EDS: Cronkite School students profiled candidates for Phoenix City Council and the Maricopa County sheriff race. You can find all the profiles here. 

By Kennedy Chanell
Special for Cronkite News

• Candidate name: Debra Stark
• Political affiliation: Democrat
• Position sought: Phoenix City Council in District 3
• Age: 69
• Career: Urban planner/vice mayor

Debra Stark, who currently serves as Phoenix’s vice mayor, is running to maintain her City Council seat in District 3. She’s running against Ayenesa Millan, a first-time candidate.

District 3 includes portions of Phoenix and Glendale, including neighborhoods like Cave Creek, Paradise Valley and Sunnyslope.

Stark, a Wisconsin native, received her bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University.

After graduating, Stark began volunteering with “Volunteers in Service to America,” now known as AmeriCorps Vista, and was assigned to a regional planning organization.

“That’s how I ended up at ASU,” Stark said.

Stark received a master’s degree in urban planning from ASU and worked for the cities of Phoenix and Peoria. She retired from her role as planning and development director for Maricopa County in May 2016 to begin a career in politics.

Stark said she believes that her background in planning adds value to her campaign due to her experience navigating City Hall and rezoning cases.

“I think I have the knowledge to really help constituents navigate City Hall and sometimes lead them to the other appropriate agencies whether it’s a county, state, or non-profit,” she said.

Stark officially assumed her role as vice mayor in March 2017 after former District 3 Councilman Bill Gates stepped down to pursue his current role as a Maricopa County supervisor.

According to Stark, former Mayor Greg Stanton, who now represents Arizona in the U.S. House, was originally concerned about her lack of experience, but when she interviewed for the vice mayor position, she won him over.

“I said that we had to do something with Paradise Valley Mall, we had to redevelop. We have some golf course issues, which are still on drinking water,” she remembered. “I started listing off these issues, and Greg sat there and goes, ‘She understands the city. She’d be great.’”

In 2017, she ran for reelection as Gates’ original term was ending. Stark won against Republican attorney Chris DeRose, making her the “first Democrat in about three decades to win the District 3 seat,” according to The Arizona Republic.

Eight years later, Stark is again running for reelection and identifies as a “moderate Democrat.” She said District 3 is a “pretty educated group of voters.”

“The district is more Republican than it is (Democrat) and I think that says something to Republicans,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, she takes care of us.’”

Policy and missions

Stark is a major advocate for road safety in her campaign.

“We have some real problems and issues with speeding and red light running … I think that we need to make sure we are funding our roads properly. There are a lot of great engineering things you can do to make safer road,” she said.

Stark plans to continue investing into the Vision Zero policy, which supplied Phoenix over $32 million in grant funding and the City Council unanimously voted to approve.

Stark also advocates for cutting down on wasteful spending.

“Unfortunately a lot of our wasteful money is lawsuits,” she said. “If we are just trying to make a statement, and we know we are going to get sued, why waste taxpayers money? We need that money to pave roads. We need that money for our parks and recreation programs.”

In 2023, the council approved more than $12 million in police-related settlements, according to reporting from ABC 15.

Stark made it clear that building a safer community for District 3 is her ultimate goal. Whether that’s working on isolated flooding in smaller district areas or being “committed to making sure we get it [a new fire station] built.”

Starks said she sees her role as vice mayor as an extension of her work as a city employee.

“I’ve always felt like that is just an extension of what I was and that’s a public servant, and I think at a local level that’s really what a council person is,” she said.

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