Let the games begin!!!

By Jeremiah Perez – There is a growing  sense of panic as the members of the Sedona City council voting bloc  begin to realize just how precarious their majority hold on the council, is this coming election.  The writing is on the wall. The community is incensed over their treatment by the council majority at meetings and being dismissed as irrelevant by members of The Bloc.

The community has politicized itself. The community has three-solid issues to move forward with. And the community has formidable candidates. The Bloc surely has to realize that Mayor Adams will be re-elected hands down. Also, Barbara Litrell is a shoe-in too.

That means opponents of 89A lights, the proponents of democracy and the NSA will have three people, counting Cliff Hamilton, guaranteed on the council. They only need one more to win the majority.  Councilwoman Scagnelli will be re-elected for sure.

Councilman Dan Surber is facing a formidable opponent, Dr. Dennis Rayner, an active community member and a real go-getter passionate about the issues at hand. However, even if he beats Raynor there is still one council seat left those not in the Bloc’s good standing, stand a good chance of winning. Thus, the last-minute scramble by the Block to put amenable candidates in the election.

ADOT knows there is a distinct possibility the face of the council is going to change so they are scrambling to get their application process finished for the lights funding before the change occurs. Meanwhile, the bill that holds the funding in Congress has not been reauthorized yet.

Uh..Oh. ..Talk about a race to the finish line. And one can be sure a new majority reversing the previous council’s vote against NSA will give Rep. Kirkpatrick all the ammo she needs to get the bill passed. The era of appointments will also end. The Block’s got its back to the wall. They will have to take extreme measures to win this one.

They will need to silence any media expressing views on any issues contrary to their own by any means at their disposal.  The existence of a second media outlet in the community during last election expressing alternate ideas to those reported in the established media was the key to Mayor Adams winning those two extra votes and Councilman Hamilton being elected. It is vital for the Bloc to make sure this does not happen again.

They will need to initiate blogging campaigns in support of their positions.  Their two chosen candidates will have to be trained in debate on issues or at least be given talking points by the Bloc to get them through the debates. Clearly, they have their work cut out for them. All candidates on the other side need to move forward relentlessly with the same passion and ruthlessness their opponents will.

That means letter writing campaigns, heavy duty advertising in all the media outlets, mass bloggings on Websites, community events, fairs, education forums, parades, sensational rallies and ensuring the media is not cowed into silence on controversial issues by the Bloc.

And last but actually most important, anti-block candidates need to be extremely educated on the current budget; the gravity of the dwindling revenues; understand and know which council members had their heads in the sand calling the budget great when it was going down the tubes; have concrete and viable solutions to the budget crisis to present for the future; and the courage to speak the truth at all times. This will be the “Mother of All Community Elections” for sure because there is so much now at stake.