The Sedona Chamber of Commerce hosted a Sedona City Council candidate forum, moderated by Mary Chicoine, on Monday, June 17, at the Sedona Performing Arts Center.

Incumbent Vice Mayor Holli Ploog and Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella and newcomers Derek Pfaff and Katherine Todd, running for the three open seats on council, pitched the 64 attendees on why they should be elected.

Housing

“The city’s been good at thinking outside the box,” Kinsella said, citing its deed restriction program, so far used by 12 residents, and its down payment assistance program, so far used by four residents. She proposed that the Sedona Cultural Park be used to create a mixed community “that accommodates housing of all levels,” including homes and a community center.

“We do have coming online Sunset Lofts,” she added. The 46-unit Sunset Lofts project was proposed on July 7, 2021. Ground has not yet been broken on the project. “We need to have housing in our community for people who are working and serving us.”

Ploog called for variety in housing and said that the city’s Dells property outside city limits could “potentially” be used for housing, while Pfaff said the city could try to attract developers, but that the key was lobbying the legislature to “get short-term rental control back in the city … so we can see rents come down.”

“We’re not going to build our way out of it,” Pfaff said. He called the Cultural Park a “good site” for workforce housing.

“I would actually really like to see housing moved out into the Dells because I don’t think it’s in peoples’ best interests to be renters for the rest of their lives,” Todd said. “We have 200 acres out there. There’s a lot we could do with a master-planned community. It would actually be in the people’s benefit to actually be able to own a home, a small home or manufactured model … we could actually have a farm out there.”

Workforce

All four candidates expressed the view that Sedona should attempt to attract remote workers as an alternative to tourism. “The more telecommuters we can get into the area, the better,” Pfaff said.

Todd recommended building a tech center for remote workers as part of the future development of the Cultural Park.

Ploog called for the installation of broadband internet to become a city initiative.

Kinsella said broadband would be needed within the next five years. Kinsella also proposed that the city provide recreational and cultural opportunities for workers.

Todd suggested that the city develop a program to redirect surplus funding from vouchers for the homeless to grants to employees “who could give a two-year commitment to an employer” in order to make their rents more affordable.

Arts and Culture

Kinsella cited the council’s previous decision to allocate a minimum of $140,000 for arts funding through the small grants program each year in the future.

“We need to look at the money we spend as more than art for art’s sake,” Pfaff said, emphasizing that the city should use its arts spending to manage tourism.

“It’s not the art community that it used to be, and I think we need to get back there, because an art tourist is a perfect tourist,” Ploog said.

“I would really love to see the Cultural Park turned into the most amazing place for us as a community to gather,” Todd said. “This is where we can have a rec center, places where we can have walking paths for people with limited mobility. We need places where residents can become friends.”

Zeroing In

“I think we’re on a spending spree that we can’t continue indefinitely,” Ploog said. “I would like to see a zero-based budget … I fear for world events or another pandemic.”

“The spending that has been done has been prudent and well-thought-out,” Kinsella said, but called for tightening the reins. “We cannot just keep inflating our budget, the staff levels.”

The four budgets for which Ploog and Kinsella voted as members of council were the four largest in Sedona’s history, totaling $369.3 million over the last four years.

“Starting at zero and working your way up is the right way to do it,” Pfaff said.

“We need to prepare for a budget downturn,” Todd said. “Our staff levels are pretty high for a city this size, so I would like to see goals within departments … in order to increase staff, you have to meet goals so that you can show that you are actually doing the job that you were hired to do.”

Transport

“One of my priorities is not taking over 89A from ADOT, but taking over 89A from the Schnebly Hill [Road] roundabout to the Y so we would have control over the over the crossing at Tlaquepaque,” Ploog said. “We haven’t discussed that with ADOT yet.”

That section of highway is State Route 179, not State Route 89A.

“We really have to look at a bypass” from West Sedona to the village, Ploog added, calling it a “bolder solution.”

“With 89A, it’s less about any sort of takeover and more about working with ADOT to get them to carry out what we think is the right approach,” Pfaff said. He recommended installing crosswalk gates at the Tlaquepaque crossing to force use of the underpass. As for bypasses, he said, “until we have some real bypasses around the city of Sedona we’re just going to have the same traffic issues,” but noted that he did not believe restoring “the famed low-water crossing” will fix the problem.

Pfaff also said that the city should “expand mass transit to get more vehicles off the roads,” and Kinsella also advocated “getting people out of their cars and taking public transportation.”

“Microtransit is about to come online,” Kinsella added.

“Look at regrading Schnebly Hill Road,” Todd said. “It was used and it wasn’t that long ago.” She stressed the importance of pathways through neighborhoods “so we can get from point A to point B without actually having to get into a car.”

Ploog said she had no opinion yet on the proposed city acquisition of the Sedona Airport from the county.

“We need to see the studies,” Pfaff said. “I ask myself, what do we gain by taking over the airport?”

“I do not believe Sedona should own it,” Todd said, adding that it was needed and she felt it to be well-run.

“It’s important to have an airport in the city,” Kinsella said. “The county basically asked us to consider what the alternatives would be for the airport.”

OHVs

“What steps will you take to advocate for the off-road tour and rental industry, and how will you work to improve the relationship between these business and local residents?” Chicoine asked.

Todd suggested the city “work with the tour people and the drivers” to install quieter mufflers and steer renters away from certain communities. Ploog referred to her support for the voluntary agreement the city has already entered into with OHV tour businesses.

“The city’s worked with the businesses instead of coming down with a heavyhanded ordinance,” Kinsella said, and echoed Todd’s comments on mufflers and avoiding certain neighborhoods. “We need … to get some laws that cover this.”

Pfaff recused himself on the grounds that some of the partners in his law firm “have interests in the outcome of any OHV legislation.”

No candidates answered how they would advocate for OHV businesses.

Tourism

All four candidates called for city management of tourism.

“I want to see the marketing done more to stabilize the market … so it’s less of a rollercoaster ride,” Pfaff said, adding that the city’s marketing should focus on “here’s how not to be a nuisance to residents.”

Ploog likewise argued that having the city take over the responsibility for tourism management and marketing calmed hostility toward the chamber and highlighted the city’s $2,566,110 allocation for communications and tourism management in the fiscal year 2025 budget; the value of the city’s contract with the chamber in FY23 was $1,670,211.

“The city’s created an entire department … all so that we could message appropriately,” Kinsella said, calling for the city to “control the message for our destination,” while Todd said that “we also need to look at the way we are going to market ourselves.”

“We need to make sure we attract the tourists that are going to come here and stay three or four nights,” Kinsella added. Todd agreed, saying that the city should market Sedona as “a place where you can’t do it all in one day” by “explaining to people that we have too much, too much to see, too much to do.”