Sedona’s first-ever mayoral debate took place on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre between candidates Samaire Armstrong and sitting Vice Mayor Scott Jablow.

The debate was organized by the Sedona Red Rock News and was moderated by General Manager Kyle Larson and Managing Editor Christopher Fox Graham, sponsored by Exposures International Gallery, Crystal Magic and Mexidona.

The moderators and sponsors were introduced by Sedona International Film Festival executive director Pat Schweiss, who encouraged the audience to patronize the bar before and during the exchange: “Nothing goes better with a debate than wine, cause you’re going to need to drink!”

Track Record

With the evening’s first question, Graham reminded the audience that Jablow, as vice mayor, voted with defeated incumbent Mayor Sandy Moriarty 84.8% of the time, and asked how voters could expect him to be any different. Jablow argued that as the leading candidate in the August primary, he believed voters have confidence in him, and that he did not vote in lockstep with Moriarty, mentioning two occasions on which they differed. He stated that most projects that come before the City Council are well vetted by city staff, and he votes to approve them on their merits.

“I think it’s wonderful that in eight years you were able to manage to find twice that you voted out of sync with the mayor,” Armstrong commented.

In response to a similar question about her inexperience, Armstrong replied, “Experience means nothing if there are zero results.”

Housing

Graham opened the second half of the debate by noting that both candidates have “starkly different strategies and ideas” for solving the city’s housing problems and asking them to present their top options.

“What we need to do is walk back the ridiculous policies that make it impossible to build in an already expensive climate,” Armstrong suggested, referring to the city’s adoption of more elaborate building codes and its prohibition of Accessory Dwelling Units. She expressed opposition to the city’s attempts to subsidize long-term rental properties and home buyers, instead floating the idea of giving $25,000 to residents in order to enable them to build ADUs.

Armstrong sees no need for more workforce housing in the center of Sedona itself. “We have limited space here, and it’s important that we keep open space … I believe that it should be within a 30-mile range. Not everyone gets to live in town just because they work in town.”

“I don’t believe that we should be pushing our workforce — anybody — to the outskirts of town 30 miles away,” Jablow countered, adding that he wanted to see local workers spending time in Sedona with their kids. He pointed out that ADUs are likely to be turned into short-term rentals, but added, “If it’s more controlled, I think if people want to have an ADU and want to rent to a long-term resident or an employee anywhere in the city, I think that’s great.”

Jablow expressed his support for public-private partnerships that can address workforce housing needs, such as the Sunset Lofts project that will provide 46 apartments exclusively for low-income residents.

Transport

With tourism in Sedona expected to drop to 2019 levels through 2024, and shuttle ridership down 50% since opening day, Graham asked the candidates, “Will you kill the [trailhead] shuttle outright or convert it into a city circulator?”

Jablow disputed that tourism was likely to decline and repeatedly alluded to the shuttle’s success in having served 143,000 riders in 120 days.

“The bus system is a joke,” Armstrong complained. She argued that the city missed an opportunity by turning down an offer from Jeep tour companies to provide a local transportation service. She also suggested that the city combine solutions to its transport and housing problems by allowing local workers to live on a piece of land off Dry Creek Road owned by a local company and be ferried to and from their jobs by the tour company.

As for the vehicular connectors intended to keep local traffic off State Route 89A, construction of which was overwhelmingly supported by residents but halted by a group of homeowners, Jablow said the council would be looking at restarting work on them with a new emphasis on emergency evacuation.

After Graham explained to her what the connectors were, Armstrong commented, “Fortunately that project was brought to the attention of the community well before this disaster has been allowed to take place.”

Both candidates declined to respond to a follow-up question from Graham about the city’s plan to close the taxpayer-funded Back o’ Beyond Road and how they would prevent special treatment for wealthy property owners.

Budget

Observing that Sedona’s current $105 million budget, roughly $11,000 per person, is 2.2 times the average for cities of comparable size in Arizona, Larson questioned the candidates on whether or not that budget was sustainable.

Armstrong said that the 47% increase in the last budget was primarily targeted at capital improvements such as parking and sidewalks intended to encourage tourism, which she argued were poor uses of city funds “completely out of sync with reality;” Jablow attributed the increased budget to the city’s need to fund workforce housing and its “fantastic” transportation system.

While Armstrong expressed her readiness to fire Sedona’s sustainability coordinator in order to save money, Jablow justified the high salaries of city employees — 17 of whom earn six figures a year — by referring to the need to pay them a living wage.

Transparency

Graham asked the candidates how they would remedy the council’s increasing use of consent agenda items, which “subverts the public process.”

Armstrong proposed that Sedona employ a version of the “Request to Speak” system in use by the state legislature, which allows voters to offer comments on bills under discussion in order to inform legislators and contrast their votes with public opinion.

Jablow downplayed the urgency of reviewing the use of consent agendas, saying he had no problem using them to handle contracts and projects that had already been vetted.

Masks

Perhaps the only moment when the two candidates agreed came when they were asked how they would use their emergency powers to protect workers in the event of a future pandemic.

“I would believe they could make the choices for themselves,” Armstrong said in reference to incumbent mayor Sandy Moriarty’s March 2020 decision to shut down local businesses. “We are an independent country focused on freedoms …. This is America! Why are we even having this conversation?” Her emphasis drew the evening’s only mid-debate applause from the crowd.

Jablow concurred: “When the mayor shut down the city, I did not agree with it. I believe that shops should be able to make that decision on their own. But the decision was made, and City Council was not even given any input on that decision.”

The Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon theatres were fully occupied for the debate. About 260 people streamed the event live. It can be streamed on our Facebook and YouTube pages. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.