WELCOME!
Lita Boyd: Proven Leadership for Sedona
I believe that true leadership isn't just about identifying problems—it's about building lasting solutions together. As an economic innovator, a builder, and a dedicated community advocate, I have spent my career turning ambitious visions into reality. Now, I am bringing that same entrepreneurial grit and strategic regional leadership to the Sedona City Council.
My commitment is simple: I am here to ensure that every decision made at City Hall protects the people who live, work, and build their lives in our beautiful hometown.
The Boyd Advantage
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Economic Catalyst: As a driving force behind the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization and a founder of the Verde Valley Wine Consortium, I don't just advocate for our local industries—I build them from the ground up. This includes co-founding the Viticulture and Enology program at Yavapai College to secure our region's economic future.
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Business Savvy: Combining big-picture vision with a meticulous eye for detail, I bring a proven track record of fiscally responsible leadership to the table. I understand that a thriving local economy requires strict financial discipline, transparent management of every dollar, and the forward-thinking strategy necessary to protect taxpayers while empowering our small business community.
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Community Heart: Serving our residents is a privilege. My leadership on the Board of The Sedona Women and hands-on service with the Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition reflects my deep, personal commitment to the well-being and social fabric of our city.
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Collaborative Spirit: As a founding member of the Northern Arizona International Wine and Food Society, I thrive on bringing diverse groups together to celebrate our culture, foster connection, and achieve common, unifying goals.
The Bottom Line
My track record is built on creating sustainable economic engines and fiercely advocating for our residents. I am running to be your bridge to City Hall—putting our neighborhoods, our safety, and our unique Sedona spirit first.
Vote Lita Boyd: Leadership. Proven Results. Sedona First.
Relentless Optimism. Servant Leadership.
Sedona Residents First.
Restoring trust and accountability
in our home town.
Relentless Optimist for Sedona Residents
Why Residents First?
Community. Commerce. Culture. People First.
The Heartbeat of Sedona
Sedona is a world-class destination, but before it is a tourist attraction, it is our home. For too long, municipal priorities have drifted toward accommodating outside interests at the expense of our own neighborhoods. A "Residents First" philosophy is a fundamental shift in how City Hall operates: it means recognizing that a city only truly thrives when it fiercely protects the people who live, work, and build their lives here.
Championing Our Small Businesses
Our small business community is the absolute lifeblood of Sedona’s economy. While we recognize and value that tourism is the economic engine keeping those doors open, that engine relies entirely on the hard-working locals who run our shops, restaurants, and services. Putting residents first means supporting our local entrepreneurs and ensuring that our tourism-based economy works for our community, not just around it.
A Vibrant Community for All Generations
A healthy city requires a connected, thriving population. We must dedicate our resources to improving the quality of life for everyone who calls Sedona home by:
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Reviving Our Culture: Actively bringing back the robust arts, music, and cultural events that define our town's unique, creative spirit.
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Supporting Families: Investing in community programs, amenities, and initiatives that make Sedona a wonderful, engaging place for families and children to grow.
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Protecting Our Retirees: Looking out for our retired residents by ensuring a safe, accessible, and high-quality environment where they can peacefully enjoy the community they helped build.
Tax Dollars Working for You
True fiscal stewardship means ensuring that your tax dollars are invested wisely to support our people first, not last. We must move away from a transactional government that treats our neighborhoods like line items. By focusing our municipal investments on local quality of life, small businesses, and community connection, we can get back to the unique, small-town heart that brought us all here.
My Promise: to be your Bridge to Sedona
I am running to be the bridge between you and City Hall. Drawing on my experience building sustainable regional economic organizations, I will steward your tax dollars with care and put our residents' quality of life at the top of every agenda. Together, we can protect the beating residential heart of Sedona. Let’s end the speculation and begin true stewardship.
Fiscal Accountability beyond the Ledger
Every City project and department must answer to the taxpayers. We will evaluate every dollar spent by asking three critical questions:
1. Does it directly improve the lives of our residents and small businesses?
2. Is it working?
3. Can it be better?
Discipline over Debt
True transparency means your tax dollars work as hard as you do. Sedona should not act as a speculative land developer, nor should we subsidize private projects with public funds. I am drawing a firm line in the sand:
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No new Debt without Consent: Zero long-term debt for massive projects without the clear approval of our residents.
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Residents First, Not Speculation: Public dollars will not be tied up in escalating construction cost with unclear benefits.
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Tangible Benefits: Revenue generated from millions of visitors must return to you through better infrastructure and local amenities - not a mounting debt load imposed without your voice.
What's with all the traffic?
Gridlock Isn’t Inevitable—It’s Manageable
We all feel it: the daily bottleneck that turns a quick cross-town errand into a major scheduling headache. Sedona’s stunning beauty means visitors will always want to experience our home, but tourism should never come at the expense of a resident’s ability to move freely through their own town. It’s time to move past endless studies and start implementing common-sense, high-impact traffic management solutions.
Actionable Solutions for Better Flow
Putting our residents first means treating traffic as a quality-of-life emergency, not just an inconvenience. My approach focuses on immediate relief and smarter long-term planning:
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Prioritize Local Peak Times: Align municipal traffic monitoring and lane management with the actual daily schedules of local families and workers - not just peak tourist arrivals.
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Infrastructure Over Overhead: Shift focus away from bureaucratic red tape and redirect funds directly into optimized roadway design, bottleneck elimination, and intelligent transit technology that keeps cars moving.
Taking Back Our Roads
A world-class destination deserves a world-class transit approach. We cannot pave over the beauty that makes Sedona unique, but we can— and must— use technology, strategic coordination, and citizen-first planning to restore balance to our streets. Let's build a city where you spend less time in gridlock and more time enjoying our community.
Munds Mountain
July 17, 2022
- a reminder of why early detection isn't a luxury; it's a necessity for every neighborhood in Sedona.
Modern Safety for a Modern Sedona
Safety Isn't a Luxury—It's a Necessity
The threat of wildfire is a reality we must confront with action, not complacency. When we look out at our stunning landscape, we are reminded of our shared responsibility to protect it and one another. True safety requires moving away from a reactive, crisis-management mindset and stepping firmly into proactive, modern emergency readiness. Every single neighborhood in Sedona deserves reliable detection, clear communication, and a foolproof escape plan.
A Modern Blueprint for Wildfire Readiness
Protecting Sedona means equipping our community with the tools and infrastructure needed to prevent disasters before they start, and to respond flawlessly if they do:
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Advanced Early Detection Technology: Advocate for the integration of modern monitoring systems, including AI-driven smoke detection cameras and satellite-linked sensors, to spot threats instantly.
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Expanded Firewise Initiatives: Partner directly with local neighborhoods to accelerate Firewise certifications, providing residents with the resources and education needed to create defensible space around their homes. Update City Codes to call for Firewise plantings consistent with Sedona Fire District recommendations.
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Flawless Evacuation Infrastructure: Real safety means knowing exactly where to go. We must review, optimize, and clearly communicate neighborhood-specific evacuation routes, ensuring our roadway management supports a swift, orderly exit in an emergency.
Accountability in Action
When it comes to the safety of your family, your home, and our environment, there is zero room for error. I am committed to working hand-in-hand with local fire districts, regional emergency management, and community leaders to ensure Sedona remains a safe, resilient place to live for generations to come.
Reclaiming Sedona’s Creative Soul
An Arts Renaissance for Our Hometown
For decades, the breathtaking majesty of our red rocks was rivaled only by the vibrant, pulse-quickening energy of our artistic community. Sedona wasn’t just a scenic pitstop; it was a world-class destination for creators, musicians, and patrons of the arts.
But let’s be honest about where we stand today. Over the last ten-plus years, we have watched that vibrant creative heartbeat slowly fade. We have allowed our hometown to become a shadow of its former artistic self, prioritizing transactional tourism and endless development over the deep, cultural roots that made Sedona so uniquely captivating in the first place.
A city without a thriving arts culture is a city without a soul. It is time to stop mourning the loss of our creative heritage and start fighting to get it back. We need a genuine, unapologetic arts renaissance, and it requires leadership that will fiercely protect and invest in the spaces where our culture can thrive—like the Sedona Cultural Park.
When I'm elected to City Council, I'll make the revitalization of our cultural landscape a top priority. Here are my commitments to bringing the Arts back home:
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A new Sedona Art Museum: We will establish a stunning new facility that proudly honors our region's heritage. This museum will feature dedicated wings for world-class Native American and Western/Cowboy art, while fiercely elevating our brilliant local artists and hosting dynamic, traveling national exhibitions.
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Reviving Live Music and Festivals: The silence has gone on long enough. We will bring back the energy and connection of live performance by supporting dedicated, community-first gathering spaces to host vibrant music festivals, concerts, and cultural celebrations year-round.
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Immersive Sculpture Gardens: We will weave our artistic spirit directly into our natural landscape, creating beautifully curated outdoor sculpture gardens along accessible trails and public spaces, blending human creativity with our stunning environment.
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Empowering Local Artists: We will shift the municipal focus back to the creators who live and work here, ensuring our local artisans have the platforms, support, and venues they need to showcase their work and thrive economically.
We don't have to settle for status quo, and we don't have to pave paradise. We can—and will—rebuild the vibrant, creative heartbeat of our city.
Let’s restore the soul of Sedona, together!
Don't Pave Paradise: Sedona's Soul Isn't for Sale
Cultural Preservation. World-Class Arts. A Gathering Place for Residents.
Protecting Our Last Great Canvas
The Cultural Park is the last great piece of available land in our city. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity—and a profound responsibility—to ensure this space is preserved not for outside speculation, but for the residents who call Sedona home. It is time to reimagine this acreage as the beating cultural heart of our community: a vibrant, protected gathering place that reflects our deep connection to the arts, music, and the outdoors.
A World-Class Destination for Arts and Culture
Our vision is to transform the Cultural Park into a premier, multi-use hub anchored by the prestigious Sedona International Film Festival. By building a space designed for connection and creativity, we can elevate our city's cultural footprint:
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The Sedona Art Museum: I support building a stunning new facility with dedicated wings to showcase world-class Native American art, Western and Cowboy art, while also hosting dynamic, traveling local and national exhibits.
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Integrated Outdoor Immersion: Beautifully curated sculpture gardens can be woven directly into accessible hiking, biking, and walking trails, blending our artistic heritage with our natural landscape.
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A Hub for Special Events: A dedicated, community-first gathering place to host vibrant music festivals, local celebrations, and cultural events year-round.
Smart Economics: Making the Amphitheater a Success
A vision this bold requires expert stewardship to ensure it thrives without placing an undue burden on our taxpayers. To make the amphitheater a premier, self-sustaining venue, we will issue strategic Requests for Proposals (RFPs) targeting top-tier management companies that specialize in the entertainment industry. By bringing in proven professionals to operate and promote the venue, we will guarantee its operational success and financial independence.
A Legacy for Our Hometown
We don't have to pave this paradise to build a thriving economy. By fiercely protecting this land and developing it into a self-sustaining cultural epicenter, we ensure that Sedona's unique soul remains intact and accessible to the people who live here. Let’s build a legacy that celebrates our art, our nature, and our community.
What is servant leadership?
A servant leader subjugates personal opinion and puts the needs and values of the people she represents first.
