SedonaEye.com columnist Eddie Maddock discovers a few Sedona secrets.
Sedona AZ – With the number of controversial issues seeming to endlessly plague Sedona is there at least one thing upon which we can all agree? Does anyone disagree about it being hot, dry, and the need for rain? If so, there’s little doubt we will hear from you.
Likewise, it should be fairly safe to say, we all agree on our reasons for being in Sedona. Red rocks and scenic beauty should surely prompt an affirmative nod. Right? However rarely, if ever, are a few negative aspects openly discussed with the exception, perhaps, of traffic, traffic, traffic – particularly on weekends related to national holidays. Labor Day is the here and now occasion – and predicted traffic as anticipated prevails. How much represents Sedona “destination or drive-through to Oak Creek Canyon” might best be reflected when tax revenue is analyzed and uptown businesses provide sales statistics for this 2019 annual event, essentially the final hurrah of the season.
Back to the drawing board. Are there any downsides to living in Sedona…with the exception of avoiding going out when the population of the entire world seems to be in town? Well – here are a few things about which to ponder.
Try cupping your hand, palm side up. Then reverse it – claw like. Visualize an additional three digits and then imagine a black, fuzzy coat to your revised appendage. That, folks, will closely resemble a rare exotic critter commonly known as a tarantula (spider). And, unless one is forewarned, observing this critter appear from behind a piece of furniture without warning can be pretty scary! As in – OMG – what IS that?
Unless warned in advance, try to reflect favorably about that fabulous hike on one of Sedona’s many trails if you should get out of bed the following morning to the reality of red, itchy blotches on one or more parts of your body. It isn’t necessarily a rare event to be the victim of “no see ums” – a local bugaboo that particularly enjoys the new blood in town.
Scorpions are abundant, but better known to be on the move when the earth is disturbed by new construction. Their sting, however, isn’t friendly.
An infestation of flying ants doesn’t occur very often, but when it does make a move, it isn’t a pleasant sight! Screened windows are a must as they gravitate towards light and congregate en masse on accessible windows and screens.
Oh the critters that our Sedona red rocks house, writes Eddie Maddock in this tongue in check look at Sedona’s secrets.
There was a time when Sedona had a restaurant called Dutchman’s Cove on Art Barn Road, down by Oak Creek. How was the food? Does anyone really know? The featured attraction seemed to be watching raccoons feast on bread on the ledge outside the dining tables by the windows. In fact, there’s little doubt raccoons outnumbered people in Sedona back in those days. It was rather common for raccoons to climb trees, hang by their tails, or wash themselves in any pond or waterfall, natural or decorative.
When Sedona was still classified as “open range” unless one was aware seeing a herd of cows munching on newcomers’ extravagant landscaping was more than stunning. Clearly it was a somewhat costly and a waste of time for fresh arrivals – accustomed to beautiful landscaping from where they came – to learn the hard way what NOT to plant here. To wake up and see beautiful flower beds leveled by Sedona’s lawn mowers, its bunny rabbits and squirrels, was awesome!
Brazen coyotes, javelinas, and beloved deer still hold their own, but bobcats, mountain lions, and an occasional bear remain on the shy side.
It would be remiss not to remind people that critters have no boundaries and a door or unscreened window is an invitation. Lizards, snakes, toads, rats and mice will gladly drop in for a visit and to check things out. Recently, there was a lizard on my own kitchen counter, next to the double sink and closest to the one with the disposal. Understanding over the years how easy it is to remove the little nuisances, reaching for a glass in the cupboard just next to my right hand should have been a piece of cake. Not so fast! Better yet – not fast enough! One quick glance away and the lizard had disappeared. Oh no – the logical place for it to have gone was the disposal! Yikes! What to do?
A recent ADOT traffic study found the majority of Sedona tourist traffic will back up for miles just to drive through the Sedona city limits on way to Flagstaff and Grand Canyon.
Poking into the disposal with a few harmless kitchen utensils produced no hint to the lizard’s whereabouts. A flashlight offered no help. Running water and turning on the disposal was unthinkable. Conclusion – lizard (as usual) outsmarted me, even though over the years and with two previous cats that frequently gifted me with lizards on what seemed to be a daily basis, this little dickens fooled me. If they remain in the house, generally they will gravitate to a sunny window sill and just placing a glass by their heads solves the problem – they go right in. One must quickly remember to have a towel handy to use as a “lid” and then just release the little darlings back in the great outdoors. Not as amusing as the day a squirrel perched atop the vacuum – when momentarily it was shut off in order to take a phone call.
One sight, however, that is rare indeed is observing what appears to be a snake with two heads. Yep – that happened in our early years here in Sedona. There it was – stretched out in the sun on the steps leading up to our gazebo. Well – unbelieving this two headed monster was in our yard, we checked with the ranger station and were informed how fortunate we were. What we had witnessed? Two snakes mating. How lucky were we?
Now these are just a few aspects of the real Sedona, none of which are disclosed at the Chamber of Commerce or Visitors Center. After all, some of the best kept secrets are just that secretive. Agreed?
You can see by the response of the person writing as John Daniels, many city staff think they are “educated professionals” that deserve a month off with pay the first year of employment. Doesn’t everyone get that?
They fail to accept that many people live quite well in areas where there is no city government. It something Sedona would have been much better off without.
I retired from one of he best union jobs in the country. It took 15 years until I had accrued 4 weeks annual vacation. There was no personal leave, you took vacation or time off without pay.
I would imagine most of the non government workers in Sedona her NO paid vacation or leave.
Speak up Segner, how much paid vacation do you give your employees?
Government workers live in a fantasy world, like all things fantasy, when people start paying attention, it will end.
We decided to visit Sedona (heard about it from friends that went through years ago). Our Airbnb rental in a private home was very nice and the landlord was interesting when my son mentioned traffic issues. The landlord asked us to comment here under this article because it is for residents. (name and address of landlord deleted by editor)
Question: Why pay millions to promote an obviously well known resort place like Sedona? Your politicians aren’t supporting Airbnb says landlord and we wonder why except they must own hotels and resorts. I have zero tolerance for bed bugs and smoking and animals in my house and Airbnbs are all I’ll consider when traveling now.
After our landlord showed us this article and comments, why has the above article, a whimsical composition reflecting humorous specifics, created such a storm of comments unrelated to that topic? Is that the norm here?
Sedona take time to “smell the flowers” or see the “forest for the trees” or “trees for the forest” and take control of your town. It’s been an interesting experience but Sedona is definitely not a place we care to call home on a part time or permanent basis or even visit again. We never knew pizza could be so expensive for a buck or two worth of ingredients or picking it up would take an hour. Now we’ll watch for the nasty comments about who cares and we aren’t wanted anyhow. Bon Voyage Sedona. You were once a beautiful and spiritually good place we’re told and we hope you’ll get it back. BTW the best thing we did was the jeep tour and hiking Bell Rock. Please don’t ruin those with more tourists because it was crowded enough.
@ John Daniels says: Speak up Segner, how much paid vacation do you give your employees?
ok
Two week,
3 week after 5 years. Paid sick days and help when there cars break down. All part of my job. Hope that helps. With tips my staff make 44,000.00 to 70,000 a year. Same staff for 16 years….. for a reason.
Look, you got paid what the union wage was and unions got you more than you could have got on your own.
Some jobs pay more than others, that is life. Every business pays what it need to get help and pay more to keep them. I have worked with city employees and they are not over paid.
Running a small city with a $40,000,000 budget is a lot harder the running a business the same size. We have a great city manager and staff and if we need to pay more to keep people so be it. The great news is we can afford it thanks to tourism. P.S. the pay for city employees is set by the city council.
ENVY, a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.
Interesting critique @Marie M. Johnson, Vacation Renter.
In particular thank you for the comment relating to the article and noticing the subject is unrelated (with exception of the first two or three) to the 150+ other contributions. Appreciation is also extended to your Airbnb landlord for directing you to Sedona Eye.
All comments on Sedona Eye are welcome and thanks to SE Editor/Publisher for making this opportunity to agree to disagree(?) possible.
The city is going to spend a million bucks to fix some roads that prior to incorporation were properly maintained. Speaking of snakes, the roads in our subdivision look like an infestation of the squiggly critters, black tar strips covering up the crumbling cracks. First class act? NOT.
$2,500,000 to the Chamber for what? We get $1,000,000 to add more patches to our crumbling streets! Some Sedona Secrets aren’t secrets at all but blatant in-your-face slaps. WTF IMO!
@stevesegner Your 16 yr employees on average earn 3 weeks plus car repairs and days off for sick leave that’s capped at what…a week annually? You don’t pay their tips, so you don’t get the credit for who does pay the majority of their salary. How convenient for you. You get the benefits, they don’t. Why don’t you pay their full salary so it’s guaranteed between $44K-$70K and say all tips get split equally with the shift working? You say they’re worth it, but you don’t trust them enough to guarantee their salaries?
Unions sucked my paycheck dry and I got nothing in return except instructions how to vote for Democrats or we’d lose jobs, pure propaganda. Turns out we lost them from the Democrats. I’m voting for the Republican who restored them for my daughter.
When you point out misallocation and conversion of public funds, They say :
“ENVY, a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.”
Basically, they say they are not doing wrong, you are jealous you are not getting your cut. NO, I will not steal, even if no one but me would ever know.
Seems to me it was wisely written somewhere
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
steve Segner’s claim that the City of Sedona’s budget is $40,000,000 is a fantasy (October 14 comment). This year’s City budget is $51,547,230 ($11,547 million higher).
And although Sedona’s population is stagnating, Schedule G’s “Full-Time Equivalent Employees” submitted to the State by City Hall rose from 125 in FY 2016 to 151 this year, with a “Total Estimated Personnel Compensation 2020” of $13,857,679 or an average of $91,772.71 per employee.
When compared to FY 2016’s Schedule G, FTE Employees was 125, and “Total Estimated Personnel Compensation 2016” was $10,387,843, or an average of $83,102.74 per employee ($6.9 million less).
In my opinion, the City needs to hire a City Manager who is not a spendthrift pdq.
steve Segner’s claim that the City of Sedona’s budget is $40,000,000 is a fantasy (October 14 comment). This year’s City budget is $51,547,230 ($11,547 million higher).
And although Sedona’s population is stagnating, Schedule G’s “Full-Time Equivalent Employees” submitted to the State by City Hall rose from 125 in FY 2016 to 151 this year, with a “Total Estimated Personnel Compensation 2020” of $13,857,679 or an average of $91,772.71 per employee.
When compared to FY 2016’s Schedule G, FTE Employees was 125, and “Total Estimated Personnel Compensation 2016” was $10,387,843, or an average of $83,102.74 per employee ($6.9 million less).
In my opinion, the City needs to hire a City Manager who is not a spendthrift pdq.
Correction: The last sentence in the third paragraph contains an error. Please ignore the outrageous “($6.9 million less).” Thanks!
Chris, Sedona I find it interesting you criticize me for paying fair above average wages and you bitch about your union job. You did the work took the money you could have quit the union gone out on your own done something important in life but you took the easy road. Chris take hard look at your life before you criticize others.
@steve Segner
“ENVY, a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.”
Let me get this straight, the city staff think they deserve to be overpaid, in some cases triple what the average Sedona income is. Sedona Residents are just jealous or you must have married well to be able to live here “.
To reiterate, if you call attention to the miss allocation of funds or outright theft, you are jealous or filled with envy. No mention of just wanting to call attention of theft or wrong doing.
Some one very wise once said
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.
It is still theft even if made legal by some badly run government .
Segner forgot to mention that since a large part of his employee expense comes from tips, when he issues a vacation check, he tells the employees to get the rest of the vacation check from their tips.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
If your vacation pay is based solely on your salary, but most of your income comes from tips, you can never afford to take a vacation. Great idea Steve, offer vacation but your employees can never afford to take it.
I dated a Sedona waitress once, during the slow periods, almost no tips, she could barely afford to feed Mac and Cheese to her kid, and could not afford to feed herself. She went hungry before I dated her.
Hearing her stories was great motivation to my daughter to get an education in a well paid field.
Karma will be the people stealing from Sedona being treated as my waitress friend was. Segner should be forced to live on tips.
Let me get this straight,
you are making statements of facts ,but in fact it is just your view let be clear on this point.
you say the city staff think they deserve to be overpaid, in some cases triple what the average Sedona income is.
1. City staff is Not “over paid ” your view, and national standards are used in looking at pay, you may think it is high city council does not. pay is not a % of the average pay in a city, sorry pay is based on market rates and skills.
2. If the city is breaking any laws please turn the city into the states AG office, oh someone did and the AG said City is not breaking any laws.
Your low pay in the past is not a reason to under pay people that have actual skills.
All the other kids are doing it !!
We deserve paid the same as New York City or Seattle !
They seem to forget out little city has a population of 9000 and dropping, and no schools or fire department as part of the city.
They never mention our city costs per citizen are way way higher than the big cities.
Oh, but the tourists !! Bull.
Our city council does not even look deeply into the money spent. The city management says the budget was audited and given a award by the League of Arizona Cities, well then, who cares what the money was actually spent on.
Since Segner went public in one of his many comments about how close he is with the city people is there any wonder why he is so defensive of their over the top wages and benefits? Wonder why that is? Wonder if they have been guests at the Segner Oak Creek Canyon Estate? Payback? Just curious and just asking and just sayin. No judgement. Yet.
those working for tips in hotels have to much competition. Internet tours and planners aren’t here, come in and take the work from sedona workers. Hotelier don’t pay a living wage.
It’s no secret Sedona Recycles has successfully been serving Sedona for almost 30 years without promotional assistance from the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. And now the C of C conveniently suggests using Sedona Recycles’ good name and mission as a means for a lame attempt to justify their spending at least a portion of that grand slam funding they receive annually from the city on behalf of Sedona Recycles?
Sedona Recycles happens to be a legitimate 501 (c) (3) (tax deductible) organization. The questionable control the Sedona Chamber of Commerce has over the City of Sedona continues to create ill will throughout this community and isn’t it true many residents are resentful and doubtful about this unusual liaison’s ultimate purpose except to justify the millions of municipal dollars they receive on an annual basis?
We have been conscientious supporters of Sedona Recycles both financially and in honoring their purpose. We also support the concept of sustainability.
However it remains our opinion the Sedona Chamber of Commerce is a fraud and to even suggest linking their name with Sedona Recycles could taint the reputation of Sedona Recycles and thus lend cause for us to cancel our financial support for Sedona Recycles as well as to question their mission relating to recycling and sustainability at least in Sedona.
Not a secret – we join the growing number of others who find this situation appalling.
You sound like you should change your fake name to “Jess jJeous”
What? the chamber of commerce is being allowed to use the money they receive from Sedona to assist non-profit 501 (c) (3) organizations? How can that be fair? For years we have been and remain avid supporters of the Sedona Humane Society, also non-profit 501 (c) (3) and why should we be discriminated against? Something is terribly wrong here and is need of investigation by 501 (c) (3) organizations relating to discrimination. And for the record, the C of C is incorporated as non-profit but without the tax deductible benefit.
For those of you that missed the chamber/city annual meeting I posted the link to the website that has all the pertinent information showing that as a company town we’re doing very very well. I notice a lot of miss information posted on Sedona hi I hope this will help
https://sedonachamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Annual-Meeting-Presentation-2019.pdf
https://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/company-towns/
It’s great if you own the company, not so great otherwise.
Total propaganda and mis information in the Chamber meeting presentation.
Segner and the chamber can write all the propaganda they want about residents quality of life and sustainability. The truth of how they feel is his statement of Sedona being a “company town”.
Thanks Segner for proving the scam on the residents and taxpayers is still ongoing. That is the biggest (deleted by editor) I’ve ever read. Schmoozing award IMO.
Im sorry ,I just thought some facts might be useful.
It’s great if you own the company, not so great otherwise. sour grapes Sedona is a great town to live in because of tourism we have over 100 restaurants, rising home values, no city property tax, we live in a low tax state .we have trailheads bike trails at our disposal we can leave almost any neighborhood and hike into federally protected lands and you complain. Sedona sits on to state highways and you complain that people use them, shame on you.
We have replies from Steve Segner, Steve segner and I’m sure the other chamber boosters will chime in soon . John Daniels, your turn.
Residents have to deal with bumper to bumper traffic, trash , diapers and toilet paper on trails and one of the highest city sales taxes in the country. Residents are trapped in their homes on weekends and tourists come once to never return. Half the cars never even stop in Sedona, by the City’s own traffic study.
Red Rock fever has been cured.
The proof is when millions of baby boomers are retiring one of the most beautiful places in the country is losing residents.
City Council, you are destroying the town for residents.
Hope this helps.
And just how many decisions about City/Chamber love affair were discussed and decided prior to the alleged “official” meeting? @Steve Segner 10/21
So none of it would be a topic of chit chat at the Oak Creek Canyon Segner Estate soiree?
Of course not! Ha, Ha, Ha = translated NO TRANSPARENCY!
@ Funny Stuff
Thank you for asking me to weigh in on your post and I must say that if you feel so strongly that the city council is destroying the “town” (careful, I was chastised for saying town when it’s really a city) then in my opinion perhaps you should consider selling and turning your lovely home into a vacation rental like hundreds of others have.
The idiotic chamber advertising and city council decisions are negatively affecting the entire Verdy Valley.
Of course, for those city staff that live in Scottsdale or Chino Valley and are never in Sedona on weekends or holidays, it is not so bad.
I still think it interesting that the (deleted by editor) refused to live in Sedona and made him commute to Scottsdale.
All City and SFD staff should be required to live in the city. You broke it, you live in it. Professional staff my ass.
of course John Daniels would comment. She is the city employee who directs the special interest club how to get taxpayers money for their exclusive use.
It is so pathetic that the chamber can’t earn their own money. Now that the chamber is in charge of RESIDENTS Quality of life, why do we need city managers? The chamber is a business association incorporated for their members so what’s the beef? Residents aren’t their members, business are.
So lovely how they tell you to move, NOT IMO
You Chamber trolls are too dense to even know you are being insulted. You fall for it every time.
Hope this helps !
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAH
Sedona Company Town
1) Company town Management works 4 days per week, every weekend and holiday Monday off
2) Company town labor works 7 days a week at two jobs, weekends and holidays are mandatory
3)Company town Promotional agency (Sedona Chamber) is granted $2.5 million per year, with no accountability, after all, how do you account for sustainability?
4)City Librarian is called a ” Library Director” and earns a just under 6 figure salary.
5) Company town Mayor owns a tourist business
FYI @John Daniels W Sedona great advice to Funny Stuff. We HAVE turned our Sedona home into a vacation rental and it’s the best thing ever! Proving once and for all the best things in life AREN’T FREE! They are sometimes tucked away in what we dreaded the most = neighborhood tourist rentals as an example and THEY are the ones footing the bill. We now have the opportunity to travel and do things we otherwise probably never would. Our property is in good hands and NOT with Airbnb BTW. We are deeply grateful to Gov. Ducey for allowing us to make more money with less effort than we have ever been able to do and never even dreamed of doing!
Just out of curiosity checked the city council meeting this afternoon and it looked like a ghost town in the council chamber. From the angle of the camera it appeared no residents attended; City Manager wasn’t there; Asst. City Mgr. was seated on the opposite end from City Atty., – it was actually amusing to compare this with council meetings of the past – at a time when residents weren’t treated like lepers and were actually encouraged to interact with those they elected and standing room only was a customary standard.
Of course – change is inevitable – but is it good? Judging by the number of “For Sale” signs showing up throughout Sedona on a weekly basis, it clearly must be good for the real estate business.
Oh well – just an observation and who really cares? “Not I,” said the blind man.
Write your state representatives. That is your only option. They are watching and listening.
The write-up in a local paper about the City of Sedona/Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting neglected to mention the location. Could it be the event, as usual, was held at a resort outside Sedona City Limits? A resort that does NOT collect Sedona City Sales and/or Bed Taxes?
Such a deal! Such a cheap, rotten turn of events. And promptly trash the BS that patrons of those outlying resorts spend money shopping in Sedona! For what? Better chance for them to go to the Casino or elsewhere for some classy dining, action, and entertainment?
We surely do hope Sedona City resorts take note of this and refrain from being members of this rip-off local C of C. (and yes, there ARE Sedona in-city resorts capable of facilitating this annual event)
To the individual who wrote:
You Chamber trolls are too dense to even know you are being insulted. You fall for it every time.
Hope this helps !
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAH
What you fail to get is that I don’t give a darn what you say and I’m from LA and can’t be insulted.
If you people would read the link for the presentation given to the city by the chamber you would see that the majority of bed tax monies and effort goes to community and customer service not advertising. the city did listened to it residence and no longer gives a percentage of the bed tax to the chamber,the city calls all the shots. by the way let’s get over the four-day work week for the city employees they come to work at seven they work 10 hour days and they work harder than almost any of the people, they come in early to help the builders get permits and information and they stay late because many nights the city Council and other groups meet until 7 8 or 9 o’clock at night
Yep, whoever is writing as John Daniels is from LA, and too dumb to be insulted.
Ya notice the power is being turned off regularly in California? If enough of the California idiots move to Arizona and vote as they normally do, the power will go off here too.
Like Scarlett Ohara in Gone with the wind ” I’ll worry about it tomorrow.”
John Daniels, too dumb to be insulted and proud to admit it. I guess it is time to use another alias. Your stupidity has been exposed again. An IQ of about 80? Does that make you qualified to be a public servant?
Some stupid parasites keep stealing until the host dies.
Do you notice the population of Sedona keeps dropping? Does that mean you as a public servant are doing a good job?
I think not.
Hope this helps.
If you did not care what they said, you would not have responded.
To Conspicuous by Absence:
Perhaps you can clarify, other than Enchantment, what resort in the city limits has as big of a ballroom as the Hilton?
I’ll save you a few steps, NONE! When I held my daughter’s wedding a few years ago, I wanted to hold it in the city but none could accommodate the large crowd of guests that we had. I would never hold an event at Enchantment because of their poor WiFi.
Judging from the photo in the Red Rock NEWS, there was a lot in attendance.
Oh, come on, when you said “residents weren’t treated like lepers ” you actually mean those few of you on SE who just hate for the sake of hating. After all, you and your few friends lost an election oh sorry 2 elections plus Home Rule plus the PBA initiative. The list goes on and on but everyone else gets my point. There’s an old saying, THE GOOD TO THE GOOD and you’re not among them.
” what resort in the city limits has as big of a ballroom as the Hilton?”
Poco Diablo, for one. It might not be quite as large as the Hilton but most assuredly would accommodate the C of C event. And since you are so knowledgeable why do you suppose the report in the paper didn’t mention the venue? Huh? Maybe because the Hilton is city-tax free?? DUH!
Look the chamber is a “regional” membership association, The chamber annual meeting would not fit in Poco, what is with all the chamber hate , go hiking get a life. If you went to the meeting you have seen the new direction the marketing has taken, the chamber no longer get a split of the bed tax. The city council approves all money for marketing and visitor services. you say you said “residents weren’t treated like lepers Oh please, new roads, more paving a new park being built and you don’t like any of it it all paid for with visitors money is all about you.
Doesn’t the chamber of commerce use part of that annual $2.5 million from the city to run ads encouraging people to Shop Local? Well we came up with a good solution. What we do before shopping local is find out whether or not a particular business is a member of the C of C. If it is – we shop someplace else. Fortunately for us our favorite local restaurant is NOT a Chamber member which makes us very happy.
We avoid patronizing businesses in Cottonwood and elsewhere who are members of the Sedona Chamber. Since the Chamber doesn’t practice what it preaches, why not?
Sedona incorporation was the biggest mistake ever. It is one that can be painlessly undone. Painless for residents anyway.