A former Glendale fire chief has announced his candidacy for public office.
Mark Burdick, who served as Glendale's Fire Chief until 2002, intends to run against current Mayor Jerry Weiers in the 2016 election.
"Glendale is suffering from a serious leadership crisis, one marked by our elected leaders breaking trust with residents and with the business community. It's an emergency," he said in a prepared statement.
Burdick joined the Glendale Fire Department as a firefighter in 1983, where he would spend the next three decades, until his retirement earlier this year.
He wants to restore public trust, provide principled and moral leadership, and raise the quality of life for Glendale's residents, and improve its emergency services.
Since retiring, he runs a consulting business and is the Fire Science Program director at Estrella Mountain Community College. He and his wife, Colleen, live in Glendale and have four children, two daughters and two sons.
