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    Home » Will Sedona Be the Winner – Or The Loser?
    Arizona

    Will Sedona Be the Winner – Or The Loser?

    October 30, 2011Updated:May 2, 20124 Comments4 Mins Read
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    Sedona SCENE – Sedona SOUL

    A Sharing With Barbara Mayer

    Sedona, AZ (October 30, 2011) – The word “Politics” has become associated with all sorts of sleaziness, underhanded dealing, ego-driven lies and fear-mongering, illegal antics and various kinds of “dirty tricks”. And here I state with some kind of civic pride that I’m originally from Chicago, even though it still carries the reputation of being a city where, on election day, people vote “early and often”. In fact, as editor of my high school newspaper, I once had the honor of a personal interview with Chicago’s original “Hizzoner”, the first Mayor Richard J. Daley himself.

    Those were the days. But this is Sedona.

    I, like many sister and fellow citizens of our little city, left family and friends – former careers and many areas of my own comfort zone — to come here. Something in me knew I needed to become part of this gentle place of magic and magnificent beauty nestled in one very special valley of Northern Arizona.

    This is my home now. And this is my pain now, to watch with a very deep sadness the actual fear-mongering, lies, and personal attacks of character assassination which I thought I had left behind in the less civil and more ignorant world I used to know.

    My heart keeps telling me that this is Sedona. This is the gentle place of healing, wholeness, compassion — and a place where people want to serve in government because they desire to be part of that healing, wholeness and compassion. They want to serve in order to help build a new kind of community where less attractive parts of that community can be given a chance to blossom with new vitality and vibrancy, and where people who live here can stroll in pleasant areas as neighbors greeting neighbors, sharing the special ambiance — and where people from all over that world out there can come to visit – just to get even a little taste of what this magical place called Sedona can become.

    I write these words over a week before results of the Proposition 410 referendum are revealed. I write them now, however, because I face shoulder surgery in the next few days, and because for an indefinite time to come I won’t have use of the right arm which is working this keyboard right now.

    Yet I must bear witness to the ugliness, pettiness, and absolutely illegal actions of some – not all – who have turned the Proposition 410 referendum into a pitiful display of juvenile — and felonious – stealing of signs, breaking of artistic copyright laws, and rampant intimidation of businesses and individual citizens who simply happen not to agree with those who just want to wield their power once again.

    This is Sedona. This is not just another distant suburb of Phoenix, and Sedona deserves better. I don’t know at this date what the outcome of the Prop 410 election will be. But I do know that whatever the outcome, there will be other elections in this city – one happening just a few months away, during another magical springtime in this Sedona which I love.

    I hope that next election will not again arouse the nastiness and pettiness which has occurred this October. I hope we can all learn to approach the honor of being part of government — and the right to vote without facing intimidation or false pretenses which too many in this country have already given their very lives to protect — with the integrity and the blending of Head and Heart which every true community deserves.

    I hope we can all learn to present our ideas for a better Sedona in truth and integrity, rather than with false statements which carry no truth and predictions which come from fantasy rather than fact. I hope we can rise above the despicable antics we have seen in these past few weeks. And I hope each person who resides in this magical place will step up to demand that future elections be ones of true fact and true decency.

    As I write this I don’t know which side – Yes on 410 or No on 410 – will gather the most votes. All I know is that the only true winner — or loser — in this referendum is Sedona herself. And that remains to be seen.

    And, by the way, if you haven’t voted yet, please do vote now. Be a positive part of the real Sedona you love.

    Barbara Mayer is an InterFaith/InterSpiritual minister, author, teacher and poet who resides in Sedona, Arizona.

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    4 Comments

    1. MB Wilson on October 30, 2011 10:39 pm

      Very well said. Thank you for being the voice of kindness and honor in our community.

    2. Ted Jones on November 9, 2011 9:55 am

      Barbara, beautifull…a joy to read and hopefully some lessons to be learned.

      Hope the shoulder surgery went well and the recovery is not to painful.

      Ted

    3. jocelyn buckner on November 13, 2011 11:29 am

      Many blessings to you for your surgery. I wish you a speedy recovery.

      Here again, Sedona has been lied to, sold a bill of goods, and the taxman will soon have his hands deeper into our pockets. We were told that this was for safety, when we were already safe as long as we were vigilant drivers. This is the nanny state at work. We look to uptown, a pitiful mess after millions of dollars of “improvements.” There was little improvement: the traffic still backs up into the canyon and behind the twin round-abouts, visitors still find the need to jaywalk, and people still stop in the middle of the street looking for parking spots. The round-abouts are a joke, especially the two were 179 dead ends into 89a – right at the “Confusion vortex” as if someone wanted to make a point of it. There was no compromise here. Sedona was blackmailed into accepting lights that were originally purchased for a defunct housing tract in Flagstaff. ADOT looked to Sedona to bail out the State, and we did, which makes me wonder who counted those votes. Things have not changed in the many years I have been here. This is a repeat of Rachel’s Knoll, the Cultural Park and 179. We have no voice at all.

    4. Bob Watkins on November 24, 2011 6:25 pm

      Barbara, After reading your article, I just think you have underestimated the characters you are dealing with.

    Paid Political Ad Paid For by Samaire for Mayor
    Paid Political Ad for Samaire Armstrong
    Paid Political Announcement by Samaire For Mayor

     THE MOMENT IS UPON US

    Dear Sedona,

    The moment is upon us. The time for a united effort to shift the focus back to our community is now.

    The ability to thrive in our community, our environment, our workforce, and the tourist industry, is entirely possible because we have all the resources needed for success.

    Still, we need a council that isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, that makes decisions based on data and facts, and through discussion, rather than moving and voting in group unison as they so regularly do.

    This is my home. I have been a part of the Sedona community for 28 years. I witnessed the road debacle, the lack of planning, the city circumventing the local businesses ability to thrive, while making choices to expand the local government and be in direct competition with private industry.

    I am a unique candidate because unlike the incumbents, I don’t believe the government should expand in size, nor in operations, nor would I attempt to micromanage every aspect of our community.

    City government should stay in its lane and allow the competitive market of local private industry to prosper. And it should defend our community from corporate takeover and infiltration of our town.

    I do not agree that we should sign onto International Building Codes and regulations by signing Sedona up to the ICC. It is imperative that we remain a sweet, rural community.

    Where are the arts? Where is this organic thriving element that we allege to be animated by. Where is our culture? Where is our community?

    The discord between the decision making process and the desires of the community have never been more clear. It has been nearly a decade in the making.

    It is time for a new era of energy to take charge. An energy that is reflective in the ability to succeed rather than be trapped in out of date consciousness.

    It has been a great honor meeting with each of you. I hear your concerns over the insane and out of control spending and I echo them. A budget of $105,000,000 in a town of 9700 residents is completely unacceptable. A parking structure (that looks like a shoe box) originally slated to cost 11 million, now projected to cost 18 million, is incomprehensible. Especially, considering there is no intention of charging for parking.

    For those who are concerned that I lack the political experience within our established system- that is precisely what Sedona needs… Not another politician, but instead a person who understands people, who listens to the voices within the community, and who will act in service on their behalf with accountability, for the highest good of Sedona. What I am not, will prove to be an asset as I navigate the entrenched bureaucracy with a fresh perspective. Business as usual, is over.

    Creative solutions require new energy.

    Every decision that is made by our local government, must contemplate Sedona first.

    • Does this decision benefit the residents?
    • Does this decision benefit the local businesses?
    • Does this decision actually help the environment?
    • Will this decision sustain benefit in the future, or will it bring more problems?

    What we have now is a city government that expands to 165 employees for 9700 residents. Palm Desert has 53,000 residents and 119 city employees. Majority of our city department heads are not even in town. I find this problematic.

    Efforts towards championing in and courting new solutions for our medical needs are imperative. We are losing our doctors. We must encourage competition with other facilities rather than be held hostage by NAH, who clearly have their own set of dysfunctions.

    We must remember that so many move to Sedona for its beauty, hiking, and small town charm. Bigger, faster, and more concrete does not, in broad strokes, fit the ethos of Sedona.

    The old world must remain strong here in balance, as that is what visitors want to experience. Too many have noted that Sedona has lost its edge and charm.

    As Mayor I will preserve the rural charm of our community, and push back against the urbanization that is planned for Sedona.

    As mayor I will make it a priority to create opportunities to support our youth.  After school healthy, enriching programs should be created for our kids, and available to the Sedona workforce regardless of residency and regardless of school they belong to.

    As Mayor, I will create an agenda to deliberately embody the consciousness of our collective needs here, allowing private industry to meet the needs of our community rather than bigger government.

    I hope to have your vote on Aug 2nd. I am excited and have the energy to take on this leadership role with new eyes, community perspective, and the thoughtful consciousness that reflects all ages of the human spectrum.

    Thank you deeply for your consideration.

    Sincerely,

    Samaire Armstrong

    Sedona elections
    Armstrong vs. Jablow: The Main Event
    Ready to Rumble

    By Tommy Acosta
    In the Blue Corner stands Scott Jablow and in the Red Corner of the ring stands Samaire Armstrong, ready to rumble to the bitter end in their fight to become the next Sedona mayor. Jablow weighs in with 1,137 primary election votes (36.13%) under his belt, having wielded his advantage as sitting Sedona City Council vice-mayor to his favor. He brings his years of serving in that capacity into the fray and waged a solid fight in his campaign to make it to the run-off. Armstrong, however withstood a blistering smear campaign from the other opposing candidates and their supporters to make it to the final bout with 967 votes under her belt (30.73%), an amazing feat for a political newcomer. Unfortunately, for the other two candidates, Kurt Gehlbach and sitting mayor Sandy Moriarty, neither put up enough of a fight to make it to the championship bout. Read more→
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