Tusayan housing is important, please vote

I would like to thank the Grand Canyon News for the excellent interview with the two candidates for the mayor position in Tusayan coming up for election on August 2. As a 50-year resident, I would like to add some clarification to some of the topics of that interview.

Housing…while it is true that both candidates want to improve the housing opportunities for our community, there are important facts that should be shared.

Clarinda and her family have recently spent millions of dollars in building affordable employee housing. Twenty-nine beautiful town homes and apartments have made affordable housing a reality for their employees and their employee families.

Brady’s supporters have also invested millions of dollars in housing. The difference is that those dollars were spent to build high end, luxury homes for a handful of upper management while the rest of us are living in small dorm rooms and antiquated overcrowded trailers. And let’s not forget that Brady and his supporters spent 8 million dollars of Tusayan tax dollars to construct a “pile of dirt” and for a housing complex that would mainly benefit developers and not our loyal and dedicated workforce. Not to mention the legal battle with Coconino County.

Without Clarinda, we would not have the Highway 64 street improvements, the dark sky compliant lighting, the 80-acre school site in Tusayan, or crosswalks, traffic calming roundabouts, and the current solar street light project through our residential streets. Brady voted against the lighting project and also voted against road improvements that would greatly enhance the quality of life for our valued residents.

This is a very important election. Please vote. Please reach out to get the facts before you vote. Tusayan is a great community. Let’s keep it moving in the right direction.

Pete Shearer,

Tusayan resident