During its Tuesday, Jan. 9 meeting, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors swore in Adam Hess, a U.S. Army veteran, registered Democrat and a resident of Bellemont, to represent Coconino County District 3, which includes Oak Creek Canyon, Uptown and the eastern half of the Chapel area of Sedona, for the remainder of the year. Hess has announced that he will be seeking a full four-year term in this year’s election.
“I want to do what’s right for everybody,” Hess said. “I’m not leaning left, I’m not leaning right, I am here to help everybody. That’s important for me coming from a military background, I’ve always had to do the right thing … so I want to make sure everyone knows I’m here to support everybody. I’m not going to push my own agendas. I’m not here to push my own rhetoric … My goal, especially [for] Sedona is to talk to the county and the surrounding area and make sure that the creek is safe and utilized. ‘So why vote for Adam Hess?’ Because I think I’m the person that can bring everyone together and have those honest conversations.”
Central to Hess’ platform is setting up “a good network for veterans,” which stems from his own recent retirement from the military after 27 years.
“As I go into the process, it’s very confusing and difficult,” Hess said. “We’re kind of isolated up here in Northern Arizona. I want to reach out to the [reservations] to all those best served there, I want to reach all of the other veterans in my area and how we can connect with the Veterans of Foreign Wars … Because there’s a lot of things we don’t know we can use. I want to get educated on it so that I can spread that information, so helping everybody.”
Hess also said that mitigating what he sees as high wildfire risk and other environmental issues will be among his priorities for District 3.
“The biggest, scariest thing for Sedona and around Flagstaff is the wildfires,” Hess said. “We know how devastating the wildfires can be. We had a long meeting about those yesterday. I have another call after this to talk about wildfires and how we can reduce the damage … because those wildfires lead to flooding, which leads to mudflows and damage to the houses up Oak Creek Canyon, that and Bill Williams Mountain. That is probably the number one thing that we have to figure out how to fund because it’s not it’s not cheap to take care of one of the largest ponderosa forests in the nation.”
Hess mentioned that he has had two meetings with the U.S. Forest Service to understand the potential effects of a proposed mine for pozzolan, a cement additive, at the base of Bill Williams Mountain near Williams.
“[My platform is] mainly forest preservation, making sure people are safe and can utilize Flagstaff and the surrounding areas,” Hess said. “Then making sure that we have everyone capable of having a voice is what my main platform is. This year, I have to learn the job and campaign. So my goal this year is to really learn the job, understand and spread that knowledge and then get elected so I can make changes in the future. Right now I’m lining up everything and trying to get that organized.”
This is Hess’ first venture into politics. He was selected from five candidates during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5, to replace former Supervisor Matt Ryan, a fellow Democrat who represented the district for 27 years and served as the board chairman on seven occasions. Ryan retired as of Dec. 31, and the board began the discussion of his replacement during its Tuesday, Oct. 24 meeting.
“I have had the great pleasure to work with many people over these past 27 years in stewardship of our beautiful county in many ways, working with both the natural and cultural landscapes,” Ryan wrote in his resignation letter. “It has been a life’s journey from the very beginning.”
Hess recently completed a three-month internship in Ryan’s office designed to allow military members transitioning to civilian roles to gain work experience, and noted that he has been thinking about taking on a role in government for the last two years.
“I just wasn’t sure what it was going to be and how it was going to go,” Hess said. “I learned so much, I got to work with the Public Works, community development, Parks and Rec, and I learned a lot about how that works from the operator level and that helped me to understand how robust Coconino County is and how much we actually do.”
Hess is the only child of Jim and Ann Hess, a coach and teacher, respectively, who both worked for Flagstaff Unified School District and still live in the area. He grew up in Flagstaff and spent grades six through eight living in Camp Verde.
“[I] graduated from Sinagua High School, I was a football player and a wrestler, but mainly a wrestler and a football player in that order,” Hess said. “I tried wrestling at a couple of different schools, and then I ended up falling in love with the Army ROTC. I did that at [Northern Arizona University]. To get into there and to help with college I joined the National Guard … went to basic training in ’97, and then finished ROTC and graduated from NAU in December of 2000.”
Hess later received a master’s degree in geological engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and retired from active duty with the rank of major. He has a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son.
“It’s in the Coconino County District 3 people’s hands,” Hess said. “The excitement for me is to go out there and campaign … I love talking to people and I want to help my community. I’ve done everything for God and country, as a soldier, and now I get to do it in my hometown, my home county and actually talk to people and get what they need so I can apply things. I go into the campaign hoping I win, and how I can help the people of District 3 and the county as a whole … It’s scary, because I’m putting my heart and soul into this, and I think I’ll do a great job. But it’s up to the people to vote.”
