Mayor's Focus
Mayor Jose Grijalva will utilize this publication as a vital tool to keep the community informed about the City's priorities and initiatives. By sharing updates on ongoing projects, upcoming events, and important decisions, he aims to foster transparency and engagement within the community. As an elected official, his role includes not only leading these efforts but also listening to residents' needs and concerns, ensuring their voices are heard in the decision-making process. This publication will serve as a bridge between the Mayor's office and the citizens, promoting a collaborative approach to community development.
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On behalf of the City of Douglas and my family, I wish every Douglas family a happy, safe, and blessed Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is more than a day on the calendar. It’s a moment to pause and remember what makes Douglas so special: our people. It’s the neighbor who checks in on an elder, the teacher who stays late, the small business owner who supports our youth, the volunteer who shows up because it matters.
This year, I am especially grateful for our community's strength, kindness, and resilience. Even in challenging times, Douglas continues to show what it means to care for one another.
As you gather around your table, I hope your home is filled with warmth, gratitude, and love. From my family to yours, thank you for making Douglas a community we call home.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mayor Jose Grijalva
City of Douglas
ICSC: The Investment that’s Paying Off
For 30 Years, They Said Douglas Was Too Small. Now The World Is Coming To Look.
For the past two or three decades, the story about Douglas was always the same. The city was too small. Too far. Too quiet. Too risky. City Hall waited for businesses to call, and the phone rarely rang.
Mayor Jose Grijalva decided to stop waiting.
One of the city's biggest investments in the past year has been in ICSC, the global organization known as Innovating Commerce Serving Communities that brings together retailers, developers, and real estate professionals from around the world.
While Douglas has been present at ICSC's biggest shows in Las Vegas this calendar year, Grijalva has taken the message on the road himself, traveling to San Antonio and, most recently, San Diego. And what he heard back was different.
"The results have been loud and clear: Douglas is on the global market," said Mayor Jose Grijalva. "When we started with Vegas, no one knew where Douglas was. Now? The first thing two companies, one is a popular chicken restaurant and the other is a well-known car wash, said after I introduced myself was, 'We're already looking at the Douglas market.'"
That one sentence would have been unthinkable two years ago.
For 20 to 30 years, Douglas went through a period of decline. Stores closed. Sales tax dollars leaked out of town. Young people were left to shop and eat somewhere else. The narrative became self-fulfilling.
Grijalva said the city decided to flip the script by leveraging every advantage it has, even those others overlook.
"If the population of 16,000 is too low, then we count Agua Prieta as the consumer base. The result is now 70,000," he said. "If the perception is there's no money in Douglas, then we counter with a $15 million grocery leakage and a $50 million restaurant leakage."
Leakage is the money Douglas families are already spending, just not in Douglas. It is $15 million in groceries and $50 million in restaurants that residents drive out of town to spend. That is not a sign of a poor market. That is a sign of a hungry market.
"What if they can't justify distribution from Tucson to Douglas? We leverage the cities in between us that would justify expanding here, and then giving everyone a reason to stay here instead of going out of town to shop," Grijalva said. "The biggest difference has been being proactive."
Proactive means not waiting for a site selector to Google Douglas. It means going to them first.
"We're going out and initiating the relationships. That's the biggest factor. When we reach out, they know we want them there. After that, they feel comfortable talking about incentives," the mayor explained. "We've had sales tax, property tax, building leasing, and impact fees as factors. Now the city has something to work with in passing the incentives. If we don't reach out, they'll think there's no market for them. That's been the recipe for the past 20 to 30 years."
It also means thinking outside the box, and sometimes outside the invitation list.
Grijalva tells the story of a grocer who visited a few months ago. He did not meet the representative in Las Vegas or San Antonio. He learned the grocer would be at an ICSC rooftop economic development seminar in Phoenix, an event Douglas had no official reason to attend.
"We didn't have a reason to be there to hear the panel, but the representative's presence gave us a chance to network that we didn't have," Grijalva said. "We set up a trip here, he met me and two council members, and then said he'd keep in touch."
That one trip did more than any marketing brochure could.
"Now he's got five people working on a possible site plan. The trip killed any media perception that Douglas was dangerous. In fact, he loved our community and realized that the media isn't truthful in how our city is presented," said Grijalva.
That is the other battle Douglas has been fighting: perception versus reality. National news often paints border towns with a broad, negative brush. But when developers and retailers actually come here, they see what locals see every day: a safe, tight-knit community with two towns and one community, families who work hard, and a downtown that is ready for its next chapter.
It all comes back to investment. For years, residents heard there was no money. Grijalva says there has always been money. You just have to look for it and be willing to invest it.
"By the time you read this, there may be more businesses announced or already opened. It all starts with investing in our city. You'd hear before, 'there is no money.' There's always been money. Sometimes you just need to look for it hard enough in every little budget item," he said. "As the saying goes, 'you have to spend money to make money,' and it's paying off. Now the world knows where we are on the map."
For Douglas, being on the map is not just about pride. It is about groceries closer to home, restaurants that keep families in town on a Friday night, jobs that let kids come back after college, and sales tax dollars that fix streets and fund parks.
After 30 years of waiting, Douglas stopped waiting. And the world finally started looking back.
From the Border to New Opportunities: Mayor Grijalva Sees Momentum Building in Douglas
For Douglas Mayor Jose Grijalva, the future of his city is not something to be left to chance. His administration is built on a simple, forceful philosophy: economic development is not a passive waiting game; it is an active pursuit that requires "showing up," building strategic relationships, and actively promoting the community to potential partners.
At the heart of Grijalva’s vision is the development of a new commercial port of entry. Far from just a construction project, the Mayor views this as a vital lever for regional transformation. With state-of-the-art plans featuring 36 docks, 30 of which will be climate-controlled, the port is designed to make Douglas a hub for produce crossings, logistics, and transportation.
Grijalva has wasted no time ensuring that Douglas is ready to capitalize on this infrastructure. He has been actively engaging with stakeholders beyond Arizona, securing interest from international markets, including Mexico, Oaxaca, and Colombia. The goal is to move beyond the mindset that the port alone will "fix everything" once built, focusing instead on cultivating business relationships and interest today.
While the port provides the economic backbone, the Mayor’s strategy is holistically focused on quality of life. Grijalva aims to transform Douglas into a cultural and recreational destination. His approach relies on leveraging sports, history, food, and entertainment to bring outsiders into the community.
Upcoming events like the signature boxing matches and Thunder Mountain Wrestling’s "Death Proof" event serve a dual purpose: they provide high-quality entertainment for local residents while simultaneously drawing visitors who might otherwise bypass the city. These efforts are bolstered by improvements to the city’s golf course, which, with the restoration of the back nine and plans for the front, is poised to become a regional attraction for the first time in decades.
Perhaps the most significant challenge Grijalva addresses is the perception of border life. He is eager to dismantle the inaccurate belief that border communities are inherently dangerous. By inviting visitors to experience the city firsthand, he aims to replace media-driven myths with the reality of a city defined by its vibrant Mexican heritage, cowboy traditions, military history, and, most importantly, its welcoming people.
Branding Douglas as an "extension of Mexico" creates a distinct cultural identity that the Mayor believes will make visitors want to return. This cultural strategy, combined with the influx of events, aims to foster a sustainable tourism economy that thrives on authentic connection. Hands-On Leadership and Resident Focus.
Ultimately, Grijalva’s mission is centered on the needs of Douglas residents: more jobs and more variety in services. He is taking a direct, "hands-on" approach to governance, often stepping outside the traditional city hall role to attend conferences, meet with developers, and personally pitch the city’s potential. Whether it is discussing housing, tele-pharmacy, or support for smart-business startups, the Mayor’s presence is intended to remind Arizona that Douglas is an open and ready place for investment.
To ensure accountability, Grijalva has committed to regular, transparent communication with the community. Through monthly updates, he plans to keep residents informed about what is being built, who is responsible for these projects, and where the city is headed. This level of transparency is intended to ensure that as Douglas grows, its citizens are fully empowered and aware of the opportunities being created at home.