Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Annual League of Arizona Cities and Towns Conference in Phoenix, AZ with our mayor and fellow councilmembers. The energy in the air was one of elation and a newfound appreciation for coming together in person to network and exchange ideas and solutions in a way we haven't been able to do safely in person, in over a year. Below are my takeaways from the various sessions I attended on Wednesday, and Thursday.
Highlights from Wednesday, September 1st:
Our day started with the Opening General Session and our newly appointed council member, Mark Rodriguez, stepped up and volunteered to be our flag bearer for Sierra Vista in the Parade of Flags tradition. While waiting for the event to start I met a couple gentlemen from San Luis. Jose Cisneros, the Executive Assistant for San Luis City Council, and Ralph Velez, Consultant for the City of San Luis. Ralph was excited to hear about phase 1 of the West End redevelopment project, since he travels to Sierra Vista for veteran's meetings, and will be doing so again in March. And Jose was kind enough to get a picture of Mark in front of the screen and e-mail to me.
The key note for the opening ceremony was a man I recognized from a viral youtube video. Dr. Rick Rigsby, author of Lessons From a Third Grade Dropout, spoke to the room about being leaders, and
Highlights from Thursday, September 2nd:
