Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Ernie Garcia was recognized at last week’s Navajo County Board of Supervisors meeting after recently named the Arizona Sheriff’s Association Detention Administrator of the Year for his work in the Navajo County Jail.
Sheriff David Clouse said, “At our summit in June for all 15 counties in the state, Arizona sheriffs unanimously chose Ernie as the Detention Administrator of the Year.”
Clouse noted that Garcia has over 30 years of experience in detention, including 20 years as a warden in Winslow and nearly 12 years administrator at the Navajo County Jail.
Clouse said, “A lot of why he was nominated has to do with his mitigation efforts as they pertain to COVID-19. That obviously brought a lot of concern and public questions of how we would handle it. We were treading unknown waters and we appreciate his leadership efforts in that.
“With all the changes and new population coming and going, he does a phenomenal job. We are doing incarceration, medical, family visits, legal situations, and he handles all of it while keeping people safe.”
In other business, the board:
* Approved the reissuance of stale dated checks that were issued as refunds for overpaid property taxes or for investor payments.
* Approved tax exemptions waivers for widows, widowers or disabled persons whose property is exempt from tax.
* Approved a request for $1,500 from the County Attorney’s Anti-Racketeering Revolving Funds to the Darrin Reed Foundation which provides financial assistance to families of law enforcement officers.
* Approved the appointment of Carla Rachelle Baker, Patricia Lynn Warner, Kevin Michael Rowan, Kenneth Robert Fisk, RaNae Rowles, Robin Wong and Lauri Wong, Danielle Elaine Earl, Jacquelyn Leah Garrett Allen, Shirley Elaine Leistikow, Donal A. Meyers, Warren James Williams, Belinda Leigh Endress Quog as Republican Precinct Committeemen for their respective precincts.
* Approved the conducting of elections for board members for Winslow, Joseph City, Holbrook, Ward, Pinon, Snowflake, Heber/Overgaard, Show Low, Whiteriver, Cedar, Kayenta, Blue Ridge, NAVIT (Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology), and NATIVE-Kayenta Unified School Districts.
* Approved a contract in the amount of $2,670 with Painted Sky Engineering and Survey, LLC for professional services pertaining to the Pinedale Cemetery Expansion.
* Approved a contract in the amount of $25,000 with Terrance McCarthy for Law Enforcement instructional services.
* Approved the appointment of Crystal Castillo, executive secretary, as an alternate Clerk of the Board to perform clerk functions while the permanent clerk is away from the office.
* Approved the appropriation of county funds in the amount of $23,000 for fiscal year 2022-23 as the county’s share of the proposed budget for conducting extension programs through the University of Arizona.
* Approved a contract in the amount of $20,000 with Razor Thin Media, LLC for website development and maintenance for REAL AZ.
* Approved the renewal of the Child Care Health Consultant grant in the amount of $238,845 from First Things First, providing services to 41 care facilities throughout the region.
* Approved a liquor license application following a public hearing for Karin Louise Hemesath for Granny’s Home Cook N’ and Sweet Treats, located at 1945 Highway 260 in Heber. No public comment was made.
* Recognized Johnny Rodrigues of the Sheriff’s Office, Kymberle O’Farrell of Emergency Management, Miles Begay of Public Works, Travis Burnett of Public Works and Michelle Belk of the Snowflake Justice Court for five years with Navajo County; Connor Francis of NCSO, Katherine Serna of probation and Tasha Morris of Jail Operations for 10 years with the county; Rayleen Richards of elections for 15 years with the county; and Maxine Tyler of the County Attorney’s Office and Maxine Paddock of the Pinetop Justice Court for 25 years with the county.
* The next meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9, in the board meeting room, located at 100 E. Code Talkers Drive in Holbrook.
