SW Valley Times

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls recently participated in a golf tournament that raised funds for nonprofit organizations.

The proceeds of the tournament are earmarked for American Legion Post 19, the Humane Society of Yuma, Crossroads Mission, Toys for Tots, child burn survivors, and Young Families of MCAS, according to a post on Nicholls’ Facebook page.

“Thank you to the Yuma Southwest Contractors Association for inviting me to kick off their golf tournament,” he wrote in the Facebook post.

In addition, Nicholls attended his fifth Community Conversations neighborhood meeting on the east side of Yuma. The event served as a kind of forum for residents to discuss and provide feedback in relation to neighborhood concerns and changes they would like to see in their community.

The Yuma mayor also visited Washington D.C. this month for scheduled meetings with the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Bureau of Reclamation, the White House Office of intergovernmental affairs and with Sen. Martha McSally (R-Arizona), KYMA reported.

Enhancing accessibility to higher education is one of Nicholls’ primary goals. The centerpiece is a plan for the Yuma Multiversity Campus (YMC). He presently serves as the chairman of its governing board, which consists of industry leaders from the community. They’re seeking to create a centralized campus in Yuma.

“The YMC will offer baccalaureate programs in full, utilizing the academic programs and specialties offered by the state universities and local community colleges,” Nicholls' webpage states. 

Additionally, Nicholls serves as the chairman of 4FrontED’s governing board. 4FrontED is comprised of regional mayors from states along the U.S.-Mexico border who sit on an economic development-focused governing board.  

Nicholls was raised in Yuma and attended Arizona State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering before undertaking post-baccalaureate studies in transportation engineering.

Nicholls is currently in his second four-year term as mayor.