To SedonaEye.com Editor,

Tough love – Vote No on 420   Rob Adams and some members of Council are friends of mine. So, I consider my NO vote on 420 to be ‘tough love’.

FACT: If Home Rule is voted down, it can be voted on again in two years, not four. If Home Rule is passed, then it will come up again for a vote in four years. This is the law.

FACT: Although the City of Sedona budgeted approximately $30 million dollars for it’s 2010/2011 budget, actual expenditures amounted to $23 million dollars (which is good). Therefore if Home Rule is voted down, the City would only be required to reduce it’s 2012/2013 expenditures by $2 million dollars, compared to the previous year.

FACT: Proponents of 420 either ‘discount’ or ‘gloss over’ the fact that the City has nearly $60 million dollars in bonded indebtedness which will become due to the bond holders beginning in 2017. It must be noted that Sedona, a town with barely over 10,000 residents, has the 5th highest per capita debt ratio of all the cities in Arizona.

I do NOT believe the city’s budget is an “over-inflated monster.” I DO believe our city is top heavy in administration, with some exorbitant salaries and benefits. For instance, our City Manager makes $200,000 with salary and benefits. He just hired a new Assistant City Manager ‘culled from 80 applicants’, requesting and getting a ‘raise’ from City Council (in the 10’s of thousands of dollars) from what his previous Assistant made, that amounts to a higher salary range than our Chief of Police! Meanwhile, the Mayor and some essential City employees remain pathetically underpaid.

Our City Council takes credit for saving money, yet continues to raise fees, by: doubling our sewer fees over the next five years; raising fees for City Hall services; adding the first ever in Sedona’s history, Business License fee, etc.

I also believe that our City Council has squandered money on pet projects: from a $2 million dollar bird sanctuary next to our waste water plant, with ongoing operations and maintenance costs; to money for bird viewing, $75,000; to spending $100,000 on a study to move the Police Shooting Range so that it doesn’t disturb the birds; to money wasting studies, such as busing locals and tourists to trail heads, that are never followed through on; to the ill-conceived Road Runner Circulator that cost taxpayers millions of dollars; to $1.2 million dollars on a new park, with ongoing maintenance and operations costs; to “affordable housing” to the tune of $200,000, etc.

Now the Mayor is proposing to spend $4.5 to $5 million dollars to acquire acreage for an Uptown bypass and add a Creek Walk in a flood plain (which will cost an additional 2.4 million) – even though, both are unlikely to happen.

This is my fear. If tourism further declines in the next four years, our City’s present 34.3 million dollar budget will drop heavily onto the shoulders of the Citizens, not the tourists. Then where would we be?

The City budget increased from $30.7 million in 2011 – to $34.3 million in 2012, escalating 11% – at a time when sales taxes and bed taxes are on the decline, along with the tourist dollars that support our city.

What if tourism decreased even more drastically within the next four years? Who would be stuck paying the bill for our city’s financial survival? We the taxpayers. Therefore, it makes sense to take a step back and look realistically at our budget, tighten our belts and focus on what we NEED rather than what ‘pet’ projects the City Council and City Manager want – and feel comfortable slipping through.

FACT: The multi-million dollar surplus in the 2010/2011 fiscal year is not the windfall that our Mayor ‘joyously’ claims it to be. Much of this money is earmarked for flood control, drainage issues and street repair. The City Engineer simply hasn’t had the time or inclination to get the bids out to have the work done.

And yet, the City Engineer is ‘jumping’ on the $2 million dollars Council allocated a few months ago for the ‘bird park wetland’ near the sewer plant. Where are the City Manager’s priorities? Monies that have already been allocated for drainage issues and road repair sit dormant – while a pet project of Councilor Cliff Hamilton’s – to have a bird park near the sewage treatment plant – is pushed through ‘lickity split’, and is presently under construction!

Regarding the claims that NO on Prop 420 would “force the City to reduce or eliminate funding for the Humane Society, Sedona Library, Sedona Community Center, Sedona Recycles and the Chamber of Commerce – not to mention “Access to a public pool, regional transit service, police involvement in public safety education and beautiful parks.” The following must be said….

Of the City’s $34,335,46 million dollar budget, to reduce or eliminate many of the above, our Council would be ‘picking on the little guy’, because these much loved services ‘don’t add up to much’ in the City’s 2011/2012 budget:

– Humane Society – $41,370 (peanuts – so why cut this funding?)

– Library $369,000 – (part of this goes to fund the Village of Oak Creek library… Why? Perhaps the VOC library should be supported by the members who live in the VOC who enjoy that library, not Sedona citizens. This would certainly bring costs down.

– Sedona Community Center – $140,000 (also peanuts, considering what they do – so why cut this?)

– Sedona Recycles, $35,000 (peanuts – why cut this?)

– Chamber of Commerce $600,000 – (This money should be scrutinized, particularly with the downturn in visitors to Sedona. My understanding is that most of this money, over $500,000 goes to salaries. I invite the Chamber to prove me wrong. The Chamber is reluctant to open their books. Perhaps they will do this for the Red Rock News).

– Pool improvements are budgeted for $20,000 (peanuts). The pool belongs to the school. There is no obligation for the City to provide a swimming pool. Our current pool is provided by West Sedona School and in part is funded and staffed by the City. NOTE: the City voted down a proposed Community Center which would have included a pool, unlike Cottonwood that voted for a Recreation Center with a pool. By the way, this is a GREAT pool and recreation center, only 30 minutes away and open to the public.

– Shuttle Transit budget for 2011/2012 is $24,529 (peanuts, so why cut this?)

NOTE: The boondoggle Circulator Trolley (Sedona Roadrunner service) – initiated and ultimately discontinued by Rob Adams ended up costing the city millions.

– Police involvement in public safety education – It is unclear what Police Public Safety Education covers. If this is the former Citizens Police Academy – or the yearly National Night Out Picnic, these are nice programs to have, however they not essential to the core public safety functions of a municipal police department

– Park Improvements are budgeted in the general fund for $20,000 (peanuts – why cut this?) Pg 69 of 2011/2012 annual budget…

Why would the City Council even consider cutting many of the above when clearly 2/3rds of these services collectively add up to the salary of one person in our City Administration?

Perhaps some of the following ideas to save money should be considered by Council….

In some small towns, a Personnel or Finance Director will sometimes serve a dual role as an Assistant City Manger. This would eliminate the six figure salary that was just ‘anointed’ by our City Council to our ‘new’ Assistant City Manager. The City Engineer could also serve as Public Works director. Or in Sedona’s case, also serve as Waste Water Manager. Etc.

Time to pull together and face the unexpected in these precarious economic times. With $4 to $5 a gallon gas around the corner, who knows how this will effect tourism? We must start conserving money in a fiscally responsible manner. Our Council has a fiduciary duty to us. If they can’t do it on their own, then we must turn to the State of Arizona and their wisdom to make them do so.

Then, in two years we can revisit the vote. If Council proves to be fiscally responsible, we can certainly reconsider a vote of YES on Home Rule at that time.

Meanwhile, I for one remain NO on 420.

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