Drama unfolds as Sedona City Council preps to add a member

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, AZ – July 23, 2008 – The drama surrounding the current Sedona City Council continues to play out like the bad guy in a horror flick that just won’t stay dead.

First came the nail-biting 2008 mayoral race between incumbent Pud Colquitt and Rob Adams – who was appointed to replace Ms. Colquitt on the council when she stepped down to run for mayor in 2006.

The 2008 drama started with a virtual tie in the March 11 primary vote and ended with a May 20 runoff that took two recounts to settle. Mr. Adams beat the incumbent by four votes out of 3,947 cast according to the official results.

Next came the new council’s first controversial vote on June 10, which seemed to indicate a political power shift capable of toppling the previous administration’s course on some major local issues.

Then, before the dust had settled, on July 8 Councilman Ramon Gomez announced his resignation effective August 1, to relocate his family to California.

The vacancy hangs like a poignant question mark over which way the political winds will blow when the City Council fills Mr. Gomez’s seat. Unlike an election, the six remaining members – who are arguably politically divided – will decide by majority vote what Sedona resident will complete Mr. Gomez’s term.

How the council will choose a candidate was decided at its July 22 meeting.

A call for applicants was posted July 23 on the city’s web site. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, August 29. Council members will interview the applicants and could make a final decision at the next scheduled meeting in September.

Until then the seven-seat council will remain one member short, in part because the City Council takes a semi-annual break in August.

The city could have immediately appointed Suzy Chaffee, who ran for a four-year council term in 2008, according to options laid out in a city staff report; but that choice was quickly dismissed.

“I wasn’t the one who put that as an option,” City Manager Eric Levitt said, stating that the staff report was prepared while he was out of town.

Ms. Chaffee, a 1968 Olympian, came in fourth in the March 11 primary election with 1,421 or 16.43 percent of the votes, according to the official final results.

There was some question during the council race whether Ms. Chaffee had lived in Sedona long enough to qualify as a candidate. She might have been eligible now for appointment; however Mr. Levitt said he has heard that she is no longer a resident. Ms. Chaffee did not respond to media requests for comment.

So, who the council will appoint depends on who throws a hat in the ring. Any registered voter who has lived within the city limits for at least one year and who is at least 18 years old is eligible to serve on the City Council.

The City Council faces some tough decisions soon; including proposed amendments to the Sedona Community Plan that the council hear in October, so the council is poised to scrutinize the applicants closely.

“I’m concerned about someone coming aboard who is new, since we have three newbies,” said Councilman Marc Sterling, who is a ‘newbie’ himself. “Do we have someone experienced?”

Mr. Sterling started to name a potential candidate, but Mr. Adams stopped him – properly, perhaps, because the meeting was not agendized to discuss specific candidates. Sources later confirmed that Mr. Sterling was about to name former Mayor Colquitt, although the sources were unsure whether Ms. Colquitt would accept a nomination.

Former Vice Mayor Jerry Frey was in the audience, but he quickly shot down inquiring glances from those around him.

Stephen DeVol, who unsuccessfully ran for council in 2006, said he might file an application; and Allen Elfman, a one-time Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District board member, has indicated more than a passing interest in the position.

The community and the City Council will have to wait for now to see how the applicants shake out.

In any case, the appointment process promises to keep the dead-guy-in-the-horror-flick analogy alive as political factions within the community are sure to wield whatever influences they have on the City Council’s decision.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, republished or distributed without written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.

Related article:

Shifting sands