Opinions

One of the biggest problems that comes with planning for a community’s future transportation needs is that plans typically outlive planners.

Many mistakes have been made throughout the Verde Connect process by both those for and against the project.

I am proud that the Town of Camp Verde Council had the wisdom and courage to recognize this proposed project for what it is: A poorly conceived, waste of taxpayer’s dollars that does nothing to deal with the very real traffic issues that exist in Yavapai County today.

I would like to comment on a couple points in the June 9th editorial regarding the “high cost” of public safety retirement pensions.

As many of my Cottonwood neighbors do, I walk most mornings. I have been very disturbed by the increased litter of plastic bags stuck to cacti, trees and throughout our beautiful desert.

Legal debates can best be summarized by the philosophical clash between “a deal is a deal” and “let’s make a deal.”

Their response objecting to our Motion just re-confirms their position of not allowing the taxpayers an opportunity to vote regarding the proposed consolidation efforts to consolidate Mingus Union High School into the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District.

The results of the Verde Valley Master Transportation Plan 2015 public participation of only 45 people from three towns should not have been accepted as credibly representative.

This project has to have a connector road from the bridge on the Verde River to Middle Verde Road. It is the main requirement of the bridge grant from the Federal Government.

Step 1 was implementing a two-year ban on camping along the State Route 260 corridor between Cottonwood and Camp Verde.

Six years ago, 19 members of the Granite Mountain firefighting team were tragically killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire near Prescott.

Key to personal integrity is doing what you say you are going to do.

Editorial Page Cartoon No. 2: June 16, 2019

Editorial Page Cartoon 1: June 16, 2019

A familiar refrain in any government decision-making process is the admonition to “let us vote on it.”

We came through Sedona for the first time in late August 1969. It looked like a gorgeous place that was almost empty. We have come back to Sedona ever since and finally moved to VOC in 2012.

Controlled burns are viewed as part of the overall Forest Service management plan to spare us from raging wildfires that consume hundreds of thousands acres of forest land and leave the rest of the state buried in smoke so thick that visibility is all but lost within 100 yards.

Editorial Page Cartoon No. 2: June 12, 2019

Editorial Page Cartoon No. 1: June 12, 2019

It is very unfair to lump the Arizona State Retirement System in with this editorial about the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

So let’s stop calling people names and actually talk to people as opposed to talking down to people with the idea “I’ve been here longer and know better. so shut up”.

Cottonwood is an airport town, as are Sedona and Prescott. This gem is not hidden. The benefits go beyond funding. The benefits are all the commerce that is attracted in and around the airport.

Government pension programs promote an entitlement premise that there are guarantees in life.

Editorial Page Cartoon: June 9, 2019

It’s not over ‘til it’s over, but at first glance it looks as if some of the primary concerns about the Verde Connect project have been resolved.