* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. TODAY IS OCTOBER 4TH, 2023. [00:00:02] THIS, [Special City Council on October 4, 2023.] THIS IS A SPECIAL, UH, SESSION FOR SEDONA CITY COUNCIL. UH, MADAM CLERK, WILL YOU CALL THE, UH, ROLL CALL PLEASE? MAYOR BLO. PRESENT VICE MAYOR PLU. HERE. COUNCILOR DUNN. PRESENT. COUNCILOR LTZ? HERE. COUNCILOR FURMAN. HE HERE. HE SIT HERE BY PHONE. COUNCILOR KINSELLA. PRESENT. COUNCILOR WILLIAMSON HERE. OKAY. UH, ITEM, UH, THREE. EXECUTIVE SESSION. UPON THE PUBLIC MAJORITY VOTE OF THE MEMBERS CONSTITUTING A QUORUM, THE COUNCIL MAY HOLD AN EXECUTIVE SESSION THAT IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES, A DISCUSSION CONSIDERATION REGARDING THE EMPLOYMENT ASSIGNMENT AND APPOINTMENT OF TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD APPLICANTS INCLUDING, INCLUDING INTERVIEW OF THE FOLLOWING APPLICANTS. THIS MATTER IS BROUGHT IN EXECUTIVE SESSION PURSUANT TO A R S 38 DASH 4 3 1 0.02 A THREE. DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED. SECOND. SECOND. OKAY. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. HE OPPOSED? AYE. OKAY. THANK YOU PETE. OKAY. WE ARE NOW IN OPEN. YES. WE ARE NOW IN OPEN SESSION. UH, NICK, WELCOME. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. IT'S EXCITING TO BE HERE. THANK YOU. SO THIS, THE WAY THIS WILL WORK IS THIS, YOU HAVE WILL HAVE 45 MINUTES TO ANSWER EIGHT QUESTIONS THAT WE WILL GIVE YOU. MM-HMM. , EACH OF US WILL PRESENT QUESTIONS, AND THEN WE WILL JUMP IN WITH, UH, UH, FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS IF THE NEED ARISES. YOU HAVE 45 MINUTES. OUR QUESTIONS TO YOU WILL BE AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE. YOUR RESPONSES, YOU CAN USE WHAT YOU WANT, BUT YOU DO RUN OUTTA TIME. IT'S 45 MINUTES. SURE. SO IF YOU USE UP THE TIME IN QUEST BY QUESTION SIX AND YOU DON'T GET TO EIGHT, THAT'S UP TO YOU. SO THE THE POINT BEING IS TO CONTINUE ON AND SO YOU DON'T USE UP, KEEP MOVING. OKAY. SO WE ARE UP TO, FOR THE FIRST ONE, JESSICA. JESSICA. OH, OKAY. OKAY. HERE'S YOUR FIRST QUESTION. WHEN YOU TRAVEL, WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU USE FROM THE DESTINATION YOU'RE VISITING? AND IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY, WHICH ONES YOU'VE EXPERIENCED WOULD YOU THINK MIGHT WORK HERE? AND WE SHOULD DO? I SUPPOSE IT DEPENDS ON WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR. RESTAURANTS ALWAYS THE FIRST STEP IS GOOGLE, YELP. UM, BUT REALLY, I GUESS IN GENERAL, YOU ASK THE PEOPLE, RIGHT? USUALLY WHEN I GO INTO A NEW TOWN, THE FIRST STOP IS TO GO TO THEIR DOWNTOWN, WALK AROUND, FIND THE LOCALS. THEY'RE USUALLY VERY EASY TO SPOT AND ASK 'EM WHERE I SHOULD GO EAT, WHAT TRAILS I SHOULD HIKE, WHAT SORT OF THINGS I SHOULD DO WHILE I'M THERE. UM, THAT'S NOT CONSIDERING ALL THE PRIOR RESEARCH THAT I, I PERSONALLY LIKELY HAVEN'T DONE, BUT I ASSUME MOST PEOPLE WHEN THEY TRAVEL WOULD DO. NO, WE'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT YOU. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SEDONA. NO. YEAH. WE'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO, WHAT I DO, WHAT YOU DO, WHAT OTHER PEOPLE DO IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. SURE, SURE. I IMAGINE MOST PEOPLE WILL DO SOME RESEARCH FIRST. I'D RATHER JUMP INTO IT. KIND OF UNKNOWN, I GUESS. OKAY. THANK YOU. YEAH, OF COURSE. ARE YOU DONE F FOLLOW UP? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE HE WAS DONE. YEAH. UH, WE HAVE FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS. WOULD THAT YEAH, PLEASE. COUNCIL LTZ. THANK YOU MAYOR. UH, NICK, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD AND TAKING THE TIME TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SPEND 45 MINUTES WITH US TODAY. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SORRY, YOU HAD TO READ MY APPLICATION. ON THIS FIRST APP OR ON THIS FIRST QUESTION, UM, UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU, HOW YOU'VE ALREADY ANSWERED IT. HAVE YOU RUN INTO ANYTHING IN COMMUNITIES THAT YOU VISITED THAT YOU'RE LIKE, OH WOW, THIS IS A REALLY USEFUL ASSET THAT, YOU KNOW, SEDONA WOULD BENEFIT IF THEY DID X IF THEY DID. Y IS THERE ANYTHING INTERESTING THAT YOU'VE RUN ACROSS THAT YOU KNOW, YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE WE OUGHT TO TRY HERE? DO YOU THINK THAT A GRASSROOTS MARKETING KIND OF APPROACH DOESN'T HAPPEN IN SEDONA? UM, TO ME IT KIND OF SEEMS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION OF, NOT PER SE AN APP, BUT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO THAT OTHER TOWNS HAVE DONE. I GUESS. DO YOU HAVE ANY NUMBERS ON HOW MANY PEOPLE USE AN APP AS OPPOSED TO JUST TALK TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN TOWN, TALK TO THEIR HOTEL CONCIERGE, TALK TO THEIR BARTENDERS, TALK TO THE PEOPLE THEY EXPERIENCE WHILE THEY'RE THERE? ARE YOU TALKING OFF THE CUFF OR ARE YOU ACTUALLY ASKING US BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEING INTERVIEWED RIGHT NOW. , I SUPPOSE BOTH. I'M NOT SURE. UH, I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW [00:05:01] IF THERE IS ANY DATA ON WHAT WOULD WORK BETTER IN SEDONA, RIGHT? MM-HMM. . UM, I THINK WHATEVER THE DECISION IS, IT SHOULD BE EMPIRICALLY DRIVEN. WE SHOULD HAVE SOME DATA TO SUPPORT, YES, WE CAN IMPLEMENT THIS. MAYBE WHAT HAS DONE, WHICH IS SIMILAR-ISH IN SIZE AND DEMOGRAPHIC TO SEDONA. MAYBE THIS WORKS IN MOAB. WHY WOULD IT NOT WORK HERE? RIGHT. UM, I THINK ALL OF THESE, IN TERMS OF MARKETING AND HOW TO MARKET, SEDONA, THE BIGGEST QUESTION IS PROBABLY WHAT CAN WE APPLY FROM OTHER PLACES AND WHAT CAN WE DO HERE THAT'S UNIQUE TO US? 'CAUSE I THINK WE'RE UNIQUE FROM ANY OTHER PLACE. OKAY. THANK YOU. OF COURSE. UH, COUNSELOR, UH, ELLA. HI NICK. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. HI. THANK YOU. UM, YOU JUST REFERRED TO AND USED THE TERM GRASSROOTS MARKETING. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? GRASSROOTS, TO ME THAT MEANS NOT NECESSARILY SOMETHING, IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE ABSTRACT, I GUESS. NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN NECESSARILY TRACK. IT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT THE PEOPLE, THE RESIDENTS IN TOWN TALK ABOUT WHEN THERE IS THIS CONNECTION BETWEEN A TOURIST AND A LOCAL. AND I SEE IT ALL THE TIME, ESPECIALLY THROUGH BARTENDING. LOCALS LOVE TO SIT AT THE BAR AND TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO. AND PEOPLE, I THINK TAKE THAT TO HEART. PEOPLE ASK ME WHAT TRAILS I SHOULD DO OR THEY SHOULD DO WHEN THEY'RE VISITING. RIGHT? UM, SO I THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY TELL THE VISITORS TO OUR TOWN WHAT TO DO, BUT RATHER NUDGES THEM AND PUSHES THEM IN A DIRECTION NOT ONLY OF WHAT WE WANT THEM TO DO, BUT ALSO WHAT THEY'LL ENJOY AND DO RESPONSIBLY. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UP, PETE? ANYTHING TO ADD? OKAY, QUESTION TWO. JESSICA. I THINK I ALREADY ASKED QUESTION. I THINK. YES. HI, NICK. HI, HOLLY, FOR COMING. THANK YOU. UH, WHAT DO YOU FEEL ARE SEDONAS BEST ASSETS FOR RESIDENTS AND FOR TOURISTS? SO WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU AT THE BAR FOR RECOMMENDATIONS, WHAT DO YOU TELL THEM? , I, I LIE A LITTLE BIT. I'LL TELL YOU THAT. I DON'T TELL 'EM MY FAVORITE TRAILS. RIGHT. I THINK THAT'S THE BALANCE THAT I TALKED ABOUT IN MY APPLICATION IS WHEN I FIRST MOVED HERE, I WAS SO EXCITED ON EVERYTHING. I WOULD TELL EVERYONE EXACTLY WHAT TRAILS I'M DOING, AND I'VE REALIZED THAT THERE IS A DOWNSIDE TO THAT. SO THIS GOES BACK TO THAT GRASSROOTS CONCEPT A LITTLE BIT WHERE IF PEOPLE GET THE SUGGESTION OF A CERTAIN THING TO DO, THEY WON'T KNOW ANY BETTER, RIGHT? SO NOW I STICK TO SAYING, GO TO DEVIL'S BRIDGE, BRING A LOT OF WATER THAT'S ALREADY A WELL USED TRAIL THAT DOESN'T IMPACT ON MY USE OF THE LESSER KNOWN TRAILS, I SUPPOSE. UM, I DEFINITELY TELL PEOPLE TO HIKE. UH, I ABSOLUTELY MAKE IT A POINT TO LET THEM KNOW TO LEAVE NO TRACE, BECAUSE OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT'S GOTTEN A LOT, LOT WORSE AND I'VE SEEN IT FIRSTHAND. UM, DECIMATION OF TRAILS I THINK KIND OF PLAYS INTO THIS TOO. UH, YOU KNOW, THE SECRET CAVE OFF SOLDIERS KEPT PASS. IT'S NOT REALLY A SECRET ANYMORE. I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST MOVED HERE, I STRUGGLED TO FIND THAT TRAIL AND IT WAS SO HARD AND WELL HIDDEN. LAST TIME I WENT, IT WAS WIDER THAN THE ACTUAL TRAIL. UH, SO I THINK THAT IS AN ISSUE THAT IF YOU'RE A PART OF THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD SHOULD BE A CONCERN. THERE SHOULD BE SOME WAY TO DELICATELY NUDGE PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING. AND IF SOMETHING'S ALREADY BEING OVERUSED AT THAT POINT, SUGGEST THEM TO USE THAT, BUT ALSO USE IT RESPONSIBLY. SO HIKING IS THE BEST THING FOR TOURISTS AND RESIDENTS IN THIS TOWN. UM, EVEN I KNOW PEOPLE THAT WERE RAISED HERE, I KNOW PEOPLE THAT DON'T PARTICULARLY LOVE TO HIKE, BUT I THINK THAT YOU STILL GET THAT ASPECT GOING TO POSSE GROUNDS, ENJOYING THE PARK, WALKING AROUND. YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING. YOU CAN'T DO YOUR LAUNDRY IN THIS TOWN WITHOUT NOT HAVING A VIEW. RIGHT? SO THAT'S KIND OF WHY WE'RE ALL HERE. WE'RE HERE FOR THAT SMALL TOWN CONNECTION. WE ARE HERE TO ENJOY THE OUTSIDE TO GET THE STARS AT NIGHT. UH, AND I THINK THAT'S THE BIGGEST COMMONALITY FOR ALL OF US. RIGHT. OKAY. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS? COUNCILOR KINSELLA. THANK YOU. SO, AS YOU KNOW, NICK, UM, THE CITY JUST DESIGNATED ITSELF THE DESTINATION MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION. SO THOSE ARE SPECIFIC TERMS. UH, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW YOU DEFINE DESTINATION MARKETING? HOW YOU DEFINE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? UM, WE HEAR THE TERM BRANDING PUT IN THERE A LOT WHEN WE'RE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS. SO I'D LIKE TO HEAR YOU DEFINE THOSE THINGS. HOW THEY'RE DISTINCT FROM EACH OTHER AND HOW THEY INTERSECT. MARKETING, BRANDING, MANAGEMENT. WELL, DESTINATION MARKETING, AS FAR AS I KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO THE D M O, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S ESSENTIALLY A NON-PROFIT THAT YOU APPLY FOR WITH THE A O T. AM I CORRECT? WE'RE NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS. OKAY. , WHO TO [00:10:01] SPEAK? AS FAR AS I KNOW, UH, AT THIS POINT, I ALSO WANNA SAY MY GREATEST ABILITY IS MY ABILITY TO LEARN THINGS BEYOND THAT. SO DESTINATION MARKETING, YOU'RE A NONPROFIT THAT IS BASICALLY IN CHARGE OF MARKETING, EITHER THAT COUNTY OR THAT MUNICIPALITY. UM, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S SOME CONNECTION WITH THE ARIZONA OFFICE OF TOURISM. SO THE MARKETING ASPECT, I SUPPOSE, IS HOW YOU PRESENT YOURSELF TO WHEREVER YOU WANT TO PRESENT YOURSELF. RIGHT? TOURISM IS THE HEART, THE BACKBONE OF THIS TOWN. IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. IT ALWAYS WILL BE. SO THERE SHOULD BE SOME DELICATE BALANCE IN HOW IT'S DONE. AND THIS GOES BACK TO MY POINT ABOUT HAVING SOME EMPIRICAL DATA DRIVEN REASON TO DO SOMETHING. UH, WE SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE'RE GONNA GET BASED ON WHERE WE ADVERTISE. IF WE'RE ADVERTISING IN NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, AND UTAH DURING THE WINTER TIME, WHAT IS THAT OUTCOME LIKELY GOING TO BE LIKE? WHAT'S IT GONNA BE LIKE ADVERTISING ON A BILLBOARD VERSUS, UH, A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN? WHAT KIND OF TOURISTS ARE WE GONNA GET? UH, WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING SOMEONE WHO STAYS THREE OR MORE NIGHTS, UH, THAT HAS EXPENDABLE INCOME VERSUS MAYBE A DAY TRIPPER? HOW DOES THAT AFFECT OTHER TOURIST CONCERNS IN TERMS OF DECIMATION OF THE LAND, USE OF THE LAND? OH, FEES, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE. RIGHT. UM, I'M SURE YOU ALL HAVE A MUCH, MUCH CLEARER PICTURE. I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE ALL OF THE RESOURCES TO SEE EXACTLY HOW THIS IS ALL PAINTED TOGETHER, BUT I'D LOVE TO ADVISE ON IT AFTER BEING PUT IN A POSITION TO DO THAT RESEARCH AND TO APPLY SOME NEW METRICS THAT MAYBE HAVEN'T BEEN DONE IN SEDONA SPECIFICALLY BEFORE. UH, SO DESTINATION MANAGEMENT, I WOULD ASSUME IS HOW YOU MANAGE THE MARKETING THAT YOU'RE DOING. IT GOES BACK INTO THAT, WHAT KIND OF TOURIST YOU'RE TRYING TO GET HERE. RIGHT? UM, ONE ASPECT I GUESS I'D LIKE TO ADD TO IT IS THAT IT SHOULD ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT HOW IT AFFECTS THE RESIDENTS. UH, I THINK A LOT OF THE RESIDENTS WERE TOURISTS AT ONE POINT. MOST OF US ARE NOT BORN AND RAISED HERE. OFTEN THAT'S FORGOTTEN. AND I THINK THAT MANAGEMENT ASPECT SHOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL. UM, BECAUSE YOU COME HERE, , WHAT DID I HEAR THE OTHER DAY? EVERYONE THINKS WHEN THEY MOVE TO SEDONA, THEY SHOULD BE THE LAST ONE TO MOVE HERE, RIGHT? LOCK THE DOOR, LOCK THE DOOR, CUT IT OFF. BUT I THINK THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF CONTENTION BETWEEN CITY RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS MIGHT COME FROM, IS THAT THERE'S NOT A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THAT. SO THE MANAGEMENT ASPECT TO ME WOULD BE BUILDING THAT BRIDGE BETWEEN THOSE THREE PARTIES TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE IS HAPPY, BECAUSE IT'S A SHAME THAT PEOPLE CAN BE NOT HAPPY LIVING HERE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT PART. BRANDING IS WHAT DO WE WANT TO BE? RIGHT? UH, I GUESS THAT'S THE OVERARCHING UMBRELLA BETWEEN THOSE TWO IS BECAUSE YOU NEED TO HAVE A SET OF MAYBE VALUES, MAYBE IMAGES. IT CAN BE AS SIMPLE AS A DREAM BOARD THAT CONVEYS THE IDEA OF WHAT WE WANT TO BE AS A TOWN THAT WE BASE OUR MARKETING OFF OF. MM-HMM. . UM, IF IT IS THIS OVERARCHING THING THAT DEMONSTRATES OUR VALUES OR WHAT WE STAND FOR, THEN EVERY OTHER DECISION WOULD COME FROM THAT, WHO WE MARKET TO AND HOW WE MANAGE THAT MARKETING. AS FAR AS WHAT I THINK SEDONA SHOULD BE BRANDED AS, UM, I'M NOT SURE THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS SO MUCH. I THINK IT'D BE MORE IMPORTANT TO PULL RESIDENTS AND HAVE A CONSENSUS, AT LEAST THE MAJORITY CONSENSUS OF WHAT WE ALL THINK SEDONA SHOULD BE SEEN AS. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ROMANTICIZED OR REALISTIC, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE DIRECTION TO START IN. OKAY. TO YOUR OPINION. SO, UM, ANY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS? OKAY. NO, NO, FOR ME. NUMBER FOUR, DO YOU FEEL THE CITY'S NEW TOURISM BUREAU SHOULD BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? OR SHOULD MARKETING ALSO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT WORK? WHY OR WHY NOT? SCOTT, CAN YOU REPEAT THAT ONE MORE TIME? WHY DON'T YOU CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME? MAYOR. MAYOR. SORRY. SORRY. . MAYOR CHAPO, COULD YOU PLEASE CLARIFY THAT FOR ME? DO YOU FEEL THE CITY'S NEW TOURISM BUREAU SHOULD BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON THE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? ON DESTINATION MANAGEMENT, OR SHOULD MARKETING ALSO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT WORK? WHY OR WHY NOT? YEAH. I THINK MARKETING SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE INTEGRAL TO IT. UH, TO THE EXTENT OF WHICH I AM NOT SURE. UM, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T THINK THAT BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD BE COMING TO CITY COUNCIL AND COMPLAINING THAT TOURISM IS DOWN. I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. I THINK IT SHOULD BE BALANCED BETWEEN THAT AND PRIVATE GROUPS AS WELL. IF THE HOTELS WANT TO GET TOGETHER AND DO THEIR OWN MARKETING, I DON'T SEE WHY NOT. BUT [00:15:01] AS FAR AS THE CITY'S CONCERNED, THERE SHOULD ALSO BE SOME ASPECT OF MARKETING. IF WE WEREN'T A TOURIST TOWN, UH, THERE'D BE NO NEED FOR THAT. UM, I GUESS ALSO BEGS THE QUESTION IF SEDONA KIND OF SELLS ITSELF, WHICH I THINK IT DOES. BUT BEYOND THAT, IF WE ARE NOT SELLING SEDONA, WHO WILL BE RIGHT? SO I THINK IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF CONTROL AND PUT IT IN SOME DIRECTION. UM, THAT'S GOOD. AGAIN, FOR THE RESIDENTS, THE BUSINESSES, AND THE TOURISTS ALL ALIKE. SO THAT GOES BACK TO OUR BRAND, RIGHT? WHAT DO WE WANT TO BE? HOW DO WE SEE OURSELVES? UM, AND THAT'S, SO YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. MARKETING SHOULD BE INVOLVED AS THE D M O FOR THE CITY. THERE SHOULD BE SOME MONEY SPENT ON IT. UH, WHAT WAS THE SECOND PART OF IT? SHOULD THE MARKETING ALSO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT WORK? WHY OR WHY NOT? YEAH. YEAH. DID I MISS THE FIRST PART? OKAY. I THINK YOU ANSWERED ANY FOLLOW UP FROM ANYBODY. YES. YES. KINSELLA, . UM, SO IN HOW YOU, JUST, YOUR ANSWER THAT YOU GAVE MM-HMM. , WHAT DO YOU THINK THOUGH ABOUT INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES? IS THERE A RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CITY BE I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT. TO BE HELPING INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES OR NOT, OR JUST LOOKING AT THE CITY AS A DESTINATION OVERALL. I JUST WANT YOU TO EXPAND ON THAT A LITTLE BIT. YEAH. I DON'T THINK THE CITY SHOULD BE HELPING INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES. AND I GUESS WHAT, I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO ASK QUESTIONS, BUT HELPING IS PRETTY BROAD IN TERMS OF JUST ADVERTISING THE CITY. AND THEN ASSUMING WHEN THEY COME HERE, THEY'LL SPEND MONEY. PEOPLE ARE STILL COMING HERE. RIGHT? WE CAN'T BE IN CHARGE OF WHERE THEY'RE GONNA SPEND MONEY, WHETHER THEY GO TO THIS RESTAURANT OR THAT RESTAURANT OR USE THIS TOUR COMPANY OR THAT TOUR COMPANY. THE EXTENT THAT THE CITY SHOULD BE INVOLVED IS GETTING THOSE PEOPLE HERE AND WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE THEY GET. UM, I DON'T THINK THERE SHOULD, I DON'T THINK THE CITY SHOULD AT ALL SUBSIDIZE A BUSINESS IN THIS TOWN. UH, THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S THE, THAT'S WHERE THE LINE WOULD BE DRAWN. RIGHT? UM, 'CAUSE ULTIMATELY IT'S, I GUESS A QUESTION OF CAPITALISM. IF, IF YOU'RE RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS, NOT IN A WAY THAT KEEPS YOU SUCCESSFUL, BUT OTHER PEOPLE IN THAT SAME INDUSTRY IN THIS TOWN ARE DOING A FINE JOB AT IT. THE CITY, IT'S NOT ON THE CITY, IT'S ON THE BUSINESS OWNER. RIGHT? AND I THINK REALLY ANY BUSINESS OWNER IN THIS TOWN IS IN A REALLY GREAT POSITION. UM, WE STAYED SOLVENT THROUGHOUT COVID. THE NUMBERS SEEM TO KEEP GOING UP AS FAR AS I'VE LOOKED. UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE IN A GOOD SPOT. I DON'T THINK THE CITY SHOULD BE TOO INVOLVED IN MAKING SURE EVERY BUSINESS IS SUCCESSFUL, BUT THEY SHOULD BE BRINGING PEOPLE TO TOWN. AND I GUESS THAT GOES BACK TO THAT, THAT HARMONY, THAT BRIDGE OF WHAT ARE WE GONNA BRAND OURSELVES AS? WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO WE WANT HERE? AND WHAT'S THE BEST FOR TOURIST RESIDENTS BUSINESSES? YOU, I HAVE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION. YES. UH, YES. UH, LAST TUESDAY WE HAD A PRESENTATION FROM STAFF MM-HMM. , UH, AFTER THREE MONTHS OF WORKING TOWARD, UH, THE D M M O, DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO WATCH THAT? AND IF SO, WHAT WAS YOUR TAKEAWAY? IF NOT, THEN THAT'S OKAY TOO. I DIDN'T WATCH IT. I, I READ THE NOTES AND I READ THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, AND I DID A LITTLE BIT OF GOOGLING. UH, I WISH I WOULD HAVE, BUT OKAY. I'M, YOU STILL CAN. UH, I STILL CAN, AND I SURE WILL. COUNCIL. WELL, I JUST WANNA SAY, AND WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? BECAUSE THAT'S, I THINK, AN IMPORTANT PART OF THAT QUESTION. UM, I, MY REACTION WAS, I WISH I WOULD'VE MADE MORE TIME TO WATCH IT , UNFORTUNATELY. BUT YOU SAID YOU READ THE POWERPOINT. YEAH. SO DID YOU HAVE ANY REACTION TO THE YEAH, I HAD, I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS AS TO, UM, I THINK I BRIEFLY SKIMMED ON IT EARLIER AS TO WHY WE WANT PEOPLE WITH AN INCOME OF 1 75 K AND OVER STAYING THREE PLUS NIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. UM, I WAS VERY CURIOUS AS TO WHERE THAT CAME FROM. UH, I MEAN, I CAN THINK OF MY OWN REASONS WHY IT MAKES SENSE. THOSE ARE THE LESS BUSY DAYS. LET'S FILL THOSE UP. UM, BUT ALSO, I GUESS MY BIG QUESTION, IF I WOULD'VE BEEN THERE, I MAYBE WOULD'VE ASKED OR TRIED TO PEER INTO WHY WE'RE TRYING TO STEER AWAY FROM DAY TRIPPERS, UM, AND WHY WE WOULD BE ADVERTISING IN STATES LIKE, I THINK IT WAS COLORADO, UTAH, NEW MEXICO, WHICH ARE VERY SIMILAR TO HERE. THANK YOU. OKAY. UH OH. THAT'S RIGHT. PETE, I WANNA FORGET, PETE, WE'RE MOVING AROUND. YEAH, NO, I KNOW. HI, NICK. HEY, PETE. SO I'VE COUNCIL COUNSELOR, PETE, COUNSELOR, TO GIVE US SOME INSIGHT ON HOW YOU OPERATE IN GROUP SETTINGS. MM-HMM. , CAN YOU GIVE US A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU CONTRIBUTED TO A RECENT GROUP MEETING, [00:20:01] WHERE THE PURPOSE OF THAT MEETING WAS TO TACK A TACKLE, A CHALLENGING OR CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE? YEAH. GIMME A MOMENT. THE LAST TIME I WORKED IN GROUPS WAS MAYBE GRADUATE SCHOOL. YEAH. I GUESS IT WAS A WHILE BACK. UM, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF GROUP MEETINGS IN BARTENDING OR REAL ESTATE RIGHT NOW. UH, BUT SURE. LET'S GO BACK TO GRAD SCHOOL. WE WERE CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON WHAT SORT OF QUALITIES MAKE A GOOD LEADER. WE HAD TO DO A Q SORT, WHICH IS BASICALLY MOVING AROUND CHARACTERISTICS TO FORM GROUPS. PRIOR TO CONDUCTING AN INNOVA TEST, A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, UM, IN GRAD SCHOOL, WE WERE ALL VERY YOUNG AND HEATED AND QUICKLY HAD OUR OWN OPINIONS OF THE BEST WAY TO DO SOMETHING. I WAS THE RESEARCH LEAD IN THAT SITUATION. AND, UH, MY GRADUATE ADVISOR WAS OUT OF TOWN. SHE WAS AT A CONFERENCE. UM, THINGS GOT JUST A LITTLE BIT HEATED, INCLUDING ON MY PART. UH, SO THE WAY I HANDLED IT WAS, I JUST CALLED A BREAK. I SAID, LET'S ALL JUST GET OUTTA HERE, GET OUT OF EACH OTHER'S FACES FOR A LITTLE BIT. AND THIS IS 26 YEAR OLD ME, RIGHT? SO WE CAME BACK, WE REA ADJOURNED, WE CAME BACK TOGETHER, WE REDID THE Q SORT, AND WE DID COME UP WITH AN AMICABLE ANSWER. AND IT ACTUALLY DID END UP MATCHING THE DATA. ONCE WE RAN THE INOVA, I THINK ONE OR TWO OF THE VARIABLES WERE A LITTLE BIT OFF. UH, OKAY. THANK YOU. IS IT FAIR TO SAY, NICK, THAT SINCE YOU'VE BEEN AT SEDONA, HAVE YOU VOLUNTEERED ON ANY OF THE VOLUNTEER GROUPS AROUND HERE, BEEN ON ANY BOARDS OR COMMISSIONS? I'M EXCITED TO SAY THIS IS MY FIRST ONE. OKAY, GOOD. THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE, MAYOR. OKAY. COUNCILLOR WILLIAMSON? YEAH. I HAVE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION. THIS IS GONNA BE A GROUP OF 11 PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF THE COMMUNITY, MOST OF WHOM, LIKE ALL OF US ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR OWN IDEAS, EVEN AFTER THE INFORMATION'S PRESENTED. AND, AND THE ROLE OF THE TAB IS TO MAKE RISK RECOMMENDATIONS. THAT'S THE GOAL. JUST TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING IS NOT A GOAL. COMING TO THE COUNCIL AND TO STAFF WITH RECOMMENDATIONS IS REALLY THE GOAL. UM, IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF, FOR EVERY DISCUSSION YOU HAD, IF THE TAB, EVERYBODY ON THE TAB AGREED WITH A RECOMMENDATION, MORE LIKELY IT'S GOING TO BE A SITUATION, WHICH IN SOME PERCENT OF THE CASES, THERE'S GOING TO BE THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MAKE THIS RECOMMENDATION. BUT THERE'LL BE A MINORITY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN PERSUADED BY THE ARGUMENTS. HOW WOULD YOU, HOW WOULD YOU PRESENT THAT TO COUNCIL? WHAT WOULD YOU GO FORWARD WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT'S REALLY THE ROLE OF THE, OF THE GROUP? WELL, I GUESS IN THIS SCENARIO, GIVEN THAT YOU CAN ONLY MAKE ONE RECOMMENDATION AND NOT PROS AND CONS OF WHAT THAT RECOMMENDATION IS, UH, I WOULD LEAN TOWARDS OBJECTIVITY AND MAYBE A MAJORITY RULE. UH, IF THAT'S TRULY THE SCENARIO WHERE YOU CAN'T PRESENT BOTH SIDES TO THE ARGUMENT. IF WE'RE IN AN ADVISORY ROLE TO YOU ALL, THEN I THINK THE BEST WAY TO ADVISE ON ANY DECISION WOULD BE TO PRESENT, HEY, SIX OF US THINK THIS WAY. THE OTHER FIVE THINK THIS WAY. OKAY. SO IT'S MAJORITY RULE, BUT AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF, OF DIFFERENCES THAT IT'S NOT UNANIMOUS. IS THAT WHAT, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? THAT, THAT'S MY ANSWER. YEAH. . I, I CAN'T IMAGINE IT'S GOOD TO JUST MAKE ONE RECOMMENDATION AND LEAVE IT AT THAT WITHOUT, THANK YOU. WILL SIDES. CAN I FOLLOW UP TO THAT? NO. OKAY. VICE MAYOR. OH, SORRY. WELL, IF YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP TO THAT SPECIFICALLY, GO FOR IT. BECAUSE MINE'S DIFFERENT. OKAY. AND I HAVE SOMETHING AS WELL THAT'S GONNA BE DIFFERENT. WHAT, WHAT IF OKAY, IN A SIX FIVE SCENARIO, THAT'S KIND OF AN EVEN SPLIT. SO THAT'S AN INTERESTING PRESENTATION YOU GAVE. WHAT IF IT WAS NOT, WHAT IF IT WAS LIKE A MINORITY OF THREE, SEVEN TO THREE, UH, EIGHT TO THREE, SORRY, THIS IS A MATH TEST. . IF IT WAS EIGHT TO THREE, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE THREE? SURE. UH, I MEAN, I GUESS QUALITATIVELY IT MATTERS A LITTLE BIT ON WHAT IT IS. YOU KNOW, IF, IF, IF IT IS NOT [00:25:01] SEEMINGLY THAT IMPORTANT OR IF IT'S NOT SOMETHING, IF IT'S NOT A REAL CONCERN, RIGHT? IF THERE'S LESS PEOPLE ARGUING ON THAT SIDE OF THREE, THEN MAYBE IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO BRING IT UP TO WASTE ALL OF YOUR TIMES. UM, IF THERE'S ONE PERSON IN THAT THREE THAT'S INCREDIBLY PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT THAT IDEA IS, AND IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO THEM, UM, AGAIN, DON'T BRING IT UP. BUT IF IT IS SOMETHING THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE ULTIMATE DECISION THAT YOU ALL ARE GOING TO MAKE, I THINK IT DESERVES A LITTLE BIT OF NOTICE. THANK YOU. OKAY. AND I'M JUST GONNA JUMP IN FOR ONE SECOND, NICK. OBVIOUSLY THIS IS THE FIRST TIME PRESENTING OR SPEAKING OR DISCUSSING ANYTHING IN A, IN WITH A COUNCIL OR ABOUT GOVERNMENT BODY THAT THE QUORUM IS WE EACH HAVE OUR NAME PLATES IN FRONT OF US. WE ALL HAVE A TITLE, UH, AS A, AS THE COURTESY TO EACH OF US. WE EXPECT YOU TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR, OUR POSITIONS. THE FAMILIARITIES ARE KEPT FOR OUTSIDE THESE DOORS. BUT IN THIS COUNCIL CHAMBERS, WE ARE COUNSELORS, WE ARE VICE MAYOR, WE ARE MAYOR. JUST JUST GIVING YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT THAT YOU MAY NOT. ABSOLUTELY. MY APOLOGIES, MAYOR BLO. AND THANKS FOR, UH, YOUR PATIENCE. OKAY, NO PROBLEM. VICE MAYOR. SO, UH, EARLIER YOU, WHEN YOU WERE ASKED BY PETE IF YOU HAD PARTICIPATED IN ANY, UH, COMMUNITY, UH, GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS, YOU SAID THIS WAS WOULD BE YOUR FIRST ONE. WHAT, WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS? WHAT, WHAT WAS YOUR REASON? WHAT, WHAT IS YOUR PASSION FOR THIS BOARD? I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY IT. I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS BOARD. UM, BEING, I GUESS MY AGE, COMING TO SEDONA WHEN I WAS 28 AND DECIDING THIS IS GONNA BE MY HOME. I'VE DECIDED I'VE GIVEN OFF A LOT IN MY POSITION TO MAKE THIS. AND I'M STILL INCREDIBLY HAPPY BEING HERE. UH, I THINK TOURISM IS THE ONE ISSUE THAT PERMEATES INTO EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE HERE. IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN'T AVOID AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS US WHEN WE GO TO THE GROCERY STORE, UH, WHAT JOBS WE HAVE, WHERE WE END UP LIVING. UM, AND I REALLY WANT TO HAVE A SAY IN THAT, UH, I WANT TO FEEL INVOLVED AND FEEL IMPORTANT IN THE DIRECTION OF WHERE THIS CITY IS GOING, IF THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO BE INDEFINITELY. UM, I THINK WITH THAT COMES A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE THAT NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE MY AGE WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN. RIGHT? UH, IF THEY'RE STILL LEFT IN TOWN AND THEY'RE NOT FROM HERE, THEN I DON'T THINK THEY SHARE THE SAME PASSION AS ME ABOUT SEDONA, WHICH ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING FROM MY LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS TO THE SMALL COMMUNITY THAT WE ARE. UH, YEAH, I FELT THAT MY TIME WAS BETTER SERVED DOING THINGS LIKE STEWARDS OF SEDONA PICKING UP TRASH ON THE TRAILS AND ENJOYING MYSELF OUTSIDE, ADMITTEDLY. BUT WHEN THIS CAME UP, I KNEW THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING I'M GOING TO APPLY FOR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. UM, QUESTION SIX WOULD BE COUNCILOR FURMAN. YEAH. HE JUST HAD THE LAST ONE. THIS COUNSELOR FURMAN THE SECOND. YEAH. OTHER COUNCILOR FURMAN. COUNCILOR FULLMAN IS, UH, I WAS LOOKING, I WAS LOOKING AT HIM. I WAS LOOKING AT PETE. I ACTUALLY, I WANNA MAKE SURE I DON'T FORGET HIM. SO. AND, AND MAYOR, WE JUST PASSED 19 MINUTES TO GO, SO WE'RE IN GOOD SHAPE. FINE. THANK YOU. UH, NICK, A QUICK QUESTION AND THEN THE MAIN QUESTION, THE QUICK QUESTION IS, UH, JUST VERIFYING YOUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD IS IN FACT AN ADVISORY GROUP, THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE, UH, FISCAL OR STAFF AUTHORITY FOR DECISION MAKING AND THAT IT'S ADVISING CITY STAFF AND COUNCIL AND THAT YOU'RE OKAY WITH THAT? YEAH. THAT'S YOUR UNDERSTANDING. I WOULDN'T PUT MYSELF IN CHARGE OF THE MONEY. OKAY. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. NOW, THE, THE, THE, THE REAL QUESTION, QUESTION SIX IS, IS DO YOU BELIEVE THAT TOURISM BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY? AND IF SO, HOW? YEAH. YEAH. IT ABSOLUTELY BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY. UH, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE AMENITIES THAT SEDONA HAS, AND I, I WROTE ABOUT THIS IN THE APPLICATION, SO I'M GONNA DEFER TO THAT AND SEE WHAT ELSE I CAN COME UP WITH. NO OTHER TOWN OF FIVE TO 10,000 PEOPLE. I THINK THE LAST ONE WAS UNDER 6,000 YEAR ROUND RESIDENTS, RIGHT? WE HAVE FIVE GROCERY STORES TO CHOOSE FROM. WE HAVE A WORLD CLASS PARK. WE HAVE WALKING TRAILS. WE HAVE HIKING TRAILS THAT EVEN OTHER TOWNS KNOWN FOR HIKING DON'T HAVE. WE'RE NOT A GATEWAY CITY. WE'RE A TOWN THAT QUITE FRANKLY, SHOULDN'T EXIST. UH, AT SOME POINT THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NATIONAL PARK WHERE COTTONWOOD IS THE GATEWAY CITY AND YOU DRIVE UP HERE TO DO YOUR HIKES, BUT NOT US. EIGHT MONTHS OUTTA THE YEAR I GET TO GO AND PICK A WORLD CLASS TRAIL AS PART OF MY MORNING ROUTINE WITH MY DOG. UH, I'M INCREDIBLY THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL FOR THAT. I NEVER TAKE IT FOR GRANTED TO SAY THAT TOURISM DIDN'T HELP CREATE THAT, UM, WOULD NOT BE ACCURATE. BUT THAT'S WHY WE'RE KIND OF AT A CROSSROADS. 'CAUSE WE MAY BE HAD REACHED THE TIPPING POINT OF HOW [00:30:01] MANY TOURISTS WE CAN SUSTAIN. UM, AGAIN, MOST RESIDENTS CAME HERE AS TOURISTS. THEY CAME HERE FOR THIS LIFESTYLE. BUT IF WE HAVE TOO MUCH OF THAT TOURISM WHERE IT IMBALANCES OUT ON THE RESIDENTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, I GUESS? UM, DID I HEAR CORRECTLY? DID YOU SAY EIGHT MONTHS? A YEAR? YEAH. I THINK SEASON OUT OF SEASON IS EIGHT MONTHS A YEAR WHERE YOU CAN TRACK ANY TRAILHEAD YOU WANT AND OKAY, I WAS GONNA SAY, 'CAUSE WHAT HAPPENS THE OTHER FOUR MONTHS, ARE YOU NOT HERE? THE OTHER FOUR, IT'S TOO BUSY TO GET OUT THERE AND YOU KNOW, YOU WON'T FIND A PARKING SPOT UNLESS THE SUN ISN'T UP. GOT IT. THANK YOU. OKAY. THEN, UH, COUNCILOR DUNN, SITTING NEXT TO COUNCILOR FOLTZ, I MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE RIGHT ONE. I'M GOING FOR FULLMAN TODAY. OLDMAN FULLMAN. I'M STILL DONE. I LIKE THAT. UM, SO NICK, THIS IS A TWO PART QUESTION. SO THE FIRST PART IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU'VE ACTUALLY EVER HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO READ THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN, WHICH WAS FROM 2019. I, I BELIEVE I'VE READ IT ONCE OR TWICE THROUGHOUT THE TIMES. OKAY. AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS THEN ABOUT THE PLAN AND, UM, ITS RELEVANCE IN OUR NEW, UH, CITY TOURISM? I THINK IT'S A GOOD DIRECTION TO GO IN. UH, I THINK, AND IF I REMEMBER RIGHT, I'LL BE HONEST, I HAVE NOT READ IT WITHIN THE LAST YEAR. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BEFORE THIS. IT SEEMED VERY IDEALISTIC AND IT SEEMED LIKE A GREAT DIRECTION TO GO IN. AND IT SEEMED LIKE SOMETHING THAT WOULD WANT TO BE HEARD BY EVERYONE. I KNOW THE TRANSIT WAS INVOLVED IN IT. I THINK THE TRANSIT IS A GOOD IDEA. UH, I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S FINALIZED. I'M NOT SURE IF THERE'S ANY PLANS TO TRY TO INCREASE ITS USE, I SUPPOSE. UM, LAST I CHECKED, SOME OF THE NUMBERS WERE DOWN, BUT IT WAS OFF SEASON. I REMEMBER SEEING THE GRAPH AND IT JUST MATCHED PERFECTLY WITH WHAT OUR EBBS AND FLOWS OF TOURISM ARE. UM, YEAH. I'M GONNA STOP THAT ONE THERE. OKAY. SO I JUST WANT, UM, TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT CONFUSING THE CITY'S PLAN, WHICH IS ABOUT, UM, SUPPORTING EVS AND, UM, REDUCING, UH, THE CITY'S USE OF WATER AND SO FORTH WITH THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN. THEY'RE NOT THE SAME DOCUMENTS. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE YOU'RE AWARE THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS. SURE. I MAY BE CONFUSING THEM. OKAY. FOLLOW UP BY COUNCILOR WILLIAMSON, PLEASE. YEAH. COULD YOU JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, UM, AND HOW, HOW AN IDEA OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD OR SHOULD, HOW WOULD YOU SEE THAT AS BEING INCORPORATED INTO, INTO THE TABS STRATEGIC PLAN? WHICH, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MAIN FIRST THINGS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK IS SUSTAINABLE? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU AND HOW DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE BEST SORT OF MOVED FORWARD ON IT AS IT RELATES TO THE TAB? UM, I SUPPOSE THAT'S PROBABLY THE KIND OF TOURISTS THAT WE WANT TO ATTRACT TO SEDONA. UM, BEYOND THAT, THERE HAS TO BE AN EDUCATIONAL ASPECT. I KNOW THAT ALL THE TRAIL HEADS HAVE SIGNS ABOUT LEAVE NO TRACE, BUT REALLY, I THINK THAT ONLY GOES SO FAR. UM, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT SUSTAINABLE TOURISM SHOULD MEAN A CAP ON TOURISM. UM, I THINK THAT IT CAN BE DONE DELICATELY AND CORRECTLY. FOR EXAMPLE, BACK TO THAT TRAILHEAD EXAMPLE, IF PEOPLE ARE USING TOP THREE TRAILHEADS, THEN YOU PUT MORE ATTENTION ON THOSE THREE TRAILHEADS AND MAINTAINING THEM. RIGHT. UM, AND MAYBE DON'T FOCUS ON THE OTHER ONES. MM-HMM. , I GUESS ANOTHER APPROACH COULD BE SPREADING IT MORE THIN AND ADVERTISING MORE TRAILS SO PEOPLE AREN'T FULLY, AREN'T CONGREGATING ON THE SAME TRAILS. RIGHT. THERE'S MORE PEOPLE SPREAD AMONG. AND THEN PUTTING THE RESOURCES OUT THERE. AGAIN, I'LL BE HONEST, I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT BREAKDOWN OF HOW MUCH THE CITY PAYS FOR, HOW MUCH THE FOREST SERVICE PAYS FOR, UM, AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS RESPONSIBLE. I THINK ANOTHER ASPECT FOR, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS WOULD FIT WITHIN THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, BUT THERE SHOULD ALSO BE SOME SORT OF, I DON'T WANT TO CALL IT [00:35:01] LIKE A LOCAL PRIVILEGE, BUT SOMETHING THAT STILL ALLOWS THROUGH ALL THIS TOURISM, LOCALS TO BE GRANTED OUR ABILITY TO GO HIKE AND USE THE TRAILS. THANK YOU. DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS FOR ITEM SEVEN? NOT FOR SEVEN, BUT I HAVE FOLLOW UPS TOO. YEAH, WE WE'RE GONNA DO THAT, BUT, UM, BEFORE WE USUALLY WE DO THAT BEFORE WE GET TO THE EXACT LAST ONE. OKAY. SO IF YOU WANNA DO THAT NOW, WE COULD DO THAT. THANK YOU. I DIDN'T KNOW WHICH WAS MY MIC . UM, OKAY. USE BOTH. I KNOW. WHY NOT? UM, I JUST, I HAVE A COUPLE FOLLOW UPS TO YOUR APPLICATION ITSELF. SURE. UM, I, I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE. WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE EXPERIENCE THAT PEOPLE BRING INTO THIS MM-HMM. . AND YOU HAVE A FACULTY AT COCONINO COCONINO COMMUNITY COLLEGE, UH, PART-TIME FACULTY, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHICH POSITION YOU HELD YOUR TEACHING AND LECTURING, BUT CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? AND ALSO, I'M UNFAMILIAR WITH THE TERM HERE. YOU HAVE, UH, AKA LLC MANAGER SLASH F O H I'M SORRY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT F O H MEANS. I MIGHT BE THE ONLY ONE. I'M SORRY. THAT'S FINE. . UM, YEAH, I, I TEACH PART-TIME, UH, AT COCONINO COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I TEACH PSYCHOLOGY, UH, USUALLY ANYWHERE BETWEEN ONE AND THREE CLASSES EACH SEMESTER. UH, THE MALKA L L C, THAT'S THE OFFICIAL L L C FOR D B A, THE HUDSON. OH, THANK YOU. UM, AND THE VAULT, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHY I FELT BETTER PUTTING IT THAT WAY ON THERE. AND F O H STANDS FOR FRONT OF HOUSE. SO WITHIN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY, I'VE BEEN A BARTENDER, A, UH, BAR MANAGER AND GENERAL FRONT OF HOUSE EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING SERVING. THANK YOU. I NOW HAVE A NEW TERM TO USE. F O H IT'S NOT GONNA BE HELPFUL TO YOU, BUT IT'LL, I'M SURE IT'LL, I'LL WORK IT IN SOMEHOW. ? UM, I DID HAVE, UH, YES, I HAD ONE OTHER, YEAH. FOLLOW UP QUESTION, JUST GENERALLY, 'CAUSE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT DOCUMENTS BEFORE AND THERE'S A PLETHORA OF THEM THAT EXIST THAT COULD BE CONFUSED WITH EACH OTHER. SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, HOW OFTEN DO YOU FIND YOURSELF EVER GOING TO THE CITY WEBSITE AND LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS AND KNOWING WHAT WE HAVE OR HOW TO UTILIZE THAT? I'M JUST CURIOUS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH US, WHAT YOU THINK OF THE WEBSITE. SURE. PRETTY OFTEN, UM, MOSTLY TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UH, PARKING TABLE. UH, MOSTLY THROUGH MY REAL ESTATE JOB. I NEED TO KNOW ALL OF THOSE THINGS. UH, SO THAT'S WHERE I AM MOST FAMILIAR WITH IT. UH, I HAVE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS READ ALL OF THESE THINGS. UM, BUT PROBABLY ONE FLAW IS THAT I DO RELY TOO MUCH ON READING MORE OF THE SOCIAL FORUMS. AND THEN FROM THAT, IF THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT A SPECIFIC ARTICLE OR A SPECIFIC PART THAT THE CITY PUBLISHED, I'LL GO OUT AND FIND THE PRIMARY RESOURCE PUBLISHED BY THE CITY TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT IN THAT SENSE. THANK YOU. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS? OKAY. WHO'S DOING, UH, EIGHT? OH, LET MELISSA DO IT. ME. I LIKE WHEN MELISSA DOES IT. ME TOO. IT'S LEFT. THAT'S OKAY. GOOD TO GO. ALL RIGHT. SO I GET THE LAST QUESTION. YAY. I HEAR IT'S A BIG DEAL. IT'S, IT'S NOT REALLY, UM, I DON'T KNOW. THIS IS THIS, THIS IS THE KIND OF QUESTION WHERE WE, WE BASICALLY, YOU'VE HAD THIS A MILLION TIMES IF YOU'VE INTERVIEWED, AND THAT IS, WE'VE GOT 20 PEOPLE WE'RE INTERVIEWING FROM THIS, UH, BETWEEN LAST WEEK AND THEN THIS WEEK THERE ARE 11 POSITIONS AVAILABLE. SO, NICK, WHY YOU, WHY SHOULD WE CHOOSE YOU? WELL, I WROTE DOWN PERSPECTIVE AND PASSION. THAT'S AS FAR AS I GOT. AND THEY ITERATE. SO I'M GONNA GO WITH THAT. I THINK I DO BRING A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE. I WANT TO, UM, DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER IN WHAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, HOW I CHOSE SEDONA TO BE MY LIFE, RIGHT? IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, I STILL RENT. I'M INCREDIBLY FORTUNATE THAT I CAN STILL BE HERE CREATING THE LIFESTYLE THAT I WANT, RIGHT? I'VE LOST AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF FRIENDS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS SINCE COVID AND SINCE THE S T R RULING. SO REALLY EVER SINCE THEN, I'VE BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN WHAT YOU ALL ARE DOING AND WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF WHAT YOU ALL ARE DOING. UM, SO I WANT THIS TO BE MY FIRST STEP AND ANYTHING THAT I MIGHT BE LACKING IN TERMS OF AN EXPERIENCE I THINK THAT I CAN MAKE UP FOR, WITH ONE, BEING EDUCATED AND HAVING AN ABILITY TO LEARN AND COMING AT THIS WITH AN OBJECTIVE MINDSET. AND THAT PLAYS BACK INTO THE PASSION ASPECT AS WELL. I TRULY LOVE SEDONA. I THINK WHAT MAKES OUR TOWN SO COOL [00:40:01] AND WHY EVERYONE THINKS WHEN THEY MOVE HERE, THEY SHOULD BE THE LAST ONE TO MOVE HERE, IS BECAUSE SLOWLY OVER TIME, THIS BECOMES A PART OF OUR PERSONALITY, RIGHT? IT'S NOT AN EASY PLACE TO JUST LIVE. YOU BECOME A LITTLE BIT LIKE SEDONA. YOU DEFINE YOURSELF THROUGH SEDONA. YOU CAN'T ENVISION, ENVISION YOURSELF LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE BESIDES SEDONA. SO COMING FROM THAT, UH, HAVING A YOUNGER PERSPECTIVE AND REALLY BEING NOT OF A HUGE FACTION OF PEOPLE THAT WANT TO STAY HERE FROM THEIR MID THIRTIES ON, YOU KNOW, I'M COMMITTED TO SEEING THE FUTURE OF SEDONA PLAY OUT. UM, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER THIS PLAYS OUT, YOU GUYS WILL SEE MORE OF ME AT WHATEVER POSITION MIGHT COME AVAILABLE BECAUSE I'VE DECIDED THIS IS HOW I WANT TO BE MORE INVOLVED. UM, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS, I AM VERY BUSY. I, I, I STAY FOR, I, I HAVE TO DO A LOT OF THINGS TO BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN MY SEDONA LIFE, RIGHT? BUT THAT ALSO PLAYS INTO WHY I CARE SO MUCH ABOUT BEING HERE AND WHY I WOULD MAKE THIS A PRIORITY IN TERMS OF WHERE MY ENERGY AND MY EFFORTS ARE GOING. FOLLOW UP COUNCILLOR WILLIAMSON. NOT A FOLLOW UP. A NEW QUESTION. NEW QUESTION. OKAY. ANY FOLLOW UPS FIRST AT ALL, PETE? OKAY. COUNCILOR WILLIAMSON, ANOTHER QUESTION. YEAH. THIS, YOU WERE GIVEN THE OPTION OF HAVING AN INTERVIEW IN A CLOSED SESSION OR AN OPEN SESSION. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE OPEN SESSION? IT JUST MADE MORE SENSE TO ME. UM, CAN YOU ELABORATE? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. I THINK A LOT OF THESE SESSIONS SHOULD BE OPEN AND PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY. I MEAN, THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF GOVERNMENT, RIGHT? THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING TRANSPARENT AND MAKING THE CORRECT DECISIONS. UM, WHETHER , WHETHER IT'S MY TAB INTERVIEW OR THE CITY MANAGER THING, I THINK ALL OF THESE SESSIONS SHOULD BE OPEN AND BE INVITED. THE ONLY ISSUE THAT I THINK COMES UP IS THAT IF IT GETS DEFLECTED, THAT'S WHY I ASK, LIKE, WILL ANYONE TAKE AWAY TIME FROM ME? IF YOU HAVE PEOPLE THAT COME UP AND JUST WANT TO SAY WHATEVER SOAPBOX THEY'RE ON AND IT TAKES AWAY FROM THE ACTUAL MEETING, THEN NO, MAYBE CLOSE IT OFF. MAYBE ONLY PEOPLE THAT SHOULD BE INVOLVED SHOULD BE INVOLVED. BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT ANYONE TO SHOW UP. IT WOULD'VE BEEN FUNNY IF THEY DID, BUT IT WAS MORE OF, I GUESS, A THEORETICAL THING. THEY COULD HAVE COME AT THE, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE HAD QUESTIONS. , YOU WOULDN'T KNOW TO HAVE A CARD. THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING THAT QUESTION. OF COURSE. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY FOLLOW UP CLOSING QUESTIONS? OKAY, NICK, NOW IT'S MY TURN. YES. SO, UM, WE HAVE TWO MORE, UH, APPLICANTS TO INTERVIEW TODAY. QUITE A FEW TOMORROW. MM-HMM. NEXT THURSDAY WE WILL DELIBERATE AND YOU'LL PROBABLY HEAR FROM THE DEPUTY, UH, CITY CLERK THE FOLLOWING WEEK AFTER THAT. TWO THURSDAYS FROM NOW, TWO THURSDAYS, NO NECESSARILY THURSDAY. SO DELIBERATION IS ON THE 12TH OF OCTOBER. AND YOU'LL HEAR AFTER THAT DATE, RIGHT? BECAUSE ON FRIDAY, THE, UH, CITY CLERK IS NOT, UH, NOT WORKING. SO YOU'LL HEAR, I'M SURE SOMETIME THE FOLLOWING MONDAY AND TUESDAY. PERFECT. AT HER, HER SCHEDULE. DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL QUESTIONS FOR US? NO, I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR TIME. UH, IT WAS GREAT TO MEET YOU WHEN I SEE YOU ALL IN THE GROCERY STORE. I'LL ACTUALLY SAY SOMETHING NOW. , WE'VE HAD A CONVERSATION. UM, AND THEN YOU CAN USE OUR FIRST NAMES AND THEN . I, I WON'T, I'M GONNA GET, I'M GONNA GET USED TO THIS DECORUM. IT'LL BE EASIER FOR ME. OTHER THAN THAT, JUST THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY AND THANKS FOR HEARING ME OUT. THANK YOU. THANKS FOR THANK YOU. THANK YOU ALL. ALRIGHT, ALL. WE ARE STILL IN, IN OPEN SESSION AND WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A 15 MINUTE BREAK IN PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT APPLICANT. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE THAT. YEAH, YEAH. IT WAS GREAT HERE. THANK YOU ALL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU NICK. HAVE A GOOD REST OF THE DAY. WHAT? . OH MY GOD, LOVE IT. SORRY, WE'RE LOOKING AT YOUR VIDEOS. . I JUST WANNA SEE THE DOG VIDEOS. I DON'T, I'M NOT, I KNOW YOU. OKAY. I BELIEVE WE'RE BACK ON. YES. YEAH. OKAY. BUT IT'S, EXCUSE ME, MARCY, WE GOOD? YES. THANK YOU MA'AM. I NEED SOME WATER. OKAY, WE'RE BACK ON. UH, THIS IS, UH, THE SECOND TO LAST INTERVIEW. STEVE NER. HI GUYS. HEY THERE. ALRIGHT. JUST TO GIVE YOU A HEADS UP, WHAT THE, UH, WHAT WE'RE DOING, YOU WILL HAVE 45 MINUTES. OKAY? WE, YOU'LL BE TIMED. WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU, UH, QUESTIONS AND WITH SOME FOLLOW UP. AND YOUR TIME IS YOUR TIME. WE DON'T WANNA CUT YOU BACK AT ALL. YOU HAVE, BUT YOU ONLY HAVE THE 45 MINUTES. SO [00:45:01] JUST USE IT AS WISELY AS YOU CAN. OKAY? ALRIGHT. WE'RE GONNA START, UH, EIGHT QUESTIONS. EIGHT WITH EIGHT QUESTIONS. YES. EIGHT QUESTIONS WITH FOLLOW-UPS. OKAY. OKAY. UH, WHO STARTED LAST? SOMEWHERE OVER THERE. NO, HOLLY STARTS THIS TIME. HOLLY STARTS THIS TIME. OKAY. SO STEVE, WHEN YOU TRAVEL, WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU USE TO PLAN YOUR TRIP? AND WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN THROUGH YOUR USE OF RESOURCES AND OTHER DESTINATIONS THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO BRING TO SEDONA? WELL, TRAVEL'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS WHEN I STARTED 20 YEARS AGO. UM, YOU USE TRAVEL AGENTS, YOU USE TRAVEL BOOKS, YOU USE FROMER. AND THERE WERE PUBLICATIONS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO DO SOME RESEARCH, BUT PEOPLE FELL BACK AND I FELL BACK ON TRAVEL AGENTS. AND PEOPLE IN THE KNOW GOOGLE'S CHANGED THAT TO WHERE PEOPLE NOW PART OF THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE, IN FACT THE NUMBERS SHOW ABOUT 40% OF THE SATISFACTION LEVEL IS IN THE PLANNING. SO IN MY CASE, WITH HOTELS, UH, THE WIFE USUALLY IS THE PLANNER. UM, SHE WILL SPEND TWO OR THREE DAYS LOOKING, UM, WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO GO, WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO STAY. AND, AND I SAY THIS BECAUSE I HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE EVERY SINGLE MORNING, HOW DID YOU FIND THIS? HOW'D YOU GET HERE? AND I HAD A COUPLE TODAY THAT CAME IN AND IT WAS, WELL, MY HUSBAND SAID, LET'S GO TO SEDONA. AND THEN I STARTED LOOKING AND I LOOKED AT FOR THREE DAYS AND I FOUND YOUR HOTEL, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. SO, UH, IT'S TRICKY. YOU CAN USE GOOGLE TO GET YOURSELF STARTED. YOU CAN USE THE CHAMBER TO HELP RESEARCH, BUT IT'S PEOPLE ACTUALLY DIGGING THROUGH DATA TO MAKE A DECISION. SO IT'S NOT AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS IT USED TO BE. AND HOW ABOUT YOURSELF WHEN YOU AND CONNIE GO, I'M A TERRIBLE TRAVEL. I JUST SAY, WE'RE GOING TO HAWAII. I CALL SOMEBODY AFTER AND I SAY, BOOK A ROOM AND I JUST, I JUST DON'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T CARE. I JUST SAY THAT'S WHAT I, AND WE DO. AND SOMETIMES, SO WELL, THE LAST TIME WE WENT TO EUROPE, WE CAME, WE ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT A DAY EARLY. UM, 'CAUSE I DIDN'T REALLY LOOK AT ANYTHING. SO YOU CAN'T USE ME FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT, UH, I, I WILL, UM, I WILL USE GOOGLE IF I HAVE TO FIND A GUIDE. UH, WE WERE IN, UH, ROME, UH, A COUPLE MONTHS, A MONTH AGO I GUESS. AND I WALKED OUTSIDE AND I SAW MILLIONS OF AMERICANS, AND I SAID, WE'RE NOT GONNA SEE ROME ON THIS TRIP. UM, GOT A GUIDE AND WE JUST WENT UP TO A POMPEII. SO I'M A LITTLE MORE SPONTANEOUS AND I'LL JUST DO STUFF. BUT IT'S, IT'S A LOT DIFFERENT. NOW. WHAT WHAT HAPPENS IS I SPEND EIGHT TO $10,000 A MONTH ON MARKETING FOR OUR HOTEL ON GOOGLE. AND I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA IF IT WORKS, FOR SURE. UH, I WISH I DID BECAUSE SOMEBODY CAN HIT A GOOGLE CLICK, THEY CAN SEE MY LOCATION. UH, THEN I GO BACK AND LOOK AT MY DATA TO SEE HOW LONG THEY STAYED ON MY PAGE AND WHICH PAGE. BUT THEN THEY ALSO GO LOOK AT OTHER HOTELS AND THAT'S THE WHOLE PROCESS. THEY'RE LOOKING AROUND AND THEN DEPENDING ON HOW YOU PRESENT IT YOURSELF IN GOOGLE MOSTLY AND YOUR WEBSITE, THEN THEY KIND OF COME BACK AND HOPEFULLY THEY PICK YOU. BUT, BUT THEY DON'T ALL THE TIME. OBVIOUSLY I DON'T GET ALL THE BUSINESS IN TOWN, SO THEY PICK OTHER PLACES TOO. BUT IT'S AN INTERESTING CONCEPT. YOU, YOU HAVE TO PLANT THE SEED. UH, WHAT'S SEDONA ABOUT? WHY AM I COMING TO SEDONA? UM, WHY, WHERE SHOULD I STAY AND WHAT'S THE REAL REASON PEOPLE COME TO SEDONA? AND TO ME THAT'S, THAT'S THE THING THAT IT'S IMPORTANT. IT'S WHAT'S THE REAL UNDERLYING REASON THEY'RE COMING TO SEDONA. OKAY. I'D LIKE TO FOLLOW UP, STEVE. WHEN YOU GO WHEREVER YOU GO, EVEN WHEN YOU GO TO SCOTTSDALE, DO YOU SEE THINGS THERE THAT WE COULD IMPLEMENT HERE AS, AS FAR AS TRAVEL OR OTHER THINGS, TRAVEL OR THINGS THAT WE COULD USE? YEAH, SO I, I, AND, AND, AND I'M WORKING ON THAT A LITTLE BIT. I, I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT WE SHOULD HAVE A PRODUCT, UM, A PRODUCT GROUP THAT TRIES TO IMPROVE OUR PRODUCT. AND WHEN I SAY PRODUCT, I'M SPEAKING FROM A MARKETING POINT OF VIEW. THE SEDONA IS OUR PRODUCT. HOW DO WE IMPROVE OUR PRODUCT FOR THE LOCALS AND FOR THE VISITORS? AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE IT A BETTER PRODUCT. AND I THINK WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS WE HAVE TO ASK THE LOCALS AND WE HAVE TO ASK THE HOTELIERS AND SAY, WHAT COULD WE DO TO MAKE THE VISIT TO SEDONA BETTER? IN MY, MY PRIME EXAMPLE IS LIKE, WE NEED DRINKING FOUNTAINS. WE NEED PLACES TO SIT. WE NEED MORE TRASH CANS. AND THEY'RE ALL LITTLE THINGS. BUT I THINK IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT OURSELF CRITICALLY EVERY YEAR AND SAY, HOW DO WE IMPROVE OUR PRODUCT? AND IF WE HAD A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO THAT'S WHAT THEY DID, OR IF THEY SAW SOMETHING AROUND TOWN THAT, GEE, I I I, THAT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN. UH, I DRIVE AROUND TO SEDONA AND I WENT TO BARCELONA AND I WENT TO [00:50:01] MADRID AND ALL I DID IS LOOK AT THEIR PUBLIC FACILITIES. I LOOKED AT THEIR PARKS, I LOOKED AT THEIR BENCHES, I LOOKED AT THEIR SHADE TREES AND I CAME BACK THINKING, WOW, WE CAN DO MORE. AND THESE ARE ALL EASY THINGS. SO I'M WORKING ON A WHITE PAPER RIGHT NOW. I WANNA SUBMIT TO THE CITY COUNCIL FOR JANUARY OF JUST LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT I THINK COULD IMPROVE OUR PRODUCT. THANK YOU FOR COMING IN TODAY. MM-HMM. , THANK YOU FOR BRINGING YOUR ENTOURAGE. COUNCIL FOLTZ, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UH, YOU ACTUALLY ASKED THAT QUESTION, BUT, UH, STEVE'S RESPONSE GAVE ME, UH, YOU KNOW, PAUSE FOR THOUGHT FOR, UM, ANOTHER QUESTION, WHICH IS THIS, THIS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, UH, PRODUCT MARKETING TYPE GROUP, WOULD THAT NOT ESSENTIALLY BE WHAT THIS TOURISM, WHAT THIS TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD COULD BE SERVING AS? COULD THAT NOT BE PART OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING? YES, ABSOLUTELY. UM, EVEN IN THE OLD DAYS WHEN WE STARTED THIS IN OH 7, 0 8, 0 9, WE HAD A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GROUP. IT WAS A LITTLE AD HOC. WE HAD SOME CITY COUNSELORS ON IT. WE HAD PEOPLE FROM THE CITY, WE HAD MERCHANTS. AND WE WOULD SIT AROUND AND TALK ABOUT WITH THE CHAMBER ABOUT WHAT MARKETING DO WE NEED? AND WE WOULD HAVE DISCUSSIONS, YOU KNOW, FOUR OR FIVE DISCUSSIONS UNTIL WE FOCUS AND SAY, WELL, THIS YEAR LET'S, LET'S CONCENTRATE ON THIS AREA. AND THEN THE CHAMBER WOULD TAKE THAT INPUT AND PUT TOGETHER A MARKETING PLAN AND TAKE IT TO THE CITY COUNCIL. SO IT WAS, IT WAS A GOOD, I LIKED IT. I I THINK WE LOST IT THE LAST FEW YEARS BECAUSE OF COVID AND OTHER THINGS. BUT STEVE, THAT'S MARKETING SPECIFICALLY. YOU WERE MENTIONING MORE LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE PRODUCT RIGHT. OF MAKING IT BETTER. THAT'S THE PART THAT I'M SAYING, WOULD THAT NOT BE A GOOD ABSOLUTELY. USE OF THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD TO BE ADDRESSING THAT TYPE OF CONSIDERATION? Y Y YES. WHY, WHY WHY WE SHOULD BE NOT SO FOCUSED ON JUST COMING UP. HOW DO WE GET PEOPLE HERE? WE SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON HOW DO WE HANDLE THE PEOPLE. MM-HMM. , HOW DO I GIVE THEM A BETTER ENVIRONMENT? NOW WE'RE WORKING ON, I'M ON THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION. IT'S IMPORTANT WE'RE GONNA HAVE DOOR TO DOOR STOP. WOW. SO WE CAN GET PEOPLE TO GO TO HOTELS TONIGHT, FROM HOTELS TO DINNER TO BACK. WHAT A GREAT PRODUCT. AND YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S NOT JUST FOR VISITORS. IT'S A PRODUCT FOR EVERYBODY. I'VE ALWAYS SEEN THAT ANYTHING THE CITY DOES OR THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES ISN'T FOR VISITORS. IT'S FOR ALL OF US. WE ALL BENEFIT. AND I KNOW SOME PEOPLE IN TOWN WOULD DISAGREE WITH THAT, BUT ANYTHING THAT WE DO AND SPEND, I THINK HELPS ALL OF US. SO I THINK, YES, THAT GROUP SHOULD I, I WOULD HOPE THAT GROUP WOULD TAKE SOME TIME IN SAYING, UH, LET'S DRIVE AROUND TOWN. LET'S, I GO DOWN TO, UH, SCOTTSDALE AND I TAKE PICTURES OF HOW THEY MAINTAIN THEIR ROADS. I DON'T SEE WEEDS. I'M NOT CRITICIZING THE CITY FOR WEEDS, BUT THEY HAVE A POLICY. I ALSO CONTACTED THE MAYOR OF SCOTTSDALE AND I ASKED ABOUT THINGS THAT WE COULD DO TO IMPROVE OUR CITY. AND HE, THEY HAVE A THOUSAND TREE PLANTING PROGRAM. WOW. THEY HAVE A SHADE PROGRAM. THEY HAVE A POLICY ON BENCHES. SO THESE ARE ALL THINGS WE COULD START THE SEED. SO NOT BEING CRITICAL, BUT, WELL, YOU GOTTA START SOMEPLACE. SURE. YEAH. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU MAYOR. OKAY. UM, THAT WOULD BE, UH, COUNCILOR KINSELLA FOR THE, UH, NEXT ITEM NUMBER TWO. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. AND YOUR INTEREST. UM, YOU USED A PHRASE BEFORE, UM, THE REAL REASON THEY'RE COMING TO SEDONA. YES. YOUR QUOTE, WHAT IS THE REAL REASON THEY'RE COMING TO SEDONA AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SEDONAS BEST ASSETS FOR RESIDENTS? AND WHAT ABOUT WHAT ARE THE BEST ASSETS FOR VISITORS? IT'S A MARKETING PHRASE. PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY, UH, USE THE PRODUCT FOR THE REASON YOU THINK THEY USE IT. THERE'S UNDERLYING REASONS. UM, I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH A COUPLE THIS AFTERNOON, NICE COUPLE SIXTIES BUTTONED DOWN. HUSBAND TAKES ME ASIDE, SAYS, MY WIFE'S REALLY INTO THIS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, UH, THIS VORTEX THING. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? AND I HEAR THAT ALL THE TIME. SO THAT'S THE UNDERLYING THING THAT SOMEHOW WE HAVE NOT MARKETED. IT JUST KIND OF CAME TO US. BUT MYSTICAL AND MAGICAL ARE TWO WORDS I LIKE TO USE. AND I HOPE WE DON'T LOSE THEM BECAUSE YES, WE COME FOR RED ROCKS AND YES, WE COME FOR THE EXPERIENCE. BUT SEDONA IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE MACHU PICCHU TO ME. IT'S JUST HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE WORLD THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN TOO MUCH. AND PEOPLE DON'T GO TO MACHU PICCHU JUST TO SEE THE BUILDING AND THE ROCKS. THERE'S SOMETHING MORE THEY WANT TO GET OUT OF IT. AND I CAN'T REALLY DEFINE IT ALWAYS WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR, BUT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE. SO I THINK OUR MARKETING SHOULD ALWAYS CATER TO THIS IDEA. WE'RE A LITTLE, OTHERWISE WE'RE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TOWN WITH RED ROCKS AND WE AREN'T LIKE ANY OTHER TOWN WITH RED ROCKS. SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT [00:55:01] THAT WE HAVE THIS, WE UNDERSTAND THIS. AND MY BACKGROUND IS IN MARKETING. THE WAY I ALWAYS MARKET IS I TALK TO PEOPLE. I DOG FOOD. WHEN I WAS IN THE DOG FOOD BUSINESS, I TALKED TO PEOPLE WHEN I WAS IN THE BIRD CAGE BUSINESS, I TALKED TO BREEDERS. YOU KNOW, WHEN I RAN THE WORLDWIDE PESS SAY, I FLEW AROUND AND TALKED TO PEOPLE AND THEY TELL YOU WHAT THEY WANT. AND THEN MY JOB IS TO TURN IT AROUND INTO A PRODUCT. IT'S NOT FOR ME TO DEFINE THE PRODUCT AND PUT IT BACK OUT. SO I THINK WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE AND YOU KNOW, YOU CAN ONLY GET SO MUCH FROM ASKING QUESTIONS AND DOING QUESTIONNAIRES. YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T REALLY GET THE TRUE ANSWER. UM, ARE THEY, IT'S ONLY THE TOP. SO I THINK, UH, CONNIE AND I GO OUT EVERY NIGHT AND WE HAVE A DRINK, TWO , AND WE ALWAYS STAY AT THE BAR, A BAR. WE GO TO A DIFFERENT BAR EVERY NIGHT AND WE TALK TO THE PEOPLE ON THE SIDE EVERY NIGHT. WE MEET INTERESTING PEOPLE AND THEY TELL US WHY THEY CAME. AND THAT'S WHY I LIVE IN SEDONA. BUT I ALSO LEARN WHY THEY COME IN. AND THERE'S ALWAYS THIS MYSTICAL, MAGICAL MOMENT. AND I ALWAYS USE THE, LIKE THE IMAGE, I LIKE THE IMAGE OF SEDONAS, A VERY IMAGE ORIENTED PRODUCT AS OPPOSED TO COKE OR SOMETHING. BUT MACHU PICCHU, WHEN I SAY THAT WORD, YOU'RE GOING TO GET A PICTURE LOOKING DOWN AT THIS, THIS AREA THAT'S JUST ROCK AND BEAUTIFUL AND SITTING THERE, YOU SEE IT IN YOUR HEAD. I DON'T HAVE TO SAY THAT THEY DO MASSAGES OR THEY'RE ANYTHING ELSE. I JUST HAVE TO SAY IT. I THINK THAT'S WHO WE ARE. I THINK WE'RE A VERY SIMPLE PRODUCT. I THINK WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE MYSTICISM AND THE MAGIC OF IT. AND I DON'T THINK WE, I THINK WE'VE ALWAYS OVER MARKETED OURSELF. FRANKLY. I THINK THIS EVERY YEAR COMING UP WITH THIS NEW IDEA, A NEW PLAN WAS JUST A LOT OF ENERGY WASTED. I THINK SIMPLE PLANS, SIMPLE IDEA. STAY WITH IT. CONSISTENT. SO STEVE, A LOT WHAT YOU'VE JUST SAID IS, UM, IDENTIFYING PEOPLE'S WANTS THROUGH ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCE, WHAT YOU'VE GLEANED FROM SPEAKING TO THEM DIRECTLY. WHERE DOES EMPIRICAL DATA FACTOR IN? WELL, I THINK EMPIRICAL DATA, YOU'RE GONNA PULL UP A LOT OF DATA AND YOU'RE GONNA SAY, WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE COME? WHAT THE AGE GROUP, WHAT'S THEIR, WHAT'S THEIR STATUS? WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? AND THOSE SHOULD ALL BE LEADERS. OKAY? I THINK DATA IS IMPORTANT, BUT DATA IS JUST POINTS YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, OKAY? YOU HAVE TO HAVE MANAGEMENT AND PEOPLE TO LIKE TAKE THE DATA AND MAKE, UH, UNDERSTANDING OF IT. UM, I UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CITY'S DOING NOW IS YOU'RE GOING TO DO A MARKETING PROGRAM, OKAY? AND YOU'RE GONNA, YOU PICKED A COUPLE CITIES, YOU'S FINE DATA POINTS YOU AT THE DIRECTION. AND THE GROUP SHOULD PROBABLY COME UP WITH THE CITIES BASED UPON TALKING BACK AND FORTH TO EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY DID SOME ANECDOTAL WORK. UM, IT IT, WHEN I, WHEN I LOOK AT, I'M ADVERTISING FROM MY HOTEL, I USE SOME KEY FACTORS. I WANT A DIRECT PLANE FLIGHT TO PHOENIX. I DON'T WANT 'EM TO HAVE TO CHANGE PLANES. IT'S MUCH EASIER. PLUS IT'S CHEAPER. SO CHICAGO'S A GREAT PLACE FOR ME TO MARKET IN. SEATTLE'S A GREAT PLACE TO MARKET IN. IT'S NOT SUNNY, IT'S OVERCAST, A DIRECT FLIGHT. AND BY FEBRUARY THEY'RE FED UP. SO THEN, THEN I'M GONNA FOCUS ON THOSE, THOSE EASY HANGING FRUIT. I, I KNOW I DISAGREE WITH THE CITY A LITTLE BIT IN PHOENIX, BUT PHOENIX IS A HUGE MARKET FOR ME. OKAY. AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT PHOENIX IS THAT IF I GET A CUSTOMER FROM NEW YORK CITY, THEY FLY OUT FOR THREE DAYS, THEY DROP THREE OR $4,000 EATING. THAT'S WHAT WE ALL WANT. I WON'T SEE 'EM AGAIN. MAYBE FOR SEVEN YEARS. I CAN GET THAT SAME COUPLE OUT OF SCOTTSDALE OR GOODYEAR OR SOME OTHER PLACE, AND I'LL SEE 'EM EVERY YEAR OR TWICE A YEAR. SO MY DOLLAR, MY MARKETING DOLLARS WORKING EASIER FOR ME. SO THAT'S HOW I KIND OF THINK, UM, THAT'S WHY I LIKE, UM, IN MARKETING THERE'S AN OLD RULE THAT YOU, YOUR DOLLAR IS BEST SPENT CLOSEST TO THE PRODUCT. SO WHEN I HELPED DESIGN PET STORES YEARS AGO, THE FIRST THING I DID IS I DESIGNED A GOOD SIGN, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE, IS THE STORE. THEN AS I MOVED OUT FROM THAT, I LOST EFFECTIVENESS IN MY ADVERTISING. SO NOW WE'RE JUST THE OPPOSITE. WE NEED TO GO OUT A HUNDRED MILES OR SO TO GET PEOPLE TO REALLY COME HERE. BUT LAS VEGAS IS A GREAT MARKET FOR US. UM, IT'S JUST, IT'S DRIVING DISTANCE. SO DRIVING DISTANCE IS AN EASIER MARKET FOR ME, AND I WILL GET THAT VEGAS PERSON BACK SEVERAL TIMES, OR I MAY NOT GET THE PERSON FROM OHIO BACK SEVERAL TIMES. SO THAT'S KIND OF A WAY I, I USE DATA, BUT I ALSO USE JUST COMMON SENSE. AND THE COMMON SENSE COMES FROM TALKING TO OTHER PEOPLE. I TALK TO OTHER PEOPLE IN HOTELS AND THEY TELL US THEIR STORIES, AND SO WE, WE BEGIN TO LEARN WHO THIS CUSTOMER IS. AND, UH, I THINK OUR CUSTOMER RIGHT NOW IS PROBABLY A 50 PLUS WOMAN, UH, WHO'S MAKING THE DECISION ON TRAVEL. THEY'RE CHECKING OFF. UH, I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO BOX, AND I THINK THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH SAYING [01:00:01] WE SHOULD BE NUMBER EIGHT ON YOUR BUCKET LIST AND, UH, JUST, AND WORK IT THAT WAY. SO, UM, IT, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF MYSTICAL, MAGICAL TO HOW YOU CHOOSE, TOO. IT'S NOT JUST, HERE'S THE MONEY, HERE'S MY RETURN ON MY INVESTMENT. NOBODY UNDERSTANDS GOOGLE. IT CAN BE $2 A CLICK, IT COULD BE $10 A CLICK. UH, I, I CAN UP MY BUDGET ON A HUNDRED DOLLARS TODAY FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS AND GET NOT ONE CALL, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE DIDN'T CLICK. LOOK AT 20 OTHER SITES AND THEN CALL ME ON SATURDAY. SO IT'S HARD TO CONNECT THOSE DOTS SOMETIMES. INTERESTING. THANK YOU. THAT WAS INFORMATIVE. I HAVE ITEM NUMBER THREE. PLEASE SHARE HOW YOU DEFINE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING TWO SEPARATE ITEMS. WELL, MANAGEMENT IS, I THINK, UNDERSTANDING THE REALITIES OF YOUR PRODUCT. UH, WE'RE A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN THE SENSE THAT THE CITY COUNCIL IS GONNA DECIDE WHAT'S GOING TO BE DONE FOR US TO PUT TOGETHER A PRODUCT THAT DOESN'T FIT THE DESIGN OF WHAT THE CITY COUNCIL REALLY IS IN. THEIR BIG PLAN WOULD BE A LOT OF ENERGY. SO I THINK WE HAVE TO HAVE A COMMON GOAL THAT WE WANT, IF WE WANT, UM, A, A CITY THAT'S GONNA BRING IN HIGH SCALE PEOPLE THAT LIVE FOR STAY FOR THREE OR FOUR DAYS, THEY COME FROM OUT STATE AND WE GIVE, WE PUT TOGETHER A MARKETING PLAN. IT DOESN'T FIT THAT WE'RE JUST GETTING LOGGER HEADS. SO I THINK WE HAVE TO WORK THE TWO BACK AND FORTH. UM, SO I THINK THE PRODUCT HAS TO BE DEFINED ON, UM, AS A GROUP OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR. UM, AND THEN WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO COME TOGETHER AND PRESENT PLANS TO THE CITY THAT PROBABLY FIT WHAT THEY WANT. UH, THE CITY, UH, WE RUN IN, IN THE PAST WE'VE RUN INTO WHERE IF WE AREN'T PUTTING TOGETHER A PLAN THAT THE CITY'S REALLY BEHIND, THEN WE'RE BOTH WASTING ENERGY. SO I THINK WE HAVE TO WORK CLOSER TOGETHER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CITY COUNCIL REALLY WANTS. ANY FOLLOW UP HEARING? NONE. PETE, I HAVE A QUESTION. OH, YOU DO? OKAY. CAN YOU, CAN YOU FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON, ON MANAGEMENT, DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? BECAUSE I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT MARKETING MEANS TO YOU. UM, BUT WHAT DOES MANAGEMENT MEAN? WELL, MANAGEMENT, TO ME, IN MOST OF MY BUSINESS THAT I'VE DEALT WITH, THERE'S SOMEBODY WHO, WHO WHO IS CALLING THE SHOTS. YOU PUT TOGETHER AN ORGANIZATION AT THE CITY LEVEL, AND THEY'RE, THIS IS THE PERSON THAT PULLS IT ALL TOGETHER, GETS THE MEETINGS TOGETHER, UH, GETS THE IDEAS GOING, LEADS THE DISCUSSION, UM, AND KIND OF GETS US TO POINT B WHERE WE WANT TO BE. UM, AND IF WE DON'T HAVE A STRONG MANAGEMENT TEAM THAT PUTS IT TOGETHER, THEN I THINK WE JUST TALK IN A CIRCLE. SO I THINK THE CITY'S PUTTING TOGETHER A MANAGEMENT TEAM. FROM WHAT I SAW THE OTHER NIGHT, I WAS IMPRESSED. YOU'VE GOT SOME SOME GOOD, YOU'LL GET PEOPLE WITH GOOD DATA. I THINK YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO, UM, MANAGE NUMBERS A LITTLE BIT, ALTHOUGH IT'LL TAKE US ALL TIME TO UNDERSTAND THEM A LITTLE BIT. BUT I THINK YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE MARKET TOO. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UM, THAT WE TALK TO HOTELIERS, THAT WE TALK TO MERCHANTS UPTOWN, AND WE FIND OUT WHAT THEY NEED. YOU KNOW, I THINK I KNOW WHAT THEY NEED, BUT I, YOU KNOW, WE USED TO HAVE A, YOU KNOW, UPTOWN MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION, AND I FRANKLY FEEL WE'VE LOST A LITTLE BIT SINCE WE'VE LOST THAT, THAT WE'RE NOT GETTING GOOD FEEDBACK. AND MAYBE THE MERCHANTS IN TOWN DON'T FEEL LIKE THEY'RE CONNECTED THE WAY THE CITY THAT THEY COULD BE. UH, AND I THINK THAT, UH, SOME OF THE MARKETING IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S GETTING PEOPLE HERE AS JUST ONE PART OF MARKETING. YOU KNOW, NOW WHEN THEY'RE HERE, HOW DO WE GET 'EM TO THE PLACES THEY WANT TO GO EASILY, AND HOW DO THEY FIND IT? UM, SO I THINK PUTTING TOGETHER A GOOD MANAGEMENT TEAM THAT'S GONNA OVERSEE THE BUDGET AND GUIDE US FROM YEAR TO YEAR. WHAT I DON'T WANT TO SEE IS, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST WITH THE CHAMBER IS THAT EVERY SINGLE YEAR WE STARTED FROM SCRATCH AND WE PUT TOGETHER A NEW MARKETING PLAN, A NEW IDEA. I DON'T, I DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT. I THINK IT IS LIKE, IT'S LIKE NIKE. IT'S THE SWOOSH. YOU JUST KEEP TELLING YOUR STORY OVER AND OVER AND OVER, AND IT SHOULDN'T BE AS DIFFICULT AS IT'S BEEN IN THE PAST. THANK YOU. OKAY, COUNCILOR FURMAN, YOU'RE UP. ITEM FOUR. THANK YOU, MAYOR. HELLO, STEVE. HI. HELLO. CONNIE AND AL. AND, AND IS THAT SHE'S, IT'S, YEP. YOU GOT, THAT'S HIS ENTOURAGE. IT'S HIS SECURITY TEAM ENTOURAGE, SECURITY . STEVE, IS THE, UH, IS MARKETING A PART OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? UH, IT IS THIS KIND OF A RIFF ON WHAT JESSICA JUST ASKED YOU. MM-HMM. , IS MARKETING PART OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT OR ARE THEY SEPARATE SORT OF THINGS, IN YOUR OPINION? WELL, IN MY WORLD, THEY'D BE THE SAME. BUT, BUT IN YOUR WORLD, THEY MAY NOT [01:05:01] BE. UH, YOU KNOW, THE CITY, I CITY WORKS A CERTAIN WAY AND THEY HAVE, THEY LIKE TO HAVE, UM, PEOPLE ON TOP AND THEY LIKE TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO DO THINGS. UM, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CITY'S GONNA SET UP, BUT YES, YOU NEED, YOU NEED MANAGEMENT, YOU NEED TO SEE IT. YOU'RE GONNA SPEND A LOT OF MONEY. YOU'RE GONNA NEED PEOPLE IN CHARGE TO OVERSEE IT. THE MARKETING IS JUST A FUNCTION OF IT. IT'S JUST ONE FUNCTION OF THE, OF THE ENTIRE, UM, PROJECT. IT'S NOT EVERYTHING. AND THE TOURISM AND THE TOURISM BUREAU ITSELF, IS THERE WORK TOUCH ON ALL THESE AREAS OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OR WHAT'S YOUR, WHAT'S YOUR VISION FOR WHAT THE TOURISM BUREAU IS GOING TO DO IN THESE AREAS OF, OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING? WELL, I HOPE THEY COME UP WITH UNIQUE IDEAS ON MARKETING. UH, AND I HOPE THEY COME UP WITH UNIQUE IDEAS ON PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. AND I HOPE THEY COME UP WITH UNIQUE IDEAS ON HOW WE CAN IMPROVE OUR PRODUCT. SO I SEE US A PRODUCT, I SEE US AS AN IDEA GENERATING GROUP THAT PUTS US TOGETHER, THIS IDEAS, AND WE CAN PRESENT IT TO THIS, THE CITY SO THEY CAN PRESENT IT TO THE COUNCIL. SO THE COUNCIL HAS AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT OUR NEEDS ARE. NOW, IF WE CAN GIVE, SHOW YOU WHAT WE THINK OUR NEEDS ARE, THEN I THINK YOU'RE THE MANAGERS. YOU'RE BASICALLY THE ONES WHO FUND IT, AND YOU'RE THE ONES THAT ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR IT. SO I THINK, BUT YOU NEED A LOT MORE INFORMATION THAN, AND I THINK YOU NEED IDEAS. I THINK IDEAS ARE SO IMPORTANT. IT'S SO EASY TO COME IN AND SAY, OH, WE JUST DO THIS, WE DO THIS, WE'VE DONE IT IN OTHER CITIES. EVERY CITY IS DIFFERENT. WE NEED TO APPROACH EVERY CITY DIFFERENTLY. STEVE, I WANNA FOLLOW UP WITH A QUESTION THAT'S MOSTLY RELATED HERE, MAYOR. UM, A COUPLE OF TIMES NOW, IN YOUR RESPONSES, BOTH THIS QUESTION AND PREVIOUS, YOU'VE USED THE PHRASE THE WORD PRODUCT. SEDONA IS THE PRODUCT. SEDONA IS ALSO A PLACE TO LIVE. SO CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHT ON HOW YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE RESIDENT VIEWPOINT OF MARKETING VERSUS THE PRODUCT VIEWPOINT OF MARKETING? ABSO YEP. ABSOLUTELY. A PRODUCT IS A, IS JUST A TECHNICAL TERM FROM MY BACKGROUND. WHEN I'M WORKING ON ANYTHING, IT'S A PRODUCT. UM, AND I THINK WE HAVE A PRODUCT HERE THAT I LOOK AT AS A WHOLE TO, FROM THE OUTSIDE OF YOU, IF YOU'RE GONNA VISIT HERE, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA SEE? SEDONA, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? WHY AM I GOING THERE? SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE PRODUCT, THE OUTSIDER. SEE NOW WHEN YOU LIVE INSIDE, YOU'RE SEEING IT FROM THE INSIDE OUT. SO THAT'S THE OTHER SIDE OF YOUR QUESTION, I THINK. AND I THINK WE KNOW THAT'S THE BALANCING ACT. THAT'S THE HARD THING. THAT'S HARD. AND I THINK THE CITY'S TAKEN A LOT OF STEPS WITH TRANSPORTATION TO HELP ON THAT WITH PARKING HELP ON THAT. BUT WHATEVER WE DO FOR THE, TO, MY IDEA IS I WANT TO PLANT 89 A ALL THE WAY DOWN. I WANT, I WANT AN OVERALL PLANTING PLAN FROM COOKS HILL TO THE EDGE OF TOWN. OTHER CITIES DO IT. IS THAT GOING TO BE GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE? ABSOLUTELY. I WANNA COME UP WITH PRODUCTS IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LIVES HERE SAYS, WOW, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. OKAY. NOT GEARED, FORTRAN NOT GEARED FOR VISITORS. 'CAUSE IF I DO IT FOR THE LOCALS, THE VISITORS ARE GONNA BENEFIT. SO I WANNA BE MORE, I WANNA BE MORE LOCAL. YOU KNOW, I WANT, I WANT WALKING PATHS THAT HAVE DRINKING FOUNTAINS. I WANT PLACES THEY CAN SIT. THESE ARE ALL FOR THE LOCALS. SO I WANT TO REALLY BE MORE LOCAL ORIENTED IN WHAT WE DO, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO VISIT WILL JUST BENEFIT AUTOMATICALLY. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. MAYOR. THANK YOU. UH, COUNCILOR FURMAN. COUNCILOR KINSELLA, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP? I DO. UM, STEVE, SOME OF THE, THE IDEAS THAT THERE, THE, THE PRODUCTS THAT YOU'RE OUTLINING WOULD CROSS OVER WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS OUR SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT, OUR PLANNING, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. SO WHAT'S THE ROLE, UH, YOU THINK OF THE TAB IN TERMS OF, UM, DIRECTING PROGRAM? WELL, I, THAT WOULD CROSS OVER INTO OTHER DEPARTMENTS INPUT. I THINK THE IDEA IS THEY COME UP WITH IDEAS AND THEY PRESENT IT TO THE CITY MANAGER. AND THE CITY MANAGER WOULD SAY, WOW, THIS IS A GOOD PROJECT FOR OVER HERE. OR THIS IS A GOOD PROJECT FOR HERE. I'M WORKING NOW WITH THE ENGINEER ON THE HISTORY WALK, THE NEW HISTORY WALK. WE'RE GONNA DROP BELOW GRADE. AND WE'VE HAD THREE OR FOUR MEETINGS ABOUT, WELL, HOW ABOUT SHADE WHEN WE WALK ON IT? HOW DO WE GET WATER DOGS TO DRINK WATER? HOW DO WE HAVE A BEGINNING AND THE END THAT REALLY DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH GETTING IT BELOW GRADE? IT HAS TO DO WITH MAKING IT USEFUL FOR PEOPLE NOW. SO THAT'S, THAT'LL GO TO ANOTHER WHOLE SECTION. AND HE'S GONNA WORK ON THAT ON HIS OWN. IF WE DO SUSTAINABILITY, I THINK, UH, I'M ALWAYS, WHEN WE BUILD THE PARK BEHIND BREWER ROAD, I WOULD LIKE CRUSHED GRANITE WALKWAYS. 'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S SUSTAINABLE. BUT THE CITY'S GONNA DO WHAT THEY DO. SO ALL WE CAN DO IS RECOMMEND IDEAS WE'RE, I SEE IT [01:10:01] AS JUST AN IDEA TO SAY, HERE'S A, HERE'S B, HERE'S C THIS IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED. YOU CAN RUN WITH IT. BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S OUR JOB TO OVERSEE OR SAY WHO DOES IT. I THINK THAT'S THE, THE CITY, THE CITY'S MANAGER'S JOB. BUT I THINK WE CAN COME UP WITH IDEAS THAT WILL, WILL, WE THINK, WILL ENHANCE, UM, SOMETHING FOR THE VISITORS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE THAT, THAT MAY BE NOT EVEN IN OUR DEPARTMENT, BUT IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA THEY RUN WITH, OR YOU MIGHT MIGHT SAY, HEY, WHY DON'T WE, WHY DON'T WE RUN WITH THIS? 'CAUSE IT'S A GOOD IDEA. SO I'M, YOU KNOW, ME, I'M MORE IDEA ORIENTED THAN MOST PEOPLE. SO I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT WE CAN WORK ON. SO BASED ON, UH, JUST WHAT YOU'VE SAID, DO YOU SEE THE TAB AS ADVISORY TO THE CITY MANAGER OR TO THE COUNCIL? I DON'T KNOW. THAT'S HOW YOU SET IT UP. YOU KNOW, UH, I'M ON THE, I'M ON THE, UM, OH, WHAT IS IT, HOUSING UNIT RIGHT NOW. AND I'VE BEEN ON IT EIGHT YEARS. AND I MADE A RECOMMENDATION TWO WEEKS AGO THAT WE DO A WHITE PAPER TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO GET THE CITY COUNCIL UP TO SPEED ON EVERYTHING WE WERE WORKING ON. WE HAVE THESE MEETINGS, WE'VE LEARNED ALL THESE THINGS, WE'VE GOT THESE GREAT PROJECTS, BUT DOES THE CITY COUNCIL REALLY UNDERSTAND 'EM? SO WE HAD A SUB MEETING LAST WEEK WHERE WE'RE GONNA PUT TOGETHER A WHITE PAPER OF ALL THE THINGS WE'VE LEARNED, AND WE'RE JUST GONNA GIVE YOU WHAT KIND OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE. THAT'S ALL OUR JOB IS. BUT I THINK THAT SHOULD GO, I DON'T KNOW IF THE CITY MANAGER OR YOU, BUT IN MY, I GUESS IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, IT GOES TO THE CITY MANAGER AND HOPEFULLY IT GOES TO YOU. DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE, UM, DOCUMENT THAT WAS PRODUCED, I THINK AND GIVEN OUT TO APPLICANTS THAT HAD, UM, ACTUALLY WHAT THE VISION WAS? YEAH. YEAH. OKAY. 'CAUSE I THINK, I THINK IT DEFINED THAT IT'S ADVISORY TO THE COUNCIL. SO THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO GET CLARIFICATION ON THAT'S ON YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THAT. AND I THINK, BRIAN, YOU, I THINK I DO. ANYTHING WE DO. I THINK IT, TO ME, IN MY MIND, IT IT, THE CITY COUNCIL MAKES ALL THE ENDING DECISIONS. SO THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE ONE CALLING THE SHOTS. WELL, THAT'S NORMALLY TRUE. THAT'S NOT TRUE. BUT NOT IN THIS CASE, BECAUSE THIS IS A CITY COUNCIL IMPOSED, UH, COMMITTEE OR, UH, UH, A GROUP WHERE IF IT'S WAS APPOINTED, IF YOU WOULD'VE BEEN APPOINTED BY THE CITY MANAGER, THEN YOU WOULD BE BE REPORTING TO HER. GOT IT. SO THAT, THAT'S WHERE THE DIFFERENCE. AND WE HAD, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE DONE THIS IN EIGHT YEARS. SO THAT'S WHY IT'S NOT WELL KNOWN AS TO THE DIFFERENCE. AND THAT'S SMALL NUANCE. OKAY. YEAH. YOU HAVE, THIS IS AN ASIDE. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR SUGGESTING A WHITE PAPER. MM-HMM. , I WOULD BE MOST INTERESTED IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU LEARNED ON. ON A QUICK SIDE NOTE, I MET WITH KAREN, I'M SAYING SIX WEEKS AGO. AND I SAID, KAREN, I COME FROM A BACKGROUND WHERE WE COLLABORATE AND, AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IS POPUP COMMITTEES, THREE, FOUR, OR FIVE PEOPLE, THEY WORK ON A SUBJECT AND IT DISAPPEARS. SO IF WE'RE GONNA DO THE, THE HISTORY WALK, YOU GET THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE WHO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE. THEY WORK ON IT, THEY, THEY DO A WHITE PAPER THAT'S ALL, PUT ALL THEIR IDEAS DOWN, AND THEN THEY DISBAND. AND SHE SAID, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT AGAINST THAT IDEA AT ALL. SO WE WE'RE TRYING IT WITH THIS GROUP TO SEE, AND WE WANNA NOT MAKE THESE MISTAKES THAT WAS MADE EIGHT, 10 YEARS AGO. YEAH. ANY FURTHER FOLLOW UPS? OKAY. UH, COUNCILOR FOLTZ, YOU GOT IT. AND, UH, YEAH. CHANGE THE FIRST LETTER OF YOUR LAST NAME. SO I TI TIME CHECK IS 17 MINUTES REMAINING. OKAY. I, I THINK, UH, COUNCILOR KINSELLA KIND OF GOT AT THE VERIFYING UNDERSTANDING OF ADVISORY ROLE, SO WE DON'T NEED TO GO THERE. UH, SO STEVE, THE NEXT QUESTION, CHANGING DIRECTION A LITTLE BIT HERE. SO, OBVIOUSLY TOURISM IS A TOPIC THAT ENGENDERS, UH, A LOT OF DEBATE, YOU KNOW, PRO CON AND OTHERWISE. SO, UM, BEING ABLE TO NAVIGATE CHALLENGING WATERS TALKING ABOUT IT IS, UH, ESSENTIAL. SO CAN YOU GIVE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU'VE CONTRIBUTED TO A RECENT GROUP MEETING, WHERE THE PURPOSE OF THAT MEETING WAS TO TACKLE A CHALLENGING OR CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE? AND WHAT WAS THE ROLE YOU PLAYED IN THE OUTCOME? OH, I COULD NAME A LOT OF MY SPELLING ON HISTORIC, UH, COMMISSION. WE, WE HAVE OVERSIGHT OF THE BUILDINGS TO A POINT IN THE PARK. UH, WE WERE ASKED TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES AND WE, WE, UH, WE DELIBERATE STEVE, I THINK THERE'S PROB IS YOUR MIC MIC IS OFF OR SOMETHING OFF, OR JUST NEED TO ONE, TWO. I THINK I JUST NEED TO YEAH. STRAIGHTEN IT OUT. SPEAK INTO IT CLOSER. SPEAK INTO IT CLOSER. FINE. OKAY. SO WE, WE, OUR JOB IS TO OVERSEE AND, AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ONLY TO THE CITY ON THAT ISSUE. AND ONE OF THE ISSUE WAS IS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, DO WE, DO WE WANNA PUT IN, UM, HANDICAP A BATHROOM AND THAT LITTLE, THAT LITTLE BUILDING? AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS SOME OF US, NO, WE ACTUALLY, THE GROUP THOUGHT IT WAS INAPPROPRIATE [01:15:01] AND WE HAD A DISCUSSION. OKAY. WE MOVED ON, THERE WAS A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WALKWAY. SHOULD IT BE RED CONCRETE STOMPED, OR SHOULD IT BE HISTORIC TO THE TIME AND PLACE, WHICH WOULD BE KIND OF BRUSH CONCRETE. AND WE HAD A DISCUSSION ON IT. OUR JOB IS JUST TO ADVISE AS THE BEST AS WE KNEW. 'CAUSE I'VE BEEN GOING TO MEETINGS FOR EIGHT YEARS IN TRAINING SESSIONS WITH THE STATE OF ARIZONA ON THESE SUBJECTS. AND I'M LEAVING AGAIN NEXT MONTH. SO WE DO HAVE SOME EXPERTISE, BUT WE, WE TALK AND WE WORKED ON THAT. WE TURN IT OVER, CITY DOES WHAT THEY WANT ON THOSE, AND THAT'S FINE. UH, THAT'S JUST ONE. UM, I HAVE, I HAVE WORKED WITH THE CHAMBER OVER THE YEARS TO TRY TO GET, UH, A BUSINESS ASSOCIATION GOING UPTOWN SO THAT THE, UH, THE BUSINESSES UPTOWN WOULD STAY OPEN LATER, AND THEN THEY WOULD TIE IN. AND WITH THE SAME TIME THAT RESTAURANTS WERE WORKING, I PUT TOGETHER A HISTORY MAP, A WALKING MAP FOR PEOPLE TO, UH, TO GET FROM, UH, RESTAURANT TO RESTAURANT TO RESTAURANT, AND TO THE SHOPS. UH, AS YOU KNOW, I DID THE HISTORY WALK AND, UH, AND I'M HOPEFULLY, MAYBE I'LL DO IT AGAIN. I'M, HOPEFULLY I'M PUTTING TOGETHER THE INFORMATION. SO I'VE DONE LOTS OF LITTLE THINGS WHERE I'VE WORKED WITH SMALL GROUPS OF PEOPLE MM-HMM. ON SMALL PROJECTS. BUT ARE, THOSE DON'T NECESSARILY SOUND HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL. AND TOURISM IS, SO CAN YOU TALK, I MEAN, I'M, I'M SURE YOU'VE BEEN IN SOME CONTENTIOUS DISCUSSIONS. CAN, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT ROLE YOU'VE PLAYED IN TRYING TO GET TO SOME TYPE OF CONSENSUS OR OTHER TYPE OF OUTCOME? WELL, I THINK, I THINK WITH THE LODGING COUNCIL, I WAS THE ONE THAT BROUGHT UP, WROTE THE PAPER SAYING THAT WE SHOULD BE ACCEPTING THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SHORT TERM RENTALS AS A REALITY MM-HMM. . AND IT'S BETTER TO BRING THEM INTO THE GROUP AND MAKE THEM GOOD CITIZENS. AND MAYBE WE COULD GIVE THEM THE INFORMATION THAT THEY NEED TO, TO WORK BETTER. AND I, AND I WAS HIGHLY CRITICIZED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN FOR DOING THAT. BUT THE REALITY IS THEY'RE HERE AND WE'RE BETTER TO IDENTIFY THEM, WORK WITH THEM UNTIL THE LAW SAYS THAT THEY GO AWAY. I WORKED ON THAT A LOT. I'VE GOT THIS, I'VE GOT THE LODGING COUNCIL TO, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH, UH, THE CHAMBER. AND WE'VE, AND WE'VE HAD OUR ROUGHS, BUT WE'VE WORKED TOGETHER, UM, TWO DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AND SOMETIMES TWO DIFFERENT GOALS BECAUSE THE HOTELS LOOK AT THE WORLD ONE WAY, AND THE CHAMBER LOOKS AT IT ONE WAY, AND THE CITY LOOKS AT IT ANOTHER. AND I REALLY THINK, UH, I'VE REALLY WORKED HARD TO TRYING TO KEEP EVERYBODY TALKING TO EACH OTHER. AND I, WE'RE GONNA HAVE FOUR, UH, GROUPS COMING TOGETHER NOW WHO ARE GONNA DO QUOTE MARKETING IN THIS MARKETPLACE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, A TBI, UH, UH, THE NEW HOTELS OUT OF TOWN ARE PUTTING TOGETHER THEIR OWN MARKETING. THE, THIS, UM, LODGING COUNCIL'S GONNA HAVE MARKETING, AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE MARKETING. I SEE MY JOB 'CAUSE I KNOW 'EM ALL. HOW DO WE WORK TOGETHER? OKAY. I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT. THANK YOU. CAA CASTELLA, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP? I, I DO TO THAT. UM, AND I APPRECIATE ALL OF THE, THE EXPERIENCE AND BRINGING DIFFERENT DIVERSE GROUPS TOGETHER. BUT I THINK FOR ME, THE HEART OF THIS PARTICULAR QUESTION IS WHEN YOU'VE GOT TWO GROUPS AT THE SAME TABLE TRYING TO GET SOMEWHERE AND THINGS GET HOT, AND SOME PEOPLE ARE READY TO TAKE THEIR TOYS AND GO HOME. WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH DIFFUSING THOSE SITUATIONS? YOU KNOW, I'VE NEVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE IT'S GOTTEN HOT. PEOPLE WILL DISAGREE, BUT I, I, YOU KNOW, AND I REALIZE YOU'VE DEALT, YOU'VE DEALT WITH LOCAL PEOPLE AND YOU DEALT WITH, I DON'T REALLY DEAL, I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT. I HAVE PEOPLE ON, UH, I RAN THE LOGIC ASSOCIATION FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, BUT WE NEVER HAD, WE HAD DISCUSSIONS, BUT NOT HOT DISCUSSIONS. THEY WERE DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW. AND I THINK YOU HAVE TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND PUT YOURSELF IN THE OTHER PERSON'S SHOES. AND THEY'RE GONNA SEE THINGS JUST DIFFERENT THAN YOU ARE. AND SOMETIMES YOU'RE NOT GONNA AGREE. THERE ARE GOING TO BE PEOPLE WHO JUST DO NOT WANT TOURISM IN THIS TOWN, AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA SUPPORT IT. AND I TOTALLY GET THAT. BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT IT'S A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS WITH 10,000 EMPLOYEES, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE GOTTA MAKE PAYROLL. SO HOW DO YOU BALANCE THOSE VIEWS? SO I THINK WE HAVE TO FIND PROJECTS. UH, AND IF I MIGHT DIG DIGRESS FOR A SECOND, I HAVE A STRATEGY I USE FOR THIS. AND I HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS DOWN IN SCOTTSDALE WHO ARE OF A DIFFERENT POLITICAL PERSUASION THAN ME. AND I LIKE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH THEM. AND I HAD A GENTLEMAN ONE DAY SAID, I CAN NEVER HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH YOU. YOU'RE A CRAZY SOCIALIST. AND I SAID, NO, LET'S, WE CAN HAVE A DISCUSSION. SO I WALKED HIM THROUGH THE IDEA THAT HE WENT TO COLLEGE, DIDN'T HE? EDUCATION'S IMPORTANT. HE SAID, SURE. AND I SAYS, DON'T YOU THINK THAT WE SHOULD EDUCATE ALL OUR CHILDREN A CERTAIN WAY? AND HE SAID, ABSOLUTELY. AND I SAID, THEN, DO YOU THINK THAT IT'S CORRECT THAT WE PAY LESS THAN $40,000 A YEAR TO A LOCAL SCHOOL TEACHER? WE DON'T PAY THAT. AND I SAID, NO, WE DO. AND WELL, THERE ARE UNIONS. NO, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE UNIONS. THEY'RE HIRED YEAR [01:20:01] TO YEAR. AND THEY STOP. AND THEY GO, IS THAT REALLY TRUE? SO WHAT I FIND YOU, THERE'S COMMON GROUND. YOU JUST GOTTA FIND THE ONE SUBJECT, THE COMMON GROUND WHERE YOU CAN DO IT. AND I'M, I'M, FRANKLY, I'M PRETTY GOOD AT IT. OKAY. SO I, I THINK I CAN DO THAT. THANK YOU. COUNCIL WILLIAMSON CAN ASK THE SAME QUESTION. YOU HAVE 11 PEOPLE. MM-HMM. , YOUR JOB SIMPLY IS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO US. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE SITUATIONS NOTWITHSTANDING YOUR MAGICAL ABILITY TO GET EVERYBODY TO AGREE WITH YOU, WHERE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, SAY, 11 PEOPLE WHO ALL THINK, THIS IS A RECOMMENDATION WE SHOULD MAKE. AND TWO PEOPLE THAT NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT'S BEEN DISCUSSED, AND WE'VE EMPATHIZED AND WE'VE RECOGNIZED AND WE'VE HEARD, THEY STILL DON'T THINK THAT'S, THEY WANNA MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION. HOW DO YOU GET TO A POINT OF MAKING A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL? AND WHAT DO YOU, WHAT DOES THAT RECOMMENDATION LOOK LIKE? WELL, I I THINK THAT A MAJORITY RULE DOESN'T NECESSARILY REFLECT THE TRUE VALUES YOU'RE TRYING TO GET TO. AND I THINK IF YOU GET TO A PLACE WHERE YOU'RE AT TWO OR THREE PEOPLE ARE AT LOGGERHEADS WITH THE GROUP, I THINK YOU HAVE TO HAVE A, A MINORITY POSITION. AND I THINK WE SHOULD WRITE A MAJORITY POSITION AND OUTLINE IT. AND, AND ALL THE REASONS, AND THE REASONS WHY WE MAKE THE DECISION IS IMPORTANT. WE SHOULDN'T JUST COME UP AND SAY, WE THINK WE SHOULD DO THIS. WE SHOULD GIVE OUR OUR UNDERSTANDING BEHIND IT. THEN THE MINORITY POSITION SHOULD DO THE EXACT SAME THING. AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS ARE ALL CAPABLE PEOPLE. YOU CAN READ IT AND YOU CAN MAKE A BETTER DECISION. I THINK THE IMPORTANT THING IS, ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO THIS TOWN, THE MORE INFORMATION THE CITY COUNCIL HAS, THE BETTER, YOU KNOW, DECISION YOU'RE GONNA MAKE. AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE DATA, YOU REALLY CAN'T MAKE GOOD DECISIONS. SO I THINK, I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD GO FOR COMPROMISE, BECAUSE COMPROMISE AND MARKETING MEANS BAD PRODUCT. YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, IF YOU SAY, WELL, LET'S DO A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT, 'CAUSE IT'LL MAKE BOTH SIDES HAPPY, I'M AGAINST THAT. 'CAUSE I'D RATHER IT'S NOT SPEND THE MONEY. OKAY. UH, IF WE HAVE, IF WE HAVE A DECISION POINT WHERE WE CAN'T DECIDE, WE PUT PUT IT DOWN ON PAPER, IT GOES TO MANAGEMENT. AND MANAGEMENT DECIDES HOW THEY'RE GONNA HANDLE IT. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY MORE FOLLOW UPS? HEARING NONE. COUNCIL DUNN FOR QUESTION SIX. SURE. MR. EGNER, UM, YOU'VE, YOU'VE ACTUALLY ALREADY ANSWERED THIS QUESTION, BUT YEAH, WE'RE GONNA ASK IT ANYWAY, OR ARE WE GONNA MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE? HE'S MOVE ON. HE'S ASKED, HE'S ANSWERED THIS. THANK YOU TO ITEM SEVEN. OKAY. SO ITEM SEVEN IS, UM, HAVE YOU READ THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN? NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH A SUSTAINABILITY PLAN THAT IS, UM, PART OF THE COMMUNITY PLAN? I'VE READ THE COMMUNITY PLAN IN HONESTY, WHICH IS A GUIDELINE, UM, FROM WHAT I, MY UNDERSTANDING AND, AND, UM, THE SUSTAINABILITY PLAN, I, I BE BEING HONEST WITH YOU, I'M, I'M, I'M NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY. I'VE READ IT, BUT I HAVEN'T THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN, I MEAN, RIGHT. YEAH. I'VE READ IT. I'VE READ IT. OKAY. AND, AND WE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT FOR ALMOST EIGHT YEARS, I THINK WITH THE, WITH THE CITY, WITH THE CHAMBER. AND, AND OF COURSE IT'S, IT'S, IT SHOULD BE THE GUIDING FACTOR FOR US AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. UH, WE HAVE TO, UH, UH, TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT PEOPLE COME HERE, THEY USE RESOURCES, THEY, THEY'RE TOUGH ON THE LAND, AND WE HAVE TO HAVE GUIDELINES THAT GUIDE OUR MARKETING FOLLOW UP. CASTLE WILLIAMSON. YEAH. DO YOU HAVE ANY, YOU READ IT A WHILE AGO. DID YOU COME AWAY WITH ANY KIND OF TAKE ON IT? WAS IT A GOOD PLAN? UH, UH, DOES, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT I THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN MORE, UH, IT WAS A LITTLE VAGUE IN MY MIND. I, I THINK IT COULD, WE COULD PUT SOME, UH, ABS AND CS TO IT, UH, WHERE WE ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, SAY, OKAY, WHAT IS THIS GOING TO MEAN? I'VE TALKED TO THE SUSTAINABILITY PEOPLE. UM, I THINK THERE'S THREE OF 'EM NOW. WE'VE, WE'VE HAD LUNCH AND TALKED, AND I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY DO, BUT I KNOW THEY'RE INVOLVED IN, IN A LOT OF THINGS. AND I'VE TALKED TO 'EM ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LIKE, CITY PARKING LOT. WHY DON'T WE DO CRUSH GRANITE? LIKE TILLOCK? WE DON'T HAVE ANY HEAT REFLECTION. WE'RE NOT USING ANY, ANY ENERGY TO MAKE, UH, ASPHALT, UH, WE CAN PLANT TREES FOR SHADES. AND THEY ALL, YEAH, THOSE ARE IDEAS. HOW DO I, I SAID, WELL, HOW DO WE INCORPORATE THAT INTO THINGS WE DO? SO THOSE ARE THE WAY I KIND OF SEE IT. I LIKE, I WOULD LIKE TO, TO, UH, UM, SEE US BE MORE NATURAL IN WHAT WE DO AROUND TOWN. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A MORE NATURAL LOOK. UH, AND, UM, I'D LIKE TO SEE THIS HAVE A, IF WE HAVE BENCHES THERE, THEY OUGHT TO BE SOMEHOW [01:25:01] UNIQUE TO US. AND THEY, THEY, THEY SAY SOMETHING, WE OUGHT TO BE PLANTING TREES FOR SHADE. YOU PUT IN A BEAUTIFUL WALKWAY SYSTEM IN WEST SEDONA, UM, THAT FACED BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS, BUT THERE'S NO PLACE FOR SOMEONE TO SIT BACK AND JUST LOOK. AND TO ME, THAT'S ALL KIND OF THE THINGS I'D LIKE TO WORK ON. IC SUSTAINABILITY WORKING ON NOW, WHETHER I KNOW THAT, UM, THE LAST CITY COUNCIL, THEY WERE WORRYING ABOUT HOW MUCH OFF GASSING THERE WAS FROM CONCRETE, IF YOU WERE GONNA DO A BUILDING. I, I'M NOT THINKING DOWN THAT LINE. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. THEN WE HAVE, UH, COUNCIL WILLIAMSON, YOU HAVE ITEM EIGHT. OKAY. THIS IS A, THIS IS A QUESTION BASICALLY THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE 20 PEOPLE WE'RE REVIEWING FOR 11 SPOTS. UM, I, FOR ONE, I'VE BEEN EX EXTREMELY IMPRESSED BY WHO WE'VE INTERVIEWED TO DATE. UM, I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A TOUGH DECISION. WHY SHOULD WE CHOOSE YOU? UM, I THINK YOU'RE GONNA HAVE SOME GOOD, GOOD PEOPLE. I'VE, I'VE MET SOME OF THE PEOPLE YOU'RE INTERVIEWING, AND I THINK THERE ARE SOME GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE. UM, I THINK I CAN BE THE GUY IN THE ROOM, THE OLDER MAN WHO CAN SAY, WELL, LET ME JUST GIVE YOU AN IDEA AND HERE'S A LITTLE OF EXPERIENCE I CAN THROW OUT THERE. UM, I CAN ALSO, I THINK I'M REALLY GOOD AT GETTING PEOPLE TO COME UP WITH IDEAS AND, AND GET DISCUSSION GOING. UM, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S A TRAIT I'M PRETTY GOOD AT. BUT I THINK SOMETIMES BEING ABLE TO BACK AND SAY, WELL, LET ME GIVE YOU A LITTLE BACKGROUND HISTORY ON THIS AND MAYBE, MAYBE WE SHOULD THINK ON OR EXPLORE THIS A LITTLE MORE. IF YOU GET A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT THEIR HISTORY IS ALL IN SOCIAL MEDIA, THEY'RE GONNA BE ALL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA. IF YOU GET PEOPLE THAT, IT'S ALL ABOUT PRINT. IT'S GONNA BE ALL ABOUT PRINT. I'VE DONE ALL THOSE THINGS. I HAVE AN EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND. I TOOK A TRADE ORGANIZATION FROM LONG BEACH AND I TURNED IT INTO THE WORLDWIDE PET SUPPLY ASSOCIATION AND TAKE OVER 300,000 SQUARE FEET AT MANDALAY BAY WITH 10,000 BOOTHS. I DID THAT FROM A TINY, TINY TRADE ORGANIZATION. AND WHERE EVERYBODY IN THE TRADE ORGANIZATION ONLY CARED ABOUT THEIR TRADE. SO I WORKED WITH ALL THESE TRADES TO PULL 'EM TOGETHER. AND WHAT MY JOB WAS TO DO IS TO GET THE SMART PEOPLE IN EACH OF THOSE GROUPS TO GET TALKING AND COME UP AND GET 'EM GOING. SO THAT'S WHY I THINK MY SKILL IS, AND, AND I THINK I CAN SAVE THE CITY A LOT OF MONEY IN JUST THROWING MONEY AGAINST THE WALL AND SEE IF THAT MARKETING WORKS. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT. I WOULD RATHER NOT MARKET THAN, THAN DO IT INCORRECTLY. OKAY. THANK YOU, BRIAN. HOW MUCH TIME? TWO AND A HALF MINUTES. SO STEVE, UM, TWO THINGS. ONE, UH, I WANNA KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF US, AND THEN AFTER THAT I'LL GIVE YOU THE, THE NEXT FEW STEPS IN THE PROCESS. UM, NO, I THINK, UM, I THINK THE, THE OUTLINE YOU GAVE, I THINK I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING. I, I LIKE IT. I LIKE THE IDEA. I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GROUP OFFICIALLY SINCE I RECOMMENDED AND CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF THE BED TAX. UH, I NEVER LIKED THE IDEA THAT IT WAS SOLELY WITH THE CHAMBER. I THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE ANOTHER GROUP THAT WOULD PUT IT TOGETHER AND THE CHAMBER WOULD BE A VENDOR OF IT, BECAUSE THEY HAVE VERY GOOD PEOPLE AND THEY KNOW HOW TO DO IT. UM, AND I SAY THAT TO THIS GROUP. THERE'S ANOTHER GROUP PUTTING TOGETHER A MARKETING PLAN FROM HOTELS RIGHT NOW. AND, AND I'M SAYING I THINK THEY NEED A SEPARATE MANAGEMENT GROUP TO RUN THAT TOO. 'CAUSE I THINK YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOME, SOME PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT IT HARD, MAKE HARD DECISIONS. UM, SO NO, I THINK A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GROUP THAT WOULD HELP WITH HOW DO WE IMPROVE LIVING IN SEDONA AND HOW DO WE MARKET A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN IN SEDONA IS IMPORTANT. AND I'M I COM I COMMEND YOU, FRANKLY, FOR PUTTING IT TOGETHER. IT, IT WAS AN UGLY MESS COMING TOGETHER. YOU KNOW, WE ALL WENT THROUGH IT, BUT I THINK IT'S COMING TOGETHER. ALRIGHT. UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I JUST LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE ONE MORE PERSON AFTER YOU TODAY AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, SEVERAL PEOPLE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. UH, MORNING AND AFTERNOON. YEP. THEN, UH, THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY, WE'LL DELIBERATE AND THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, TUESDAY, AFTER THAT, YOU'LL HEAR FROM THE DEPUTY CITY CLERK. OKAY. JESSICA, UH, COUNCILOR WILLIAMSON, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP? I HAVE A SEPARATE ISSUE. OKAY. THE REASON THIS WAS ORIGINALLY, UM, SCHEDULED AS A CLOSED EXECUTIVE WAS BECAUSE THERE'S MANY DAYS AND THERE'S THE SAME QUESTIONS BEING ASKED OF EVERYBODY. SURE. UM, THE FACT THAT YOU HAD EVERY RIGHT TO HAVE IT OPEN IS FINE. AND EVERY RIGHT TO BRING PEOPLE, I WOULD JUST ASK THAT YOU KEEP IT FAIR BY NOT, I UNDERSTAND NOT TELLING ANYBODY WHO MIGHT BE COMING UP, WHAT THE QUESTIONS WERE, NOT THAT IT'S A BIG SECRET, [01:30:01] BUT IT WOULD BE JUST SORT OF RESPECT THAT PART OF THE PROCESS WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT WAS MY ONLY THING, THING. IT MIGHT BE CON NO MAKES SENSE. IT, IT COULD HURT YOU IN A WAY. NO, NO, THAT'S FINE. SO YEAH, TOTALLY GET IT. WE, WE APPRECIATE THAT. ALRIGHT. UH, IN CLOSING, ANYTHING ELSE, PETE, I'M GONNA MAKE SURE I DID NOT FORGET YOU. NOPE. ALRIGHT. UH, THANKS STEVE. OKAY. THANK YOU. WE CAN TOUCH IN ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF. WELL, WHATEVER, WHATEVER YOUR DECISION, I'LL SUPPORT IT. I THINK YOU'RE GOING DOWN THE RIGHT ROAD. WELL, GOOD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, STEVE. TAKE CARE. MM-HMM. , UHHUH, . YOU LIVE A SHELTERED LIFE. OKAY, HERE WE GO. HOW COME THIS WON'T GO AWAY? SHE REQUESTED IT AND SHE REQUESTED IT. SHE SAID, OKAY. HELLO, BERNADETTE. HI. HELLO. HI. SO HELLO. HI. HELLO. , GET YOU ON THE RECORDING. SO THAT'S ALL, THAT'S FINE. THAT'S, THANK YOU FOR COMING. YEAH, NO PROBLEM. MARSHA, WE GOOD? YES. THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. THANK YOU. OKAY. GOOD AFTERNOON, B BERNADETTE. THANK YOU FOR COMING. MM-HMM. , THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN EVEN DOING THIS. IT'S, IT'S VERY TIME CONSUMING, WE BELIEVE. I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL HAVE 45 MINUTES MM-HMM. TO HEAR QUESTIONS, FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS. THERE'LL BE EIGHT QUESTIONS IN GENERAL, BUT TO FOLLOW UP. AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE TIME, YOU'LL HAVE 45 MINUTES IN WHICH TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM. OKAY. USE YOUR TIME WISELY, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA GO OVER 'EM, YOU KNOW, 30 SECONDS A MINUTE OR WHATEVER. BUT THAT'S YOUR TIME TO USE. SO IF YOU DECIDE TO ELABORATE, THAT TAKES AWAY FROM YOUR TIME, YOUR CHOICE, WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO. OKAY. ALRIGHT. UM, WHO GOES FIRST? SOMEWHERE OVER THERE. CHERYL, KATHY, THAT'S, SO THAT'S, KATHY GOES FIRST. HI. HI KATHY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THIS. UM, WE WANNA START TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR, WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU TRAVEL. WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH DO YOU DO? WHAT DO YOU AVAIL YOURSELF OF, UM, WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO A DESTINATION? HAVE YOU FOUND SOMETHING THAT YOU THOUGHT, WOW, THAT'S REALLY INNOVATIVE AND GREAT AND WE SHOULD BE DOING THAT IN SEDONA. SO, JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR TRAVEL EXPERIENCES. UM, MY TRAVEL EXPERIENCES, WELL, UM, I HAVE TWO KIDS THAT ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL, UH, THAT TAKE ALL OF MY TIME AND RESOURCES ASIDE FROM MY JOB. SO THERE HASN'T BEEN A WHOLE LOT OF, UM, LIKE I THINK THE LAST TRIP I TOOK WAS TO PENNSYLVANIA TO MY SISTER'S WEDDING, LIKE A YEAR AGO. UM, AND I KNEW WHERE I WAS GOING 'CAUSE I WAS GOING BACK HOME. SO I KNEW, YOU KNOW, WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE I WANTED TO GO, WHERE I WANTED TO EAT, ET CETERA. UM, BUT WHEN I'M LOOKING, WHEN I'M DREAMING, I WOULD SAY ABOUT TRAVEL. LIKE, UM, ITALY, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYBODY AND THEIR MOTHER HAS BEEN TO ITALY THE PAST, UH, COUPLE WEEKS. . UM, I'M LOOKING, I'M, I'M AT THAT AGE WHERE I'M LOOKING AT EVERYTHING ON INSTAGRAM, SOCIAL MEDIA, REALLY TRYING TO SEE WHAT LOOKS, YOU KNOW, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING. AND IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CULTURE TO ME, BECAUSE I'M IN THE ARTS, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ARTS. UM, WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES THERE ARE. I'M A BIG HIKER, SO I'D LOVE TO TAKE WALKS, YOU KNOW, SO IT'S LIKE, WHERE CAN I GO GET EXERCISE? UM, UH, YOU UNFORTUNATELY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN THE DESERT. I LOVE THE WATER. I LOVE GOING TO THE BEACH. SO , IF THERE'S WATER, I'M DEFINITELY LOOKING FOR THE BEST PLACES TO GO THAT ARE CLEAN, UH, FAMILY FRIENDLY, UM, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, A PLACE WHERE I CAN UNWIND, HAVE A GOOD TIME, BUT KNOW THAT I'M SAFE. I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT. 'CAUSE I'M A SINGLE MOM, SO MAKING SURE THAT I'M SAFE WITH MY KIDS. UM, SO THOSE ARE THE KIND OF THINGS I'M LOOKING FOR. I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR STUFF ONLINE AND WORD OF MOUTH. I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TOO. LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF SOMEBODY HAS BEEN THERE BEFORE, I DEFINITELY WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO STAY, WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO STAY AWAY FROM. I THINK THOSE ARE ALL IMPORTANT THINGS. I HOPE THAT ANSWERED IT. OKAY. NOT AN, NOT A HUGE TRAVELER, BUT I WISH I COULD . SO, UH, TO FOLLOW UP, WHEN YOU DO TRAVEL MM-HMM. , DO YOU NOTICE THINGS THAT YOU COULD, THAT YOU SAW THAT YOU USE AS A RESOURCE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE HERE? UM, I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, I THINK FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE VISITING AN AREA IS DEFINITELY WELL MARKED, UH, WELL MARKED SIGNAGE. [01:35:01] I THINK THAT'S HUGE. UM, I THINK HAVING ONE CENTRAL RESOURCE WHERE YOU CAN GO ONLINE TO FIND ALL THE INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT. NOT BEING DIVERTED INTO DIFFERENT WEBSITES AND AVENUES, ET CETERA. I THINK IT'S GREAT TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE. UM, I, LIKE I SAID BEFORE, ARTS AND CULTURE IS HUGE. SO ANY WAY THAT WE COULD BOOST THAT IN SEDONA, I'M ALL FOR THAT. UH, WHETHER IT'S EVENTS AND, UH, FESTIVALS, THINGS LIKE THAT. UM, BUT I THINK IT'S DEFINITELY CERTAIN TYPES OF FESTIVALS. IT'S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, YOUR AVERAGE. UM, I THINK IT'S HIGH QUALITY. I THINK THAT'S THE WORD I'M LOOKING FOR, IS MAKING SURE THAT THE EVENTS THAT ARE OFFERED ARE HIGH QUALITY. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS, PETE? ANYTHING? OKAY. THE NEXT QUESTION IS MINE. QUESTION TWO. WHAT DO YOU FEEL ARE SEDONAS BEST ASSETS FOR RESIDENTS AND VISITORS? WELL, DEFINITELY THE NATURAL BEAUTY HERE IS JUST, TO ME THE, I FEEL HONORED, UH, EVERY TIME I GET TO COME UP HERE. 'CAUSE I LIVE IN PHOENIX. YOU PROBABLY SAW THAT FROM MY, FROM MY, UH, APPLICATION. SO DRIVING UP HERE, IT'S JUST, IT REALLY IS AN HONOR TO COME OVER THAT HILL AND SEE THE MOUNTAINS AND JUST BE SURROUNDED BY THAT. AND JUST, IT'S JUST, IT JUST BLOWS ME AWAY. I THINK THAT IS THE ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THINGS, UM, THAT YOU HAVE GOING FOR YOU. I LOVE THAT THERE IS A WALKABLE DOWNTOWN AREA, OR THE UPTOWN, I GUESS IS WHAT YOU CALL IT. UM, BECAUSE WHERE I LIVE, YOU KNOW, IN PHOENIX THERE'S NO WALKABLE COMMUNITIES AT ALL. IT'S, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, IT'S HIGHWAYS AND IT'S A LOT OF, UM, BOX STORES AND THINGS LIKE THAT. I MOVED HERE FROM VERMONT, SO I REALLY CRAVE THE LOCAL MOM AND POP SHOPS. THE WHERE CAN YOU GET THE BEST SANDWICH, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA SEE BILLBOARDS, I DON'T WANNA SEE, UM, THE CHAIN RESTAURANTS. 'CAUSE I GET ENOUGH OF THAT IN PHOENIX. SO COMING HERE IS LIKE A MINI VACATION FOR ME. EVEN THOUGH, YOU KNOW, I CAN, COMING HERE FOR WORK, UM, I ALWAYS FIT IN A HIKE. I USUALLY GET UP HERE TWO HOURS EARLY SO I CAN GO FOR A HIKE IN THE MORNING BEFORE I GO TO WORK. SO THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS OR ANY FOLLOW UPS I SHOULD SAY? OKAY. PETE, ITEM THREE, QUESTION THREE. HI ETTE. HI. I'M GONNA ASK YOU THE FIRST OF, UH, TWO CLOSER RELATED QUESTIONS. THE QUESTION I'M GONNA ASK IS, PLEASE SHARE HOW YOU DEFINE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT AND THEN MARKETING DESTINATION MANAGEMENT. THAT'S A GOOD TERM. UM, AND HAVEN'T GOOGLED IT. SO, I MEAN, I, I THINK I WAS KIND OF LOOKING AT IT, UH, FROM YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN, BUT BASICALLY MAKING SEDONA, UM, NOT ONLY A DESTINATION AREA, BUT MAKING SURE THAT IT'S WELL MANAGED AND MAINTAINED BY THE CITY, UM, AND YOUR PARTNERS. I THINK THAT'S REAL CRITICAL. JUST HAVING THOSE PARTNERSHIPS AND THE CITY ALIGN, UH, SO THAT WE ALL HAVE THE SAME MESSAGE, ALL HAVE THE SAME, UM, COMMON COMMONALITY. LIKE I THINK WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE COMING TO OUR TOWN, WE KIND OF ALL WANT THE SAME OUTCOMES, THE SAME GOALS. UM, SO DESTINATION MANAGEMENT IS JUST, I THINK I ALSO PROVIDING THAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. WHEN SOMEBODY COMES TO SEDONA, THEY WALK AWAY AND THEY'RE LIKE, WOW, THAT WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. LIKE, I'M GONNA TELL EVERYBODY THAT THEY HAVE TO GO SEE SEDONA. THEY HAVE TO GO SEE WHAT THIS, THIS CITY IS ALL ABOUT. SO I THINK THAT REALLY SPEAKS TO ITSELF. AND THEN THE SECOND QUESTION, YOU SAID JUST MARKETING. MM-HMM. . YEAH. YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKETING DEFINITIONS. MARKETING, OKAY. UM, WELL, LET'S SEE. I DON'T KNOW IF I KNOW LIKE A FULL ON DEFINITION, BUT TO ME, MARKETING IS ALL ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE BEST IMAGE OF YOUR PRODUCT, YOUR IMAGE, YOU KNOW, YOUR OR THE CITY, THE BEST IMAGE OF WHAT YOU REPRESENT AND PUTTING THAT FORWARD. SO YOUR MARKETING, UM, MAYBE IT'S A CONCEPT OR A DREAM OR WHATEVER, BUT YOU'RE REALLY PUTTING OUT TO YOUR AUDIENCE, TO ANYBODY WHO COMES ACROSS SEDONA, THAT THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THE PLACE WHERE YOU WANNA GO, THE PLACE WHERE YOU WANNA BE, UM, AND USING ALL THE TOOLS NECESSARY. YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S SOCIAL MEDIA, UM, YOU KNOW, DIGITAL BILLBOARDS, UM, ADS ON TV, RADIO, PRINT, MARKETING. ALL OF THOSE TOOLS I THINK ARE NECESSARY. 'CAUSE YOU'RE TRYING TO REACH ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEMOGRAPHICS. SO YOU REALLY HAVE TO HAVE YOUR HANDS IN ALL THOSE POTS. AND I KNOW THAT TAKES A REALLY, UM, CONNECTED TEAM OF PEOPLE TO DO. IT'S [01:40:01] NOT JUST ONE PERSON. MOST NONPROFITS HAVE ONE PERSON THAT DOES ALL OF THEIR PR MARKETING, AND IT'S, IT'S A MIRACLE OF WHAT WE GET DONE WITH ONE, YOU KNOW, PERSON. BUT, UM, I THINK IF YOU HAVE A TOURISM BOARD AND YOU HAVE CITY COUNCIL AND YOU HAVE THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED AND YOU'RE GETTING ALL THIS INPUT AND FEEDBACK, ET CETERA, I THINK YOU CAN REALLY BUILD A GREAT MARKETING PLAN FOR THE CITY. JUST ONE FOLLOW UP, UH, BERNADETTE, WITH ALL THE EXPERIENCE YOU'VE HAD ON ARTS COUNCILS, WOULD YOU SAY ANY OF THEM TOOK UP THE I THE TOPICS AND THE CONCERNS OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? OR DID ANY OF THEM NOT REALLY GET THERE? THEY USED PUBLIC ART AS KIND OF A, A KEY COMPONENT I THINK, OF DESTINATION, UH, MANAGEMENT IN A WAY. 'CAUSE I THINK THAT YOU CAN REALLY USE PUBLIC ART TO NOT ONLY, UM, IT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED INTO SIGNAGE. IT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED INTO WAY FINDING. UM, THERE'S, THERE'S WAYS THAT THEY WOULD DO THAT AND KIND OF CONNECT IT TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MARKETING THE CITY. I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF THOSE CITIES REALLY WANNA BE, I MEAN, NO, I'M SURE THEY ALL WANNA BE LIKE DESTINATION PLACES, BUT REALLY THEY'RE NOT. THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, I'M TALKING ABOUT WEST PHOENIX, THE CITIES THAT I WORKED IN, THEY WERE ALL, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BEDROOM COMMUNITIES REALLY. UM, AND SEDONA IS NOT. SO IT'S JUST DEFINITELY A DIFFERENT VIBE HERE. SO, UM, YEAH, I WOULD THINK THAT, I THINK THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THEY REALLY KIND OF USED ANY KIND OF TOOL TO MARKET THEMSELVES IN A WAY WOULD BE THROUGH PUBLIC ARTS. ARTS COUNCILS STRUGGLE WITH THE ISSUE OF WE GOT TOO MANY PEOPLE HERE. WE, WE WERE TOO GOOD AT OUR JOBS GETTING, NO, UNFORTUNATELY. AND YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, PRETTY BIG CITIES. BUT NO, THEY WANT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE. BUT I UNDERSTAND THE CONUNDRUM YOU HAVE. DEFINITELY. THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE ADDRESSED OR DISCUSSED, YOU KNOW, AND FIGURED OUT. YOU KNOW, I, I DEFINITELY HAVE HEARD THAT VICE MAYOR, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP? I DO. HOW ABOUT THE USE OF ART RELATED EVENTS TO BRING TOURS INTO A COMMUNITY? YEAH. WELL, I WORKED, UM, I PUT ON MY APPLICATION ABOUT THE GOODYEAR LAKESIDE MUSIC FESTIVAL. SO THAT WAS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY OF GOODYEAR, UM, ASTRAYA, WHICH OWNED THE COMMUNITY. UM, AND THEY USED IT. I MEAN, IT WAS GREAT BECAUSE I WAS THE NONPROFIT SIDE, THEN WE HAD THE CITY SIDE, AND THEN WE HAD THE PRIVATE SIDE ALL WORKING TOGETHER ON ONE EVENT. AND WE EACH HAVE OUR OWN GOALS. LIKE CITY OF GOODYEAR WANTS PEOPLE TO COME TO THE CITY, SEE WHAT GOODYEAR'S ALL ABOUT. ESTRAYA WANTS PEOPLE TO COME TO THEIR COMMUNITY TO BUY A HOUSE. AND AS A NONPROFIT, WE WANNA RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION. SO WE'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER. AND IT'S ALWAYS, IT'S, IT WAS ALWAYS A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP. BUT I THINK YOU HAVE TO STRIVE FOR A TOP QUALITY EVENT. IT CAN'T BE SOMETHING, I MEAN, JUST THINK 10,000 PEOPLE COME AND, YOU KNOW, UM, SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER. AND IT'S JUST, THAT RUINS YOUR IMAGE. SO IT, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS STRIVED TO HAVE AN EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT EVENT. AND I THINK THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THE CITY WAS INTERESTED IN THAT AND THE COMMUNITY WAS INTERESTED, YOU KNOW, I COULD DEFINITELY HELP WITH THAT. THAT'S, THAT'S IN MY D N A, BUT THANK YOU. YEAH. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UP? OKAY. THAT WOULD BE, UH, CASTA. FOLTZ. THANK YOU MAYOR. AND WELCOME BERNADETTE. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. SO BEFORE I ASK THE FOLLOW ON QUESTION THAT, UH, PETE ALLUDED TO, JUST WANT TO CLARIFY ONE ASPECT ABOUT THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD, THAT IT IS IN FACT ADVISORY MM-HMM. , THAT YOU'RE COMFORTABLE IN UNDERSTANDING THAT, THAT YOU DON'T HAVE, UH, FIDUCIARY, FISCAL, OR STAFF AUTHORITY AS PART OF THAT BOARD. YES. THANKS. YES, DEFINITELY. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU. SO THE FOLLOW ON QUESTION THEN IS, DO YOU THINK THAT THIS NEW TOURISM BOARD THAT THE CITY'S PUTTING TOGETHER SHOULD BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? OR SHOULD IT ALSO INCLUDE MARKETING AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ITS WORK? WHY OR WHY NOT? MARKETING IN GENERAL, I'M, I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING THE PERSON. SO THERE'S, THERE'S DESTINATION MANAGEMENT AND THERE'S DESTINATION MARKETING. AND OUR QUESTION IS, IS SHOULD YOU, DO YOU BELIEVE THE TOURISM BUREAU SHOULD BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON, UH, DESTINATION MANAGEMENT? OR SHOULD DESTINATION MARKETING ALSO BE INCLUDED IN ITS SCOPE OF WORK? WHY OR WHY NOT? TO ME, IT FEELS LIKE IT HAS TO BE DEFINITELY, UH, CONNECTED. AND, UM, THE MESSAGE HAS TO BE CROSS COMMUNICATED, UM, BETWEEN BOTH. 'CAUSE YOU DEFINITELY WANT, YOU KNOW, YOU WANNA BE A DESTINATION THAT DRAWS PEOPLE IN, UM, THAT ARE GONNA SPEND MONEY THAT ARE GONNA STAY [01:45:01] AT THE, YOU KNOW, THE HOTELS AND SPEND MONEY AT THE RESTAURANTS, ET CETERA. YOU WANT THAT. YOU WANT THOSE PEOPLE COMING FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD REALLY TO COME TO SEDONA. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU DEFINITELY WANT TO MARKET SEDONA AS A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND LIVE. THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, HAVE FAMILIES HERE. THEY, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS AREA'S GROWING. I MEAN, I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH GROWTH THERE'S, THERE'S HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF SEDONA AND THOSE OTHER CITIES, YOU KNOW, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE, ARE COMING HERE FROM COTTONWOOD OR VILLE, ET CETERA, AND WORKING IN THE CITY. SO I THINK, UM, I THINK BOTH ARE ARE VERY CONNECTED. YEAH. AND I WOULD, I WOULD ASSUME THEY WOULD, YOU KNOW, THE ADVISORY BOARD WOULD WORK WITH THE CITY STAFF AND EVERYONE ELSE TO KIND OF MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S A SEAMLESS PART OF IT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. . THANK YOU. MAYOR. ANY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS? OKAY. UH, COUNCILOR DUNN, QUESTION FIVE. SURE. HI. I DIDN'T SAY HI BEFORE, SO I WAS FEELING A LITTLE LEFT OUT. . OH MY GOD. UM, SO I, SO I HAVE THE FUN QUESTION. OKAY. YOU, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE 11 PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, THAT THERE WILL BE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE ADAMANTLY AGAINST WHATEVER THE IDEA IS. AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE ADAMANTLY FOR THE IDEA, WHATEVER IT IS, BECAUSE THIS IS SEDONA. MM-HMM. . SO HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE THE FACT THAT YOU'VE GOT THIS, UM, DISSONANCE BETWEEN VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THIS COMMITTEE? AND AT SOME POINT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO COUNCIL OR STAFF, UM, AN IDEA. UNIFIED. YEAH. YEAH. MM-HMM. . SO, UM, HOW, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU HANDLE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? I'M SURE YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED IT. DO YOU, CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU'VE DONE AND, UM, WELL, I JUST KNOW THAT IN ANY GROUP DYNAMIC, THERE'S DEFINITELY VERY STRONG PERSONALITIES. UM, EVEN IN ANY, ANYBODY, ANY WORK SITUATION, THERE'S, UM, WHEN YOU'RE, YOU'RE A TEAM, THERE'S DEFINITELY PEOPLE WITH VERY STRONG OPINIONS AND THERE'S MAYBE PEOPLE THAT DON'T SPEAK UP SO MUCH, ET CETERA. AND I THINK IT'S ALWAYS MAKING SURE THAT YOU HAVE ALL THE DATA, THAT YOU HAVE ALL THE INPUT FROM THE VARIOUS GROUPS, UM, THAT YOU HAVE, UM, YOUR GOALS KIND OF, UM, FIGURED OUT, LIKE WHAT YOU REALLY WANNA ACHIEVE. AND HONESTLY, I THINK IT'S JUST CONSTANTLY TALKING AND COMMUNICATING UNTIL YOU CAN COME TO SOME TYPE OF CONSENSUS. 'CAUSE YOU CAN'T, I I DON'T, I HONESTLY DON'T THINK I WOULD WANT TO BE, UH, PART OF A GROUP THAT CAN'T COME TO SOME CONSENSUS. LIKE, IF THERE'S JUST OUTLIERS THAT ARE JUST, THERE'S NO MATTER WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO, THEY'RE GONNA WREAK REHAB IT IN THE GROUP, THEN THAT'S NOT A GOOD USE OF ANYBODY'S TIME. LIKE, I WOULD HOPE THAT THE PEOPLE THAT YOU CHOOSE ARE DEFINITELY, I, I DEFINITELY CAN SEE THAT YOU WANNA CHOOSE PEOPLE FROM ALL DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE, ET CETERA. BUT I HOPE THAT THERE'S THIS INTENTION THAT YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THESE PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO COME TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, WITH A GREAT SOLUTION, WITH GREAT, UH, IDEAS THAT, YOU KNOW, AND THEY'RE WORKING WITH THE STAFF AT THE SAME TIME TO KIND OF PUT THIS TOGETHER. THAT IT'S NOT JUST, WE'RE NOT DOING IT, YOU KNOW, IN A LITTLE BOX BY OURSELVES AND DUKING IT OUT. JESSICA, DO YOU WANT TO ASK, ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS? YOU ALREADY ASKED ME SOME QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. NOT THE DETAIL THAT YOU DID. IT'S OKAY. OKAY. YOU WANT ME TO ASK THIS SOME QUESTION? GOOD. I'LL ASK, HOLD ON ONE SECOND. WE HAVE OTHER, YOU, YOU'RE DOING A FOLLOW UP, MELISSA, ARE YOU DONE? YEAH, SHE'S GONNA DO . SHE'LL DO HER FOLLOW UP, WHICH I WOULD'VE DONE. SO GO, I'M CONFUSED. OKAY. I'M CONFUSED THAT, OKAY. I HAVE A FOLLOW UP. JESSICA, DO YOU FOLLOW UP AND THEN, UH, IT'S KATHY. IF KATHY'S FIRST, YOU COULD DO HERS. OKAY. I WOULD, YEAH. I DON'T KNOW. OKAY. KATHY, I'VE LOST IT IN ALL OF THIS SIDE CHATTER. UM, SO YOU, THE GOAL AS YOU'VE PUT IT, IS TO BUILD CONSENSUS AND ONE OR TWO OUTLIERS, YOU KNOW, MIGHT BE A MINORITY VOICE, UM, IN A GROUP, THE ADVISOR, THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD, EXACTLY THAT ADVISORY BOARDS, THE COUNCIL SHOULD A MINORITY VOICE THAT MIGHT NOT BE BUILDING TOWARD CONSENSUS BE PRESENTED AS WELL, OR SHOULD IT BE JUST THE OVERALL MAJORITY VOICE? OR HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU THINK JUST ANY DISAGREEMENTS WITHIN THE TAB SHOULD COME OR SHOULD NOT COME TO COUNCIL? WELL, I WOULD HOPE FOR THE BEST, OBVIOUSLY. BUT IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, ONE OR TWO PEOPLE THAT JUST REALLY DON'T, DON'T THINK [01:50:01] THAT THIS IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT PATH TO TAKE, THEN I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE TAKE TO YOU. 'CAUSE YOU'RE THE EXPERTS OF THE CITY. AND MAYBE HAVE YOU WEIGH IN. I, I, I DON'T KNOW. YOU KNOW, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE DYNAMICS HERE, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE I DON'T LIVE HERE, SO I DON'T TOTALLY PAY ATTENTION TO, YOU KNOW, ALL THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. I'VE, I'VE WATCHED A FEW. UM, BUT I WOULD JUST HOPE THAT, I WOULD HOPE FOR THE BEST, OBVIOUSLY. 'CAUSE I THINK EVERYBODY WANTS THE BEST FOR THE CITY. BUT I THINK IF ANYTHING, IF THERE, IF THERE'S JUST NO WAY TO COME TO CONSENSUS, THEN I WOULD HOPE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE PRESENT WHAT WE CAN TO THE CITY, UM, AND THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL WEIGHS IN ON, AND MAYBE THEY CAN HELP FIGURE IT OUT. I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW. THANK YOU. OKAY. THEN, UH, JESSICA, WE'LL GO. NO, THAT'S BEEN ASKED AND ANSWERED. THANK YOU. VICE MAYOR. YEAH, I HAD A FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THE EARLIER QUESTION. I'M SORRY. THAT'S ALL RIGHT. OKAY. UH, THE, BECAUSE ON, ON THE MIC, BECAUSE YOU HAVE, YOU DON'T LIVE HERE, RIGHT? AND BECAUSE YOU'VE ONLY BEEN IN YOUR POSITION FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS MM-HMM. , YOU PROBABLY DON'T UNDERSTAND, YOU HAVEN'T HAD THE ABILITY TO LOOK TO LEARN YET. AND, AND YOUR JOB ISN'T FOCUSED ON COMPLETELY ON, ON TOURISM. RIGHT. THAT THE, WE'VE HAD FOR YEARS, A, A VERY DIVIDED COMMUNITY BETWEEN THE RESIDENTS WHO FEEL THAT WE HAVE TOO MUCH TOURISM AND THE BUSINESSES WHOSE LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON TOURISTS. RIGHT? YEAH. AND IT'S BEEN VERY CONTENTIOUS ON OCCASION, ESPECIALLY IN THIS ROOM. MM-HMM. . UH, AND SO DESPITE OUR BEST EFFORTS TOWARDS TRYING TO BRING A GROUP TOGETHER THAT IS A CONSENSUS BUILDING GROUP, I THINK SOME OF THESE EMOTIONS RUN REALLY HIGH AND REALLY STRONG. MM-HMM. . AND, UH, WE HAD IN 21, BECAUSE OF COVID, BECAUSE WE WERE CONSIDERED TO BE AN OUTSIDE AND SAFE COMMUNITY, WE HAD AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF PEOPLE COME HERE. AND WE WERE IN DRIVING DISTANCE FROM A LOT OF LOCATIONS. RIGHT. AND WE WERE OPEN AS ARIZONA, WHERE CALIFORNIA, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS CLOSED. AND SO PEOPLE COULD DRIVE HERE PRETTY EASILY. AND THE CITY WAS JUST OVERRUN, OF COURSE, FOR BUSINESSES. IT WAS THEIR BEST YEAR EVER THAT THEY'VE EVER KNOWN. MAY AND NEVER KNOW AGAIN, . WOW. BUT, UH, FOR THE RESIDENTS, IT WAS, IT WAS PRETTY INTENSE. MM-HMM. . AND SO WE HAD NUMEROUS, UH, MEETINGS AND ALSO JUST COMMUNICATION FROM RESIDENTS. MM-HMM. , IT WAS, UH, PRETTY, UH, PRETTY DIFFICULT. THINGS CALMED DOWN LATER. AND WE PUT A STOP TO MARKETING. SO WE PUT A PAUSE ON MARKETING FOR SEVERAL YEARS BECAUSE WE, WE BELIEVED PEOPLE WERE ALREADY COMING. THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT. YEAH. SO IT DOESN'T TAKE VERY MUCH FOR THAT EMOTION THAT PEOPLE FEEL BOTH ON THE PRO AND CON SIDE MM-HMM. TO SURFACE MM-HMM. . AND WE HAVE A WORK PLAN THAT WE HAVE PROPOSED FOR THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD THAT, UH, GET TO A STRATEGIC PLAN, UPDATING OUR SUSTAINABILITY GOALS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WILL TAKE A LOT OF THE FIRST YEAR OF WORK. MM-HMM. , UH, AND IN THE MEANTIME, THE CITY IS MOVING FORWARD WITH A WINTER MARKETING CAMPAIGN AND THEN MAY DO A SUMMER MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOLLOWING THAT. ANYWAY, IT, IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE. I HOPE NOT, BUT IT MIGHT BE IMPOSSIBLE TO GET INITIALLY UNTIL THOSE THINGS ARE PUT IN PLACE. YEAH. YOU KNOW, A BECAUSE OF THE STRONG EMOTIONS RIGHT. A, A CONSENSUS. SO WE HAD, UH, RECENTLY IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, WE HAVE A BUDGET ADVISORY GROUP, AND THEY HAD ISSUED A MINORITY REPORT. I MEAN, THEY JUST COULDN'T GET TO THE SAME PLACE. MM-HMM. . AND, AND SOME OF THAT WAS AROUND MONEY SPENT ON TOURISTS. MM-HMM. . SO IT'S A, IT'S A HOT ISSUE HERE. YEAH. YEAH. I CAN DEFINITELY TELL THAT. BUT WHAT [01:55:01] I HEARD FROM ONE OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS IS THAT YOU ARE GONNA BE BRINGING IN LIKE SOME CONSULTANTS AND FACILITATORS, WHICH IS GREAT. 'CAUSE THAT WAY, YOU KNOW, THAT'S THEIR JOB IS REALLY TO NAVIGATE THROUGH THOSE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS AND BUILD, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH CONSENSUS AROUND THE IDEA AND THE GOALS AS POSSIBLE. YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, YOU GET YOUR MONEY'S WORTH, YOU KNOW. UM, BUT I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY ABOUT HAVING COMMUNITY BUY-IN. I, I'VE BEEN A PART OF MANY CHARETTES WHERE WE COME AND, YOU KNOW, GO TO DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS OR WHATEVER AND TALK TO COMMUNITIES, GET THEIR INPUT. 'CAUSE THEY DEFINITELY WANNA BE HEARD. AND YOU CAN'T, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT THAT INPUT AND THAT BUY-IN. SO, UM, I KNOW IT'S A BIG JOB. IT'S A TOUGH JOB, BUT I THINK FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD FROM THE CITY STAFF, LIKE IN SOME OF THE MEETINGS I'VE LISTENED TO, UM, THEY'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT. IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE DOING THIS PLUS THEIR REGULAR JOBS TOO, WHICH I UNDERSTAND THAT'S PART OF A NONPROFIT JOB TOO, . BUT, UM, I THINK THAT'S GOOD THAT YOU HAVE GOOD CITY STAFF THAT ARE FIRMLY IN PLACE, THAT ARE ALREADY DOING SOME OF THE WORK, YOU KNOW? AND SO I THINK IT'S UP TO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BOARD THAT YOU PUT TOGETHER TO AMASS AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE AND REALLY UNDERSTAND IT. AND IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. RIGHT. LIKE YOU SAID, IT'LL TAKE A GOOD, AT LEAST A YEAR, I THINK, BUT AT LEAST MAYBE PEOPLE WILL SEE PROGRESS AND KIND OF UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS. AND AS LONG AS YOU'RE COMPLETELY OPEN ABOUT IT AND NOT, YOU KNOW, HIDING ANYTHING OR, YOU KNOW, AND EVERYTHING'S JUST LIKE AN OPEN BOOK AND YOU'RE COMMUNICATING THAT, I THINK THAT, UH, WILL GO A LONG WAY IN BUILDING THAT TRUST AND SUPPORT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. COUNCIL WILLIAMSON, YOU HAVE A FOLLOW UP? I JUST WANTED TO, UM, ASK IF YOU MENTIONED COUNCIL MEETINGS. DID YOU WATCH THE COUNCIL MEETING FROM THE OTHER NIGHT? YOU SEEM TO ALLUDE TO IT IN YOUR ANSWER. UM, WHERE THE CITY MANAGER AND HER STAFF PRESENTED THE, WHERE THEY'VE COME TO DATE IN TERMS OF THE TOURISM PROGRAM. DID YOU HAPPEN TO SEE, IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU DID. I DIDN'T GET TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING. I THINK I GOT INTERRUPTED WITH WORK STUFF, BUT YEAH, I DID. I WAS WATCHING MOST OF IT. YEAH. AND WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO IT? JUST THAT THE STAFF SEEMS TO BE REALLY ON TOP OF IT, WHICH I THINK IS GREAT. SO YOU'RE NOT COMING IN WITH, UM, A WHITE PIECE OF PAPER, YOU KNOW, LIKE THERE ARE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE AND ESTABLISHED AND IT'S JUST LIKE WE NEED TO HAVE ALL THAT, LIKE I SAID, THAT DATA, THAT INFORMATION, HAVE SOME REALLY LONG CONVERSATIONS WITH THE STAFF, THE CITY COUNCIL, AND THEN GO FROM THERE. THANK YOU. I DO HAVE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION. SOMETHING THAT THE VICE MAYOR ALLUDED TO, UH, SINCE YOU WORK HERE AND YOU DON'T LIVE HERE, WHICH IS FINE, BUT YOU DO LIVE A GOOD DISTANCE AWAY. MM-HMM. , I'M WONDERING HOW THAT DRIVE MAY OR MAY NOT IMPEDE YOUR PARTICIPATION. 'CAUSE WE DON'T KNOW HOW MANY MEETINGS A MONTH, RIGHT? HOW MANY MEETINGS A WEEK? YEAH, WE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET. RIGHT. SO I'M JUST CONCERNED IN YOUR OPINION, HOW, IF YOU THINK THAT THAT IS SOMETHING YOU, YOU'RE WILLING TO TACKLE. YEAH, I MEAN, I WAS, UH, HERE YESTERDAY, WENT TO PHOENIX LAST NIGHT FOR A BIRTHDAY DINNER, CAME BACK THIS MORNING FOR A STAFF MEETING. . I LISTEN TO A LOT OF BOOKS. , I GO BACK AND FORTH AND, UM, I'M A ROMANIAN, SO I'M GYPSY BY TRADE. I JUST TRAVEL ALL THE TIME. BUT, UM, NO, SERIOUSLY, I, LIKE I SAID, I LOVE COMING UP HERE. I ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE TO STAY, UM, WHICH IS GREAT. I HAVE GREAT FRIENDS AND, UH, NETWORK HERE, SO THERE'S ALWAYS A PLACE TO STAY, BUT THAT'S NOT AN ISSUE. AND I HAVE TWO TEENAGERS, SO THEY'RE, THEY'D RATHER HAVE ME OUT OF, OF THE HOUSE THAN IN . I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT IF A MEETING GETS DONE LATE. MM-HMM. , I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU HAD A PLACE TO STAY. YEAH. SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT MY CONCERN, YOUR SAFETY DRIVING HOME LATE AT NIGHT COULD BE A PROBLEM. YEAH, NO, I'M AT THAT AGE WHERE I, I DON'T LIKE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT . I UNDERSTAND. UH, OKAY. ARE WITH COUNCILOR WILLIAMSON FOR QUESTION SIX. DO YOU BELIEVE TOURISM BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY? AND IF SO, HOW? YEAH, I MEAN, I MEAN IT, I CAN SEE IT EVERY DAY. LIKE, UM, IT'S BEEN GREAT THE PAST COUPLE OF, UH, WEEKS. WE WENT FROM MAYBE 12 PEOPLE WALKING INTO THE SEDONA ART CENTER GALLERY TO 85 A DAY. I MEAN, THAT'S HUGE. AND NOT EVERYBODY IS SPENDING, NOT YET, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HOPING THAT WILL PICK UP, BUT IT DEFINITELY IS BRINGING MORE AWARENESS ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION AND WHAT WE DO. UM, AND IT MIGHT MAKE PEOPLE COME BACK 'CAUSE THEY EITHER WANNA TAKE A CLASS OR BE IN AN ART EXHIBIT IN THE FUTURE. SO IT HAS MANY, MANY BENEFITS. YOU NEVER KNOW WHO'S GONNA WALK IN THE DOOR, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE SOMEBODY THAT COULD BE A FUTURE DONOR, ET CETERA. BUT, UM, I THINK THERE'S SO MANY BENEFITS TO TOURISM. I DEFINITELY CAN UNDERSTAND. LIKE, I, I WAS ACTUALLY, I JUST HAD A FLASHBACK TO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY'S BEEN TO OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY, [02:00:01] LIKE THE BOARDWALK, YOU KNOW, , AND THAT'S, THAT COULD BE NEW YORK IS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROOM. OKAY. IT COULD BE KIND OF A SKETCHY AREA. LIKE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, LIKE WE WENT THERE AS A FAMILY, YOU KNOW, UH, WE WENT TO OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND, BUT WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE, WE WOULD GO TO OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY, AND THAT WAS DEFINITELY A PARTY TOWN. AND IT, UM, YOU COULD DEFINITELY TELL SUMMERTIME WAS CRAZY AND THERE WAS A LOT OF BAD STUFF THAT HAPPENED. IT'S LIKE, YOU DON'T, I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT THAT. OF COURSE NOT NOBODY DOES. BUT, UM, IT'S, IT'S GOING BACK TO THAT MARKETING, THAT MESSAGING, ET CETERA, AND TRYING TO APPEAL TO CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE HEARING THE MESSAGE. AND IT'S NOT, I MEAN, LIKE, ANYBODY'S GONNA COME. THEY JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEAUTIFUL. PEOPLE WANNA COME HERE, ET CETERA. BUT I THINK WITH MORE STRATEGIC MARKETING, YOU WILL GET THOSE RIGHT PEOPLE TO COME TO YOUR COMMUNITY. FOLLOW UP WITH CA ILLA. THANK YOU. UM, BASED ON THE ANSWER THAT YOU GAVE PREVIOUSLY. OH, AND BY THE WAY, MY BROTHER LIVES IN WETWOOD CREST, SO VERY FAMILIAR WITH THERE. OKAY. UM, BUT BASED ON, ON THE ANSWER THAT THE TWO ANSWERS THAT YOU GAVE, I AM, I HEARD WHAT I'M INTERPRETING AS AS A THEME, SO I WANNA OKAY. HAVE YOU CLARIFY IT FOR ME. AND BASED ON YOUR ANSWER TO QUESTION NUMBER FOUR IN YOUR APPLICATION, THE QUESTION WAS WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE WERE THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING THE CITY AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD AT THIS TIME? AND PART OF YOUR ANSWER, THE FIRST PART SAID, GIVEN THAT OUR SALES ARE DOWN 32% COMPARED TO THE PRIOR YEAR, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT ALL BUSINESSES IN THE AREA WERE AFFECTED BY THE RIPPLES WE WERE STILL EXPERIENCING FROM THE PANDEMIC, THE EFFECTS IT'S HAD ON THE WORKFORCE, THE SLUGGISH ECONOMY, AND A DOWNTURN IN TOURISM. AND THEN YOU MADE ANOTHER STATEMENT, UM, IN RESPONSE TO TWO QUESTIONS THAT MAKES, I'M HEARING THAT YOU MIGHT BE ENVISIONING THE ROLE ON THE TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD TO GROW TOURISM. AND I JUST WANNA KNOW IF THAT'S YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF IT, BECAUSE A LOT OF WHAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON, UM, AND YOU'VE HEARD IN SOME OF THE QUESTIONS IS MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM, WHICH MAY INCLUDE GROWTH AS A COMPONENT. IT MAY NOT, BUT MANAGEMENT HAS BEEN OUR THRUST. I'M HEARING, UH, GROWTH FROM YOU. AND I'M WONDERING, BECAUSE OF THE, THE, THE DOWN 32% TO THE LAST YEAR WHEN THIS, A LOT OF OUR RESIDENTS WERE SAYING, WE ARE OVERTAXED. WE'RE JUST OVER CAPACITY. WE CAN'T SUPPORT THIS. SO I'M WONDERING, 2019 HAS BEEN A BENCHMARK YEAR THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT WHEN WE STARTED TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE THAT WE'RE GETTING OVER TEXT WITH, YOU KNOW, TOURISM AND THEN IT WENT SKY HIGH FROM 2019. RIGHT. SO I'M WONDERING ABOUT, IS, IS GROWTH SOMETHING THAT YOU PARTICULARLY FEEL FOCUSED ON, NUMBER ONE, AND NUMBER TWO, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE CAPACITY FOR A TOWN OF OUR SIZE AND OUR RESOURCES AND, AND DO YOU THINK THAT THAT FACTORS IN? UM, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE GROWTH SIDE AS BEING THE THRUST OF IT BEHIND THE WHOLE THING. I MEAN, PERSONALLY, WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE WHEN IT COMES TO MY JOB, WHEN IT COMES TO MY WORK IS SALES. LIKE, I WANT PEOPLE TO COME IN AND BUY ARTWORK, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL ARTISTS. SO THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT SO MUCH ABOUT HAVING MORE PEOPLE. IT'S HAVING THE RIGHT PEOPLE THAT COME INTO THE GALLERY THAT ARE ART COLLECTORS, ART BUYERS, AND THEY SUPPORT OUR LOCAL ARTISTS, ET CETERA. SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT PERSONALLY INTERESTS ME. BUT THAT'S, THAT'S ONLY ONE PIECE OF IT. I MEAN, THERE'S SO MANY OTHER, YOU KNOW, UM, BUSINESSES AND, UH, ORGANIZATIONS AND THE, UM, HOTEL AND RESTAURANT, YOU KNOW, FACTOR, ET CETERA. THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALL GONNA WANT, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING OUT OF THIS WHOLE PLAN. SO, AND TO THEM, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S, I DON'T, I DOUBT I, I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S GROWTH FOR THEM EITHER. I, MAYBE I DON'T THINK THEY'RE AT CAPACITY. I JUST THINK THAT, UM, I KNOW THAT THE HOTEL PRICES ARE REALLY HIGH RIGHT NOW, AND THAT'S A PROBLEM FOR US BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD TO STAY AT THE HOTEL. SO THEN THEY'RE BACKING OUT OF THE ART CLASSES THAT THEY MIGHT'VE SIGNED UP FOR. SO THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF PIECES THAT I, I DON'T KNOW YET. YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T, I HAVEN'T BEEN ON THIS TOURISM BOARD YET, SO I DON'T KNOW ALL THE DATA, BUT I THINK ONCE, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY GETS THEIR MIND AROUND IT, THEN I THINK HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET A CLEARER IDEA. SO I'D LIKE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT A LITTLE BIT. I HEARD YOU MENTIONED A LOT OF GOOD BENEFITS, HOTELS TO BUSINESSES. I DIDN'T HEAR THE WORD RESIDENTS IN THERE. MM-HMM. . AND THAT IS PART OF THE REASON WHY WE ARE MOVING FORWARD IN THIS DIRECTION BECAUSE WE WANT RESIDENTS TO BE, TO FEEL THAT THEY ARE BEING REPRESENTED. YEAH. AND THEY'RE LISTENED TO. YEAH. AND YET I'M NOT HEARING THAT. YEAH. SO [02:05:01] CAN YOU ADDRESS HOW IN YOUR BELIEFS, I THINK, 'CAUSE I'M NOT OBVIOUSLY, BUT EVERYBODY THAT I WORK WITH IS, OR THEY LIVE, UM, IN OAK CREEK OR THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY LIVE IN SEDONA, ET CETERA. AND SO THEY, YOU KNOW, I HEAR THE STORIES FROM THEM ABOUT TRAFFIC, UM, HOW THAT'S SUCH A PROBLEM. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE LATE TO WORK, ET CETERA. OR, UM, BUSINESSES MAYBE THAT, UM, HAVE GONE OUTTA BUSINESS BECAUSE THEY JUST, THEY'RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH, UM, BUSINESS . BUT, UM, NO, I THINK THAT IS A CRITICAL PART BECAUSE WHERE I LIVE IN MY COMMUNITY, UM, IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT TO ME. WHERE, WHERE IS THAT IN BUCKEYE? BUT I LIVE IN OH, THAT'S SATO. YEAH. WHICH IS LIKE A COMMUNITY WITHIN BUCKEYE, ET CETERA. BUT, UM, AND IT, IT HAS A CERTAIN, UM, IT HAS A CERTAIN, NOT ATTITUDE THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WORD, REPUTATION I GUESS, FOR BEING KIND OF LIKE HIGHER, YOU KNOW, NICER HOMES, BETTER SCHOOLS, ET CETERA. SO THERE'S THIS PERCEPTION. UM, BUT ALL OF THE WORK THAT I DO IS ALWAYS BASED IN THE COMMUNITY, WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY, WORKING WITH THE RESIDENTS. WE HAVE RESIDENTS THAT ARE DONORS, ET CETERA. SO THAT'S, THAT JUST TO ME, THAT'S ALWAYS A PART OF THE CONVERSATION. MAYBE I'M NOT SPEAKING THAT BECAUSE I'M JUST THINKING OF THE BUSINESS SIDE OF IT WITH MY JOB, BUT THAT I DEFINITELY KNOW IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVING A COHESIVE PLAN. MAYOR. YES, PETE, I WILL LOWER MY HAND HERE FOR THAT. UH, I APPRECIATE THAT. SENDING COUNCIL MEMBER, ELLA ASKED, AND YOU ANSWERED ABOUT THE BUSINESS VOLUME THAT YOU'RE SEEING AT THE ARTS CENTER. I'M ASSUMING THAT YOU STILL HAVE YOUR FEET PRETTY WELL PLUGGED INTO THE ARTS COMMUNITY DOWN IN THE VALLEY AS WELL. HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING CHARACTERISTICALLY DIFFERENT ABOUT SEDONAS EXPERIENCE IN THE, IN THE RECENT TIMES VERSUS DOWN IN THE VALLEY? UH, JUST THAT ART SALES ARE DOWN IN GENERAL. I, EVERY BIT, I, WELL, 'CAUSE I WAS A PART BEFORE I, UH, STARTED WORKING FOR THE ART CENTER, I WAS PART OF A COHORT THAT MET EVERY MONTH AND IT WAS ALL THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ACROSS THE STATE OF ALL THE ARTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN LAMENTING SINCE COVID. IT JUST, NOTHING HAS BOUNCED BACK, NOTHING. AND IT'S JUST EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT. THEY'RE TRYING TO MAYBE CREATE NEW PARTNERSHIPS OR IDEAS. UM, THEY'RE CUTTING BACK ON MARKETING BECAUSE THEY DON'T, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING GRASSROOTS OR THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AS FREE AS POSSIBLE. BUT YEAH, EVERYBODY'S HURTING. IT'S DEFINITELY NOT JUST SEDONA, FOR SURE. GREAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER. THANKS MAYOR. OKAY. THANK YOU PETE, FOR JUMPING IN. UM, ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS? OKAY, UH, VICE MAYOR, I THINK YOU'RE UP NEXT. SO WE, IN 2019 IN COLLABORATION WITH A S U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, THE CITY OF SEDONA AND MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, UH, THAT WERE FOCUSED ON THE ENVIRONMENT WE CREATE, CREATED A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN. HAVE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THAT? YEAH, I LOOKED IT OVER, UM, AT THE VERY BEGINNING, BUT YES. OKAY. AND, UH, SINCE THAT WAS DEVELOPED IN 2019, WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE TODAY MM-HMM. AND, UH, WHETHER OR NOT IT, IT'S STILL RELEVANT AND WHETHER OR NOT IT NEEDS TO BE, YOU KNOW, UPDATED IN LIGHT OF 2023 MM-HMM. AND, AND FORWARD. SO DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON THAT? OH, I DEFINITELY THINK ANYTHING BEFORE 2020 SHOULD BE REEVALUATED, ? UM, NO, I DEFINITELY, I THINK, UH, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD A, YOU KNOW, GREAT PARTNERS WITH A S U I DON'T KNOW IF THEY WOULD, UH, COME BACK AND, UM, YOU KNOW, PARTAKE IN KIND OF A RE-ENVISIONING OR, BUT YEAH, I MEAN, IF THEY'RE ALREADY IMPLEMENT, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE ALREADY TOOLS IN PLACE, IN PLANS IN PLACE, THAT'S ALL STUFF THAT THE TOURISM BOARD NEEDS TO LOOK AT, REVIEW AND SEE IF IT'S STILL RELEVANT FOR SURE. AND IF IT'S, IF IT IS, THAT'S GREAT. BUT, YOU KNOW, GIVEN WHAT WE'VE ALL GONE THROUGH THE PAST FEW YEARS, I'M SURE THERE'S SOME PIECES THAT COULD BE UPDATED. OKAY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. , FOLLOW UP COUNSELOR WILLIAMSON, COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN, UM, WHAT'S YOUR CONCEPT OF, OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM? HOW DOES THAT LOOK TO YOU? UM, I WOULD JUST SAY TO ME IT'S PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING BACK. THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY JUST KNOW THAT THIS IS THE PLACE THAT THEY LOVE TO SPEND THEIR TIME, THEIR RESOURCES, THEIR MONEY, ET CETERA. UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE. THEY'RE GONNA TELL OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT IT, BUT IT'S, IT'S SOMEBODY THAT'S JUST CONSTANTLY LIKE THIS, THIS IS THEIR PLACE WHERE THEY WANT [02:10:01] TO GO TO, YOU KNOW, REST AND RELAX AND REJUVENATE. LIKE, AND SEDONA HAS ALL THE ELEMENTS. DEFINITELY. SO I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE WANNA COME HERE, PROBABLY MORE THAN YOU WANT, BUT , THAT'S PROBABLY TRUE. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS ON THAT? OKAY. COUNCIL KINSELLA, ACTUALLY BEFORE I GET TO THE VERY LAST QUESTION, I DO HAVE ANOTHER FOLLOW UP TO, UM, TO YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE, WHICH IS ON YOUR QUESTION NINE. AND QUESTION NINE WAS, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE CITY'S ROLE IN PROVIDING SUPPORT TO PRIVATE BUSINESSES? AND YOUR ANSWER, UM, TALKED ABOUT SUPPORTING PRIVATE BUSINESS, UM, AS A KEY DRIVER TO ECONOMIC GROWTH AND WHAT THEY CREATE WITH JOBS, TAX REVENUES, AND PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT. BUT I'M WONDERING WHAT YOU SEE AS THE RELATIONSHIP OR THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITY OF SEDONA. WHERE, WHAT DOES THAT SUPPORT LOOK LIKE IN YOUR MIND? IS IT THAT WE SUPPORT A GENERAL CLIMATE? DO WE SUPPORT CERTAIN TYPES OF INDUSTRY BECAUSE THEY'RE DRIVERS? DO WE SUPPORT INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES THAT MAY NEED HELP? ARE WE A ECONOMIC, IS TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD GOT A ROLE IN PROVIDING INPUT ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? UH, JUST IF YOU COULD JUST ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT, PLEASE. I MEAN, I DEFINITELY THINK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM ARE HUGELY LINKED, BUT I DON'T THINK, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S OUR ROLE AS A TOURISM BOARD TO ADVISE ANYONE ON, UH, HOW AND WHO YOU, UH, DO BUSINESS WITH OR CREATE ANY KIND OF RULES OR GUIDELINES. I MEAN, THERE MIGHT BE SOME PARTNERS OUT THERE THAT, UM, MIGHT BE GOOD PARTNERS THAT, YOU KNOW, AREN'T IN SEDONA OR, UM, ARE INTERESTED IN COMING TO SEDONA AND, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE AT THE TABLE, ET CETERA. SO MAYBE, MAYBE THAT'S, YOU KNOW, ONE WAY WE CAN MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT I DON'T SEE IT AS THE MAIN ROLE OF, YOU KNOW, DICTATING ANY OF THAT. OKAY. AND THEN SHOULD I GO TO THE LAST QUESTION? PLEASE. OKAY. UM, SO AGAIN, WE'VE OUTLINED THAT WE'VE HAD 37 OR EIGHT APPLICANTS AND INTERVIEWED 20 TO 21. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT NUMBERS NOW, OF PEOPLE. AND WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE? WHY YOU, WHY SHOULD YOU BE ONE OF THE 11 SELECTED? THIS IS SORT OF OKAY. YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SELL US . OH, OKAY. UM, I THINK BECAUSE I HAVE SPENT OVER 25 YEARS WORKING IN NON-PROFITS, AND THAT INCLUDES CONSTANTLY BUILDING CONSENSUS, WORKING WITH DIFFERENT PARTNERS, WHETHER IT'S SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, UM, CITIES, PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT. YOU'RE ALWAYS, I MEAN, YOU'RE ALWAYS NETWORKING WITH PEOPLE. YOU'RE ALWAYS CONNECTING AND PARTNERING WITH THESE PEOPLE TO KIND OF, TO ELEVATE THE ORGANIZATION OR TO ELEVATE YOUR GOAL OR YOUR FESTIVAL OR WHATEVER. SO I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I COME WITH BOATLOADS OF EXPERIENCE. UM, I'M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT IS EASY TO GET ALONG WITH OTHER PEOPLE, WHICH, UM, I'M NOT GONNA BE THE ONE THAT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, RA WAVING THE RED FLAG AND JUST, UH, PUTTING THE, THE STOPS IN MOTION UNLESS I FEEL LIKE IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS, IS JUST COMPLETELY AWFUL AND WRONG. UM, I DON'T KNOW. I JUST, I, I LOVE THIS CITY. I KNOW I DON'T LIVE HERE, BUT AS THE MINUTE MY KIDS ARE GRADUATE , I'VE GOT A SENIOR AND A JUNIOR, MY INTENTION IS TO MOVE HERE BECAUSE IT IS, I, LIKE I SAID, I MOVED HERE FROM VERMONT, PHOENIX HAS NEVER BEEN MY HOME. I JUST, THAT'S WHERE I RAISED MY KIDS. BUT WHEN I COME UP HERE, I JUST FEEL AT PEACE AND I CAN SEE MYSELF, YOU KNOW, BUILDING MY FUTURE HERE, LIVING HERE FOR A VERY LONG TIME. AND I WANT IT TO BE, YOU KNOW, AN AMAZING CITY, YOU KNOW, IN PERPETUITY. YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT DESTROYS A PLACE FOR SURE. I JUST DEFINITELY WANT IT TO BENEFIT. AND I THINK I HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF, UM, MY WORK, WORK EXPERIENCE TO BRING. AND I'M A CREATIVE THINKER. THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I ALSO BRING TO THE TABLE IS I'M JUST ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE DO IN THE ARTS IS WE MAKE A LOT OF STUFF OUT OF NOTHING. . OKAY. THANK YOU. DO WE FOLLOW UP ON, ON THE QUESTION EIGHT? YES. PETE. PETE, GO AHEAD. NOPE, PETE, THANK YOU. UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION. BE THE OTHER ARTS COUNCILS YOU'VE HAD DONE IN THE PAST, HAVE THEY BEEN SUBJECT TO ARIZONA MEETING LOGS? UM, NO. OH, SO YOU MEAN THE UH, LIKE WITH THE CITY, THE CITY COUNCIL? YEAH. ANYBODY COULD [02:15:01] COME TO THOSE, UH, THOSE CIVIC MEETINGS. NOT, NOT THE BOARDS THAT I WAS ON, BUT THE ONES THAT WERE RUN BY, UH, CITY OF GOODYEAR. CITY OF AVONDALE, YES. THEY COULD HAVE PEOPLE THAT COULD COME AND SIT IN AND LISTEN ON THE MEETINGS FOR SURE. GREAT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. . OKAY. ANY OTHER FOLLOW UPS? OKAY. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF US? I DON'T THINK SO. OKAY. I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY FOR YOU GUYS, BUT, UM, OKAY. YEAH. PART OF THE JOB. NO, I THINK, I THINK, UM, I MEAN I KNOW THAT YOU'VE GOT A TOUGH JOB AHEAD OF YOU. THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE TO INTERVIEW, SO I'D LOVE TO BE A PART OF IT. BUT YOU KNOW, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'VE GOT STRONGER PEOPLE THAT WILL WORK TOGETHER, BUT I'M A TEAM PLAYER. OKAY. WELL WE APPRECIATE THAT. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOUR NEXT STEPS MM-HMM. , UH, WE HAVE ALL DAY TOMORROW. MM-HMM. OF TODAY. UH, THEN WE WILL DELIBERATE NEXT THURSDAY. THEN THE FOLLOWING MONDAY OR TUESDAY, YOU SHOULD HEAR FROM THE DEPUTY CITY CLERK OKAY. WITH AN ANSWER ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. OKAY? OKAY. SOUNDS GOOD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH. VERY NICE TO MEET YOU. YEAH, YOU NICE MEET YOU ALL? I'M DRIVING HOME. I'M DRIVING HOME. YES. HAVE A SAFE TRIP. YOU HAVE A SAFE I'LL, I'LL THANK YOU. TAKE CARE. THANK YOU MR. SO COUNSEL, I WANT YOU DO, UH, WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS GO BACK INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS THE PROCESS FOR NEXT THURSDAY. UH, AND, UH, COULD, IF THERE'S INTEREST, I WOULD LIKE A MOTION TO DO THAT. I'LL MOVE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. CAN I HAVE A SECOND? OKAY. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? NO. OKAY. WE WILL BE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION AS SOON AS MARCY DOES HER MAGIC. OKAY. ALRIGHT. NOW THE WAY UP BACK IN PUBLIC SESSION. UH, THEN I HAVE A QUESTION FROM MARCY IN PUBLIC SESSION. OKAY? OH, THERE SHE IS. GOD, SHE'S QUIET. I KNOW. UM, MARCY, WE'RE BACK IN HERE TOMORROW MORNING. THERE'S NOTHING BETWEEN NOW AND TOMORROW. SO CAN WE JUST LEAVE OUR THINGS HERE TO PICK UP WHERE WE WERE? AND YOU ADD THE NEW FOLDER FOR TOMORROW'S INTERVIEWS? YES. I CAN COLLECT EVERYTHING AND, 'CAUSE I'LL HAVE THE NEW, UM, RESUMES FOR TOMORROW. RIGHT. SO THAT'LL BE IN A NEW FOLDER. YEAH, JUST LIKE TODAY. SO CAN WE JUST LEAVE OUR STUFF HERE AND THE DOOR WILL BE LOCKED WHEN WE LEAVE 'CAUSE WE'RE PAST 6:00 PM SO I, I, I CAN COLLECT EVERYTHING AND JUST PUT IT BACK IN MY OFFICE AND I'LL PUT IT BACK OUT FOR YOU. OKAY. THAT WAS THE QUESTION. THANK YOU. AND WE LEAVE IT ANYWAY 'CAUSE SHE'S GONNA COLLECT IT. OKAY. OKAY. UM, WAIT, WE'RE NOT DONE YET. OH, OKAY. OKAY. UH, WE ARE IF, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? NO HEARING NOTHING ELSE. WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. THANK YOU . PETE. PETE, GO AHEAD. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.