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J. Rick Normand on Sedona Faces a Watershed Moment

J. Rick Normand writes an opinion that Sedona Arizona faces a financial watershed moment in this SedonaEye.com article

Sedona AZ (February 22, 2011) – ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) both project…”a continued deterioration in the state’s budget outlook for decades to come absent fundamental policy changes that address core imbalances between revenues and spending.”

Notwithstanding…tonight, Sedona can finally relieve West Sedona from its seemingly eternal burden of being the City’s abandoned step-child.

Think about the up-scale look of The Village, the new sexy soft-light look of Sedona along Hwy 179 and, the glossy new post-card look of Uptown. But, when is West Sedona, home to 75% of Sedona’s permanent population and few of its Chamber members, ever going to be allowed to join the parade? Considering the state of this state’s economy, the systemic failure of the Federal Reserve’s Fiscal model, and the very long-term projected recovery period for the whole of it, it would appear that West Sedona’s chance will never come….., or…..by a strange quirk of fate, in the midst of all this financial turmoil, could it find its Nirvana?

Think about it, Sedona is faced tonight with a Watershed Moment. If Council should reject the 89A Transfer Agreement offer and install its 108 35′ tall-250 Watt light bulbs along with 28 intersection lights, West Sedona can achieve the look of…..say…the North Las Vegas Strip. Wait-a-minute!…then West Sedona will never be allowed to join the parade…nor should it be allowed if that’s going to be its look. But, West Sedona’s orphan status will finally be permanently memorialized.

All joking aside, if ADOT and the City are willing to finalize the SR89A Inter-agency Agreement, as currently negotiated, the City will acquire a 2 year hiatus to design its own aesthetically appealing safety improvements which would be consonant with the remainder of the town as it now looks, while probably reducing the risk of future accident lawsuits…all while already having the money in the bank to finance 15 years of projected maintenance and improvements.

OK! I know what all the turn-back opponents are thinking now…it’s not enough money, especially if it can only be invested in Treasury bonds at 2.93% per annum when the rate of annual dollar depreciation for the last 40 straight years has been 3.1867%. But, let me tell you something….an underwater rate of return on $15,435,500 beats the rate of return on no funds whatsoever if ADOT elects, under A.R.S. 28-7209, to put 89A back to Sedona complete with the improvements that we know we really don’t want.

Would they do that?…remember what ASU and the USGAO said. I’m an economist and I can tell you they are correct and ADOT will suffer the heaviest budget cuts! But whether 89A is ever put back to us, or not, begs the point…that the overall aesthetic look of West Sedona will NEVER be in harmony with the look and feel of the rest of the town in which case West Sedona may as well secede from the City of Sedona and re-incorporate as South Clarkdale…because that’s all West Sedona will ever be to the Coconino County part of Sedona.

Enough is enough!

At this Watershed Moment, Sedona has it last-ever chance, while in the midst of a fiscal crash, to actually raise itself to an exalted corporate destination travel status that it has never achieved to date. Do we really want to risk throwing this hole card out of the deck when we have no idea what hand an uncertain future is going to deal to our little town?

As long as West Sedona continues to remain culturally and aesthetically challenged on its west-side it will never be able to provide the hi-tech conference facilities, grandiose meeting rooms, and first class entertainment facilities that corporate meeting planners demand which has always been our insurmountable business-model problem. And if Sedona, as a whole, doesn’t reinvent itself to become a corporate destination market, then all the CofC re-branding you can afford will go for naught once again! Put another way, if Council rejects ADOT’s offer tonight, you will have denied to this City, for all-time, its last chance to modify its current failing business model and pull itself up by its own bootstraps! See this Watershed Moment for what it is!

 

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

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