Pioneer Days: Candidates sought for Englewood's 'Mayor 4 A Day'

ENGLEWOOD — Mayoral candidates are needed for Englewood’s long-standing “Mayor 4 A Day” competition.

The tradition is part of Englewood’s Pioneer Days celebration and is all about raising money and awareness for local nonprofits.

This year’s Mayor 4 A Day Chair is Amy Gonzales, along with a committee of community members ready to see what the new batch of candidates are made of.

“It’s a good committee to make sure that everybody feels like they get their fair shot,” Gonzales said. “We don’t want hurt feelings.”

So far, there are three interested candidates. One is Ronnie Jackson, the CEO of the EPIC Community Center.

Gonzales invites local nonprofits to reach out to her for an application.

“The purpose is really to raise awareness for the charities because the charities get to keep everything that they raise,” she said. “There’s no loser.”

Last year, Rebecca DeRosa with Kids Needs was the 2023 Mayor 4 A Day, raising more than $17,000 for her nonprofit. Between all the candidates, more than $41,000 was raised for their chosen nonprofit.

“We’ve always tried to get charities that people don’t know about,” Gonzales said. “It’s not just particularly about the money.”

Lesser known local nonprofits like Alano Club, On The Spot Aid and The Learning Center For Dyslexia fielded mayoral candidates in 2023, allowing them to spread the word about what their nonprofits do for the community during the candidate debates.

“We tentatively have events at the Waverly, the Elks and Rotonda,” she said. “There’s a lot of really fun things that people can do to raise awareness and money.”

Gonzales is looking for around four to five candidates who represent a nonprofit, and they cannot have run last year. Interested people can ask for an application by sending an email to Gonzales at amy.gonzales@msn.com.

She’s hoping to get all the candidates lined up by the first week of August.

“It’s an event that makes Englewood special,” she said. “I love how special our little town is, how it’s just got so much personality, and we have no mayor.”

The winner will ride in the Englewood Pioneer Parade set for Labor Day.

A planning meeting for the parade is set for 6 p.m. Monday at the Englewood Chamber of Commerce for those interested in helping out.