Editor’s Note This is part of a series of Camp Verde Town Council candidate Q&As that will be published over the next weeks.
I’m the new guy. Never before have I aspired election to public office. When I first started talking to people about running for council, I was encouraged by several who wanted someone different from the usual folks who are perennial candidates.
My wife Erin and I moved to Camp Verde just four years ago. Erin is a third-grade teacher at Camp Verde Elementary School, and I am twice-retired. I joined the Army as a private right out of high school and served four years on active duty. After discharge, I joined the National Guard and began work as a federal police officer in New York. Later, I was hired by the IRS in Manhattan, the only job I’ve ever hated. I returned to active military service and ultimately retired at the rank of major. After retiring from the Army, I worked as a probation officer in Rochester, N.Y., primarily on a violent youth [street gang] task force until my retirement in 2006.
I earned my college degrees while on active military service. I have four adult children: My oldest, Alyson, lives in San Diego. My youngest, Brooke, is in graduate school in Manchester, N.H. My son Phillip is a Marine Corps combat veteran and lives in Rochester. He is to be married Aug. 11. Finally, my middle daughter Katelynn lives in Ontario, N.Y., with my two grandchildren.
The most important issue for me in this election is fiscal responsibility. Government spends too much money and it usually does it inefficiently. In simple terms, government doesn’t have any of its own money. Government has to take what money it spends from we the citizens. Whether it comes from taxes, fees, revenue sharing, government grants or anywhere else, it’s our money they are spending. I think government at all levels believes it is entitled to our money. A lot of it gets wasted, and we the actual payers don’t have much influence over how it’s spent.
Camp Verde has taken on a considerable amount of debt over the past several years, and you can be sure that more borrowing is just around the corner. Much of what the town currently owes is long-term debt and will be paid not just by us, but by our children and grandchildren, as well. Compounding the problem is the level in Camp Verde’s unencumbered cash reserve, or “rainy day” fund. It’s there to pay the bills in case revenue ever dries up. The fund has been spent down to a dangerous level. Town leadership’s spending must be reined in. We cannot sustain these levels of spending without tax increases or service reductions.
The other issue motivating my run for a council seat is transparency in government. Council and the town manager set agendas for meetings. Issues to be voted on are brought up in two ways. One of these ways is the consent agenda, where several issues are included and voted on without discussion or questions from the council. Citizens in the audience, if they don’t know where the details for these issues can be found, have no idea what items may have been approved by consent.
The other way issues are voted on is by conducting “regular business.” These items are listed on the printed agenda with a brief summary. As each item is brought up, the manager or a key staff person makes a short presentation. Council is invited to ask questions and a discussion may ensue. This happens far too infrequently. Citizens can request to speak about the item under consideration, but they are limited to three minutes and the council does not give a response. Then a vote occurs.
Often, this process happens with breathtaking speed. Because the votes are taken immediately after the issue is presented, there is no time to research the issue or for citizens to discuss it with friends or neighbors. If the press wanted to run an article about an item under consideration, it’s too late. We’re on to the next item. There isn’t an urgent need to vote immediately for most of what comes before council. An immediate vote does, however, limit pushback from citizens and it eliminates the need to answer questions posed by concerned townspeople. Council needs to delay most voting until the next meeting so people can contact members with concerns about issues.
To summarize, I see a few things in town government that I would like to help improve. I’m not a natural politician or campaigner, and I would not like to become one. I have no aspirations for higher office and I believe that all public office should have term limits, especially any office that I might get elected to. There are a lot of smart people with great ideas in Camp Verde. I’d like to meet them and carry their advice and their concerns to the Town Council.
