Mayoral candidate Matthew Turner has big vision for Sedona
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http://www.sedona.biz/matthew-turner-mayor0107.htm
By Carl Jackson | Sedona.biz
Sedona, AZ – Environmentalist Matthew Turner doesn’t think small. According to his campaign platform he wants nothing less than to make Sedona a world model for the environment, spirituality, the arts, and sustainability. Like the famous line in the movie Field of Dreams, Mr. Turner seems certain that “if you build it [the tourists] will come,” and Sedona’s environment and residents will be healthier for it.
And with Washington to Wall Street focused on renewable energies like solar, wind, and ethanol; and supporters like Olympic skier Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee in his corner (Ms. Chaffee is running for the Sedona City Council), it’s hard to doubt him. That’s why he’s running for Mayor of Sedona.
But big thinking doesn’t seem to paralyze Mr. Turner’s ability to get things done. He seems to know that the secret to success is to proceed in small increments.
As founder of the environmental group Green Sedona, Mr. Turner successfully petitioned the City of Sedona to use alternative herbicides instead of regular herbicides; not only to protect the environment but our health. Wisely, he didn’t ask the Council to create a blanket City ordinance banning the use of regular herbicides, which some might have done. Instead, he suggested that the City do a test for six months: manual weeding, alternative herbicides like C-Cide (Vitamin C based), and investigate longer term solutions like rubber concrete or netting. At the same time, he rallied residents and the media around his cause and succeeded.
More recently, he did the same thing when he convinced the Sedona City Council to support the use of natural cleaning products at City Hall. Not everywhere in Sedona, just City Hall.
Today, environmental issues are a top agenda for the Sedona City Council.
As you would expect Mr. Turner also supports Sedona becoming a National Scenic Area to preserve its open spaces, solar lighting on 89A instead of 76 light poles to protect Sedona’s dark skies, bike lanes and hybrid cars, and he wants Sedona to be the first solar city in America to reduce greenhouse gasses and end its dependence on non-renewable oil. To fund the latter, he is proposing to utilize renewable energy incentives (i.e. production tax credits, investment rebates, and renewable energy certificates) available through CitizenRe Corporation. For a $500 upfront deposit (that you get back with interest), the Citizenrē Corporation pays for, installs, owns and operates solar panel installation for your home. Your contract is for 1, 5 or 25 years and the energy savings from the solar panels will offset your regular utility bill.
But is Mr. Turner a one-message candidate? Does he have the experience and breadth of knowledge to lead the City of Sedona? Checking through his platform issues suggests that the environment isn’t the only thing on his mind.
According to Mr. Turner, “the budget is the most important issue facing the City, we can’t do anything without revenue. The City of Sedona is facing major infrastructure projects such as roads (89A), sewer, storm drainage and the like; not to mention the funds already raised to pay for enhancements along SR179. How will the City pay for these projects that are so important to its citizens?
Increasing the Bed Tax would be a good way of increasing revenue. There are other cities in Arizona that have higher Bed Taxes than we do.
I would also support the issuance of a General Obligation bond. The proceeds of the bond could be used to help fund these projects while spreading out the repayment obligation over time so that the City can repay it in a reasonable manner out of its regular revenue. This should help the City avoid raising taxes that impact its citizens.
I also think the City needs to take a hard look as its expenses. Take the Roadrunner trolley, for instance. This is costing taxpayers $365,000 per year. Very few use this for transportation. The City should have waited until the SR179 construction was finished because there will be sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge. These may be sufficient to help tourists circulate through Sedona’s shopping districts.
I also believe that as Sedona becomes a model city when I am Mayor, that we will attract world-wide media attention that will increase visitors and revenue. I don’t think we will need to rely on other sources of revenue when the City becomes a model city and draws more tourist dollars. Going green will actually save the City money. For example we saved the city $22,000 a year by switching to green cleaning and natural pesticides.”
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I feel like moving to Sedona right now just so that I can vote for this guy! If you would like more information on the Citizenre rent solar program, just click on the video link under catagories. Several of the videos explain the program. Solarjoules can get Sedona residents on the Citizenre rent solar waiting list now. If this idea takes of for Sedona the wait could be a very long time. Simply click on solar interest list located near the top on any page. If you are not in Sedona you can still be added to the waiting list.
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Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee addresses Democrats of the Red Rocks
Text of Ms. Chaffee’s speech on January 17, 2008
Sedona, AZ – The early bird gets the worm! Great to meet some more of you Sedona movers and shakers this morning!
I am Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee, alias Suzy Chapstick, and I am running for City Council to help make Sedona the “Green Capital of the World.” And at the same time making us an even more thriving artistic, spiritual and adventure Center.
I believe in conservative growth, with architecture in harmony with one of the “Wonders of the World.” Because we are blessed to be able to live in a National Park, we have a responsibility to be Olympic stewards of these magical lands that are sacred to the tribes and our spiritual community.
Therefore my first priority as a Council member would be to make Sedona a National Scenic Area to protect our Red Rock Cathedral from becoming a Phoenix; make the Council and Mayor fiscally accountable, and the budget better balanced.
As a Girl Scout I learned to “Be Prepared.” They say smaller communities that are prepared will survive and thrive in case of environmental surprises. Therefore we need to be energy independent through Sedona becoming a Solar City this year, thru Citizenre.com’s affordable system ($500 refundable plus regular monthly bill).
We need some wind energy turbines (in case of volcanic eruption that would block the sun), to also streamline shifting off coal energy, our main source of electricity that blankets us with mercury. Clean energy mass transit is also a must to cut down traffic, including to Cottonwood, Oak Creek Village, Cornville and Flagstaff, where 70% of our workers are from, in addition to some affordable employee housing.
We also need to be food independent starting with a “farmers market.” Aspen’s is fun, the tourists love it too, as buying local is more green. We also need to create permaculture gardens starting with the schools so children can learn survival skills while eating organic foods for lunch (like other schools).
As Vice Chair of Green Sedona, I helped Matthew Turner, an environmental scientist, replace the pesticides at City Hall with green cleaning, saving the City $22,000 not to poison its citizens. Matthew also replaced the herbicides on 89A with Vitamin C-cide and he was honored last weekend at the Hyatt as a “Local Illuminary” for cleaning up Sedona. Let’s give him a hand.
Next I’d like to focus on shifting the schools to green cleaning and other natural products because the real cause of so many children having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is environmental toxins. We also need to clean up our homes from synthetic products that Los Angeles scientists found are the No. 2 cause of pollution next to tailpipe exhaust, which are melting our glaciers and my snow!
To protect our drinking water and aquifers, I urge an alternative to Mayor Colquitt’s plan to inject reclaimed water directly into our aquifers on 89A toward Cottonwood, to filter it Mother Nature’s way – She knows best – by expanding the wildlife sanctuary there, which has become an eco-tourism attraction. Plus we need to protect Oak Creek’s water.
As a Council member I will continue to write local, national and world oress stories, like preserving our renowned starry skies. Thanks to my Native Voices Foundation, Sedona is getting amazing coverage worldwide which is bolstering tourism (see all these stories on http://www.snow-riders.org home page bottom).
Here are some of the other issues I favor:
Registration for short term vacation rentals to also provide revenue to the City.
Solar-lit bike lanes and a walking path along Oak Creek.
Mandatory recycling (using local companies) and creating a local toxic waste disposal, as part of our green model.
As a former Olympic downhill racer, I’ll speed up getting our Performing Arts Center completed so our businesses and culture here will ROCK!
My background
After the Olympics I worked with 8 US Presidents – including getting Title IX – Equal Opportunity for women in school sports strongly enforced, because women are key to getting the whole family healthy. President Clinton applauded me for creating interracial harmony for inspiring 60 ski areas to invite nearby tribes back to their ancestral mountains to ski, snowboard and share their magnificent Earth-honoring dancers. That inspired the Indian Elders to save ski areas in 10 states from snow droughts. I am bringing that know-how to this region.
Many Sedona leaders were part of our international prayer, along with Arizona’s 13 tribes, which resulted in Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks getting six feet of natural snow. Therefore, they don’t need to use waste water in their snowmaking machines that contain hospital pharmaceuticals that cannot be filtered out, which would end up in Oak Creek and our drinking water and aquifers. Our foundation currently heads the Presidents Healthier U.S. Initiative on behalf of Native Americans in the Great Outdoors; and I am related to the late Senator John Chafee (R) who helped author the Clean Air, Water and Endangered Species Acts.
While I am a Democrat, I am honored to have Republican and Independent supporters because of my experience, connections, and bi-partisan spirit, which helps streamline getting things done, and making it fun. As an Olympian, running for office for the first time, I say, let’s shift to a clean campaign to make Sedonans proud!
This election is critical for the healthy future of Sedona at these environmental crossroads.
Remember, action speaks louder than words. Given the Council and Mayor’s resistance to going green for the last four years, your vote can go a long ways toward getting Sedona up to speed in becoming a more economically, sustainably thriving community.
Let’s do it together!
Thank you!
A Video of Suzy Chaffee’s speech can be found at this link.
http://www.sedona.biz/suzy-chaffee0108.htm