As your new Sedona city manager, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and comment on a recent guest perspective.

It is unfortunate that the behavior of an employee that occurred prior to my arrival is the impetus for my first letter to you. Let me clearly state to this community that I do not condone nor excuse unprofessional or disrespectful behavior by any member of my team in city hall. On behalf of our city organization, I apologize to the community for the hurtful things that were said.

Public trust in the work we do is extremely important to me and is something that I’ve worked hard to foster in the over 25 years I’ve been working in public service. My expectation of my team is that we are consummate professionals in all that we say and do, especially in times of controversy when emotions run high.

As leaders, it is incumbent on all of us to hold ourselves to high standards so that we can keep civil discourse respectful as we work together to find solutions to very difficult issues facing our community. The city cannot solve any issue by itself; the community needs us to be a good partner and needs to be able to trust in our abilities to serve you. I can see that there is work to be done to get us there and I am committed to it.

For those whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, I come from McCall, Idaho, a tourist and outdoor recreation destination surrounded by national forest about 100 miles north of Boise.

As the city manager there, I dealt with many similar issues that Sedona faces including workforce housing challenges, balancing resident quality of life in a tourism economy and the need for multi-agency collaboration to move regional issues forward, just to name a few. I really love how incredible this community has been at welcoming me in my first 60 days here and have enjoyed learning about the area and getting a taste of what makes Sedona so special. I look forward to serving on your behalf.

Anette Spickard is the city manager for the city of Sedona. She took the reins of the city of Sedona on Monday, April 8, 2024.