Pima residents help determine Arizona land-use recommendations

Special to the Green Valley News

With Arizona’s population expected to double in 45 years, decisions on what to do with State Trust Land and how best to manage land development are crucial to our future.

Approximately 150 Arizonans, representing a cross-section of statewide leaders, will gather to discuss those issues in-depth Sunday through Wednesday at the Grand Canyon during the 91st Arizona Town Hall on “Land Use: Challenges and Choices for the 21st Century.”

Twenty-six Pima County residents are among the Town Hall participants — all of whom have a wide variety of relevant expertise and sometimes divergent opinions. The group’s goal is to develop consensus-based recommendations and plans of action to deliver to legislative and community leaders.

During the opening on Sunday, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano will appear by video to present her thoughts on the future of Arizona’s land.

Former U.S. Interior Secretary and former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt will address Town Hall participants over lunch Monday. Babbitt worked with President Clinton to get many Western lands designated as conservation areas and has recently joined actor Edward Norton and others to create the National Conservation System Foundation.

Dr. Arthur Chris Nelson leads the dinner discussion on Monday. Dr. Nelson, who is director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on growth management and metropolitan development.

The Town Hall’s recommendations will be available on its Web site on Nov. 14.

The recommendations also will be combined with the background report into a final report and formally published in January 2008.

The Details
Pima County participants include:

Louis Albert, president, West Campus, Pima Community College;

Victor Bowleg, Pima County Superior Court Family Mediator;

Carolyn Campbell, executive director, Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection;

Arlan Colton, planning director, Pima County Development Services;

Gilbert Davidson, Marana Assistant Town Manager;

Katie Dusenberry, executive vice president, Horizon Moving Systems, Inc.;

Albert Elias Jr., director, Urban Planning and Design, City of Tucson;

Kirk Emerson, director, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution;

Chad Fretz, manager, Environment, Land & Water, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold;

Charlotte Fugett, president, East Campus, Pima Community College;

Roy A. Garcia, financial analyst, Pima County; Neighborhood President;

Lisa Graumlich, director, School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona;

Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County Administrator;

Glen Kerslake, chief operating officer, Western Associates Development Co., LLC;

Leticia Menchaca, dean, Student Development, Desert Vista Campus, Pima Community College;

Linda Morales, Urban Planning & Design Consultant; The Planning Center;

Sarah More, planning director, Town of Oro Valley;

Marion Lee Pickens, House of Representatives, Tucson;

Corky Poster, director, Drachman Institute, University of Arizona;

Michael Racy, lobbyist, Racy & Associates;

Marilyn E. Robinson, associate director, Drachman Institute, University of Arizona;

Noell Rodriguez, vice president, Mission Management & Trust Co.;

William G. Roe, chair, Pima County Conservation Acquisition Commission;

Paul Rubin, secretary-treasurer, United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99;

Karla Bustamante Scott, student (education); vice president, Pima Community College;

Priscilla Storm, vice president of Public Policy & Community Planning, Diamond Ventures Inc.