My family moved to Holbrook in 1964. My family, as well as my relatives were all in business. At that time Holbrook was a thriving community with many businesses. I attended school in the Holbrook school system and finished my last year in Winslow. I attended Northern Arizona University and finished with an extended major and minor in business. I then returned to Holbrook and worked as a probation officer for the Navajo County Superior Court until retirement. During this period Holbrook was a thriving community but as I watched, both internal and external forces began to strip away its prosperity. I believe there are two major causes for the decline of Holbrook. The external problem has been Navajo County moving county operations to Show Low, which is ignored by the council. The paper reported the decrease in sales revenue related to decreasing local sales, and the city planned on raising the sales tax when the sewer bond expired. The city lives on moneys raised over the minimum bond payment and the budget hides how much we depend on the sewer bond. Reported also was how the city wants to add a property tax on top of the additional sales tax. The philosophy to “Tax and Spend” treats the symptom but not the disease. The cure is to bring in “apex” businesses, which provide more revenue for the city and provides shopping for the residents. The city council put us in this position and only they can get us out. The council will have to aggressively pursue large business to locate to Holbrook since they have the power to make the decisions that are necessary.
