In This Issue:F3’s City Council Candidate Forum October 1
Request for Volunteers to Assist at F3’s Candidate Forum
City & County Regional Plan Visioning Workshops
F3 Supports City Bond Proposition 442: Housing Bond
City Operations will be Powered with 100% Renewable Energy
Introducing Fossil Free Arizona

F3’s City Council Candidate Forum October 1 

F3 has structured our Council Candidate Forum in such a way that you can ask questions of the candidates and interact directly with them. The speed dating format allows small groups of community members to spend 10 minutes with each of the candidates.

Because there are eight write-in council candidates this election, as well as two candidates who are listed on the ballot, it is imperative that you have the chance to evaluate all the candidates. There are four Council seats open in the General Election this year. Write-in candidates need to receive at least 1,602 votes in order to qualify for a Council seat. If you choose to vote for a write-in candidate, you will need to write in the candidate’s full name on your ballot.

Request for Volunteers to Assist with F3’s Forum

F3’s forum will have up to 10 candidates participating in a speed dating format, F3 needs many volunteers to serve as facilitators and greeters to help us run this event. Volunteers will need to attend a short online training session on either Sept. 20 (evening) or Sept. 21 (morning), or by arrangement, and then assist at the Forum on Oct. 1 from 8:30 a.m. until approximately 11:30 am. Please contact F3 Executive Director Michele James at MJames@friendsofflagstaff.org to volunteer, or sign up using this google form.

Visioning workshops have begun! This is the first step in determining our community’s vision, goals, and values related to the Regional Plan. Plan to attend one of the scheduled workshops and provide your input into the process. Read F3’s Action Alert here to see the dates and locations of upcoming workshops. The next workshop is the evening of Wednesday, August 31 (see below).

F3 recommends a YES vote on Proposition 442. This proposition focuses directly on ameliorating the city’s affordable housing crisis by providing up to $20M of funding to create affordable rentals for our residents and provide more people the assistance they need to purchase a home. While more funding from a variety of governmental sources is needed, this proposition is an important step in addressing Flagstaff’s affordable housing crisis.

The high cost of housing and rentals in our community has real-world consequences. With rising rental costs, many of our long-term residents and their children are no longer able to rent or purchase homes in the community. Flagstaff’s teachers, small business owners, and local government workers cannot afford to live here. If affordable housing is not provided for those with middle – and lower -incomes, Flagstaff will lose the vitality that comes from economic, demographic, and generational diversity.

We want and need the people who work in Flagstaff to be able to live in Flagstaff. We want our children to be able to do the same. And we want all residents to have the physical and mental stability that affordable housing provides.

We must prioritize the maintenance of the vibrant and diverse community of Flagstaff and provide housing for all income levels. Proposition 442 will allow Flagstaff both to create new rental units that are affordable for those meeting designated low income levels and expand the City’s successful homebuyer assistance program. YES on Proposition 442 is a vote in favor of community well-being.

Susie Garretson, President
Marcus Ford, Vice President

More about Prop. 442 can be found in the Information Pamphlet for the General Election 2022 available here.

As a participant of GPP, the City of Flagstaff will be making important progress to become carbon neutral ahead of schedule to meet its 2025 goal of using 100% renewable electricity for municipal operations. Participation in the GPP program will reduce Flagstaff’s total municipal emissions by nearly 50 percent and completely decarbonize its power supply. Way to go City of Flagstaff!

Fossil Free Arizona is a Flagstaff-based group formed in late 2021 dedicated to developing a statewide divestment campaign to starve the fossil fuel industry of the capital it needs to fund its expansion of oil, gas, and coal extraction. The group is working with faith institutions and others to divest their investments from the fossil fuel industry, and move their money out of the top “dirty banks” that provide the capital the fossil fuel industry requires. 

The group recently petitioned the City of Flagstaff to move hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars out of Wells Fargo, the number one financier of fracking across the globe, and have asked the Coconino Board of Supervisors to move their millions out of JP Morgan Chase, the world’s leading financier of the fossil fuel industry. If you’d like to learn more and/or work with this group, contact Kim Curtis.