Town Politics

It is almost election time. And.... I am running for council. The thought has occurred to me in the past, but I never had the time. In Jerome, without a town manager, council is responsible for the everyday activities and concerns of the community. Now that I own my own business and will be working part-time on a contract for a neighboring community (Clarkdale) I believe I will have more time to offer Jerome. In the past I have served as the Executive Director of the Jerome Historical Society, which happens to own most of the commercial buildings on Main Street. In that time I created the annual Ghost Walk, started the bronze plaque project - plaques on the buildings that describe that building's history, received a grant to restore the Boyd Hotel into apartments, received another grant to have the old Jerome newspapers put on CD for easier viewing and printing, and more.

Jerome is a unique town that I would be proud to serve. We were under fire recently for treating a man who wanted to start a business in Jerome with disrespect during a town meeting. Why you ask? He wanted to open a jeep tour business in town.

The people of Jerome are highly opinionated and protective. The community thrives because it is a community, not Disneyland for tourists. It is also a historic community that has value because of the preservation of its historic context. You won't see franchises and drive throughs in Jerome and hopefully you will never see Jeep tours as you do all over the place in Sedona.

When we owned a retail business in town, we heard time and time again how people preferred Jerome over Sedona because it wasn't as superficial and commercial. You don't have pink, yellow, green and purple jeeps all over the place, airplanes cruising overhead, four-wheelers and every other kind of tour raping the town. We stand by our convictions and voice our opinions - something the people of Sedona wish they had done years ago. Now they are in the process of repairing and maintaining - hopefully we won't get to that point.

What is your opinion???