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Something to Think About with Eddie Maddock

SedonaEye.com columnist Eddie Maddock

SedonaEye.com columnist Eddie Maddock

Sedona AZ (October 15, 2014)How often does it happen that not long after people move to Sedona, when the novelty appears to wear off, they seem to revert to times and places from their past?

Continually, we hear comments such as: “They do it this way in (for example) Scottsdale, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, San Diego, or maybe Aspen” to mention a few. In conjunction with art in roundabouts, “That’s what they have in Rome and Paris” has been echoed as a reason for Sedona to follow suit. And the ideas of humungous performance venues have been compared to arenas from coast to coast beginning, but not ending with the Hollywood Bowl in Southern California! How much of this even makes sense? We are Sedona, Arizona, population 10,000 and dwindling.

However…maybe, just maybe…Peoria, Arizona, is entertaining implementing a policy that actually makes sense for Sedona to consider. As headlined in the Valley & State section of the Arizona Republic on Wednesday, October 15, 2014: “Peoria mulling a political blacklist. Councilman wants the leaders of some non-profits barred from election activities.”

Quoting, in part:

“Leaders of some non-profit organizations in Peoria would be barred from running for local office, making campaign contributions and even endorsing City Council candidates under a proposal working its way through City Hall.

Such prohibitions, which appear to be the first of their kind in Arizona, would apply to directors, executives and managers of organizations that receive a portion of their funding from the city.”

Of course, retaliation has already surfaced citing the First Amendment that denying individuals from participating in political process violates constitutional rights.

And, let’s face it, with the makeup of the current seated council being so inclined to ride the politically correct bandwagon, chances in Sedona for such a logical concept would be either slim to none if not DOA.

Revisiting campaign contributors, available on the City of Sedona website, reveals certain candidates for this election received financial support from pertinent non-profits, as well as, present City Council members, whom, it’s doubtful, would ever approve of such a restrictive policy as that being proposed in Peoria.

And, of course, Sedona’s newly elected Mayor, Sandy Moriarty, herself a founder of the non-profit Sedona Wine Festival in 2009 and current Board Member (if not Director), was the recipient of $1,000 contributed by David Harkey, partner in Phoenix based Owens Harkey Advertising Agency, sub-contracted by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, heavily financed with Sedona city taxes. Pointing that out is not an attempt to disparage Ms. Moriarty, who, in fact, after Sedona incorporated, served on the first appointed City Council until the public election was held for its first official City Council.

The message herein is directed at city proceeds being gleaned by and perceived conflicts of interest within selective Sedona non-profits that have an unfair advantage to sway elections in the fashion of unrestricted gang rule, a term recently used in several comments on Sedona Eye.

City of Peoria AZ logoIs there any doubt that the recent Sedona election was anything other than a tug-of-war for (at least) a select two or three non-profits heavily financed with City of Sedona public funds to pull the handle for a win on the slot machine? Conflict of interest, be damned.

Of course, such a thing would never happen in squeaky clean Sedona, would it?

The intent of “something to think about” is to merely point out that all indications clearly slant towards the possibility that the newly elected to the City Council indeed were substantially backed by selective non-profits, and, worse yet, members of the present City Council who might use the system to perpetuate their own agendas set in motion during their terms in office.

Will any of the newly elected actually have the grit necessary to put a stop to the tightening choke hold the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, Bureau of Tourism and Sedona Lodging Council (essentially one and the same) currently have on Sedona residents, businesses, and even the tourist industry?

Three cheers for Peoria, Arizona, for having the courage to do the right thing and attempt a policy to change at least one faction of dirty elections.

For the best Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!

For the best Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!

18 Comments

  1. I would love to see limitations on contributions and who can run. Of course, with elected officials having gotten there with those organizations contributing to the campaign, they will never approve of blocking future campaigns from getting those same contributions. In fact, Sandy received $1600 from Steve Segner, even though she did not report it properly on her own financial reports (the contributions came in two different reporting periods and should have been summed together on the report but Sandy the accountant did not do that).
    I would love to see a requirement in these local elections that the candidate would have to spend at least as much of their own money as their largest contributor. How would that have affected this past election? Look at the reports, most candidates spent NONE of their own money, some even just ‘lent’ their campaign money and then put their contributor’s money in their own pocket to pay back their ‘loan’ yet the financial report forms allow the candidate to show that loan payment as an expense. Only 3 candidates were self financed but none of them came close to winning.

  2. Sedona Sam says:

    Well if Sedona would go in the direction of Peoria that would be a step in the right direction.

    City council I hope you read and get this one. It would make your job, along with staff’s job much easier, positive and focused.

    Bravo! Great article. Thank you.

  3. @Robert O’D

    Picky Picky Picky

    Sounds like sour grapes????

  4. Jan says:

    @Long Time Resident You sound like the pot calling the kettle black. Grow up. You won the battle. Why continue to enrage the war just because a few new ideas are on the table? Of the three other comments posted you are really the only one spewing negativity.

  5. This might be an interesting proposal for Citizen Engagement. We’d find out quickly whether or not there’s genuine concern about the methods used to swing the outcome of this last election. Of course, it’s most likely that the same “gang” would be the ones to take over CE, same as they’ve done with everything else in Sedona. (and with the encouragement and assistance of the city council)

  6. Seriously? says:

    @ Robert O’Donnell: Each of your paragraphs begins with “I would love to see.” I’m quite sure we all have lists under that particular heading. FYI There ARE limitations on contributions. But if you want to limit “who can run,” I guess you’d better move to Bejing. Though that doesn’t seem to be working out very well for them, either.

    As for candidates matching contributions: Are you serious? First of all, whether local or national, even candidates are limited to a per-person contribution maximum. Secondly, the entire point of successful fundraising is to gain, rely upon and declare the support of as many constituents as possible. And finally, any candidate who is unable to raise enough funds from resources other than their own, should NEVER be permitted to individually BUY any election simply because their bank account is overflowing.

    Frankly, your comments read far more like whining about that elusive goal you were unable to achieve rather than a legitimate suggestion as to how to improve local politics. Give it a rest, Mr. O’Donnell. The election does not include you.

  7. @seriously @ long time resident – You are living in the olde sedona world – Sedona Gang Rule. Nazi Sedona.

    @ Robert O’Donnell you are AWESOME! Thank you for speaking up. Eddie – GREAT article!

    Other states prohibited such activities.

    Time to get out of the time warp Sedona. Only those that benefit from the control and manipulation would endorse such horrible unfair treatment in Sedona. Attacking Robert O’Donnell only proves WE ARE RIGHT! Stop Sedona Bullying,

    @long time Resident & @Seriously? It very easy to call names and bully when you do it anonymously.

    Kudos Sedona Eye! LOVE this website. Thank you for being fair.

  8. Doug M. says:

    @Seriously, why the grudge for Robert O’Donnell? It’s people like you that continue to try to give Sedona Eye a negative reputation. This is an open forum offering all points of view so why not show some respect to those who have differing opinions? At least he revealed his true identity. Why didn’t you?

  9. @Jan

    You don’t think that the above ridiculous opinions by Mr. O’D weren’t meant to “enrage the war” and to be negative?

    I understand where Eddie is coming from but Mr. O’D IS SOUR GRAPES and a poor looser!

    Mr. O’D didn’t have a clue of the facts before speaking in public nor did he have what it takes to win an election.

    The battle would have been won if Rio would have had the b*lls to continued the race and he saw the final count on 11/4. This was not a win for anyone in this town.

  10. Ginder says:

    @Long Time Resident

    The best thing you offered IMO: “This was not a win for anyone in this town.”
    Thank you for that.

  11. Response to Ginder and Long Time Resident.

    But it was “a win” for Jennifer Wesselhoff, Steve Segner, and their select circle of friends making up the “gang” that’s taken over Sedona. That includes members of this seated City Council that put the wheels in motion to make it happen.

    The message being sent by Peoria is that the election corruption in Sedona isn’t unique but they are showing the gumption to try and do something about it.

    And about Rio and the recent display to shame him and his family. Of course city code violations shouldn’t be taken lightly. But many questions remain unanswered. Why did the city allow this to go on for so long? Where was code enforcement? And most of all, why did this all come to light just before the final vote on this election?

    Maybe the only difference between Son Silver West and City Council, Chamber of Commerce, and Lodging Council is that unfortunately we have no codes to stop their shenanigans from happening. This election has done more damage in the past few months than the Robson code violation has in the past how-ever many years.

    The remaining question is will the newly elected to City Council take steps and earnestly attempt to put a stop to it? Silly question when B. Litrell and M. Ward paid for ads to elect Scott Jablow and Angela LeFevre transferred $1000 to his campaign as well as substantial financial support from Steve Segner to campaigns for both Sandy Moriarty and Scott J.

  12. c.a.lindsay says:

    Thank you for sharing your news with me. I’ve only passed through your area once in my life, but I LOOOOOVE your news. It seems to be genuine information rather than reprinted press releases. And the recent comment “we hear comments such as: “They do it this way in (for example) Scottsdale, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, San Diego, or maybe Aspen” to mention a few…” is certainly a viewpoint I can relate to, having spent the majority of my life in San Diego County. I’ve gotten to the point where I want to tell people to “go back to the East Coast” if it was so great there. The way I see it, the East Coasters such as Nancy Pelosi ruined my state. I hope “outsiders” don’t ruin your wonderful space.

  13. Marge says:

    @c.a.lindsay
    Great comments. It’s comforting to know that you folks in beautiful San Diego relate to the all-knowing “easterners” that move here to tell us how it should be done. For sure one thing Sedona can’t have like San Diego is the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Nor can San Diego offer our best asset: Red Rock Formations! The eastern control freaks just don’t get it but unfortunately they are taking over here in Sedona. Sad.

  14. Speaking of changes, it’s been five years since our last visit to Sedona. It was already on the road to ruin (and not referring to SR179). We keep up on current events and no amount of money being spent on advertising what a wonderful place it is will lure us back. Just reading about the dirty politics and other articles and comments being made add up to the most effective advertising of all. It’s called WORD OF MOUTH.

    The obvious air-heads, know-it-alls, and yes, “control freaks” have wrecked the place in our opinions and we will happily save our money to visit . . . maybe San Diego?? We’ll see . . . but it WON’T be Sedona unless someone out there gets their act(s) together. And no, we wouldn’t change anything except to restore the charm that we once enjoyed in Sedona. If we want to see statues in roundabouts we’ll go to Europe! Wise up you idiots!

  15. S.J. says:

    If only there was One Council member as intelligent and gutsy to do what the man sitting on Peoria’s Council had the smarts to do! Hardly think, even though a person can dream, any of the current and newly elected will Ever have that much integrity or morality to pull off such an action.

    Our reality of seated councilmembers paying for election ads and donating funds to those running and also one particular councilman participating in stabbing a guy who was running for Council Speaks so loudly and then sooooo low and sad about those who were elected and who paid for their elections and on and on.

    Isn’t it called “Follow the Money”?

    Also I read, somewhere on this Sedona eye site, comments about ‘Easterners’ and their takeover since they moved here? I’m in total agreement that they should All just go back to their home states and try and fix them before they attempt to fix what was not broken here in God’s land.

    These Easterners are lame when it comes to any kind of financial balance in Sedona and are functioning off of wanting to become much more functional (or dysfunctional) than their home states ever encouraged them to be. Think about it: if these Easterners could have transformed themselves into functional public and elected people – We would not have to be dealing with their leftist and entitlement mentalities.

    Time to Pray for the well being of Sedona.

  16. Charles W. says:

    Speaking of dumb ideas, how about the proposed “Heart of Sedona” at Brewer Road? This city will actually spend more money to add to the congestive “heart” failure since the “arteries” are already “blocked” most of the time. Did anyone happen to get into the traffic snarl over the weekend? Wasn’t something posted about Coconino County withdrawing from incorporation? Good thinking! Let them (city) move the “Heart of Sedona” to City Hall!

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