The town of Camp Verde has appointed John Knight as its new community development director.
Knight, who was the zoning administrator for the town of Jerome prior to taking the community development job, said he’s excited to serve in Camp Verde.
“I’m excited, really excited, about the opportunity to come in and work for Camp Verde, work with the community members and meet the people there,” he said.
Knight’s last day as zoning administrator in Jerome was Sept. 27 and he will start his new position Oct. 4. He was first hired by the town in August 2019 after moving to Sedona with his wife, Wendy, in 2018.
Knight has over 30years of experience in planning, a background of 11 years working in the public sector as a planner for the cities of Newberg, Oregon; Portland, Oregon; Brentwood, California; San Luis Obispo, California and Antioch, California, and, most recently, he spent the last 20 years in the private sector before taking the position in Jerome.
He has a bachelor’s degree in natural resources planning from Humboldt State University and a master’s degree in business from George Fox University.
Town Manager Russ Martin said it was Knight’s extensive experience and interest in helping the town reach its goals that made him the right person for the job.
“There were other outstanding candidates, but Mr. Knight’s desire to understand what the town wants for our future, and how he could assist in getting there, made him stand out,” Martin said in a statement.
Knight’s decision to leave his job in Jerome and become Camp Verde’s community development director has to do with his desire to be involved in the greater number of projects in the larger community.
“I was looking for some new opportunities,” he said. “There’s not a lot of new development happening in Jerome; it’s more about preservation and protection of what is here …. I was really interested in the Camp Verde position when I heard about it because that’s more similar to my background …. Camp Verde is really in the early stages of a lot of things happening there, so that, as a planner, that’s very exciting.”
Knight said he is looking forward to learning more about the community’s wants and needs from the locals themselves and working to help the town manage its inevitable growth while maintaining its“friendly, rural, small-town atmosphere.”
“Some of the biggest challenges going forward as the town grows is trying to maintain that balance of the existing residents. So many have been there a long time and want to see the town continue to be the way they remember from 20 years ago. But then you are getting a lot of influx of new people,” he said. “So there’s going to be some challenges and some tension as that growth occurs, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity as well.”
Knight also cited the availability of affordable housing for all income levels as another one of the region’s most pressing challenges that he hopes to help tackle as community development director.
One of the most important parts about community development is determining what kind of town the municipality wants to be and creating a solid plan for how to get there, he said.
“I think the most important thing is planning for the future. What kind of community are you now, and what kind of community do you want to be? And let’s make plans for how we’re going to get there,” he said. “I think Camp Verde is really on the right track in terms of having good plans, having good staff, having good councilmembers and a mayor who are serious about implementing that.”
Camp Verde residents are encouraged to stop by Town Hall to meet Knight, share their concerns and welcome him to the community.
