After learning that his opponent Levi Tappan had won the mayoral race, outgoing Mayor Bill Diak held a small press conference Monday afternoon to say goodbye to his constituents and wish the incoming mayor good luck.

The Coconino County Recorder’s Office closed counting Friday and Diak said they informed him of the final vote count shortly after that. During Monday’s press conference, which was held in Diak’s office, it was obvious that he had spent several hours during the weekend cleaning out the office. He and his wife left town for the Thanksgiving holiday Tuesday morning. Diak spent Monday afternoon and evening tying up loose ends and cleaning out his office.

“This is the last time I’ll sit in this seat,” he said, during Monday’s conference.

Diak said he plans to take a very short sabbatical and return to continue serving Page as a volunteer and possibly serving on one or more of its boards.

Mayor Diak said one of the accomplishments he’s most proud of is helping get Page recognized for the great place it is in places beyond Page. But it took a lot of work and attention and meetings to accomplish it.

“That’s one of the things I believe was one of my biggest accomplishments,” said Mayor Diak, “was getting Page from being an underserved, under-represented community, located in this far north community, and now it’s well-recognized and well-represented, not only at a city level but on a county level and a state level and to a certain level, a federal level.”

As Page moves forward he advises the incoming council of the importance of having Page represented on the county and state levels and fighting for the city’s share of grants and programs that can benefit the city’s projects and programs.

“I think it’s important that Page sits at those tables and is a player.”

Diak started his first term as mayor in 2010 and he’s seen the city change a lot during the last eight years. One of the biggest changes was watching NGS make plans to shut down and tourism rise to take its place.

Another of the mayor’s biggest accomplishments was helping the city pay down its bond debt.

When Mayor Diak first took office in 2010, he inherited a city that was nearly broke. At the time, the city had only $3 million in reserve. It now has more than $18 million in reserve.

“Now we’re spending that money wisely,” he said. “Financially our picture is good and hopefully moving forward council will continue to build infrastructure, community and save some money for that rainy day, but not hoard it.”

 In order to get the city back on track he and the city council had to make some tough decisions, among them was terminating the positions of some city employees, and RIFing others.

“I’m happy to say all those positions have come back to the city,” said Mayor Diak.  

Though the bond debt hasn’t officially been paid – under the terms of the bond they can’t pay it back until July 2021 – as of October the city has raised all the money to pay it and set it aside in a savings account where it will earn approximately $125,000.

To the incoming mayor and council-members, Mayor Diak, advised them not to get caught up in the schemes and name-calling of the city’s naysayers, and not get down on their level. The mayor said he had plenty during his time on the dais.

“The naysayers, being who they may be, most of them don’t like me because I didn’t give them the time to work their schemes their complaints and their name-calling. They’ll continue to be there and there’s nothing you can do about that. But you know what? The city is bigger than they, and we are moving forward.”

The mayor added that he believes that the incoming mayor and council have what it takes to keep the city moving forward in a positive direction.

Wrapping up the press conference Mayor Diak said he’s proud to have served as Page’s mayor.

“To the citizens of Page, I want to thank them for every day they allowed me to sit in this chair. I did it with honor and integrity and honesty. I have enjoyed every last day of it.
“I want to give a special shout-out to all the staff I’ve worked with for nearly ten years. They’ve been amazing; not only to put up with me but to help me do the job. They’ve made me who I am today. They showed me the ropes.”