Editor’s Note This is the last in a series of Camp Verde Town Council candidate essays.
I have lived in Camp Verde for 33 years. I was born in Prescott and am a graduate of Prescott High School and Prescott College. All four of my children have graduated from Camp Verde High School.
Three of my four children make the Verde Valley their home. My eldest son lives in Camp Verde and works for the Arizona Department of Transportation. My second son is a Major in the U.S. Air Force, currently serving as JAG officer at Wright/ Patterson Air Force Base. My daughter, as some of you might know, works as a pharmacy technician for CVS, and my youngest son is employed by a local construction firm.
My children were raised in a historic house of Camp Verde near the library and the Verde River. As with any old house, it has its share of secrets, one being that the wood flooring came from the town gym. My kids were thrilled to find that we had a “basketball court” in the living room.
Besides being a mother, teaching has been my profession. I did my student teaching at Camp Verde High School, which is one of my fondest teaching memories. Then I taught at Montessori schools for eight years. Eventually, I found my way to American Heritage Academy, where I taught first, third, sixth, seventh and eighth grades before retiring last year.
I have been a volunteer for the town festivals over the years. Also, I’m currently an English as a second language teacher at the library twice a week. It affords me the ability to continue teaching and serving the community. I’m a big sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. As well, I’ve taken on the job of cleaning up Circle K Hill for the past 12-plus years. In fact, when I’ve waited too long, I’ll get calls from friends reminding me that it’s time for another cleanup. And I am happily the primary caregiver for my 8-month-old grandson and his brothers while mom and dad are working.
It has been my privilege to serve on the Camp Verde Town Council as your representative these past years. I have seen the town go from barely hanging on financially to where we are today, getting things accomplished.
I would like to offer my thanks to the Camp Verde citizens who voted for the acquisition of the sanitary district. As a result, we are able to place infrastructure on State Route 260 while the road construction is being done, saving an untold amount of money and giving the town the tools to bring in businesses along that corridor, while protecting our downtown. In the future, we will need to acquire the water company, and I can assure the public that it will in no way make us less secure financially, or we won’t do it.
Let’s remember that our only revenue source is sales tax. You are paying the tax when you buy something, that’s it. And that doesn’t include groceries, which are not taxed.
Some candidates are using numbers that are illogical. They are comparing our debt with only one year’s revenues. The town could not build a library or a park unless we spread the payments over a period of time, just as most people do when buying a house or a car.
I could not afford to buy my house with just one year’s pay. So the bank loaned me the money and I contracted to pay them over a 30-year period. This is the way the town is able to afford things like the library and Sports Complex.
So, the town has had to go into debt in order to do the big projects that we have waited for so long. However, it has been done responsibly in accordance to state statute that requires that the town have a balanced budget each year and financial reserves. Our town’s income-to-debt servicing ratio is just 9 percent. Also, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services has given the town a grade of A minus. The town is on good financial footing, and those who are using skewed numbers to suggest that the town is in financial straits, either has a problem with the Camp Verde Sports Complex or are neighbors who really don’t want it in their backyard.
Camp Verde’s future is bright if we continue as a community and council keep working together for the betterment of our town. I would like to see the progress we have made to continue, at the same time, protecting our Town Center and all the festivals and activities that we enjoy.
