A political action committee called “Sedona Residents Unite” held a forum on April 17, for the two mayoral candidates and five candidates vying for the three open seats on the Sedona City Council: Incumbents Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella and Vice Mayor Holli Ploog and challengers Derek Pfaff, Katherine Todd and Mike Ward.

The candidates for Sedona mayor, incumbent Scott Jablow and challenger John Martinez, also spoke at the forum and were covered in a previous Sedona Red Rock News story on April 26.

Opening Statements

Ploog and Kinsella cited their previous experience on council in support of their reelection and were handing out co-branded campaign materials during the event.

“I think we have a gap between the council and our citizenry and we haven’t cracked the code of how to bring them together,” Ploog said in her opening statement. “We’re trying, not always successfully. So I really appreciate the ability to work closely with Sedona Residents Unite to try to fill that.”

Pfaff said that his 26 years of experience as a real estate attorney have prepared him to address Sedona’s municipal challenges such as roads and housing considering the limited amount of land available to the city.

“Since moving to Sedona [in 2016], I’ve been fairly involved in the community,” Pfaff said. “Back in 2018, there was discussion of closing West Sedona School or Big Park Community School. I was part of the group that was fighting to keep West Sedona open, I thought it was in the best interest of not only my kids, but the community at large … Since then I’ve fought for the [school] budget override each time that its come up for a vote.”

Todd highlighted her experience as a product manager for a mobile app company for which she has worked since 2015 and said that she will be hosting two resident roundtable discussion about the Sedona Cultural Park and housing.

“I go into different departments … and figure out what’s working, what’s not working, what our stakeholders want, what our [developer] can do, and then get everybody on the same page and try to make the best decisions possible for our company,” Todd said. “That is what I want to do for Sedona.”

Ward said his previous term on council from 2010 to 2014 was “fulfilling” and that he believed he had made “a meaningful contribution to enhancing the quality of life of the people in Sedona” through his volunteer efforts on the board of Keep Sedona Beautiful, his 14 years of service as a member of Verde Search and Rescue and his involvement in other community organizations.

Questions

The evening’s questions touched on tourism increases and management, candidates’ support for new lodging and examples of new programs that candidates would support.

“We need to see things like parking enforcement on trailheads or on the sides of streets where people just park wherever the hell they want,” Pfaff said. “We need to consider booting vehicles that are parked illegally. It would not take long for Sedona to get a reputation for a place that you don’t park where you’re not supposed to or your car’s going to get locked up.”

Pfaff also said he wanted to see the pedestrian crosswalk at Tlaquepaque closed during peak traffic times. 

“Do I want more tourists here? No, I do not. Will I get my wish? No,” Ploog said.  “I have a vision of Sedona in 10 years, with children and families returning to our community, with thriving schools, with community gathering spaces, with recreation available for our residents and families with a robust transit system that reduces dependency on single-occupancy vehicles … A lot less noise pollution from ATVs and OHVs.”

Two city-funded studies on OHV noise pollution conducted in 2019 and 2023 and a separate 2024 study from the Greater Sedona Recreation Collaborative showed that the noise levels generated by OHVs remain below the level at which hearing damage occurs.

“The Cultural Park, I think, would bring a lot of traffic and that’s exactly what people have been upset about,” Kinsella said. “[State Route] 260 has all these roundabouts going to nowhere because that area is slated for development. [Yavapai] County has an interest in developing that. We need to be working with our partners, including a closer relationship with the county as we start talking about regional approaches.”

Todd supported building housing at the Dells across from the wastewater treatment plant on State Route 89A and turning the Sedona Cultural Park into a space akin to New York City’s Central Park as well as giving residents priority parking. “I’m not sure the places we can do it,” Todd said. “But I know we could do it down in Back O’ Beyond. I would love to see some trailhead parking for residents only.”

Under federal law, the U.S. Forest Service cannot discriminate against certain user groups when setting parking policy on public land.

“I suggest that we focus on restoring Sedona’s small-town atmosphere, prioritizing the needs of those who live and work here,” Ward said. “To achieve this, we have to reduce the large number of City Council generated priorities that are burdening our city staff, and focus on those initiatives that aid us in effectively managing traffic and tourism.”

Moderators also asked candidates if they supported redesigning the city’s community engagement process to give residents “a seat at the table during conceptual design of projects.”

Ploog said that she “would like to see more community groups. I actually was a fan of the commissions that went away … I’d like to see us also do town halls.”

“We have to find out a way where community involvement is there at the beginning so that the RFPs do capture everything,” Kinsella said after confirming there should be more community involvement.

“Residents should be consulted prior to the RFPs,” Todd said. “This goes back to what I’m going to be doing with community roundtable events, because you are the experts. You are the ones who have the most experience and you’re the ones who should be coming up with the plans and making the decisions, and we implement it.”

Ward said that residents often have to wait several hours during City Council meetings to give their opinions and said that counselors should move hot-button issues closer to the start of meetings. He also suggested the city turn to local retired professionals for input.

“We need to find ways to get them involved to assist us,” Ward said. “One of the ones that comes to mind is Save the Cultural Park 2.0. They’ve done a lot of work in making plans for what could be done at the Dells, what might be done at the Cultural Park. And they have a lot of experience in organizing and managing small venues. Why aren’t we listening to them?”

Ward subsequently clarified that any site for affordable housing should be decided by voter referendum, and while Sedona Cultural Park 2.0 “might be on the right track,” he was not endorsing the group. 

Pfaff suggested the city set up a system to email residents council agendas when they are posted. The city currently has an eNotify system for 42 alerts categories including council agendas.

“I am in favor of community groups, I am in favor of people having a seat at the table,” Pfaff said. “But at the end of the day … you have to rely on your elected representatives to make the right decisions.”

Asked if they thought it was the job of the government to provide affordable housing and where such housing should be built, Todd restated that her preferred location for housing was the Dells and that the city should not be a landlord.

Kinsella and Ploog stressed their desire to lobby the state legislature for increased local control 

with regards to zoning. The two expressed support for accessory dwelling units and a review of the building code to determine if the code made construction projects cost-prohibitive. “It’s a very high priority from my perspective,” Ploog said.

“I agree with virtually everything [Kinsella] said,” Pfaff said. “Long-term, I think we probably will end up developing with the Dells … Phoenix is the sprawl capital of the Western Hemisphere. Do we really want that for Sedona? And we want to just keep spreading out so that we’ve got more and more land cover. I think it’s inevitable. But I don’t think we need to rush to that.”