To the Editor,

Maricopa is at a turning point. With more than 80,000 residents and three City Council seats open this July, voters face a familiar choice: send another career politician to City Hall or elect someone who has spent three decades actually doing the work — in communities, in living rooms, in correctional facilities, and on the front lines of nonprofit service. The difference matters more than most people realize.

The Problem: Politics as Usual Isn’t Working

Too many local governing bodies operate the same way: closed networks that function quietly in the shadows of city government, steering resources for personal gain while residents wonder why nothing changes. Decisions get made before the meeting starts. Voices from outside the inner circle get managed, not heard. And the people who need their government most — veterans, small business owners, young artists, families stretching a budget — are left to watch from the sidelines.

This isn’t speculation. It is the pattern that plays out in city after city when politics becomes about access and positioning rather than actual service. Maricopa is growing too fast and the stakes are too high to let that pattern take hold here.

The Solution: A Teammate, Not a Boss

I am running for City Council because I believe that public service is not a platform — it is a responsibility. My name is Chrystal O’Jon, and I have been doing this work long before I decided to run for anything.

My service began in my 20s, volunteering with organizations feeding the homeless in Los Angeles. From there, I went into correctional facilities — sitting alongside young men who had been written off, helping them see a future worth building toward. That work taught me the most important thing I know about community: change happens when you listen first and act together.

For the past 14 years, Maricopa has been my home. I brought with me a career built on media, marketing, and community building — from music promotion and artist management, to leadership roles at LA Focus Newspaper and Eye on Gospel Music Magazine, to earning a Bachelor’s in Marketing and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. I did not move here to watch this city grow. I moved here to be part of it.

What Choosing a Bridge Builder Actually Looks Like

If voters choose a bridge builder over another politician, here is what that looks like in practice:

It looks like a veteran caregiver on the council. As the primary caregiver for my husband — a 33-year retired veteran — I co-founded the Maricopa Veteran Care Center, which recently received a 4.22-acre lot for a multi-story facility, and our organization funds free emergency therapy sessions for veterans in crisis. That is not a policy position. That is lived experience shaping real decisions.

It looks like a business owner who understands access. As co-founder of the Black Maricopa Chamber of Commerce and publisher of Maricopa Lifestyle Magazine, I know that local entrepreneurs do not need handouts — they need real information, practical tools, and meaningful connections. That is the work I have already been doing, and it is the standard I will hold myself to in office.

It looks like a council member who treats transparency as a baseline, not a talking point. Every vote I cast will be explainable to any resident who asks. I am committed to a two-term limit and to championing a structured council succession program that identifies and mentors emerging community leaders — so Maricopa’s future is never left to chance or insider control.

It looks like showing up for the arts, for safety, and for youth. I co-produced the 2nd Annual Maricopa Desert Music & Arts Festival with AARP Arizona — featuring world-class performers and a $1,000 donation to Maricopa High School’s art department. I sponsored the Ten Toes Down Cancer Walk. Art is how communities find each other, and I will fight to make sure it remains part of who Maricopa is.

The Choice Before Maricopa

The Primary Election is July 21. Three City Council seats are open. Voters will decide whether those seats go to politicians who already know how to operate inside closed networks, or to community members who know how to build something across differences.

I am not running to represent one side of anything. The challenges facing Maricopa — smart growth, public safety, economic opportunity, veteran support, arts and youth investment — are people issues. A City Council member is not a boss. They are a teammate. The community leads. I serve.

As a mother and grandmother rooted in this city, I believe helping and serving people is the rent you pay for living on this earth. I have been paying that rent for 30 years. If you believe Maricopa is strongest when its people work together, I would be honored to work alongside you.

Chrystal O’Jon
Candidate for Maricopa City Council