Former Councilman Bill Stipp is “answering the calls of concerned Goodyear residents” and has “pulled papers” to run for Mayor of the West Valley city, setting up a clash with current Mayor and longtime politico Joe Pizzillo.
Pizzillo has been on the council since 2009 and was appointed Mayor to fill the remaining term of Georgia Lord, who passed away in 2021.
Under Pizzillo, Goodyear has seen rapid population growth, but much of that has been thanks to an explosion in the number of apartments being built in this largely single-family home community that is also home to a number of higher-end retirement communities.
“Goodyear’s population is up over 30% between 2020 and 2024, which is a massive increase, and that strains our roads, our services, and our public safety,” complained one resident, who felt that the numerous large-scale apartment complexes that have been built or are being built were the primary drivers of this above average growth. For comparison, neighboring Avondale grew less than 9% over the same period and even fast growing Surprise grew just 13%.
“I enjoyed my time on the City Council and was proud to serve the people of Goodyear, but I’ll confess I thought my time was done when I went back to the private sector.” said Stipp, when discussing his new campaign. “I just kept hearing from so many people about how things were getting worse that I couldn’t just do nothing, so I did what they asked and filed to run for Mayor.”
“The goal is to get Goodyear back on the right track, grow responsibly with a return to our single-family home roots, and make sure our public safety can catch up to and keep up with our growth.”
With just two candidates in the race, the contest will likely be decided in the August primary election in 2026.
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