Democratic incumbent Adam Hess and Republicans Sean Golliher and Tammy Ontiveros are all on the primary ballot for the Coconino County District 3 supervisor’s race.
The district represents Oak Creek Canyon, Uptown, Gallery Row and the eastern half of the Chapel area of Sedona on the Coconino Board of Supervisors.
Adam Hess
Hess, 46, is seeking a full term after being appointed District 3 supervisor following the retirement of Matt Ryan, a fellow Democrat who represented the district for 27 years. Hess is running unopposed in the Democratic primary and described himself as a centrist.
The November ballot will include a question on whether Coconino County should increase its annual expenditure limit base by $7.7 million, allowing it to spend revenues that currently can be collected but not spent due to an Arizona state constitutional amendment that voters approved in June 1980 requiring voter approval for expenditure limit increases.
Hess sees wildfires and forest overgrowth as the county’s most pressing safety concerns and increasing the expenditure limit as its biggest issue.
He said that he was in favor of the renewable energy ordinance.
“What I’d like to see is more [public] transportation from Sedona to locations in Oak Creek Canyon,” he said when asked about parking enforcement in Oak Creek Canyon. “If we did that, we would alleviate a lot of traffic and the need for enforcement … That’s what I’m looking into; I don’t know the viability.”
Hess said that he is “totally undecided” on the idea of paving Schnebly Hill Road from Sedona to Interstate 17, a desire among many Sedona residents as an alternate route, “[but] I love Schnebly Hill Road, it gets you deep into the red rocks.”
“It’s really about making sure that above the canyon is taken care of and safe,” Hess said when asked about what flooding mitigation efforts he would like to
in Oak Creek Canyon. “I’m on meeting with Kaibab National Forest and Coconino National Forests, directors, and they’re really interested in making sure that we’ve done the proper, you know, mitigation at the top of the rim, so it doesn’t affect the going into the canyon.”
Sean Golliher
Golliher, 50, is “semi-retired” and running a self-financed campaign as a self-described “Make America Great Again and Make Arizona John Wayne Again” candidate.
Golliher has been on workman’s compensation since March 2014. His resume states that he was formerly a program advisor for the Department of Homeland Security “on the evaluation of the effectiveness of government program and operation for the Secure Border Initiative.” He was discharged from U.S. Air Force basic training with an injury in 1997, then received an engineering degree from Arizona State University in 2004 and master’s degrees in management and business administration from Northern Arizona University in 2007 and the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2013.
“I’m all about personal freedom,” Golliher said. “The government does not need to be there for everything. I think we can take care of most of the problems ourselves, a heck a lot better than the government could. Especially after being and working on the inside of government. I’ve seen how much we waste and how much duplicity of effort goes on. I consider myself basically … a conservative-libertarian type.”
He listed his major campaign issues as roadway fatalities on SR 64 from Williams to the Grand Canyon, zoning problems for residents between Munds Parks and Mormon Lake and water and flood risk.
“I will not actually be supporting that without justification,” Golliher said of the expenditure limit increase. “I want to see justification before any expenditure increases, or before they even try and go for any bond issue or tax increases.”
Regarding paving Schnebly Hill Road, Golliher said, “I would at least want to look at having it [paved] and I found that there’s another problem with Munds Park where they don’t have enough ways out to effectively evacuate their community,” adding that he would like to look at widening the roads in the Munds Park area and paving of the road from Munds Park to Mormon Lake.
Golliher voiced his opposition to the county’s renewable energy ordinance on the grounds that it “connects back to the Chinese Community Party, World Economic Forum … it has nothing to do with renewable energy, it’s about money for the Chinese Communist Party.”
His own environmental plan calls for expanding all recycling programs to include glass and metal and investigating the feasibility of geothermal energy around Flagstaff.
On Aug. 28, 2016, Golliher ran over several traffic barricades in Nogales, “sending Border Patrol agents fleeing to avoid being run down,” The Nogales International reported on March 6, 2018. Authorities discovered 27.8 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle, along with “a glass pipe with residue in his front pants pocket and a butane torch” and two handguns.
Convicted of two felonies and following five years of probation, Golliher had his right to vote restored.
“I took the pinch because I ran out of money,” Golliher said, suggesting that he was poisoned by scopolamine or an illicit substance by an unidentified third party. “I showed I was not a meth head … I know the evidence looked bad. … I don’t remember anything.”
Tammy Ontiveros
Ontiveros, 61, said that “representing the needs of all the communities in District 3” was among her biggest priorities. “I would like to promote safe and healthy communities and that’s going to come through support for law enforcement, fire and first responders … the prevention of wildfires, protection of our environment, keeping open space open.”
Ontiveros is an alumna of Yavapai College with a degree in paralegal studies, and has served on the Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission for 14 years, chairing the commission for the last four years.
“I am a third-generation Arizona native,” Ontiveros said. “I was born in Cottonwood, moved to Flagstaff when I was 6 months old. I attended K-through-10 in Flagstaff, other than eighth grade in Williams, moved back down to the Verde Valley and graduated from Mingus Union High School. I have been a business owner for almost 29 years.”
She hopes to pitch voters on her experience with land use, such as her contributions to the 2015 Coconino County Comprehensive Plan and the county’s Utility Scale Renewable Energy Ordinance, which is designed to regulate energy projects.
“That expenditure limit is not going to raise taxes. It is allowing the revenues that are there to actually be tapped into,” Ontiveros said. “There needs to be good outreach and information so that people understand … The other thing that I like about this is because it’s going to be a ballot initiative [where] the people get to make the choice.”
“I don’t think that is the road that needs to be paved,” Ontiveros said when asked about paving Schnebly Hill Road. “It’s a little rugged and people like to get out there on their off-road vehicles explore nature. I do not see myself supporting paving Schnebly.”
Ontiveros stated that she would “defer to the experts” when asked what flooding mitigation efforts she would like to see in Oak Creek Canyon.
Early voting begins on Wednesday, July 3, with the primary election on Tuesday, July 30.
