Francisca Montoya

Francisca Montoya is an at-large member of the Fowler Elementary School District in Arizona. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Montoya ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Fowler Elementary School District in Arizona. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Montoya was born in Burley, Idaho. She earned an associate degree from Glendale Community College in 1978 and a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in 2014. She also graduated from the Cox School of Executive Leadership at Southern Methodist University. Her career experience includes working as the director of strategic community initiatives for the Raza Development Fund.

Montoya has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Friendly House, Inc., served on the board of directors for six years
• Arizona Latino School Board Association, co-founder

Elections

2022

See also: Fowler Elementary School District, Arizona, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Fowler Elementary School District, At-large (2 seats)

Incumbent Francisca Montoya and Lisa Perez defeated Leezah Sun and Marvene Lobato in the general election for Fowler Elementary School District, At-large on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Francisca Montoya (Nonpartisan)	30.5	1,985
✔	Submit photo	Lisa Perez (Nonpartisan)	29.0	1,886
		Leezah Sun (Nonpartisan)	25.0	1,629
		Marvene Lobato (Nonpartisan)	14.8	964
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	44

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,508
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2020

See also: City elections in Phoenix, Arizona (2020)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Phoenix City Council District 7

Yassamin Ansari defeated Cinthia Estela in the general runoff election for Phoenix City Council District 7 on March 9, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Yassamin Ansari (Nonpartisan)	58.3	7,850
		Cinthia Estela (Nonpartisan)	41.7	5,609

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,459
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

General election for Phoenix City Council District 7

Cinthia Estela and Yassamin Ansari advanced to a runoff. They defeated Francisca Montoya, G. Grayson Flunoy, and Susan Mercado-Gudino in the general election for Phoenix City Council District 7 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cinthia Estela (Nonpartisan)	32.3	15,929
✔		Yassamin Ansari (Nonpartisan)	32.1	15,813
		Francisca Montoya (Nonpartisan)	18.1	8,897
	Submit photo	G. Grayson Flunoy (Nonpartisan)	8.7	4,301
	Submit photo	Susan Mercado-Gudino (Nonpartisan)	8.2	4,050
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	282

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,272
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Fowler Elementary School District elections (2018)

General election

The general election was canceled. Ignacio Fernandez (Nonpartisan) and Francisca Montoya (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Francisca Montoya did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Francisca Montoya completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Montoya's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Francisca Montoya and I am running for Phoenix City Council, District 7. I grew up Arizona since the age of 5. For the past 30 years I have lived and worked in District 7. I attended and graduated from Glendale Community College and Arizona State University and currently finishing up an MA in community and economic development at Penn State.

I have always been involved in our community. Currently I am President of the Fowler Elementary School District Governing Board and this is my 10th year serving. This is my 3rd year on the Maricopa County Planning & Zoning Commission, appointed my Maricopa County Supervisor, Steve Gallardo. And this year I am Co-Chair of the Friendly House 100th Year Anniversary Committee.

Early in my career, I worked as Chief of Staff for Phoenix City Council, D7. Through this experience I learned how to navigate the complex and bureaucratic system at the city to help constituents. For the past 8.5 years I have been employed as Director of Strategic Community Initiatives at Raza Development Fund, a national community development financial institution providing capital for real estate development for non-profits in Arizona and across the country.

I believe this year voters in district 7 have an opportunity to elect an experienced and proven leader to represent them at city hall. Through the years I have worked in many of the distinct and diverse neighborhoods that make up district 7. I believe experience matters.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Housing affordability was already an issue in Phoenix and the pandemic is exacerbating the problem. The pandemic has made us all aware of how much we rely on essential workers yet they can't afford to live in neighborhoods near their work. This is a problem that has a solution. At city hall, I will support efforts to incentivize construction of workforce housing for teachers, firefighters and essential workers. I will fight to secure funding to maintain and expand the current supply of workforce housing. And I will support private-public mixed-use workforce housing with access to public spaces, schools, transit and retail.
• Transportation connectivity isn't just about cars. There are thousands of people in the City of Phoenix that rely on public transportation to get to work. In some parts of District 7 people wait in the direct sun on 110 plus-degree days for a long time to catch a bus to work. We can do better than that. I will support expansion of public transportation to fill gaps in the district that lack reliable transit services. I will work to secure funding to install shade canopies at bus stops and increase bus transit frequency in areas with high ridership. And finally, I will work to find solutions for high pedestrian deaths that are at an all time high and support public infrastructure for bike lanes across the district.
• Small businesses are the backbone of the local economy and an essential source of jobs. Yet many small businesses don't have resources to grow. City leaders have a responsibility to develop a plan and allocate resources to keep small businesses going and this doesn't have to cost a lot of money. We can direct city purchasing to local contractors, offer technical assistance and ensure that local businesses have a voice in how our city recovers from the pandemic. We can't do it without them.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about economic and workforce development in district 7. The completion of the Ed Pastor Loop 202 Freeway and construction of the South and West Phoenix light rail extensions present unique opportunities and are positioned for rapid growth with millions of dollars of investments to help our district grow.

But Phoenix lags behind in building a qualified workforce. I believe we can attract new business by investing in private-public partnerships that offer job training programs, apprenticeships, and internships. These need to align with educational training and skills that prepare workers for good, quality jobs in the new economy. I am committed to supporting employers interested in starting new businesses in district 7 and will focus my efforts on job creation, business retention and business expansion. These efforts are vital to creating a healthy, local economy in district 7.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The City of Phoenix has a form of government known as the council-manager plan. The city manager is hired by the Mayor and City Council and is responsible for the day-to-day management and operations of the city. The city government has three branches: mayor and council are the legislative branch, the city manager is the executive branch, and the municipal court is the judicial branch.

The main job of a city council person is to set policy which means making decisions about rules and regulations on how the city will operate, what new services are important to provide to residents and how to work with citizens to resolve issues or problems.

As a city council person I believe it is important to have an open mind, to be a good listener with constituents, to understand the issues in your district, and to know the different concerns of the various neighborhoods in your district. These qualities help council members be effective in their work representing their district and the city overall.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to the many women in history who came before me. The pioneers who had the courage and conviction to take steps to break the glass ceiling in so many fields so that today I can stand on their shoulders and their body of work and have the ability and the right to run for office. Women who faced discrimination on so many levels, yet they persevered. I also look up to the everyday common women across the globe who are changing the world in their own small communities by becoming leaders in their own right with a focus to improving conditions for the families and communities. These women have vision, grit and are steadfast in their belief that change is necessary.

I look up to the women of the past and many women today who are leading the way to shift to a new paradigm, a new way of doing things, and a new way of leading. These women are countless, and they believe in leadership with a sense of compassion, dignity and respect of others, and embrace diversity and understand that it really does take a village to raise a child and run a city.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Through my personal and professional life, I have acquired experiences that have shaped and informed my work in the community. I believe I have the qualities of being a good listener, I empathize others, and I seek to understand and learn everyday. I have always been referred to by friends and colleagues as a hard worker, someone who cares and someone you can depend on to get the job done. I am also an analytical thinker who seeks to understand all sides of an issue and consider unintended consequences. I also have values that guide my life are important to me and I take into account ethical considerations when making decisions. These qualities I believe will make me a successful city council person.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe the core responsibilities of someone elected to this office is first to listen to their constituents who elected them into office; to attend all public meetings and come prepared to participate in public discourse, and to have an open door policy to meet with and listen to groups, organizations and entities that have concerns or are interested in doing business with the City of Phoenix. Another core responsibility is to hire qualified and professional staff that have excellent people skills and are able to handle a busy schedule with multiple demands and have good organizational skills.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is one of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Love during the times of Cholera." I especially enjoyed reading about Florentino and his experiences as a scribe traversing Columbia in the early 1990's writing love letters for those that did not have the luxury of going to school to learn to read and write. This interspersed with his own journey to seek and find love in the days of a cholera pandemic.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

The city is a complex and bureaucratic system that takes time to learn how to navigate. I believe public policy experience is important for anyone who is interested in running for public office for city council. Candidates who have previous experience have the benefit of understanding the city organizational charter, city department functions, can understand the city budget, and have good communication and negotiation skills. It also helps for candidates to have good people skills. And most important is understanding the public policy process and how it works in an open democracy that allows for all constituents to be heard as public policy is drafted.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

As a school board member for the past 10 years, I have learned that there are three areas of skills and expertise that are transferable to being a city council person.

First, the mayor and city council approve the annual budget. This is a multi-billion dollar budget that can sometimes take hours of negotiation to pass. It requires understanding all of the city functions, departments and services provided. In years where there is a surplus, negotiations take place on whether to save the surplus for a rainy day, pay down the retirement pension fund or fund programs cut during the last recession or new program. In years when there is a deficit, the decision revolves around what and where to cut and this also requires a lot of negotiation among staff and mayor and council.

Second, the main position that the mayor and council have oversight is the city manager. This requires skill to negotiate political and budget issues to come to an agreement. It is important to have good professional relationships in order to get work done on behalf of residents of the city. Otherwise there is impasse and nothing gets done. So good communication and negotiation skills are necessary.

Third is public policy. It is the responsibility of the mayor and city council to pass pubic policy on an array of issues that pertain to how the city will operate. Again, here to, it requires good communication skills, professionalism and negotiation skills to listen to others and come to an agreement on how to lead with effective public policy.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Fowler Elementary School District, At-large

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