By Steve Segner
Sedona AZ News — The election is over, and in Sedona, the new City Council has been seated.
I’m hearing calls from some that the outgoing council overstepped their bounds because they continued to participate and vote in the council meetings remaining in their term regarding some major financial decisions which were made in that period, including; the purchase of the Cultural Park property, the purchase of 1.5 acres on Shelby Drive, continuing the buildout of a full transit system, undertaking studies to develop an evacuation plan, and analyzing the potential acquisition of the Sedona Airport.
Some believe the outgoing council should “respect the will of the people” by letting the new council make those decisions.
The will of the people. Sounds good, but how do we determine what exactly that is? Since only three of the current council members are leaving and four are continuing, the three new members would not have majority control in any case, and two of them have lived here less than two years.
The continuing councilors have the advantage of having studied the issues for several years and have developed more context for making decisions on major projects. Do we even know for certain that the new councilors are opposed to the projects listed above?
The successful candidate in the mayoral election was the Vice Mayor, who believes the City is headed in the right direction, rather than his opponent, who seemed to believe the opposite.
The new council will have a retreat in January to determine what their priorities for the next year will be. From what I heard during the campaign season, the three new members were not against current city projects moving forward.
The last two councils have approved an aggressive agenda to rebuild significant parts of Sedona’s infrastructure as laid out in the Master Transportation Plan, SIM, including a robust transit system and an extension of Forest Road.
The Cultural Park property has been discussed for years and was a major topic at last year’s Council Retreat.
The County has been trying to get the city to take over the airport for many years, and there is a continuing debate between the county and the city about whether or not the Airport property is a “county island.” The analysis of a potential acquisition arose out of that debate and was a request from the county, which seems to prefer that the City should own the Airport.
Election results have shown that the winners for Mayor and councilors believe that Sedona is not broken and that it is time to move on, so please, let’s respect the will of the people.
Editor’s Note: We would like to remind the general public that we welcome opinions from those who wish to share their ideas with the Sedona community.
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10 Comments
Well stated, Steve!
I think that this election proved that our city can’t “be bought” and that the silent majority supports what is being done. How disappointing that through it all we all learned a lot, Home Rule passed overwhelmingly, our only newspaper is very biased in their reporting and thoughts. I wish the new council folks well in their journey to fight against AZ State who we have to thank for so many of our problems.
From my perspective the tourist interests, including, Steve Segner remain in control. The overpaid and overstaffed City of Sedona will remain, the city budget will continue to EXPLODE, taxes will rise and the once upscale tourist town of Sedona will continue its evolution into a traffic jammed tourist trap.
What really kills me is city staff, including the city manager, does not even want to live in Sedona.
I morn for the beautiful Sedona I fell in love with over 30 years ago.
Right on, MaryC, right on!
No one is forcing you to stay! Leave then, we are sick of all the negative Sedona rhetoric. Its old, its ugly, and much of it lies!
Your homes are now worth gold and worth twice as much now! And if you were here 30 years ago your home is worth 10x more you fools!
Complain about traffic, but never complain about unregulated Air B&Bs? Thank your governor for that!
Complain about city tax, but never complain that the state tax is more than your city tax?
Face it you will never be happy! If you arnt complaining, your not breathing!
Turn off your hatful TV and radio you pollute your body with. Either enjoy the beautiful surroundings, or just shut up and leave……………….Its that simple!
@west sedona Dave
You right about the negativity anyNot to bad here on the biz however the….a lot of good intelligent posting here!! Unlike the other online blog (SE) nothing but crybabies hateful complainers over there. Do you realize (that despite that “despite that blogs name) they didn’t even post Sedonas election result(cause it didn’t go their way ) pitiful and predictable.
@ West Sedona Dave
You arguments have little merit unless you are only interested in money.
Sedona’s taxes are less than the state, so I should be happy they are not more? It’s like a robber saying I only stole half your money, you should be happy I did not take it all?
My house is not worth 10 times a much as 30 years ago, but even at 4 times as much I should be happy about money if I were to sell it? What if I loved living in Sedona and now I am trapped in my home on weekends?
What if my house is exactly the same but my property taxes are now 4 times higher? Do I get more roads or is it spent on parking garages and busses for tourists?
Did you ever read King Midas touch? Are you related to Midas?
Quality of life is about more than money.
Mary. You dont pay property tax to the city of Sedona!…Thats your state, county, schools, and fire district!
My home was built in 2015 its more than doubled….You have no credibility, and are clueless anything government.
Dont let the door hit you in the rear. Find another community to cry and complain about!
Ole Dave once agains proves arguing with him is having a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
Just some thoughts, the outgoing council where 3 that didn’t get elected (1 did not run) and one that may or may not have been elected, the mayor, made these decisions prior to Nov 8th.
Everyone should be acutely aware, and I think they are not, that when the city buys property, and they have been doing alot of that, recently $21.5 million worth with Cultural Park and Shelby, these properties are removed from the county tax roles.
WE – here in Sedona who live in Yavapai County have pretty hefty tax bills as it is, and see it going up the maximum of 5% every year. Although they could go up less….they do not.
The City of Sedona just removed another $21.5 million from the taxable base. Who do you think is going to make up that tax? It is not spread over Yavapai county, the biggest piece is the SFD and Schools – those are local taxing authorities. You think their budgets are going to be reduced? Not hardly. The existing taxpayers will get to make up that difference.
Thank about that – and two councilors said that the city needed to “Buy the cultural park so they could figure out what to do with it”? That’s what you get when people who have never had any real money start playing with taxpayer money and have no concept of the long term or even short term consequences. Research how much the city already owns. Residents last?
Regarding the airport, you can’t “buy” the airport. Some reporter made a statement about the city “buying” the airport and Mr. Segner just parroted the comment.
The Sedona Airport is a Land Grant Airport, designated by the Department of Agriculture and was done so as part of the National Transportation infrastructure, before Sedona was ever incorporated. The County of Yavapai is the sponsor of the airport.
It was kind of telling when Mayor Jablow made the comment that the Airport was “building” a 6,000 square foot venue on the airport, that he does not comprehend what is going on. The venue he was referring to was built about 60 years ago by the Masons when the mayor was a toddler.
The County does not run or manage the airport. SOCAA runs the airport. The county is the sponsor, so any contracts that the SOCAA board or board members that are vetted and appointed has to have county approval. The county is also obligated to take certain non aviation funds that they receive for environmental and other county improvements like drainage etc. and share a small portion with the airport.
There are responsibilities that the county has. Some at the county would like to pass those responsibilities to the city of Sedona. Careful Sedona.
What the city of Sedona fails to realize is that there is ZERO revenue that the county receives from the airport, and there would be ZERO revenue to the city. In turn, the airport receives ZERO money from the country. Any money that is earned or generated on the airport by ANY activity, aviation or not, by law must stay on the airport and be used for airport improvements. You cannot deviate funds without violating federal law.
Grants for improvements, like runway, paving, equipment, and a host of other things are available thru the FAA, and ADOT as the Sedona Airport is part of the national transportation system. The profits the SOCAA earn (501c3) must be used as required matching funds for those projects.
Somebody better ask themselves at the city, or council, do you know how to run a Land Grant Airport? Are you prepared for the oversight with ZERO revenue to cover your time? I think some people on council or the city think the airport is a “cash Cow”. Guess what, just the opposite. But guess what, the council is going to spend $80,000 for another “study” to find out.