City’s challenges have evolved over years
Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series looking at local government, as well as how Yuma County’s cities and towns have grown and changed historically.
From its “birth” in 1914, Yuma city government has faced a variety of challenges. The region has attracted people for thousands of years, many drawn by the Colorado River. But the city officially became incorporated on April 7, 1914, under the laws of Arizona, which had only become a state two years earlier.
The Yuma Sun sat with City Administrator Greg Wilkinson to learn how city government has grown and changed from Yuma’s inception through today. Granted, Wilkinson was not around then, but he was happy to share knowledge of the city’s history and compare it with the challenges that the city faces today.
He noted that during that time, people flooded the city from the outside areas to survive. Yuma was the center of commerce for the entire region. According to the census, Yuma had 2,914 residents in 1910, while another report puts the town’s population between 5,000 to 6,000 in 1912.
Residents were looking to the city to develop infrastructure, but they didn’t just sit back and let others do it. Citizens in those days often took it upon themselves to do what was needed to make the young city successful. For example, prominent
merchant E.F. Sanguinetti saw a need for a fire department so he started one, Wilkinson noted.
Although today citizens are not as “hands-on,” they still step forward when there is a need.
“When the chips are down, it’s a very close-knit community. We see it almost every day. In a lot of ways, it’s the way we used to be, neighbor helping neighbor,” Wilkinson said.
This solidarity can be demonstrated by today’s United for Yuma campaign, an initiative spearheaded by Mayor Doug Nicholls when elected into office in 2014.
Historically, the biggest challenges faced by city government were floods, the weather and environment.
Just a few years after incorporation, flooding from the Colorado River destroyed the city in 1916. Newspapers from that era reported that the flood left at least 1,000 residents homeless and destroyed at least 100 buildings, including the Yuma Morning Sun’s offices.
Many buildings made out of adobe, a mixture of mud and straw, simply melted. In response, the city passed a law prohibiting adobe buildings in the downtown area. However, many families decided to move to higher ground, which spurred growth away from downtown.
Today a series of dams along the river control the water flow and potential flooding. “Dams really tamed the river in combination with the siphon,” Wilkinson said.
The siphon was touted as an engineering marvel 100 years ago and it’s still being used today. Work on the siphon began in November 1909. Completed in 1912, the under-river tunnel pumps water from the All American Canal and distributes it to the Yuma Valley.
Wilkinson pointed out that this century-old engineering “marvel” was built using only hand tools, donkeys and manual labor.
“And the siphon is still here 100 years later. Without it, Yuma wouldn’t be here. It provides water for the entire valley,” he said.
During that time, everyone relied on word of mouth or newspapers to learn what was happening in the community. Today communication is almost instantaneous, due to technology.
“Everyone has information right away, and if you don’t have it, you make stuff up. Hence, we’ve got fake news,” Wilkinson quipped.
City government today has to work hard to ensure that the proper information is getting out to the public. It has a whole department dedicated to do that.
“Communication is so critical now. If you wait a couple of minutes, it’s too late,” he said.
Nowadays, Wilkinson said, city government handles many issues. However, he said, two modern challenges are the spiraling costs of public safety pension funds and crumbling roads. Both of these issues are politically charged and “pretty much out of our control,” Wilkinson said.
The Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, which funds pensions for police and firefighters, has been struggling financially, requiring higher contributions from municipalities. Many cities and towns are saying that the troubled system is putting them on the verge of bankruptcy.
Highway User Revenue Funds are collected by the state through fuel taxes and other vehicle-related fees and distributed to the cities, towns and counties as the “primary source” of revenues for road improvements. However, for years the State Legislature has been “sweeping” these, causing local roads to deteriorate.
And the city can’t take funds from just anywhere to fix roads. A big chunk of revenues must be used to fund certain functions and expenses, leaving only limited monies that can be moved around.
Of course, today’s “crumbling” paved roads are nice compared to what Yumans in the early 20th century had. Cars were still new and not everyone had one, but they were quickly becoming the favored mode of transportation. They also created the need for a bridge across the Colorado River. In 1915, after much prodding from citizens, the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge opened to great fanfare in Yuma. This too still stands today, providing shade over the city park that is a favorite swimming spot among Yumans.
Aviation has also spurred growth in Yuma, beginning in 1911 when Robert Fowler landed near South 4th Avenue in pursuit of a prize for being the first aviator to fly coast to coast in 30 days or less.
The 1948 Endurance Flight further put the city on the map and eventually led to the reactivation of the now-named Marines Corps Air Station Yuma. Local pilots Bob Woodhouse and Woody Jongeward flew a plane named City of Yuma for 1,008 continuous hours to highlight the great flying weather and entice the military back to Yuma.
“It led to getting the airfield back up. If that hadn’t happened, I always say that we’d be closer to a Blythe or a Quartzsite,” Wilkinson said.
Today Yuma is “succeeding amazingly” when it comes to economic development. Wilkinson credits four keys areas: education, transportation, infrastructure and arts and culture.
The high schools are “doing amazing,” he said. “They’re well in the Top 25 percent in the state.” It’s a far cry from the days (1910 to 1914) when high school students attended classes in the Territorial Prison after their school burned down, earning them the “Yuma Criminals” nickname. Wilkinson praised the Helios Education Foundation’s investment in the Yuma Union High School District, a partnership with First Things First, Arizona Western College, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona and Arizona State University for helping to build a workforce that is attracting industry and jobs to the city.
“When a new company comes in, the top things they look at — it’s not property taxes — they look to see if there’s education to support a workforce and arts and culture. AWC and the colleges are good at adapting curriculum to their needs,” Wilkinson explained.
The result has been a “very stable” workforce with a “very low turnover rate,” the city administrator said.
The city currently works with the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation and other groups such as 4FrontED to bring in more companies. They have already succeeded in attracting several manufacturing and retail businesses.
But a big reason companies and their workers are choosing to stay in Yuma is the quality of life. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department offers tons of activities for young and old and manages the Yuma Art Center and 1912 Historic Yuma Theatre.
“We’ve got a lot of good things,” Wilkinson said.