Duane Kirby has been dreaming of a Verde Valley-based county for 30-years, he told a gathering of Verde Valley government leaders Thursday night.
Now he may have another chance to get on board. But, it is not yet clear if other participants in the Intergovernmental Meeting held in Cottonwood would join the cruise or jump ship.
Kirby is a Cottonwood City Council member and formerly served as a Yavapai County Supervisor. He said the split from Yuma of La Paz County in 1983 got locals thinking they could do it, too. That split took five years to heal, and the state has now set new rules governing break-away counties.
Kirby says, "I have a book on it."
Many at the meeting Thursday wondered whether the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages of remaining a part of Yavapai County.
While there has been a lot of talk of breaking away from Yavapai County over the years, the idea recently re-surfaced when it was discussed that Yavapai County is approaching a population of 200,000, a threshold when Arizona would require five rather than three Supervisors. Some in the Verde wonder if they would have fair representation from that split or whether the Verde would be part of two or more districts.
The issue had originally been discussed at the Verde Valley Intergovernmental Meeting held last quarter in Camp Verde.
A couple of folks, who have yet remained unnamed, decided they would assemble a guide for forming a new county, detailing the hoops needed to jump. It was described as a "research project."
Blood began to boil on the west side of Mingus Mountain in early November when a copy of the photocopied document surfaced, "Verde County Arizona: Preliminary Proposal for the Formation of a New County."
Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoogs received an e-mailed copy and Supervisor Tom Thurman led a discussion on the concept at a meeting of the Regional Association of Local Governments held in Prescott Valley. The gathering included representatives of Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley, but was also attended by Supervisor Chip Davis, Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens and Clarkdale Mayor Doug Von Gausig. They showed up to hear the proposed discussion of the Verde County.
The Clarkdale mayor told the gathering at that time, that people in the Verde Valley don't know any more about this "than the people in this room."
So, when the Intergovernmental representatives of the Verde Valley gathered for their quarterly meeting Thursday most had not been part of the discussion.
The Verde officials who attended the Prescott Valley meeting heard many area representatives say that they did not want the Verde to break away.
Supervisor Davis told the group that the decision on the five-supervisor board will be prompted after the 2010 census and the first election of five supervisors would be in 2012. The Verde Valley now has an estimated population of 75,000 to 80,000.
Mayor Von Gausig admits the proposal is an "emotional one. We are the red-headed stepchildren."
Sedona councilwoman Nancy Scagnelli told the meeting that whatever happens, Sedona "wants to be in one county or the other."
Sedona has for years struggled with straddling the Yavapai-Coconino County line with two parent governments and sets of rules.
"Sedona doesn't feel that it has representation in either county."
Under current Arizona State law, in order to form a separate county, signatures must first be collected from 20 percent of the registered voters in the entire county, an estimated 24,000 signatures, to force an election. Then an election is needed of all county voters to authorize the split.
Camp Verde Mayor Tony Gioia and others began listing the pros and cons of such a "divorce" as it was dubbed at the Prescott Valley meeting. "Can we afford the level of service we have now with the remaining revenues? How do we divide the assets? Will we have increased representation but lose funding?"
Sedona Mayor Rob Adams suggested, "we need to list the issues or reasons. Water is the big issue."
"A lack of equitable representation," added Jerry Wiley of Clarkdale.
"We have to have hard data before we even consider a decision. We should go back to our councils and get feedback," Diane Joens suggested, "working together is good. During the recent Economic Development tour, representatives of West Yavapai told us, 'We love the Verde Valley. It's part of us.'"
Another Clarkdale councilman, Richard Dehnert, said," I don't hear complaints about county services. I want to know more about why Duane Kirby is so passionate."
"We don't have to hate Yavapai County. It is not a matter of personal relationships. We just want to be a separate county," said Kirby.
It was at that point that several representatives, including Davis, Von Gausig and Gioia suggested that the members bring back their concerns with Yavapai County relationship to the next meeting, "to cure the problems," Von Gausig suggested.
The nine-page formation document suggests that key issues are 1) local control, 2) economics, and 3) mutual respect.
It outlines a process to proceed, an organization structure for a grassroots steering committee, needed working groups, history, and state requirements to form the new county.
It also suggests technical needs and data that must first be assembled.
