February 14, 2012

Dear Council,

As you know, the City of Flagstaff’s contract to sell reclaimed water to Arizona Snowbowl must be renewed every five years.  The deadline for the next renewal is March 12th, 2012.  Under the terms of the contract, that renewal is contingent on a new, affirmative decision from the City of Flagstaff.

The decision to renew that contract is consequential. The fact that for a decade—and as recently as last week—leaders of our region’s first nations, as well as thousands of Flagstaff residents- have publicly opposed Arizona Snowbowl’s development plans evidences that consequence.  Decisions this consequential deserve formal public discourse.

We believe the City of Flagstaff as a government has a duty to consider, separately and independently of state or federal laws or agencies, the implications of its decision-making.  As a body of elected officials, the Flagstaff City Council has an affirmative duty and the moral authority to oversee such a process. We therefore request that, prior to the March 12th deadline, the City Council ;

(1) convene public hearings and invite public comment, including from regional American Indian tribes, on its contract renewal, and (2) hold a vote, in public, on its decision to renew that contract.

Regardless of one’s orientation to these issues, the local and regional consequence of the City’s renewal decision will be significant and long-term. Taking into consideration the recent MOU signed with the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission in a unanimous 6-0 vote, we encourage you to provide the public and yourselves every opportunity to consider those implications before rather than after decisions are made.

Thank you Friends of Flagstaff's Future !

Art Babbott has officially resigned his City Council seat in order to run for County Supervisor. Here is the process for how the Council will appoint a new Councilmember:

* Tuesday, February 14: applicants' submittals will be provided to the City Council
* Tuesday, February 21: City Council will hold a public session with all applicants
* Wednesday, February 22: City Council will meet in executive session to identify finalists.
* Monday, February 27: City Council will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. to publicly interview the finalists.
* Tuesday, February 28: City Council will hold a special session at 5:30 p.m. to appoint a new Councilmember.

The public is invited to participate by attending all public sessions. Public participation advocating or opposing any applicant during a Council meeting will only be taken in writing. The public may submit questions for the Council to consider asking the finalist at the February 27,special meeting. All questions must be submitted to the City Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 10.

For more info visit: http://flagstaff.az.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=706

First open house for the proposed Snow Park took place at the Aquaplex on 2/6 at 6:30pm. Citizens expressed their concerns regarding noise of snowmaking equipment, removal of trees, use of reclaimed water and run-off, and development and traffic issues. Next open house is scheduled for 2/16 at the Aquaplex time TBA. For more information about meetings call Recreation Services Director Bryan Groove at (928) 213-2306.

Do you know where the Flagstaff Mayoral and Council candidates stand on the issues you care about?  We hope that many of the questions that were important to you were answered at the public Candidate Forum we hosted on January 26th.  We compiled many of these questions and responses.  Click here for the full report. 

Please click on the links below to learn about where they stand on some of issues that F3 wanted their responses on.  All of the candidates were sent an 8-question questionnaire developed by F3 prior to the Candidates Forum.  F3 supports civic engagement but does not endorse candidates.

Mayor:

Jerry Nabours

Paul Kulpinski

Paul Reilly

Al White

Council Member

Karla Brewster

Coral Evans

Avtar Khalsa

John Malin - did not submit

Jim McCarthy

Jeff Oravits - did not submit

Thank you to the Flagstaff Mayoral and Council Candidates and the public for attending our Local Candidates Forum on Januray 26 at Flagstaff High School.  It was very informational! We hope that the forum has helped to better educate the public on where the candidates stand on the issues. 

Thank you and if you would like to get involved with F3's civic engagement or for more information contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it