguez said.

"One of the things (the military) taught me was we always have to train our replacements and the youth (are) definitely those. That's our future," Rodriguez said. "They're going to be our future leaders in the community. They're going to take care of us when we get old. So, I love hearing their ideas and it's important to our community that we listen to those ideas and try to do what we can to hear it from their perspective."

Public safety is another issue close to Rodriguez's heart. His grandfather was a firefighter and Rodriguez previously worked as an emergency medical technician.

Maintaining the city's first responder population is vital, especially given the city's large older adult community, Rodriguez said.

"Fall injuries are probably our number one call that we have here for our fire department. Keeping our fire department staffed goes hand in hand with taking care of our seniors," Rodriguez said.

His vision for seniors extends beyond emergency services.

"I'd love to work on a senior prom. There are a lot of seniors that you know either haven't done it in a long time or maybe they never went to the prom," he said.

Rodriguez also said he supports the Avengers Inclusion Organization, which works to give children with special needs access to sports, and wants to ensure adults with disabilities are included in community life as well.

With two of his children approaching voting age, Rodriguez said he wants to encourage civic participation among young people regardless of who they vote for.

"I've talked to a lot of people out there and a lot of … younger demographic people are not registered to vote. I really want to change that," Rodriguez said. "Whether … people vote for me or not, that's not (important). I would love their support, but what's important to me is going forward that their voice is heard wherever they go. That's such an important right for people."

Nya Belcastro is a University of Arizona student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at nya2005@arizona.edu.

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