Travis Padilla is a father of five, a local business owner and has lived in Queen Creek for the last 13 years after moving from Texas. He is running for Queen Creek Town Council and unlike the other three candidates, he is campaigning alone.
Queen Creek is an amazing place to raise a family and similar to the other candidates, Padilla’s children are one of the major reasons he is vying for a seat on the Town Council. He’s looking to make sure Queen Creek remains a great place to raise a family, in the short term and 20 years down the road.
Along with preserving Queen Creek’s family values, Padilla is running to “use his business knowledge and skills to give back to the community…” as stated on his website. Padilla is a business owner and he hopes to use what he’s learned in business to help Queen Creek continue to be a great place as it grows.
After 18 years of building his business, Padilla recently sold his portfolio in the “highest valuation of payment processing portfolio acquisition in the history of merchant services,” he said in an interview with the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce.
“I think that gives me a unique perspective to be able to appreciate and help (in)…understanding small- to medium-sized local businesses and what we can do to help them out,” Padilla said.
Some of his ideas differ slightly from his three running mates, as Padilla has stated he wants to stand up against the status quo of government. His goals are improving roads and public safety while prioritizing fiscal responsibility within the government.
One of Padilla’s primary focuses is improving the roads, not only to help save gas, but also to help first responders get around Queen Creek more efficiently. He is in favor of using more of the town’s budget to get the roads done faster, which would in turn help with public safety.
In terms of business, Padilla wants to use his knowledge to help local businesses while also keeping little government interference. Padilla believes the free market will take care of new businesses arriving in Queen Creek and that an improvement in infrastructure, such as roads, will attract even more businesses.
“We do need to follow this general plan and…I think the best thing that we can do to make sure we have a good mix of retail and commercial and residential, is let the free market do its thing,” Padilla said in the chamber interview. “We need to make sure that we deregulate, that we create a friendly business environment for these businesses to plant down roots here and stay open for business.”
Padilla said at the town election forum that Queen Creek needs to use government money better, before adding that taxpayer money should be used for the benefit of the majority of locals.
For example, unlike the other candidates Padilla is not a supporter of the LG Energy Solution (LGES) deal saying that they were the only bid, conflicting with the free market approach. He also said that money should not come out of the town to help with the LGES plant and that LGES should be financially responsible.
A big point of emphasis for Padilla’s campaign is fiscal responsibility in government. He believes that government money should be used toward projects that benefit the majority of local people, such as the roads, rather than LGES.
Another such project that Padilla supports is the building of parks, stating at the election forum that they are important in building a sense of community. Not only large public parks, but smaller parks within neighborhoods where residents can get to know those around them. However, he cautioned they must be built with fiscal responsibility and the town must be careful not to overspend.
One way in which he is similar to the other candidates is with his view on property rights. All four candidates were in favor of property rights when it comes to the agricultural land in Queen Creek.
“So first and foremost, I'm a property rights guy,” Padilla said in his chamber interview. “I do believe that we have the right to do with our property as we wish provided that we are supporting public safety and our town resources can handle it.”
His stance on some topics differs from the other candidates leaving him as a unique candidate in this year’s election. Padilla is a longtime resident and a successful business owner who is now looking to help his town grow in the right way by running for Town Council.
The Primary Election is coming up on Tuesday, Aug. 2, although mail-in ballots are already out. The General Election (if necessary) will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Queen Creek voters will elect a new mayor and three council members. Councilwoman Julia Wheatley's seat on council opens up the third seat as she runs unopposed for mayor. In addition, we've featured the two propositions (Prop 464 – permanent base adjustment and Prop 465 – Southwest Gas franchise agreement) on the ballot.
For more information on each candidate, visit the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce’s meet the candidate interviews HERE.
Queen Creek residents who live in Maricopa County can view their ballot status and other information by visiting BeBallotReady.vote. Pinal County voters may be impacted by recent ballot issues. To see if you are impacted and for more information, visit pinalcountyaz.gov/Vote.
