By Tommy Acosta
SEDONA, AZ
(November 20, 2009) - It’s official!
Sedona Mayor Rob
Adams is running for a second term in the 2010 Sedona City Council
election.
With more than a
year and one-half under his belt as the city’s top elected official,
Mayor Adams, after much thought and consideration, made the choice to
give it a go one more time.
Though the job
requires many hours and the pay is minimal, as he has stated in the
past, his desire for service outweighs the rigors and sacrifice he says
the position requires.
“I have a passion
for community service,” Adams said. “I just feel as though my job as
mayor is not done. I still have a lot to do; unfinished business. The
bottom line is I don’t walk away from anything unless I am a winner. I
don’t feel I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to do -- just yet.”
In making his
decision, the mayor said new candidates amenable to his political
philosophies were a factor in his seeking a second term.
“Frankly, that was
part of my decision to run again,” he said. “I saw individuals stepping
up willing to back the will of the people. That’s the bottom line.”
Former vice-mayor
John Bradshaw resigned from the city council reportedly to run for mayor
in the next election. Although as of this writing Bradshaw has not
pulled an election packet or made a formal announcement, the prospect of
his running remains prominent in the minds of many in the community.
The mayor said he
would have run no matter what Bradshaw intends to do.
He said if Bradshaw
and Jerry Frey, both ex-city Vice Mayors, run for the
mayoral seat in the 2010 election, it would
not affect the way he plans to run his campaign.
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“My
philosophy is I need to run on my own merits and not discuss the
shortcomings of my opponents,” he said. “During the campaign I
will point out the differences in our voting records. That’s my
campaign as mayor.”
He said as he did in
his first campaign, he will continue to make promises to his
constituents.
“I think I am
fulfilling or attempting to fulfill the campaign promises I made in the
last election,” he said. “Whether or not I can fulfill all my promises
depends on the degree of support I get from the council.”
He said when he went
into his first term as mayor he was caught by surprise by the resistance
from the council majority to his initiatives.
“I was naive to
think the council would support the mayor’s committees,” he said. “With
the support of a new council next term I could possibly achieve more
than I can ever promise right now. I think the opportunities for Sedona
are unlimited with a supportive council.”
He said he would
rather face odds in a street fight than the odds he faced on the council
over the last one and one-half years as mayor.
“Just thinking of
being on the minority end of the council vote for the last one and
one-half years, usually losing 5-2, I would feel much more comfortable
being in a fist fight with those odds. At least you feel you have a
fighting chance.”
He said he has no
intention of running as part of a slate.
“Becoming part of a
slate goes against my philosophy,” he said. “I oppose a voting bloc,
perceived or real. I want seven people who care about the community as a
whole. Clearly, I want a council that is more supportive of me and one
another, a council that is on the same philosophical track for the
future of Sedona.”
He said the
challenges facing Sedona in the future eclipse the challenges he faced
when he first assumed the office.
“We have an even
greater financial challenge now than I had when I became mayor,” he
said. “That’s the biggest single issue -- how are we going to get
through the economic turndown? There is going to be a 25 percent
reduction in state shared revenue. The S.R. 179 construction project
will be completed in the near future and the construction related sales
tax revenue is going to stop. We are looking at declines across the
board in sales tax and bed tax revenues. It’s going to be a huge
problem.”
He said a property
tax to increase revenue was not something he was considering. He said
the council is presently wrestling with ways to meet the shortfall to
avoid such an eventuality.
“I don’t have a
property tax on my radar,” he said. “My main focus will be on other ways
of increasing revenue. The council is looking at mandatory business
registration in the city; spot auditing business in the city to make
sure they are paying sales taxes; and collecting our own sales tax
rather than have the state do it. We are also looking to increase the
sewer fees. These are the most powerful alternatives to a property tax.”
The campaign is on
and the race has begun. Mayor Adams said his focus right now is doing
things one at a time.
“Right now my
campaign focus is simple,” he said. “And that’s collecting signatures.”
