They fought the law, but the LAWA won

1,646 words. Available for reprint.
Story and photo by Cyndy Hardy

Photo: ELPIDIO SOTO crossed the desert and the Arizona border to wash dishes for $7 per hour.

SEDONA, Dec. 30 – Come Jan. 1, a new sheriff will ride a pale horse into town; and its name is Legal Arizona Workers Act. LAWA aims to take up where the federal government left off, ridding the state of unauthorized workers. Trouble is, some of the townsfolk think the sheriff wears a black hat. It’s no secret that the law targets illegal Mexicans.

“The economy is failing. The mortgage industry has crashed. The real estate market has crashed. Now the government will further kill us by taking away our opportunity to hire good employees,” said restaurateur Lauren Levinson, owner of Savannah’s.

LAWA allows county attorneys to bring civil action against employers who knowingly or intentionally hire non-citizens that cannot legally work in the U.S. An employer can lose his business license for 10 days on a first offense; permanently for another violation within three years.

Restaurants and lodging businesses employ about 19.6 percent of Sedona’s workforce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000. Construction businesses employ about 8.7 percent of the workforce. Hispanics or Latinos hold about nine percent of all Sedona jobs. The census does not break down the workforce by nationality.

Employers interviewed for this article said they strictly comply with federal employment eligibility laws.

“All I know is everyone who works for me is legal. They aren’t going to come out and say they’re illegal. They have proper papers and that’s all that matters to me,” Ms. Levinson said.

However, the number of employees these employers expect to lose is staggering and much higher than the census estimates.

Lucian Daniels legally emigrated to the U.S. from Romania in 1998. He became a U.S. citizen in August 2007. Daniels, who sold Olde Sedona Bar & Grill on Dec. 22, estimates between 40 and 50 percent of Sedona’s restaurant industry employees may be illegal.

Sedona Center recently terminated about 40 percent of its approximately 220 employees, according to Vice President Ramon Gomez, who is also a Sedona city councilman. That is about 88 employees, although he declined to give an exact number. Internal Form I-9 audits uncovered “mistakes” and many employees could not reproduce legal documents, he said.

“Frankly, some said they don’t have them. A couple of guys just said ‘we’re done,’” Mr. Gomez said. The company owns Amara Creekside Resort, Canyon Portal, Sinagua Plaza, Canyon Breeze, Vista Cantina, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Canyon Climb.

Philippe Thelier, a chef at Shugrue’s Hillside Sedona, said LAWA affects about 75 percent of the restaurant’s employees. Owner Mark Shugrue also owns the Javelina Cantina in Sedona; and several restaurants in Lake Havasu City.

If these employers’ estimates are accurate, Sedona’s restaurant and lodging industries are in serious trouble. The apparent “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality in Sedona may come to an abrupt end. Like most Wild West lawmen in American lore, ‘Sheriff LAWA’ comes with a sidekick: E-Verify, a voluntary federal computer program. Arizona’s new law makes it mandatory.

E-Verify checks the information employees provide on their Form I-9, including a photograph and Social Security number, against both Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases to verify whether newly hired employees are authorized to work in the United States.

It is already a federal crime to “knowingly” and “intentionally” employ an unauthorized worker. Federal law states that “knowing” can include actual knowledge and constructive knowledge, which through notice of certain facts and circumstances would reasonably lead a person to know about something, according to Coconino County Deputy Attorney Dave Rozema in an email interview on Dec. 27.

Some Sedona businesses think their current staff is safe because employers may not use E-Verify to check the legal status of existing employees. That depends on how the courts interpret the law, according to Mr. Rozema.

“The law is ambiguous enough such that it may be interpreted to apply to ‘continuing to employ’ as well as new hires,” Mr. Rozema said.

Many Arizona county attorneys won’t initiate investigations, according to Mr. Rozema. They also will not accept anonymous complaints. Anyone who wants to posse-up must sign a sworn complaint.

Like elsewhere in Arizona, some illegal workers are not waiting around. Some have already left town.

“Some are going back to Mexico. Some are moving on to other states like California and Oklahoma; where they can continue to work,” said Alexandro Lopez, a line cook who admitted he works illegally in a Sedona restaurant.

Four years ago, Mr. Lopez walked across the desert for five days with his wife and 1-year old baby. They crossed the border near Tucson, he said. His first child is now 5; he also has a 3-year-old.

Pedro Nunez, 21, is an illegal immigrant whose parents brought him to Arizona when he was nine months old. Mr. Nunez works construction in Sedona and Flagstaff. “I am not a U.S. citizen,” he said.

Nunez was educated in public schools. “Everyone knew we were not legal,” he said. His parents divorced when Mr. Nunez was 15. They went back to Mexico. Mr. Nunez wanted to stay.

He quit school because he had to work to support himself, he said.

Until recently, Mr. Nunez had a steady job. “The boss said he had to fire me on Jan. 1,” he said. Mr. Nunez quit and found a job that would pay him under the table.

When asked why he doesn’t go to the government to get legal status, Mr. Nunez said he doesn’t believe he’d find help. Four months ago, two of his friends tried to get help from the government to become legal. They were immediately deported, Mr. Nunez said.

“I don’t know what to do,” Mr. Nunez said.

Immigration has closed its doors, according to Juan Rodriguez, who owns a Sedona Mexican restaurant. Mr. Rodriquez legally came to the U.S. about 22 years ago because he had a dream to own his own business, he said. He is now a U.S. citizen. Mr. Rodriguez looked into sponsoring some of his employees, but his lawyers in Phoenix told him that he “can’t do anything,” he said. “They don’t want anyone here,” he said.

“There is a lot of fear in both the front and back of the house. People I thought were secure – some with 15 years – are getting the boot,” said Joy Keeber, a territory manager for a restaurant supply company.

Mr. Shugrue has employees who have worked for him for 15 to 20 years. “These are good solid people. They’ve raised their kids here. The kids don’t want to go to Mexico. They don’t even speak Mexican,” he said.

Others, like Elpidio Soto, don’t speak English. Soto walked across the Sonoran desert for two days and one night to cross the border. He came to the U.S. to pay rent for the home in Mexico where his wife and 6-year-old son live. Mr. Soto’s 18-year-old son works as a landscaper in Washington. Mr. Soto has been in the U.S. for two years and plans to stay for three more years.

Mr. Soto works as a dishwasher for $7 per hour – often seven days per week and sometimes double shifts. He has fake documents, Mr. Soto said in Spanish. Mr. Lopez interpreted.

“In Mexico he would make about $6 a day,” Mr. Lopez said.

Employers said they hire Mexicans because they are better qualified.

“There are not a lot of qualified Americans sitting around [in Sedona] without jobs. I can’t find them,” Mr. Daniels said.

Ms. Levinson said she can hire a chef right out of school, but they can’t cook as well as the Mexicans. “They have no work ethic. They want a lot of money but they have no passion; and they can’t cook as well as the Mexicans,” she said.

Mr. Rodriguez said he tries to give unskilled employees a chance to move ahead, for example, training a dishwasher to be a prep cook and then a line cook. “It takes two years to train a good cook to where I can leave him alone in the kitchen,” he said.

Employers said they also hire illegal workers because there are not enough legal workers to fill the jobs. “Bring in legal people and we’ll hire them,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

So far, those legal workers are not coming to Sedona. They can’t earn enough to live here.

The city has the highest median asking price for homes in the state; half cost more than $586,000, according to Buyers Brokers Realty of Sedona. Sedona employees would have to make $84.50 per hour to buy a home without significant financial burden, according to a report distributed at the Governor’s Housing Forum in September 2007.

Half of Sedona renters pay more than $1,200 per month– a 40 percent increase between 2000 and 2006, according to the Sedona Housing Commission.

Median household incomes increased 13 percent – from $43,466 to $49,225, but 42 percent of household incomes included Social Security income and 22.8 percent included retirement income, according to the census.

The average worker only earns about $31,350, according to the census. Sedona’s unemployment rate is about 3.7 percent, according to the Arizona Department of Commerce.

Sedona Center management realized that it had focused on containing costs instead of trying to get the best employees, Mr. Gomez said. The company “bumped” wages by 20 to 30 percent and upped its employee-referral bonus. “Now we’re going for the best,” Mr. Gomez said.

Other employers said they are waiting to see what happens. Winter is a slow season for Sedona; they don’t need as many workers right now. Some Mexicans leave to visit family for a few weeks and come back when tourism picks up again in March, according to Ms. Keeber.

This time they might not come back. Meanwhile, Sedona’s economy lies tied to the railroad track, waiting for a hero – or a cavalry of legal workers – to save her.

“This law is the kiss of death,” Mr. Daniels said.

©2007 CyndyHardy. Reprints by permission.
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Sedona’s Housing Crisis: Too Little, Too Late?

2,493 words. Available for reprint.
Story and photo by Cyndy Hardy

Appears in the January edition of The Noise.

Photo: HAWKEYE RV Park, slated for condo development, looks like a ghost town today.

Mike Horner is dubious about the city’s intentions to do something – anything – about affordable housing in Sedona. To him, it’s empty talk about doing what’s best for the community by people who cater more to the rich than to “regular people.”

“They have a lot to say but it doesn’t seem to do any good. It’s like they have their own agenda and a deaf ear. I haven’t seen them put up any low-income housing. I don’t think they’ve done anything,” Mr. Horner said.

Over the past 17 years, Mr. Horner has downsized from a 3-bedroom home in West Sedona to a trailer in Oak Creek Mobile Lodge on Hwy. 179. His 16-year-old son, Brooks, lives with him. His 18-year-old daughter, Esme, is moving in soon from Flagstaff. Mr. Horner works as a cashier at a mom-and-pop convenience store in Sedona.

When he first moved to Sedona, Mr. Horner could rent the three-bedroom house for about $675. When he re-entered the rental market after his divorce, rents were about $1,000 for a two-bedroom house. He moved into Oak Creek Mobile Lodge because it was a good deal, he said.

Now, Mr. Horner believes his days as a Sedona resident are numbered. Oak Creek Mobile Lodge is on the chopping block. The property owner, Don Campbell, plans to remove the park’s 59 trailers and build about 50 condominiums.

He did not know that two days earlier, on Dec. 11, the Sedona City Council passed a Housing Policy to encourage the construction and retention of affordable housing after talking about the housing problem since at least 1992.

“Oh? I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Mr. Horner said, unimpressed, as he bagged a customer’s cigarettes and six-pack. “Have a good night, George,” he said. Mr. Horner knows a lot of his customers by name.

Mr. Horner will move to Cornville, where he owns a piece of land with a run-down mobile home. “If [Mr. Campbell] says we have to go, I’ll make my Cornville property livable,” he said. So far, he plans to continue working at the convenience store in Sedona.

About 64% of the city’s workforce lives outside of Sedona. Eighty percent of Flagstaff’s workforce lives in Flagstaff, according to the 2007 Housing and Community Sustainability Nexus Study. No information about commuters in neighboring cities was available at press time.

Rhonda Ross, a former Sedona resident who now lives in the Village of Oak Creek, appears in an informational video created by the Sedona Housing Commission.
“Living in Sedona is definitely a very important part of being here. I really would not want to be working all my jobs just to be living here; just to be having the majority of my income going to rent, bills and food,” Ms. Ross said.

Sedona has the highest affordability gap in the state, according to a report distributed at the Governor’s Housing Forum in September 2007. A 2007 citizen survey report for Sedona, prepared by the National Research Center in Boulder, Colo., ranks Sedona in the bottom 4 percentile for access to affordable housing out of all the cities in its database with populations below 40,000.

Housing Commission member Nate Oskar said the crisis goes beyond the lowest wager earners most people associate with affordable housing. Sedona, as a community, finds it hard to attract teachers, police officers, nurses, managers and other professionals because the salaries don’t match the incomes required to buy or rent in Sedona.

Median home prices in Sedona increased 77 % between 2000 and 2006, according to the Housing Commission. Rents increased 40%. In comparison, Sedona median household incomes only increased 13%, from $43,466 to $49,225.
The current median asking price of a single-family home in Sedona is about $586,000, according to Buyers Brokers Realty of Sedona. Townhomes and condominiums fetch about $390,000.

Sedona employees would have to make $84.50 per hour to afford a median-priced home, the governor’s report stated. A Sedona renter would have to earn $23 per hour. That is $30 more per hour than the Arizona community with the next highest housing costs – Flagstaff, where workers need to make $54.14 per hour to buy a median priced home.

With an unemployment rate less than two percent, those who live and work in Sedona usually have two or more jobs, according to Sedona Economic Planner Jodie Filardo.

Sedona’s new housing policy gives the city some leverage to negotiate affordable housing with developers seeking zone change approval. The catch is that compliance is voluntary. State law does not allow the city to require affordable housing, according to Housing Planner Jessica Williamson.

Developers commonly choose from a number of community benefits to win a favorable zone-change decision. Affordable housing does not cost any less to build; and the nature of affordability affects the developer’s potential profits. While the policy strengthens the city’s position, there is no guarantee a developer will choose this benefit in its negotiations.

The policy asks for 6-12% of a new development to include affordable housing provisions for eligible households whose income falls between 80 and 150% of area median income.

Total rents or cost of homeownership must not exceed 35% of a household’s gross monthly income. Affordability must be fixed for about 50 years.

Developers can choose to pay into a dedicated housing fund instead of constructing affordable units. The fund will directly support the creation and maintenance of affordable housing through activities such as land acquisition, down-payment assistance and low-interest loans.

As incentives, the city offers to waive or defer all applicable impact fees, development review fees and building permit and inspection fees for the affordable units. The city may also waive or defer fees for the non-affordable units in a project that includes affordable units.

Projects with affordability provisions would get priority attention to expedite the review and permit process. On a case-by-case basis, the city may bend its land development codes to accommodate the affordable units; including lot coverage, building heights, lot area, lot dimensions, and yard setbacks.

Mr. Horner is not alone in believing the city has “a deaf ear.” The Sedona Verde Valley Association of Realtors launched a last minute attempt to stop the City Council from adopting the housing policy at the council’s Dec. 11 meeting.
“[Housing Commission members] came to us in September. We gave them some strong questions and we never heard anything else,” said SVVAR member Ron Volkman. He said the policy had not been given proper public process.

SVVAR President Holly Mabery called it a “feel good policy with no net results.” The policy lacks consistency, oversight and does not address costs and liabilities, she said.

“How can staff possibly implement this?” Ms. Mabery asked.

The attack seemed condescending to the Housing Commission’s expertise and its three-year efforts to get an affordable housing policy on the books. That the objections came from Realtors seemed to imply their alignment with developers to retain the highest possible profits for housing projects.

Council members and Housing Commission members reacted suspiciously to SVVAR’s tactic of waiting until the policy was agendized for council approval, instead of bringing up the organization’s concerns during the three years the Housing Commission had worked on the policy.

“We just got these questions now,” City Councilman Rob Adams fired back, referring to a letter Mr. Volkman distributed to the council and city staff minutes before the meeting. The letter was not read into the public record.

“Why are you requiring a delay at the eleventh hour, fifty-ninth minute? Who from [SVVAR] is responsible to monitor this?” he asked.

“Myself, in Sedona,” Mr. Volkman said.

“So, it would be you,” Mr. Adams said, bluntly.

“You’re faulting me for coming forward at this point?” Mr. Volkman asked. He shot the council an incredulous look and sat down without waiting for – or receiving – a reply.

What wasn’t said in those tense moments hung in the air like a verdict: the Realtors had the same opportunities as anyone else in the community to involve themselves in the process.

The Housing Commission meets twice per month. Its agendas and minutes are publicly posted, including on the city’s Web site.

Commission members have met with businesses, resorts, the Sedona Oak Creek Unified School District, the Verde Valley Medical Center, and five major Sedona employers to determine how the lack of affordable housing affects their business.

The commission has circulated two informational brochures. It has hosted focus groups and presentations on density and how community participation can help blend affordable housing into the community.
The commission prepared the 2006 Baseline Housing Report to determine the city’s affordable housing needs. It recommended an ordinance for residential over commercial uses, which the City Council passed in July 2005.

“I know the Housing Commission achieved public process, and at a great expense of time and money to the community,” Councilman Adams said. The SVVAR did not bring its concerns forward until Dec. 10 and its members offered no compelling argument against the policy, he said.

“Developers are getting a benefit for a benefit given,” said Mr. Adams.

Maybe the Realtors just never thought the City Council would actually approve the policy, especially with a 6-0 vote (Vice Mayor Jerry Frey was excused). Some Housing Commission members were surprised it passed.

The Housing Policy is flawed. It’s about 80% “right,” according to Linda Martinez, housing commission chairwoman, and changes will have to be made. But, it’s a start and the city can’t afford to “study it to death,” as Councilman Harvey Stern put it.
“Small solutions got away while we’ve been looking for a big solution,” said Diane Smith, Housing Commission vice chairperson.

Affordable housing, including rental trailers, is disappearing faster than the Housing Commission can do anything about. The commission did not even exist until 2003. Its tools were basically the Sedona Community Plan, the Land Development Code and Arizona Revised Statutes concerning zoning. It took about three years before the Housing Commission had a snapshot of the affordability gap.

The Housing Report found that rents between 2000 and 2006 increased 40% while median income increased 10%. The city needs to secure between 116 and 269 affordable housing units to fill the gap, according to the report.

In 2000, all but four of 12 trailers were removed from the former Laughing Coyote bar in West Sedona. The rest were removed when the bar sold in 2004. Those affordable units have not been replaced.

About 80 residents of Hawkeye RV Park in Uptown were evicted almost two years ago to make way for about 150 condominiums and 12 affordable off-site units, all of which have yet to be built. Windsong Trailer Park in West Sedona has sold and is planned for development.

The Sedona Community Plan states that if existing mobile home parks are redeveloped, “the existing housing densities should be retained regardless of housing type” and that the units should remain affordable.

The Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission recently thought otherwise. During conceptual reviews, several commission members advised Mr. Campbell to reduce the density of his condominium project. He is expected to return with five fewer units, including two affordable units. If approved, the city will lose another 53 units of affordable housing without comment from Planning and Zoning about how to replace them.

Sedona lags far behind the state when it comes to the types of housing available to its residents that are commonly associated with ‘affordable.’ Apartments make up 23% of Arizona’s overall housing stock, but only 4.6% of Sedona’s stock.

Sedona also lags behind other resort communities. About 20% of Aspen’s land use is zoned for multifamily units and 13% in Durango, compared to about 4% in Sedona.

About 1,139 of Telluride’s 1,776 housing units are duplex and multi-family, according to the 2000 Decennial Census and American Community Survey. Telluride’s Land Use Code requires new developments to include affordable housing provisions.

Sedona cannot require affordable housing because Arizona law does not provide for inclusionary zoning, according to Ms. Williamson. The Housing Commission has to look outside the box for solutions. It has made some progress.

Even before the housing policy passed, the city negotiated affordable components into four development agreements, netting about 13 affordable housing units and about $186,984 towards a dedicated housing fund.

“[The Housing Policy] is just one strategy. It is voluntary and it only applies to rezoning,” said Audree Juhlin, assistant to the director of community development.
Other commission initiatives include application for Community Development Block Grants to replace existing mobile homes with new mobile homes, proposing an ordinance to allow guest homes to be legally rented, establishing the dedicated housing fund, working with neighboring communities towards a regional housing strategy, and investigating the viability of a community land trust.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking and some residents wait while rents continue to rise and development projects are built without affordable housing.

Ronald Pauley has a good business repairing restaurant equipment. He is concerned enough about the future of his own “affordable” housing. Mr. Pauley has rented a two-bedroom apartment in Uptown for about six years.

“My landlord started raising the rent after reading about higher average rent prices in the newspaper,” Mr. Pauley said. Last year his rent rose three times in one week. Starting at $600 per month, his rent increased to $625, then to $650, then to $700.

Mr. Pauley said his 8-unit apartment building was built by its current owner in 1972. The construction is not up to code. There are gaps between the original wood siding and the newer brick façade. The PVC pipes rattle inside the walls and methane gas vents into the attic, not outside the dwelling.

“I’ve got a working smoke detector and an exit strategy,” Mr. Pauley said with a grin. He repairs things in his and other tenants’ apartments without telling his landlord, who he said does as little repair as he can get away with.

The view from Mr. Pauley’s affordable apartment used to be the jagged red hills below Wilson Mountain. Now, his view is the back of a new three-story timeshare condominium built about 30 feet from his window. “I know they are timeshares because I see the people who come and go,” he said.

Mr. Pauley can’t see the mountains at all, now. “How did they get three stories?” he asked, perplexed.

Both Mr. Pauley and Mr. Horner asked that their names be changed for this article. They fear losing their homes.

The irony is as clear – and as cold – as the thin strip of crisp blue December sky visible above the condos through Mr. Pauley’s window. Sedona is losing its existing affordable housing stock. The people who need it can’t do anything about it. It’s up to the city to make the policy and up to the developers to make the necessary profit concessions.

Otherwise, the workforce – the popular ones such as police, teachers and nurses; and the not-so-popular ones such as the cashiers, janitors and repair men – may look for greener pastures.

©2007 CyndyHardy. Reprints by permission.
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BREAKING NEWS: Crash closes I-17 near Sedona, crews cleaning hazmat spill

by Cyndy Hardy

SOUTH OF FLAGSTAFF – Traffic is closed in both directions on I-17 after a truck carrying hazardous materials crashed near mile post 310, about 30 miles south of Flagstaff, according to Gary Johnson, public information officer for the Sedona Fire District.

3TV and azfamily.com in Phoenix report one confirmed fatality in the accident, which occurred early Monday morning. ADOT, Pinewood Fire Department from Munds Park, and the Flagstaff Fire Department are on the scene, according to a secretary at PFD.

No information was immediately available about the identity of the victim, or whether the person was driving the truck.

The freeway was closed at about 3:45 a.m., the report stated. ADOT officials expect the road to remain closed until between 12 and 2 p.m. while crews clean up undisclosed hazardous spill from several 55-gallon barrels marked with “corrosive” labels.

“Usually, that means something like battery acids,” Johnson said. Following standard procedure, Hazmat crews would check the truck’s bill of lading and take the appropriate public safety precautions and method of clean-up, he said.

Southbound traffic was being turned around at Rocky Park Road, according to 3TV. Regular-sized vehicles can use Hwy. 89A through Oak Creek Canyon.

The road is steep and contains tight switchbacks through Oak Creek Canyon. Motorists should use caution. ADOT signage limits access to vehicles under 50 feet. Large-profile vehicle, such as RVs, should wait until I-17 reopens. Read more!

BREAKING NEWS: Police, fire responding to Uptown power outage

SEDONA -- Emergency crews are responding to a reported "arcing power pole" in Uptown that may have caused a power outage at this moment. No other details available yet. Read more!

BREAKING NEWS: Oak Creek flooding prompts evacuation alert

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, December 7 – Several residents and businesses were alerted to voluntarily evacuate this evening as Oak Creek swelled over several low-water crossings.

“Evacuation is not mandatory but some residents could get trapped in any of those low-lying areas,” said Sedona Police Cmdr. Marlayne Hatler.

The National Weather Service in Flagstaff issued a flash flood watch at 2:07 p.m. and an emergency alert at 6:52 p.m., stating that by 8 p.m. Oak Creek was expected to rise to 13 feet – one foot below flood stage. The creek normally runs about two to four feet deep.

“Between 4:30 and 5 p.m. there was a major spike at Pump House Wash,” Sedona Fire Chief Matt Shobert said. Emergency personnel knocked on doors in neighborhoods close to the creek – many of which are only accessible via low-water crossings – alerting residents to evacuate.
One house on Blackhawk Lane had flooded, Shobert said. The Red Cross was notified and an evacuation center was ready, if needed, but no one had yet requested the service, Shobert said.

Affected residential areas included Copper Cliffs Drive, Newcastle Lane, Purtyman Lane, Doodlebug Road, Lake Drive, Trails End Drive, according to Hatler. Arroyo Roble Resort and L’Auberge de Sedona were also notified.

A front desk clerk at L’Auberge de Sedona said guests and employees were “safe and secure” and that the resort was not concerned about the flood conditions. At Arroyo Roble, a front desk clerk said they had monitored the National Weather Service’s real time creek levels throughout the afternoon and also were not concerned. Both men refused to be identified, citing company policy.

Margaret Frey, a spokesperson at Rancho Sedona RV Park, said, “It’s got to get a lot worse than this before we need to worry.”

The last major flood in Sedona occurred on December 29, 2004. Oak Creek swelled to about 18 feet, according to NWS records.

© 2007 Cyndy Hardy. Reprints by permission.
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Loose lips sink economic ships, Sedona leaders say

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, Dec. 5 – Negative attitudes won’t make Hwy. 179 construction any better, according to Sedona leaders at the first of four scheduled public forums for Phase Two of the Hwy. 179 Improvement Project.

Today they urged the community to buy in to a positive spin.

Negative reports damage tourism, according to Jennifer Wesselhoff, president and CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, referring to a story that aired Sunday, Dec. 1 on ABC 15 in Phoenix.

Reporter Joe Ducey spotlighted two Sedona-area businessmen who claimed Phase One of Hwy. 179 construction forced their businesses to close. Dramatic visual images showed intense construction and heavy traffic in the unincorporated Village of Oak Creek, about seven miles south of Sedona.

“Some people believe any publicity is good publicity, but speaking to the negative damages their business and has a far greater effect on Sedona as a destination,” Wesselhoff said.

The message tourists see is “don’t go to Sedona.”
Sedona area businesses suffered in 2002 and again in 2006 after media reports claimed that Northern Arizona was “on fire.”

Repercussions of ABC 15’s report were immediate, according to Edd Zielinski, director and executive vice president of ILX Resorts, which owns hotels in the Village and Sedona.

“We had some cancellations. Negative comments really have an impact,” Zielinski said.

Ducey’s investigative report downplayed the Arizona Department of Transportation’s success in honoring its commitments to keep traffic moving and to keep business driveways open, according to Kristin Darr-Bornstein, ADOT’s public outreach manager.

“I stood in front of that reporter for 20 minutes telling him how we kept traffic moving. The positive messages – that doesn’t get on the news. That hurts more than one business,” Darr-Bornstein said.

Not everyone is negative about ADOT’s performance, according to Communication Manager Mary Schnak.

“Other businesses have come to us saying ‘how can we help you out,’” Schnak said.

The answer? Realize that it’s going to be tough and watch what you say to the media, leaders said.

ADOT is here to improve a road that hasn’t been upgraded for more than 25 years. The project is complicated, in part, because it is the only road connecting I-17 through the Village of Oak Creek to Hwy. 89A in Sedona.

The local economy lives or dies by the more than 2 million visitors who use the road each year.

Residents and business owners had a lot to say about how the road would be built and how construction would happen. Every resident and business owner had opportunity to participate in the 18-month public process. Their voices are recorded in the 2005 Red Rock Scenic Corridor Management Plan and its supporting documents, available at www.scenic179.com.

“We were told specifically [by the community] not to make [Hwy. 179] wide. It’s a tight corridor because we maintained our commitment to you,” Darr-Bornstein said of ADOT’s efforts to work with the community.

During Phase One, ADOT responded as business owners’ demands changed.

“In the Village of Oak Creek, they said ‘don’t work at night.’ Three or four months into it they started saying ‘work at night,’” said Carl Burkhalter, ADOT project manager.

Commitments to keep business driveways open added to the length of the project, Burkhalter said. Every time crews ran out of time while digging in driveways, they had to bury the holes and dig them up again later, he said.

“If we could [temporarily] shut down businesses, construction time would be much shorter,” Darr-Bornstein said. It has happened in other communities, she said.

This community did not choose that option. Some would probably say it’s not an option here.

So, as the project approaches the city of Sedona in February, some business owners and residents have teamed with city government, ADOT, and the chamber of commerce to plan a strategy.

“We’re not going to promote construction,” Wesselhoff said.

The main strategy centers around a creative campaign called “Follow the Red Rock Road.” Drawing from the city’s Javelinas on Parade theme, six cartoon characters will great visitors on signs, in brochures and possibly on banners, Wesselhoff said.

Each character represents a segment of Sedona’s community: a shopper, an artist, a child, a chef, a hiker and a spiritual guide.

If the idea seems a little silly, the point is to stay positive and have a little fun during a difficult situation, Wesselhoff said. The idea came from a similar campaign in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Signage will play an important role during construction. City leaders learned during the recent Uptown Enhancement Project and Phase One of Hwy. 179 construction that a lack of uniformed signage caused more confusion than help for tourists.

ADOT’s regulations won’t allow for much signage in its right-of-ways, so leaders are counting on businesses to work together.

“We’ll need financial help, but we don’t know what yet,” Wesselhoff said. Sedona Publishing Company has already helped by printing of about 150,000 brochures, she said.

Other team ideas include scavenger hunts for tourists, commemorative merchandise, a “Tool Belts and Tuxedos” hard-hat auction, visitor center kiosk promotion, maps, business lists, a calendar of events, street festivals, and an ambassador team.

The chamber is also trying to get informational maps placed in every rental car in Phoenix to help visitors understand and navigate construction; and will continue to advertise and market Sedona in print, television and Internet media; implement an aggressive public relations program; and educate concierges in Phoenix and out-of-state markets.

“I don’t have control over whether it works or not. Complaining about it isn’t going to help,” Wesselhoff said during a pre-forum interview Tuesday.

Leaders hope the community will help minimize negative messages by keeping complaints ‘within the family.’ Call the mayor. Call the chamber. Call ADOT. Get informed at the public meetings.

“Know who to call and who not to call – like a newspaper,” Colquitt said.

The next Hwy. 179 forums are scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive. The business forum takes place at 7 a.m.; the resident forum at 9 a.m., according to a public notice. Everyone is invited to either meeting.

Illustration courtesy of Sedona Chamber of Commerce.
© 2007 Cyndy Hardy. Reprints by permission.
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BREAKING NEWS: Two false alarms: no harm, no foul

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA – Sedona police halted northbound traffic south of Midgely Bridge at about 1:20 p.m. upon reports of a rock slide on Hwy. 89A, north of Slide Rock State Park.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officers determined that three boulders had fallen into the roadway. Motorists were able to navigate around the boulders and at about 1:42 p.m.traffic resumed. ADOT crews were expected to clear the debris.

Within minutes, in an unrelated incident, a single report notified the Sedona Fire District of a possible aircraft crash in the area south of the Sedona Airport. Sedona police quickly ruled out a crash, saying the report stemmed from a backfiring engine on an aircraft that had just taken flight.

© 2007 Cyndy Hardy

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