A presentation by Navajo County Elections Director Rayleen Richards was given to the Navajo County Board of Supervisors last week. The director spoke to the board about the special election, which is happening next month on Nov. 7. The election is for residents of Holbrook, Snowflake and Blue Ridge unified school districts, and the purpose of Richards’ presentation was to appoint the proper amount of poll workers for the election.
“The majority of the voters in Navajo County vote by mail and that’s why we determined where and how many polling locations we set out in Navajo County,” said Richards. She furthered this sentiment by saying that adding just one additional polling location would cost the county between $30,000 and $50,000.
Richards then reassured the board by saying that in the event of a completely unprecedented 100% voter turnout, they are overstaffed with poll workers and could manage the crowd of people with the amount of polling places currently set.
Prior to the presentation during call to the public, RaNae Rowles, a Republican Precinct committee member, spoke to the board about adding new polling places. One of the main concerns was for voters who live in a part of Show Low that is still in the Blue Ridge Unified School District and would have to travel to Pinetop-Lakeside to cast their votes in this election. Rowles also spoke about the increase in population for Snowflake and Heber and said that polling elections do not properly cover those increases. She further advocated for smaller precincts that would aid in better record keeping that could inform future election decisions. She advocated for the same issues during a presentation to the supervisors in last month’s regular meeting. The supervisors weighed the cost of new precincts with the number of voters likely to show up in person to vote and ultimately sided with Richards to keep precincts the same.
The board also heard a presentation from Emergency Management Director Catrina Jenkins. She provided a detailed overview of the grants that have been recently bestowed upon the department. A notable point of discussion was the 2023 State Homeland Security Grant (SHSGP) awards designated for the Navajo County Emergency Management. This year, Navajo County is set to receive three significant grant awards through the SHSGP. A portion of the funds will be channeled to support local Citizen Corps Council member volunteer groups across the county, primarily for the procurement of equipment. This equipment, in turn, is expected to amplify their capabilities in aiding first responders in diverse scenarios.
Moreover, there are two regional projects on the horizon that are poised to benefit the north region, encompassing Navajo, Apache and Coconino counties. The first project, allocated $40,000, aims at bolstering training for a broad spectrum of entities, from first responders and schools to public works, ensuring a heightened response to both natural calamities and man-made threats.
The second project, which has been allotted $53,522, is dedicated to advancing cybersecurity provisions and is accessible to county, local and tribal governments.
The grants for the Citizen Corp Council, Training and Exercise, and Cybersecurity Protection are $14,896, $40,000 and $53,522 respectively. There was also a grant from The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs that would fund 50% of the programs or up to $150,689. The programs they fund are Ready Navajo County Alert System, and several other plans including the Emergency Operations Plan, Continuity of Government and Continuity of Operations Plan, as well as the training and exercises that support response partners, employees and volunteers throughout the region.
The board also proclaimed October 2023 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In the proclamation it states that Arizona is fifth in the nation for domestic violence and in Arizona one in four women and one in seven men will experience domestic violence in their lives. Roxanne Pergeson the victims services director at the Navajo County Attorney’s Office made the presentation. She spoke about the large number of domestic violence cases she sees in her role at the county and wants to understand why Navajo County has so many of these cases. She also informed the board of a domestic violence awareness event at the Navajo County Fairgrounds in Holbrook on Oct. 21.
In other business, the board:
* Appointed Ralph Hatch as Navajo County Hearing Officer.
* Amended a contract with Arizona Department of Administration for excess funds from the sheriff deputy retention fund be used for sheriff deputy recruitment.
* Approved a letter to .gov domain registration regarding a change of website address from navajocountyAZ.gov to not include “AZ”.
* Approved a contract for professional service with Ironside Engineering & Development for Bourdon Ranch Road signing and striping staking project.
* Authorized Anti-Racketeering funds be given to Re:Center in the amount of $1,000 for a fundraising gala for projects such as food distribution.
* Approved a contract with Sentinel for the purchase of networking equipment in the amount of $91,500.
* Amended the intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Pinetop-Lakeside to co-locate the justice court and the municipal court to deliver court services more efficiently.
* Canceled the Nov. 7 election for Pinedale, Porter Mountain and Ski-Hi Retreats’ domestic water improvement districts due to lack of nominations.
* Appointed Steven Williams to the Navajo County Superior Court.
* Approved an intergovernmental agreement between the county and The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona that will distribute $20,000 to the Little Colorado River Levee Project.
* Approved a letter of support for the Hopi Utilities Corporation for an Environmental Protection Agency grant.
* Approved the 2024 Board of Supervisors schedule.
* Extended a contract with Trinity Services Group, Inc. for one additional year for inmate food services with a 4% price increase. The new cost will be $2.724 per meal for 300-450 meals, $2.037 for 451-600 meals, $1.696 for 601-900 meals, $1.357 for 901-1200 meals and $1.205 for 1201-1500 meals.
*Approved the renewal of the franchise agreement with the Arizona Water Company.
* Amended an intergovernmental agreement with Arizona Department of Health Services to change around the budget line items for the Maternal Child Health Healthy Arizona Families program but the total budget remains the same.
* Amended a contract with Medicare to add Alberto Peshlakai and Dr. Wade Kartchner as authorized officials.
The next meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the board chambers located at 100 E. Code Talkers Drive.
