Office of the Mayor - About Mayor Scruggs

Serving in the position of Mayor of Glendale since February 1993, Elaine Scruggs was most recently selected as Chair of the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA) board of directors.  The RPTA board of directors helps to guide the authority by providing public transit solutions that best serve each of the member communities. Mayor Scruggs recently completed a one-year term as chair of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) , a coordinated effort of 10 Valley cities to manage water resources.  She also serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Westmarc, an advocacy group of businesses and government promoting the West Valley. 

As mayor of Glendale, which is home to Luke Air Force Base, Elaine Scruggs was selected to serve on the 15-member Arizona Military Affairs Commission, which evaluates and authorizes projects that sustain the missions of Arizona’s military facilities. 

Helping to foster the positive development of youth also is a priority for Mayor Scruggs. She actively participates in her Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission and serves on the YWCA Advisory Board, which honored her with its 2001 Tribute to Women Public Sector Leadership award. Through Mayor Scruggs’ efforts, Glendale was named the first Kids at Hope city in the United States.

Fostering leadership is of great personal interest to Mayor Scruggs. Her desire for a program that would reinvigorate the public’s civic participation and their sense of ownership of local government led to the creation of Glendale University in 1997. Since the program’s inception, more than 450 Glendale residents have “graduated” from Glendale University to become community leaders through service to non-profit organizations, appointment to municipal commissions and election to the City Council.

Mayor Scruggs' business career is marked with highly specialized management assignments within the communications industry. Positions held include Corporate Training Manager for a seven-state area and Arizona Administrative Manager with responsibility for a customer account base billing in excess of $25 million annually. Mayor Scruggs has been recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners for her support of small business endeavors. In 1998, she was honored as one of Today's Arizona Woman magazine's Top 100, and in 2003, she accepted their Woman of the Year award.

Past leadership positions include serving as chairman of the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council, chairman of the Arizona Municipal Tax Code Commission, President of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and chair of Maricopa Association of Governments’ Transportation Policy Committee

Mayor Scruggs and her husband, Larry, relocated to Arizona from Pasadena, Calif. in 1971. Their daughter, Jennifer, lives in Tennessee.