This is part of a series of Camp Verde Town Council candidate essays that will be published over the next weeks.
Having been born and raised in the great state of Arizona, I am familiar with the wonderful history and culture of our state and have also traveled to most of it. I received my Bachelor of Science from Northern Arizona University and my Master of Arts from Arizona State University.
My husband, now deceased, graduated from Camp Verde High School as valedictorian, served in the U.S. Navy and spent his career in timber management for the U.S. Forest Service. I have been a professional educator my entire career, retiring as an assistant dean from Yavapai College. We were blessed with two beautiful daughters and now have four wonderful grandchildren.
Having served on the Camp Verde Town Council for seven and a half years and also the Camp Verde Planning and Zoning Commission has given me the knowledge to be a candidate for Town Council. Additionally, I have a strong financial, accounting and economic background. During my career as an educator, I served on several leadership teams, prepared and managed budgets, supervised faculty and staff and was responsible for setting up interview committees for the hiring process.
This experience has given me the ability to look at the total picture of the issue and complete the necessary research to make informed and responsible decisions. Serving on multiple committees and volunteering with civic activities is a way of life for me.
I am a strong advocate of private property rights and believe that government policies should help protect those rights. Just like the framers of the Constitution that governs our country today, the early councils in Camp Verde established policies to create guidelines for the town to operate and to protect the quality of the community for all residents. As a moderate conservative, I strongly believe that town codes need to be enforced fairly and uniformly. Codes are there for a reason and should only be changed if that change is necessary for the improvement of the entire community. To encourage prospective investors, the town needs to do a review of policies and procedures to see how we can improve the process for developers wanting to build businesses and more affordable housing in Camp Verde.
Camp Verde needs to get its budget under control. The town continues to take on big projects before finishing ones that have already been started, and continues to increase employees to the point that we are almost at 100 compared to 69 to 70 just a few years ago. If you look at the budget, you can see that the largest operational expense is for wages and benefits. This year, the increases in benefits and wages are approximately 10.4 percent.
The current debt that the town has incurred has dropped our S&P bond rating to an A minus. Contrary to some statements that have been made, an A minus bond rating is not an excellent rating. Current economic news reports that bond ratings are leveling out and will be even harder to get. The town needs to strive to decrease its debt and get the bond rating back up to an AAA plus, an AAA, an AA plus, or at least an AA rating. The town needs to schedule multiple budget hearings at regular council times to encourage citizen participation and input.
In summary, I want to emphasize that Camp Verde is a wonderful community to live in and raise a family. The many priceless natural resources within our town are invaluable to our way of life and need to be preserved. If elected to the council, I will be a strong and always available voice for the citizens.
