Spotlight on Volunteers - Mike Gardner         

Chair of City of Cottonwood's Design Review Board (Now retired from board)

Serving as chair of the Design Review Board for the city of Cottonwood, Mike Gardner has been volunteering in the community for more than a decade. Born and raised in Phoenix, Gardner had relatives in the Verde Valley and visited often. He moved here permanently in 1979.   

Gardner got into the building trades in the mid-1980s when he and childhood friend Alan Stineback built some duplex apartments. His volunteer career started with a seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission from 1985 to 1987. He later won a seat on the Cottonwood City Council where he served from 1987 to 1990. In the early '90s he began his service to the Design Review Board and has been appointed by the city council ever since. 

Gardner says, "The Design Review Board is essentially the last approval for commercial and industrial projects before permit issuance. We look at the overall appearance of a project, site circulation, safety, convenience, parking, lighting, colors of materials, how it blends in with the sites around it, all the details of the project."  In 1986 Gardner, then Planning and Zoning Director Brian Mickelsen (now city manager) and long-time Cottonwood residents Chuck Garrison and Jack Seitz wrote the design review code.  

"Maintaining growth while managing growth is one of the biggest challenges for the city," Gardner says. "We want the growth, we asked for it, and we have to manage it to make it quality." He encourages local community members to take a more active role in the decision-making process. "It's awful lonesome sometimes in those council chambers," he says. 

Commenting on Yavapai County's NASA study that showed the Verde Valley could have a population of more than 200,000 people, Gardner says "There's no reason the Verde Valley can't be fully populated and still have a friendly home-town feel." 

An outdoorsman, Gardner enjoys camping and fishing when he's not volunteering or working with wife Kathy who helps run the family's businesses, Casa Verde Consulting and Permit Pushers. Daughter Lisa is a graduate of Arizona State University and son James is a Mingus Union High School sophomore. 

Gardner's advice to community members is, "Get out and vote. Stay involved."

Spotlight on Volunteers  recognizes the invaluable contributions volunteers make to the betterment of city government and the community. There are many opportunities to volunteer and make a positive difference. Volunteer today!