Big push against big government: Flagstaff City Council receives state legislative recommendations | Politics

During Tuesday’s work session, the Flagstaff City Council was presented recommendations on current bills to support or oppose. The bills recommended for opposition had one thing in common: they would strip Arizona cities and towns of the authority to govern themselves, and instead consolidate power into the larger state government.

For example, HB 2375, if passed, would require cities to use their state-shared income tax revenue exclusively for public safety — which is defined as police, fire and emergency services. If a city were to use shared revenues for any other purpose, the amount would be withheld by the state treasurer the following year.

“This is, of course, negative in that it prevents local leaders from budgeting toward their own priorities,” said public affairs director Sarah Langley.

In a similar vein, HB 2316 would prevent cities and towns from disallowing firearms in public building unless an electronic screening device — such as a metal detector — were in place. The bill would be a preemption of local authority and an unfunded mandate.

People are also reading…

HB 2453 and SB 1298 would also undermine city’s right to self-governance by prohibiting cities from implementing mask requirements within city buildings.

“This is something we think should be within city’s purview to decide, as it concerns city property,” Langley said.

Mayor Paul Deasy decried the level of hypocrisy represented in these bills, referring to last year’s HB 2770, which allowed businesses to implement their own masking policies.

“Businesses should have the right to decide about masks within their businesses, yet they’re telling us that city facilities controlled by the city, not the state, don’t have that same right on their own property,” he said.

Regarding masking bills, Todd Madeksza, state lobbyist for the City of Flagstaff, addressed Council frankly and said that these bills may likely make it into law.

“It seems to me that there ought to be a level of authority given to local governments,” he said. “I also think that you need to be prepared for the idea that you might be stripped of this authority.”

But none of the listed bills threatened to dispossess local governance more than HB 2674. This bill has been propped up as an attempt to address the affordable housing crisis, but “it doesn’t really seem to be geared toward affordable housing,” said Langley . Instead, it would subjugate Arizona cities and towns to the will of developers.

HB 2674 proposes to “eliminate single-family zoning, give developers the power to ignore local requirements like setbacks, maximum heights or required building materials; it would eliminate review and approval processes by citizens, planning commission and city councils, and municipalities would be required to approve multi-family developments in many zoning areas,” Langley explained.

If passed, HB 2674 would completely strip local government of its ability to zone residentially and implement affordable housing requirements, said Madeksza. In his estimation, the bill is the result of the building industry crying “COVID” and using the pandemic as an excuse to eliminate city zoning authority. Similar bills have been introduced in the past, he said, and while he doesn’t predict that this one will cross the finish line and be enacted into law, he recommended the city take a strong oppositional stance.

“We have to fight it, and we have to go after it with a vengeance,” he said. “This is not a case where we sit back and watch something die under its own weight. Some bills are not worth the effort. This is worth the effort. We should kill it and make sure it’s dead.”

Madeksza noted that HB 2674 currently has bipartisan sponsors, and oppositional motivation should transcend party politics to prevent overreach of the state government.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue,” he said. “It’s an authority issue. Why would you strip this authority from cities and towns?”

City staff also presented several bills that were recommended for support. These included SB 1270, which would help fund state parks and historic preservation, and HB 2633, which would empower cities to limit and regulate vacation rentals as a percentage of housing stock.

The latter is “an interesting animal,” Madeksza said. The way it’s written walks a fine line that may be able to get it past the legislature and the governor’s desk.

“[Gov. Doug Ducey] stripped out all local authority to begin with, so it’s a question of what he’s willing to put back in,” he said.

Stronger bills have been introduced by Rep. Walt Blackman and Sen. Wendy Rogers that would effectively “revert everything back to local control,” but Madeksza is skeptical of their shot at success.

“[Blackman and Rogers’ bills] have not been assigned, they’re not moving any place,” Madeksza said. “So we are looking for the next best option.”

City staff also requested Council provide a letter of support for HB 2396, which would funnel $50 million to the Arizona Department of Transportation for improvement projects, $2.6 million of which is earmarked for the Lone Tree Overpass project.

Council unanimously support the recommendations of city staff and directed lobbying efforts to proceed accordingly.

Currently, there is one more week that bills must be heard in their house of origin before moving to the next part of the legislative cycle.

The future of the listed bills will become clearer next week, Madeksza said.

“We’ll have a much greater understanding about bills that have legs and bills that don’t,” he added.

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray scrubs social media, includes Cowboys CeeDee Lamb

Sean Golightly can be reached at [email protected]

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.