Concern about the economic and educational future of residents in the greater Verde Valley and the Red Rock region is prompting reactivation of the influential Verde Valley Forum for Public Affairs (VVFPA).
During an organizational meeting on April 28, 14 prominent community activists met to reinstate the organization.
Following a background report by Dick Dahl, longtime Sedona real estate executive, those present voted formally to revitalize the organization, which had been inactive since 2008.
For years, Dahl served as a lead spokesman and founding president. In all, he served six years as president.
Those present also unanimously approved sponsoring a forum to focus on “The Future of Post-Secondary Education in the Verde Valley.” The forum will feature in-depth objective analyses of present and future post-secondary educational opportunities and needs in the greater Verde Valley.
Dahl said the purpose in reviving the forum will be to “…bring people of diverse backgrounds together to discuss issues of common and critical importance to current and future residents.”
Dahl said, “Some of us have observed that a new spirit of cooperation has developed among the several Verde Valley communities, so we’re bringing back the forum.”
Dahl emphasizes that the organization is a non-political, non-partisan and not for profit group.
“Our mission, as defined in our bylaws, is clear,” he said. “We want to help build informed consensus for action on issues of critical importance to the Verde Valley and its constituents.”
The forum is scheduled for April 3-6-, 2016, at the Cliff Castle Conference Center in Camp Verde. The four-day meeting will open with a kickoff dinner and keynote speaker, followed by two days of panel discussions and a fourth day plenary session, said Jim Eaton. He serves as vice president in charge of operations.
“We expect approximately 100 participants from the greater Verde Valley area who represent a demographic cross-section of age, gender, occupations and locale,” Eaton said.
Other revitalization action included the election of a 21-member board of directors, along with officers and the formation of committees.
Marshall Whitmire, from Camp Verde, says the research committee has reached out to the Morrison Institute of Public Policy at Arizona State University. The Morrison Institute is recognized as a statewide leader in preparing objective, non-partisan research reports and analyses that can serve as a basis for public dialogue.
Another board member, Donna Michaels, a Sedona resident, served for several years on the governing board for Yavapai College. She explained, “Many of us have observed the need for increased educational opportunities for residents who can’t afford the time or money to attend a distant college or university. Demographics are shifting.”
Michaels continued, “We view post-secondary education as critical for those who want to compete for meaningful jobs in the 21st century, improve their existing job skills and develop new ones.”
Forum Has More Than Three Decades of Historical Roots
Efforts to revitalize the VVFPA involved several prominent past officers, including Dahl, Michaels, Whitmire, Frank Besnette, Jim Eaton, Kent Jones, Bill Kusner, Sandy Moriarty and Lisa Hirsch.
In January 2015, they began serving as a core group, organized to initiate the reactivation.
Dahl explained, “The roots of the forum go back to the mid-1980s, when residents in the Sedona area campaigned unsuccessfully in two attempts to incorporate Sedona. Following that, a number of past participants in Arizona Town Hall met and sponsored the Sedona Academy. They used the model established by Arizona Town Hall as the pattern for convening people in reasoned discussions.”
Recommendations from that initial forum in 1985 prompted a successful effort for incorporation of Sedona. Subsequently, those same organizers sponsored a series of annual forums to bring area residents together to discuss mutually agreed upon topics that impact the community.
“Over time, what happened is that enthusiastic residents from other Verde Valley communities — Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Camp Verde, Jerome – saw the positive impact those forums had. The early forums offered people from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to express opinions and formulate consensus recommendations that had beneficial consequences,” Dahl recalled.
A result was that what first had been called Sedona Academy of Public Affairs morphed in 2004 into the Verde Valley Forum for Public Affairs. It involved volunteer participants from throughout the region.
From 1985 until 2008, more than 20 forums brought more than 2,000 people together, resulting in actions that made everyone’s lives better, Dahl said.
“Each forum began with an intense objective research background report which was used to stimulate discussions and facilitate recommendations,” Dahl said. “Many of those reports were prepared by researchers from all three state universities. Ultimately, results from the forum’s panel discussions culminated in a consensus document, which then was distributed to civic, business, governmental and political leadership – and anyone else who wanted it.”
Past topics ranged from growth management and land use planning to working with the Forest Service, and from the impact of tourism to building open space plans for the Verde Valley.
VVFPA membership is open to anyone who has an interest in seeking informed opinions about matters of critical importance to Verde Valley communities and their residents. QCBN
For more information about VVFPA, contact VVFPA, P.O. Box 3965, Sedona, AZ 86340 or info@vvforum.org.
Forum photo caption:
Planning the agenda for reactivating the Verde Valley Forum for Public Affairs are Dick Dahl, Jane Whitmire and Marshall Whitmire. Besnette is a past VVFPA president, Dahl was the founding president, and the Whitmires have long served on the Research Committee team.
Story and photo by Ray Newton
Leave a Reply