Road improvements buoy county leaders
The five members of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors found 2017 to be a good year for the county government, with long-deferred road maintenance projects brought to the forefront and other issues beginning to be addressed, while the benefits of the economic recovery were finally being felt.
District 1 Supervisor Martin Porchas, who represents Somerton and the western side of the city of Yuma, is one of the board’s three newly elected members, and said his transition from being the mayor of Somerton has gone relatively smoothly.
Like his colleagues on the board, he said he was happy about the impact the first six months of this fiscal year’s budget have had on county roads, including the additional funding for maintenance of paved roads to regular grading of high-traffic gravel roads, which had disappeared in recent years.
“As far as accomplishments, if you’ve seen around the county a lot of the roads are being kind of worked on, from Highway 95 from Somerton to San Luis, but also a lot of other county roads, from Wellton or Tacna all the way to San Luis. I think that’s one of the things that the county has done more this year than hardly any other year, that I can think of,” he said.
District 2 Supervisor Russell McCloud (eastern city of Yuma) praised the new ideas that new supervisors have brought to the board and their support for renewed maintenance, and said he’s particularly keen on addressing some of the issues that have come up with an uptick in development.
He said the completion of the $4.2 million first phase of remodeling the building at 197 S. Main St. was another major county accomplishment, despite respiratory issues being reported by some of the employees now
based there.
“Some mistakes were made, and the construction company’s taking care of a lot of it,” he said.
Along with the convenience of having four departments just across the street from the main administrative building, it has brought extra traffic to the historic downtown.
“I’ve met a couple times with one of the people in the building and we go downtown and eat in one of those little eateries, where we may not have done that before,” he said.
District 3’s Darren Simmons represents the Foothills, Wellton, Tacna and the northern stretches of
the county. Much of his first year on the board was consumed by renewed efforts to bring a park to the Foothills area and renewed complaints about odors attributed to Far West Water and Sewer’s waste disposal systems. He’s expecting those issues to extend into next year and beyond.
He said he’s been getting a lot of positive feedback on the road work, which has had more impact on his area with its wealth of dirt roads.
“I’ve heard nothing but compliments from all over the county, people appreciating that the roads are getting back into shape, and I’m sure the other supervisors have, too,” he said.
District 4 Supervisor Tony Reyes, representing
San Luis, Gadsden and the Yuma Mesa area, said he’s been pleased by the positive economic trends, and the county’s steps toward new economic incentives, which he said might not have moved forward without the new members.
The Old Souls Animal Rescue and Retirement Home, which became the most polarizing and emotional zoning case the county has seen in recent years, is located in his district. Supporters of a rescue group devoted to elderly and sick dogs clashed with neighbors opposing a use permit. It failed to get board approval, with Reyes casting a vote against it.
“That was a difficult one, because of the circumstances surrounding it, but that’s a decision
that stands out, and also the decision to modernize the voting department by bringing in new equipment. Those are decisions that I think will have a positive impact,” he said.
The county will have to resist the temptation to ramp up spending next year as revenues start to rise, he said, so it can get through future economic downturns.
District 5 Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi (central city of Yuma) said her first year as a supervisor, after a decade as a state legislator, has been spent learning about the inner workings of county government while several department heads were hired, mostly through promoting from within.
“It’s been an interesting
year. We’ve hired new directors for development services, and general services and transportation services, so there’s been a lot of time and effort put into that by staff as well as supervisors,” she said.
She said she may have to head back to the Capitol next year, this time to keep an eye on several water rights-related bills she said are expected to be introduced, and could negatively impact Yuma County in favor of urban interests.
“I’m going to have to be up there a lot to make sure the great state of Maricopa (Phoenix metro area) and CAP (Central Arizona Project) and a few others of those aren’t dominating that conversation,” she said.