Town Council - Special Meeting

Good evening. And I'd like to call this special meeting of the Pup Lakeside Council to order and welcome you all here. Um please make sure that your phones are on um silent. We do have a quorum. We have essentially one item um before us tonight which is um item A in view potential applicants to fill a vacant council position on the Pinetop Lakeside Town Council. We do originally had four applicants but we do have three now. Um Lynn Craigbomb, Katherine Doyle, and David Halls. Um before we get started, I would just like to thank all of you for for showing your interest in the town, putting your name out there, maybe stretching beyond your comfort zone. Um it is much appreciated and um a very important job for our community. So, we have a series of questions that we would like to ask each of you. We're going to have them have you stay in here one at a time and the other of you can go wait in the visitors center, please. And I will do them in the order that um I just named them because that's how they came in. So, we'll start with Lynn Craig Bomb. Um, Dr. Halls and Katherine, if you would go out, um, Priscilla will take you out there and then she'll come back and get you um when we're all ready for you. Okay. First of all, thank you for being here. Um, as you are aware, serving as a council member requires significant time commitment, including council meetings, work sessions, liaison assignments, retreats, trainings, and community events. Um, these sometimes oftentimes are during the day, sometimes weekends, mostly evenings. Are you able to consistently dedicated the time required to fulfill these responsibilities? said, "Can you describe any current commitments that may impact your availability?"

No, I'm very available. Mayor. Okay. Uh Lynn, what motivates you to seek this appointment? I think it's mostly because I enjoyed being on the council the six years that I was on before and I learned so much and I really thought it was um an excellent experience and I would like to do it again.

Okay. Please share the skills, experience and perspectives you would bring to the council and how they would contribute to effective decisionmaking and leadership. I think I really understood or understand now what the open meeting law is all about and how important that is. So, um that and the fact that it's really important in council to stay on the topics that are on the agenda that we just work on the things that are in front of us and that's that's what we really need to be focused on. So, I think I'm um ready to really be focused. I think that's the best word.

Thank you. I love this town. You know that. And I um had wonderful experiences. Okay. Um thank you again for stepping up. uh what do you believe are the primary responsibilities of a council member and how do you see yourself fulfilling those duties?

I think it's really important to be a listener and I have always tried to see at least both sides or however many sides there are to a particular problem or situation. Uh try to see things from different sides. I think it's important to try and um represent the people of the town and I am one of those and I've been here 28 years and I really it's it's home. I really love it. And so I think um because I am involved in quite a few different things in the community and have been for a long time, especially like tracks. Um, I think that it's um I have a um I have a good feeling for the town and for what we need to do. And so um I hope that I can continue to be um a good listener and to listen to all sides of the situation.

Thank you. Again, just thank you for um jumping in and being willing. Um so, Pinetop Lakeside values its small town atmosphere while also planning for responsible growth. What strategies or PR principles do you believe are important in maintaining that balance? I think that uh planning and zoning is really important and I'm sorry that I never was on planning and zoning but I feel like I really learned a lot from being on the the council and from seeing the things that planning and zoning does and uh trying to keep our town I know I have met people and I know people who okay I'm here I love it now build fence around nobody else can come. No, I don't like that attitude at all. But we do need to grow. I mean, you would die if you didn't be a living, breathing organism, and that's kind of what the town is. Um things like uh well, tracks and the nature center. We're really moving um organisms and organ organizations. So, I'm not saying that maybe very well, but I think that we need to um be focused on the future. We need to learn from the past, but I think we need to look to where we would like to go.

Thank you. Thank you. What do you see as one or two of the most significant challenges facing Pinetop Lakeside today? and what approaches or solutions would you explore to address them?

Well, number one is Highway 260, our main street and we have to deal with it. That's where we are now. It's going to be good that we're going to have a new road in a couple years and I think that's fine, but we have need of being a walkable community and a bike riding community. And so I think that's part of what we need to keep focused on when we're working with AOT and those plans that they're going to be doing. The other thing is that I think is um something that I'm really interested in is annexation. We had one annexation um occur while I was on the council and I thought wow this is a good thing. These people have asked to join our town and I think it's a good thing. So I am hoping that there will be more who want to join our town. I think it has good things and bad things uh about that, but I think in the in the long run that annexation would be a good thing for our town.

Thank you. Of the priorities outlined in the town's strategic plan, which resonates most with you and why? Alternatively, do you believe there is an important priority missing that should be addressed? Wow, I should be a whole lot more um up todate on the strategic plan. I think that it is an important thing and you need to keep things ahead of what you're going to be doing and where you want to go. So, um as far as knowing that there's anything missing, um perhaps annexation. Um, now you know in the past I have been really focused on Woodland Lake Park and I really wanted to get the developed park. Well, we did it and that's wonderful, but I'm not sure what's going to happen with the rest of it. And so I think that's kind of a concern that I have. I am not totally in favor of the town being the owner of the other 420 acres. I'm not sure that I think that that will keep anything from being developed. I think there are some ideas about what to do with that land, but I remember Carla Bowen was on council when I first went on and she was always concerned that Woodland Lake Park would bankrupt the town. I think we're fine where we are with the 100 acre 107 acres, but I don't know about what could happen with the rest of it. Council decisions do not always satisfy all stakeholders. When making difficult decisions, how do you determine what serves the best interest of the

community as a whole? That's really um maybe from my own experience of being in the situation where we had things that uh were proposed for the town and then we found that the town didn't want them because like the RV park um when that big land exchange happened and we right away we did the commercialization of the 40 acres and I was hoping ing that was going to come to be a really good thing. Well, it's still just sitting there, so I don't know what's going to happen there. Then the RV park that was possibly proposed for the back part there. I thought that was a good idea. Those trees were wonderful and I know they would not have taken those big trees out because it was just it's something they really needed to have. But the town said, "No, this is not what we want that we don't want another RV park or we don't want an RV park in this place where you first come in to the town." So, we had to live with that. That's the way it is. So, I think um it's just important that we listen to what the voters have to say and accept their decisions and go from there. How would you respond to and manage criticism from residents who strongly disagree with council actions?

Oh, try and see their point of view. As I say, I try and look at whatever the situation is from whatever direction, all the different sides, all the different points of view. So I would try first to understand why they are critical of whatever the situation is. So I think um you know trying to be um understanding of what's going on is important.

Thank you. Next one is u how do you define ethical leadership in local government and uh can you provide an example of a time you had to make a decision guided by ethics transparency or accountability?

Oh wow. Well as I said I really came to appreciate the open meeting law and the things that are involved in that. And so um to me that is an ethical thing. This is the rule. This is what you have to do. You can't have four people talking and deciding something before it's in the proper place. And so if I would try and think of something that um I can't think of any situation that I've been in where I was really ethically challenged. I am pro-life. Um, I'm not not ashamed to say that or afraid to say that. So, I think life is the most important gift we have and I intend to do the best I can with what I've been given. Appreciate that. Um, describe your approach to working collaborative collaboratively with fellow council members, town staff, and community stakeholders. How would you handle disagreements within the council?

I'm sorry. How would I handle what within the council? Disagreements. Disagreements.

Well, again, I think it's important to try and understand each side of whatever the situation is so that um you can see maybe from their perspective. If somebody has something that disagrees with me, um I would try and understand why they uh feel the way they do. So, um I think that's uh just listening is the most important thing. What do you see as the greatest strengths of Pinetop Lakeside and how have you been involved in the community up to this point?

Well, the people are the best up here. I think the small town attitude that we have um is just the best. Um when I first moved to town 28 years ago, um Jack Barker was my neighbor and we met um first couple of days it was a snowstorm in December and I think we were trying to move stuff in and all that and he came over and so we had a nice chat with him and um he said, "You know, you should there's some people you should meet. They're called tracks. And so the meeting is going to be I think it was about three weeks from then and it was for breakfast. And so David and I went and sure enough they were wonderful people and so I really got involved with that. The nature center is another thing that I have been involved with over the years and have really appreciated the beginning uh in 2003 with Mary Ellen Bidorf and her ideas and um I was involved with the White Mountain Land Trust. I still am. Um that still exists and um now I am involved with Meals on Wheels. I think that's really important. I also do the food bank for um Thursdays. I go to White Mountain Catholic Charities and help give out food. So, you get a good feeling of talking to people and um interacting sort of with our community. It's it's all good.

Thank you. How would you identify and handle a potential conflict of interest while serving on council?

Well, I think it would depend on what the conflict of interest is. I can't think that I would be involved in something. Um, I'm vice president of tracks. I don't think that's anything that's of conflict of interest. Um, you know, I have been involved with Woodlands Lake Park. I still am. Um, I don't see that as a conflict of interest. I don't have a job. I've always been a volunteer. Um, I can't think of a situation, but I would hope that I would be able to look at whatever the situation is. you know try and step outside of the situation and see what is the problem here. How is there a conflict? So I think I would try and head up you know look at it uh objectively.

Okay. Because this appointment fills the remaining term. How would you prioritize learning contributing quickly and making infor informed decisions in a short time frame? Well, I think that I always had the um the drive to do the best job I could as a council person. I really always did my homework. Usually, if I had questions, I would come to staff, especially the town manager um earlier before like the council meeting would be on Thursday. I usually would come in on Monday or Tuesday and talk to the town manager and say, "Uh, could you explain this to me? I don't understand what this situation is or I don't understand where this is. How is this going to make a difference?" So, I tried to find out from staff, especially through the town manager, um, what what the situation was before actually coming to council, but I always did my homework. Do you intend to run for this seat in the next election or are you only interested in completing the remainder of this term and how does that influence your approach to serving?

Right. What an excellent question. Okay. I am 84 years old and I'm not sure that anybody would vote for somebody who is 84 years old. I am definitely not going to run in the next election. When I this opportunity presented itself, especially from the fact that it was where I sat and that's where Harry sat and I always felt like that was my place. And so when that came available, I thought that's I would really like to try and do it again. So I'm definitely not going to run again. The other people I think are all young. That's wonderful and they have opportunities. So, I'm very happy with just thinking about the next two years.

Last question. Is there anything else that you would like to the council to know about you uh that would help us evaluate u your candidacy? Well, I don't think I mentioned anything because I have kind of been as open as I can be with you about my feelings, but um I don't think I've said anything about the summer get together, the town um the all of the um well, we went to either Tucson or Phoenix for the August um meeting of cities and towns meetings. I always learned a lot at that too that really um about um like affordable housing and housing problems and things like that that I hadn't really been concerned about before. And so that I think was was something that I really enjoyed and really learned a lot from. So say that's pretty much it.

Thank you, Lynn. We appreciate it. Thank you. you can go have a seat. And Priscilla, if you would bring in um Katherine, please.

Lynn, you can stay in visit. Oh, you got one. Mine doesn't work. Yeah,

you've done your part. You get to stay. Come on up to the podium. Katherine, again, thank you for putting yourself out there and applying for this position. We um have a series of questions that will go from council member just kind of rotate and ask you and um they're not scary or anything so don't worry. Um the first question is serving as a council member requires a significant time commitment including council meetings, work sessions, liaison assignments, retreats, trainings and community events. These are afternoons, evenings, weekends, sometimes all day, sometimes an out of town conference. Um are you able to consistently dedicate the time required to fully ensure the fulfill these responsibilities and can you describe any current commitments that may have impact on your availability?

Yes. So I absolutely can dedicate the time to that. That would be no concern. Um I am fully employed. Um I work full-time over at the Navajo County Family Advocacy Center, but it's an incredibly flexible position. Um, and it's set up like that intentionally so that I can be active in the community and that I can serve our community members. Um, I'm a mom, so that would be another huge commitment that I have. I love my child, but she also is very well taken care of by her father, so um, that's not a concern. Okay, thank you. Katherine, what motivates you to seek this appointment?

I I love Lakeside. I've lived here for seven years. Prior to that, I lived over in Snowflake Taylor, born and raised up in the White Mountains. Um, I would love to be more involved in just the town and what we have to offer in the choices that are made. And I I just I have a lot of ideas and a lot of things that I think can be um a lot of skills that could be utilized by the town. And I I'm just open to ideas. And I think it would be really great to have kind of a different demographic and a different um age brought in that is you know the young families have a lot of a lot of varying opinions on Pinetopic side and I know a lot of them and um I just feel like I have

Okay, you thank you. You've given some please share the skills, experience and perspectives you would bring to the council and how they would contribute to effective decision making and leadership and you did some of those. If you have any more that's fine. So, I um I'm very lucky that I get to travel to Washington DC every June to participate with our legislators and with our members of Congress. Um I have a working relationship with them mostly because of my job, but also just because of some other commitments that I have that I've worked in. So, I feel I could bring that um perspective and that education as well as just my local leadership roles within Navo County.

Thank you. Okay. uh what do you believe are the primary responsibilities of a council member and how do you see yourself fulfilling uh those duties? I believe the primary role of a council member is to be a voice for the community and a voice for the people who live here as well as the people who visit here. So, I would love to be able to fulfill that role by being actively involved in our community and by being a representative for them and being able to speak on behalf of their opinions and their wants. Thank you.

All right. Pinetop Lakeside values its small town atmosphere while also planning for responsible growth. What strategies or principles do you believe are important in maintaining that balance? It's that's a trick one. That's a really great question. I It's very 50/50 for me. I very much love the small town atmosphere and I personally love getting out into nature and that's entertainment for me. However, I also recognize that a lot of people that visit as well as people that live here um want more things to do and want more entertainment locally. Um, so I think strategically it would be about not only vetting what people want to bring in, but also responding to what people are currently interested in and doing that in a way that honors the town and what we all live here and what we all enjoy here while like you said, planning for that strategic and responsible growth and the growth that comes with new populations moving in. What do you see as one or two of the most significant challenges facing Pinetop Lakeside today and what approaches or solutions would you explore to address them?

A big one that I've just personally noticed is the kind of headbutting between tourism and local living. Kind of the back to the small town thought process. A lot of local people aren't very fond of the tourism trade, but it's also very much what helps the town run, especially in the winter seasons, what helps a lot of local business owners keep the doors open. Um, so I think a lot of work could be done with planning things that would bring in tourists but would also benefit the local towns and kind of having more open communication about what tourism actually looks like in in Pineup Lakeside and how it benefits the local people who live here as well as how it benefits tourists and why it's why it's good to bring in tourism even though it makes the roads harder to navigate in the summer and you know the lines at the gas station and the grocery stores are longer. but then also kind of publicizing the benefits of having a really well-rounded tourist trade locally.

Thank you.

Of the priorities outline outlined in the town strategic plan, which resonates most with you and why? Alternatively, do you believe there is an important priority missing that should be addressed? I personally always think that there should be more emphasis put on family awareness and involvement in the town. I don't tend to see that in um forward growth strategic plans. Um I would I would love to see more options for young families and more local things that local families can go out and do. um not necessarily just being kid-friendly or catering towards kid-friendly families, but things that families can do while having littles running around and with teens involved and with people that are in their retirement ages doing kind of in the same realm. So, I I would love to see more emphasis on that in in forward years. Council decisions do not always satisfy all stakeholders. When making difficult decisions, how do you determine what serves the best interest of the community as a whole?

I I think every decision should just be what is best in the long term. A lot of short-term decisions will will always ruffle feathers. There's never going to be a 100% decision on on anything. But it is really great to look at the very very high level picture from a bird's eye view and say okay in 10 years what where will this decision take us in five years where will this decision take us especially in legislature it's very difficult to say the the six month or the one-year plan and kind of looking at that more long term so I think having again just more education and outreach on this is the the thought process behind the decision and and yes this is not necessarily the decision that 100% % of people would make, but this is the 75% 10-year plan that in the best interest of the continuation of our town.

How would you respond to and manage criticism from residents who strongly disagree with council actions? I would love to be able to have open and honest conversations with them and just I know it's not always possible to sit down with everyone one-on-one, but if there's someone that's continuing to have some contingency or some issues going on with a decision that was made to be able to sit down and and think through and talk through what their issues were and while not necessarily come to an agreement, at least be able to have continuing conversation and open conversation with someone that doesn't agree. question about ethics. Um, how do you define ethical leadership in local government? And can you provide an example of a a time you had to make a decision guided on uh ethics, transparency or accountability?

Absolutely. So, I I personally love transparency in leadership. It's something that I value as as the director and it's something that I value when I look at other leaders around me. Um, one example is when I was brought on as the director of the family advocacy center, there was not any financial transparency that had happened and and within a nonprofit profit structure, that's something that's an absolute need. Um, so for me, I worked very hard to make sure that our financials are easily accessible and that our statistics are easily accessible, that everything that we do is available and open to the general public since the general public is the one that we are serving and the one that um we we hold most dear. So for me, it's that transparency is the base of ethical leadership.

Thank you. Describe your approach to working collaboratively with fellow council members, town staff, and community stakeholders. How would you handle disagreements within the council?

I would absolutely lean on the expertise of those around me. I I walk into a room knowing that I have so much to learn and while I have so much to offer, I also have so much experience ahead of me. So, I would absolutely take everyone's opinion into consideration. I am not a shy person. I I would absolutely voice my opinion, but I also recognize that I am not the smartest person in the room, and there's always someone that has an opinion that can be learned from. Um, so I think just open and honest conversations while understanding and respecting those who have come before me. What do you see as the greatest strengths of Pinetop Lakeside and how have you been involved in the community up to this point?

I love how incredibly diverse Pinetop Lakeside is. It's it's very much a town that you can have any opinion or you can have any interest and you can go out and you can find something that aligns with that and that's not something that you find every day. and it's it's very rare in the town. Um, and within the town, I have worked primarily within the the youth age group. I I do I volunteer with a lot of sports groups and I volunteer with backpack snacks and work a lot within the schools for education and outreach. Um, I try to be as accessible to the younger generation as possible just because a lot of my job works around a lot of outreach for the prevention activities. So most of my experience and my background is within within the littles.

Thank you. How would you handle or how would you identify and handle a potential conflict of interest while serving on the council?

With all conflicts of interest, the first thing is just to always let everybody know that there's a conflict. In some um cases, that means that you have to conflict out of a decision and say, "I I'm too close to this. I know the people involved. I know the parties. I have to just step away for this. Um or it kind of comes down to bylaws and what what the protocols would be if stepping away and conflicting out needs to happen. But again, just back to honesty and transparency and saying, "Hey, I'm very close to this family or I'm very close to this issue. I'm I'm intimately involved in this somehow." And then from there, following protocol

because this appointment fills the remaining term. How would you prioritize learning, contributing quickly, and making informed decisions in a short time? I love reading, so I would love to know like if there was a any kind of bylaws or or precreated material, I would just dive right into that to get up to speed. And then again, just kind of leaning on those around me and saying, "Hey, you know, obviously midterm you you don't know everything. You don't know the decisions that have already been made." going back a little bit and kind of doing some background research before the next council meeting and knowing those those baseline level laws before coming in.

Do you intend to run for this seat in the next election or are you only interested in completing the remainder of this term and how does that influence your approach to serving? I would love to be involved further past this term. So, I think long-term and longevity is is a great thing for local legislation, but then it's it's just also what's in the best interest for the town and having that continuency and having that familiar face.

Last question. Is there anything else that you'd like the council to know about you that might help us in our uh evaluation of your candidacy? I don't think so. The questions have been very thorough and and hopefully all-encompassing. Um, I thank you guys for the opportunity. I think I I you know, it's great to be a part of this town and and regardless of the outcome, I know there's great applicants, so it's going to be a seat well filled. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you, Katherine. We appreciate it. come on up to the podium. Um, once again, thank you for putting yourself out there, whether it's beyond your comfort zone or not. We appreciate you you sticking your neck out for us. So, we have a series of questions that we're just going to kind of rotate through the council and if you could just answer them to the best of your ability, we'd appreciate that. So, first of all, serving as a council member requires significant time commitment including council meetings, work sessions, liaison assignments, retreats, trainings, and community events. These happen evenings, weekends, afternoons, sometimes all day, sometimes conferences out of town. Are you able to consistently dedicate the time required to fulfill these responsibilities? And can you describe any current commitments they that may impact your availability?

Um, time should be available. I work on my own schedule. I work three days a week. Um, and I can make time when I need to. Okay. Thank you.

So, David, what motivates you to seek this appointment? Well, I grew up here and I love this town and I guess what I do is all day long I fix broken things, broken teeth. I go home and I fix broken cars and that's my hobbies. And I just think um there's maybe some things that we can do here in the town and um make it a better place. I like to vacation in a lot of towns that are similar in size to ours but that offer more to the people that live there. And I think that there's a lot of things that we could do to make it a better place to live. um planning ahead for growth that's going to happen because it's a great place to live. We've seen since co how busy it's gotten and I think planning ahead will make a big difference.

You shared some of them but please share the skills experience and perspectives you would bring to the council and how they would contribute to effective decision making and leadership. Well, I know how to I don't know much about government running things like that. I was in the Air Force and saw a little bit how that ran. I don't want it to run inefficiently. Um but I know how to run my household and my business in a way that's fiscally responsible and to make um positive outcomes and make progress there. And so bringing that to the town I think can help.

Thank you with that. Um David, hi. What do you believe are the primary responsibilities of a council member and h how do you see yourself fulfilling u these duties?

I think that's a a good question. I'm still trying to learn a lot about that. Um but but the way I see it is working together with a team here um just to try to really um point the town in a direction that is a is a good way to go to take care of its members as citizens. um to um like I said to plan for the future uh make sure that the growth we're having is the way we want it to be instead of it just happening and reacting to it. Um, so I I think that um, yeah, it's making sure that things are running the way that they're supposed to so that the town can stay be a viable thing, not get into too much debt and um, not get behind the curve on the growth that's happening. Okay, next.

Thank you. Pintop Lakeside values its small town atmosphere while also planning for responsible growth. What strategies or principles do you believe are important in maintaining that balance? Um so maintaining the balance I think is a there's there's been a lot of years of you know this business can't come in or this can. It's it's deciding what do we want the town to look like and um making decisions that shape it to be something that we're proud of and that we want to live in. Um I don't think that it's my personal feeling is growth is going to happen. uh we shouldn't shut ourselves down to every everything that wants to come in. I'm in favor of of property owners rights. Um but at the same time, I don't think we should make exceptions to zoning things just to increase revenue if it's not a good idea for the growth of the town. I think if it fits within the vision that the town wants, then then exceptions are great, but it's solely to get revenue, that's not a good idea. Does that answer your question?

What do you see as one or two of the most significant challenges facing Pinetop Lakeside today? and what approach or solutions would you explore to address them?

You know, I'm not sure about that yet. I've I've asked a little bit about what the challenges are. I'm still trying to learn that um so that I can see how I can help. Um, but I think that I've mentioned it several times already that what I see from as an outsider is that the growth is uh has the potential to outpace the planning. Um, as far as just looking ahead with a mind for growth, how can we do it in a smart way so to get the infrastructure in place already so that it's less disturbance later? Okay, thank you.

Of the priorities outlined in the town strategic plan, which resonates most with you and why? Alternatively, do you believe there is an important priority missing that should be addressed? Um, I'm not I'm not as familiar as I should be with that with the strategic plan. Um, if you'd like to ask about any specific ones, that's okay. Um but but I can't comment too much on that right now. Council decisions do not always satisfy all stakeholder holders. When making difficult decisions, how do you determine what serves the best interest of the community as a whole?

Um yeah, I would say we can please everybody never and that's okay. So, how do we decide who who gets their um their outcome that they want? We just have to look and see what we believe is going to be in the best interest of of the town for for being a place that is that fosters strong community and that um that just building things moving forward. not letting things not letting things go without without thought.

Thank you.

How would you respond to and manage criticism from residents who strongly disagree with council actions? Um, I would say, you know, we take all the available information that we've got at the time and we make the best decision that we can and that's all you can do as a council. Um, if they disagree with it, that's that's okay. We made the best decision that we could at the time with the information that we had and have to go with that. Okay. Um I have a question on ethics. How would you define ethical leadership in local government? And can you provide an example of of a time uh you had to make a decision guided by ethics uh transparency, accountability, things of that nature.

Ethical leadership. Um so ethical leadership is doing it's doing what's right. Uh it's like with integrity, you do what right what's right when nobody's looking. um you if I guess if you don't have that then you're missing out on one of the best things in life if you can't be trusted. Um so I remember early on probably 20 years ago um a partner my partner and I were starting our dental practice and with uh since we sedate people we use controlled substances and we have to log those very carefully and it was time for the review where the DEA comes and or I can't remember who from the state was coming and we were like bottle short like Okay, what do we do? Do we make up two patients that we really didn't see and assign those two bottles to them or do we, you know, what's going to happen if we're two bottles short? Are we going to get thrown in jail or what? And we decided, you know what? You just you just say the state the way it is, let the cards fall where they are and and go with it. And it worked out. We didn't get thrown in jail and but at that same time if we would have compromised our integrity for that then who would we be you know you got to be able to sleep at night and if you don't have that I think think you have things out of order.

Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Um, describe your approach to working collaboratively with fellow council members, town staff, and community stakeholders. How would you handle disagreements within the council?

Uh, disagreements will happen. Everybody's probably got a strong opinion on things. Um, there's got to be some compromise on things that, you know, we've got to work together on things to keep things moving forward. I'm not really a disagreeable person. Um, if it's something that really matters, then I'll say it really matters and we'll need to work through that. Um, but I think that it's important to be able to work through a problem and say, "I don't agree with this approach without attacking that person." You know, it's we have diff we're all going to have different ideas and we just need to work on the problem and not make it personal things like that. It's something we just got to work through. Great. What do you see as the greatest strengths of Pinetop and Lakeside? How have you been involved in the community up to this point? I think the greatest strength, of course, it's a beautiful place to live. Um, but the reason that I raised my family here is because of the people. I think that's the greatest strength. And I've never seen a place. I've lived um you know I lived in Mesa until I was in junior high. I moved up here. Then I left and lived in Utah and Ohio, Illinois, Argentina, New Mexico doing the Air Force and school mission work. I've never been in a place where

um the youth can be good and it's okay. It's the feeling of the of the youth young people is it's it's okay to be good and do good things and not be a rebel. And that's a cool really cool thing. Um, so yeah, you know, there's there's maybe not the opportunities that there are in other places, but but the character that they leave with and because of the people that live here.

Um, and that's why I think it's so important to keep it a strong community of the future of our community. And if we have a town that people don't want to live in, um, then it decreases the amount of good people that can be that we can be surrounded with as well. Thank you.

How would you identify and handle a potential conflict of interest while serving on the council? How do I identify it and handle it? Um, I guess if something just came up, I say, you know what, I probably have a vested interest in that decision and I'm going to recuse myself from this. So because this appointment fills a remaining t term, how would you prioritize learning, contributing quickly, and making informed decisions in a short time frame?

There's a lot of study right at the beginning. Um, I have a lot of catchup to do with learning laws governing open meetings and things. I have I have a lot of catchup to do. So yeah, I just study as much as I can to hit the ground running. Do you intend to run for this seat in the next election or are you only interested in completing the remainder of this term? And how does that influence your approach to serving? Let's take let's take it one game at a time. Okay. You want me to read it again? The first part?

No. Okay. I just I just want to not make my decision for two years from now today. We'll see how this first term goes. Okay. Last uh last questions, David. Sure.

Is there anything else that you would like uh the council to know uh about what you that that would help us uh evaluate uh your your candidacy here? Uh, no. I, you know, several of you know me as a person. You know, um, who I am and and what it's like working with me. Um, I would find that a pleasure to to work with you guys on on different things that will affect our town. And for those that I don't know yet, um, look forward to that. And yeah, I'm kind of an open book, but Um, I'll do what I can to help.

Okay. Thank you, David.

Thank you again for for putting yourself out there for this position. Um, we're going to move on to item B, which pursuant to ARS section 38-431.03A 1 and 3. The council may vote to enter an executive session. A um upon a public majority vote of the members constituting a quorum, a public body may hold an executive session for the following purpose. One is discussion or consideration of employment, assignment, appointment or motion. Demotion, dismissal, salaries, disciplining or resignation of a public officer, appointee or employees of any public body except that with the exception of salary discussions, an officer appointee or employee may demand that the discussion or consideration occur in a public meeting. The public body shall provide the officer, appointee, or employee with written notice of the executive session as is appropriate, but not less than 24 hours for the officer, appointee or employees to determine whether discussion or consideration should occur at a public meeting. And item three is discussion or consultation for legal advice with the attorney or attorneys of the public body. Um, we will would like to enter into executive session to discuss the appointment of an individual to fill a vacancy on the town council. I move that we go into executive session.

Second. Thank you. You have a motion, a second. All those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. Thank you. That carries unanimously. We'll go discuss this and be back shortly.