Democratic incumbent Adam Hess and Republicans Shawn Golliher and Tammy Ontiveros are both running in the primary for Coconino County District 3 Supervisor.

The district represents Oak Creek Canyon, Uptown, Gallery Row and the eastern half of Sedona's Chapel neighborhood on the Coconino Board of Supervisors.

Adam Hesse

Hess, 46, is seeking to complete the full term of the 3rd District supervisor he was appointed to following the retirement of Democrat Matt Ryan, who represented the district for 27 years. Hess is running unopposed in the Democratic primary and describes himself as a centrist.

“I grew up in Flagstaff,” Hess said, “and I've been here since 1976. I served in the Army for 27 years, 20 of those as an active duty officer. I came back to Arizona and bought a home in Belmont. I want to continue to give back and serve the community, and that's where I am now. I'm just a veteran, but then I was fortunate enough to get on the county board of supervisors.”

The November ballot will include a question on whether Coconino County should increase its annual spending limit base by $7.7 million. The increase would allow it to spend revenues it can currently collect but not spend due to an Arizona Constitution amendment approved by voters in June 1980 that requires voter approval for any spending limit increases.

Hess said he believes wildfires and overgrowth are the county's most pressing safety concerns and that increasing the spending limit is the biggest issue.

He said he supports the renewable energy ordinance.

“What I want to see is [public] “Create transportation from Sedona to parts of Oak Creek Canyon,” he said when asked about parking enforcement in Oak Creek Canyon. “That would greatly reduce traffic congestion and the need for enforcement. … That's something I'm considering, but I don't know if it's feasible.”

Hess said he's “not at all set” on the idea of ​​paving Schnebly Hill Road from Sedona to Interstate 17, something many Sedona residents would like as an alternative route.[but] I love Schnebly Hill Road because it takes you deep into the red rocks.”

“It's really important to make sure the upper part of the canyon is safely managed,” Hess said when asked about flood mitigation measures.

in Oak Creek Canyon. “I've been meeting with the directors of the Kaibab National Forest and the Coconino National Forest, and they're very interested in making sure we've done the proper mitigation at the top of the rim so that access into the canyon is not impacted.”

Sean Golliher

Golliher, 50, is “semi-retired” and running a self-funded campaign calling himself a “Make America Great Again, Make Arizona John Wayne Again” candidate.

Golliher has been on workers' compensation since March 2014. His resume states that he previously served as a program advisor for the Department of Homeland Security's “Government Program and Operational Effectiveness Assessment for the Border Security Initiative.” He was discharged from U.S. Air Force basic training in 1997 due to injury and subsequently earned an engineering degree from Arizona State University in 2004, a master's degree in business administration and management from Northern Arizona University in 2007, and a master's degree in business administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2013.

“I value individual freedom above all else,” Golliher said. “We don't need the government to step in to do everything. I think we can solve most of our problems ourselves, much better than the government can. I've seen how much we waste, how much effort we put into it, especially having worked within the government. I consider myself fundamentally… a conservative libertarian type.”

He cited traffic fatalities on Interstate 64 from Williams to the Grand Canyon, zoning issues for residents between Manns Parks and Mormon Lake, and water and flood hazards as key issues in his campaign.

“I'm not really going to support it unless there's a good reason for it,” Golliher said of increasing the spending limit. “I want to see a good reason before we increase spending or before we try to issue bonds or raise taxes.”

“At the very least, it will be resurfaced,” Golliher said of the resurfacing of Schnebly Hill Road. [paved] And we found that there was another problem in Munds Park, which is that there aren't enough evacuation routes to effectively evacuate residents,” he said, adding that he would like to consider widening roads in the Munds Park area and paving the road from Munds Park to Mormon Lake.

Golliher expressed opposition to the county's renewable energy ordinance, saying it has “ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the World Economic Forum…. It has nothing to do with renewable energy, it's about Chinese Communist Party money.”

His own environmental plan calls for expanding all recycling programs to glass and metals and investigating the feasibility of geothermal energy in the Flagstaff area.

On August 28, 2016, Golliher drove over multiple traffic barricades in Nogales, “causing Border Patrol agents to flee to avoid being run over,” Nogales International reported on March 6, 2018. Authorities found 27.8 grams of methamphetamine in the suspect's vehicle, as well as “a glass pipe with residue and a butane torch in his front pants pocket” and two handguns.

Golliher was convicted of two felonies and served five years of probation before having his voting rights restored.

“I was out of money so I was in a bind,” Golliher said, suggesting he was poisoned with scopolamine or illegal drugs by an unidentified third party. “I proved I'm not a methamphetamine user… I know the evidence was bad… I don't remember anything.”

Tammy Ontiveros

Ontiveros, 61, said one of her biggest priorities is “representing the needs of all communities in District 3. I want to promote a safe and healthy community, and I do that through support for our police, fire and emergency personnel, preventing wildfires, protecting our environment and preserving our open spaces.”

Ontiveros is a Yavapai College graduate with a degree in paralegal studies and has served on the Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission for 14 years, including the past four as chairman.

“I'm a third generation Arizona native,” Ontiveros said, “I was born in Cottonwood and moved to Flagstaff when I was six months old. I went to K-12 in Flagstaff and all but eighth grade in Williams. I then moved back to Verde Valley and graduated from Mingus Union High School. I've been a business owner for almost 29 years.”

She hopes to highlight to voters her experience with land use, including her contributions to the 2015 Coconino County Comprehensive Plan and the county's Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Ordinance, which was enacted to regulate energy projects.

“This spending limit is not going to raise taxes, it’s going to allow us to actually leverage existing revenues,” Ontiveros said. “There needs to be a lot of outreach and information so people understand…The other thing I like about this is that this will be a ballot initiative. [where] It is the people's choice.”

“I don't think that road needs to be paved,” Ontiveros said when asked about paving Schnebly Hill Road. “That road is a little rough and people like to go out there in their off-road vehicles to explore nature. I'm not in support of paving Schnebly.”

Asked what kind of flood mitigation measures he would like to see in Oak Creek Canyon, Ontiveros said he would “follow the advice of the experts.”

Early voting begins on Wednesday, July 3rd, with the primary election taking place on Tuesday, July 30th.