Meet the Tusayan

Town Leadership

The town council is the elected governing body of the town, vested with the regulatory and corporate power of a municipal corporation. Only the council may establish town policy and approve the town budget. The council is responsible to the people of the town for the actions of the local government. The council directs the course of local government through its power to pass ordinances, levy taxes, award contracts, and appoint certain town officers (such as the Town Manager and town attorney) and members of town committees and commissions. The Mayor, who is also a member of the council, signs official documents, chairs council meetings, and acts as the official head of the town at public and ceremonial occasions.

The Town of Tusayan has a town council made up of a mayor and four council members. The mayor is directly elected and the council members are elected at large to overlapping, four-year terms. The council members choose the Vice Mayor from among the council.

Regular town council meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m., although this is subject to change. Regular council meetings are open to the public.
Council meetings are held at the Town Hall, 845 Mustang Drive.

Craig Sanderson

Mayor

Mayor Craig Sanderson became Tusayan’s first directly elected Mayor with the November 2016 election and is serving a two-year term. He previously served as council member and Vice Mayor beginning in 2013. Craig was born and raised in the Grand Canyon area spending almost his entire life in Page then in Tusayan. He is married with three adult children and five grandchildren. Four of the five grandchildren have attended Grand Canyon School district.

Craig joined the Tusayan Town Council with the goal of making Tusayan a better place to live. His goals include opportunities for residents to have the option to rent or own a home, other than from their employer, and implementation of high speed affordable and reliable internet.

E-mail: Craig.Sanderson@tusayan-az.gov

Brady Harris

Vice Mayor

Brady Harris is self-employed as a tour guide and works for United Airlines. He moved to Tusayan in 2014 and ran for council because he wanted to see progress in the areas of water rights and conservation, affordable housing, planning and zoning initiatives, building permit processes, highway development, and quality Internet service. “We live in an incredible place, one of a kind, and our community faces no shortage of challenges,” he said. “If we keep a vision of the future that balances progress with preservation, then the Town of Tusayan will endure into the future.”

E-mail: Brady.Harris@tusayan-az.gov

Becky Wirth

Council Member

Councilor Wirth was born and raised in Arizona. She and her husband Bob have 2 daughters who, with their husbands, also reside in Arizona. They have 6 grandsons, and the oldest, is now working for Papillon as a helicopter mechanic in Boulder City, Nevada. One grandson will start helicopter pilot school in August and hopes to fly for Papillon one day on the Grand Canyon tours.

Becky has been involved with the Grand Canyon community since moving to the area in 2003 when she accepted a position as Controller for Canyon Flight Trading Company. She is now the General Manager of retail for both the Arizona and Nevada holdings of Papillon Airways. She is a Grand Canyon Rotarian, a Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce board member in addition to being on Tusayan’s council. She loves the community and the people that make our community a desired vacation destination for people from all around the world. She is dedicated to the betterment of the people and looks forward to continuing the council’s goals of building a development that will allow them to grow for generations to come.

E-mail: Becky.Wirth@tusayan-az.gov

Al Montoya

Council Member

Councilman Montoya was born and raised in New Mexico, but has lived in the Grand Canyon/Tusayan Area since April 1995. He has worked for Papillon Helicopters as the Photo Lab Manager for Las Vegas and the South Rim for the past 18 years. He has served on the Grand Canyon School Board and the Grand Canyon Rotary Club. He was appointed to the first Tusayan Town Council and then elected in November 2010. He was re-elected again in 2012 and 2016 and is currently serving a four-year term. Mr. Montoya served as Vice Mayor from February 2012 to November 2014.

Mr. Montoya is raising two sons; the youngest is attending Grand Canyon School District, the oldest works as an aircraft mechanic for Papillon and attends Coconino Community College. Councilman Montoya’s hobbies include hunting, fishing, camping and spending time in the outdoors with his sons.

E-mail: Al.Montoya@tusayan-az.gov