Sedona, AZ – By Tommy Acosta

A few people commented I should voice more editorial opinion on national and international issues as well as local events.

OK. Let us start with the latest crisis in the Mid East.

Israel and Hamas are at it again. More death, destruction, etc. for the world heaped upon the death and destruction it already has on the table.

Looking at the conflict from a strict-political/business perspective, an underlying premise for the conflict could be the tanking price for oil and the need to bring it back up.

Conflict in the Mid East means a possibility of oil supply disruption which in turn causes prices to rise.

I figured around the turn of the year a conflict would erupt to begin bringing prices up in the face of shrinking demand, by cutting the supply.

Should the conflict escalate to embroil Iran or other oil-producing nations, then we could see the price of oil skyrocket pretty quick to where it once was. I recently checked on futures for oil and a bet the price for the commodity is going to go up now costs a small fortune.

This can only mean someone, somewhere up there knows there will be more conflict and supply will be disrupted, raising the price of oil and gas once more.

Higher oil prices will also mean the American dollar will devalue against the Euro and Canadian currency.

A check on buying Euros and betting they will go up against the dollar shows the bet to be just as ludicrously high as betting on oil’s rise.

We can expect war to escalate in the Mid East as Obama prepares to take over the White House.

On Obama, as each day passes it appears he will not be able to do much to change the direction the present administration has set for the country and the world. He has surrounded himself with the old guard and even though he is the president, those who have held the reins of power and brought us to where we are right now will continue to do what they have been doing.

In Sedona, as we head into the new year it will become necessary for the current city government-power bloc to purge its committees of Keep Sedona Beautiful members, as now evidenced by recent scrutiny and criticism of the Mayor’s Community Enhancement Committee, where four of its members are KSB.

It is important for the city council-voting block to negate any influence committees populated by individuals who are not in congruence with them have – especially committees created by the mayor not officially approved by the council power structure.

When it comes time to move forward with an alternate route through Red Rock Crossing not having these mayor-formed committees around will make the job easier.

We can expect to see a lot of flack directed towards these committees by the city and some media through the year.

The search for a new city manager for Sedona will be conducted in the public eye but the person chosen for the job will be the one candidate that recognizes the power of the council majority and work with them to maintain status quo.

The eight-month prosecution of Cliff Ochser for two misdemeanors has come to an end but the aftermath of the case will continue to reverberate through the coming months. Lots of questions remain unanswered concerning the city’s zealous effort to prosecute Mr. Ochser, questions that may only be answered in court.

The relevance and resilience of Keep Sedona Beautiful will be tested as those who want them out of the way ramp up the pressure. The lights for 89A fight, is by no means over and the last bump in the road to their installation is KSB, now backed by Fed mandate that a thorough-environmental impact study be conducted.

KSB needs to remain vigilant that approval not be granted without public input. Those who want those lights need to keep KSB as much in the dark as possible.

The other day I was in Cottonwood visiting friends when hunger struck. We looked around for a place to eat and realized we should drive back to Sedona and eat at a local restaurant. It felt good and right to do so.

We locals need to shop and eat at our local establishments. It is up to us to keep our businesses going. Tourists will continue to come but we need to augment their business by supporting our local merchants.

Keep our local food banks in mind as well.