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. 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.