Last week, the Arizona Association of Counties hosted the 2019 Annual Leadership Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Tempe.
The event was sponsored by Nationwide, Runbeck Election Services, Public Trust Advisors, The Partnership for Safe Medicines, J.P. Morgan, Erin P. Collins & Associates, OMNIA Partners, The Narbha Institute, Offender Watch, Wells Fargo, Multi-Bank Securities, Election Systems & Software, Court Funds by Rapid Financial Solutions, DLR Group, Tyler Technologies, Unisyn Voting Solutions, Saul's Creek Engineering, US Imaging, Blue Crest, OKI Data Americas, and Sutterfield Technologies. The Annual Leadership Conference featured meetings of county elected officials and the adoption of the 2020 County Government Platform.
The Annual Conference kicked off with a back by popular demand presentation on sovereign citizen extremism by Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll and his Chief Deputy Bret Axlund. Following Sheriff Driscoll and Mr. Axlund, a political round-table comprised of Kathy Senseman (Policy Group Development), Julie Erfle (Erfle Uncuffed), Scott Smith (Highground) with moderator Barrett Marson (Marson Media) discussing the future of the Arizona political landscape and what might happen in the in the upcoming legislative session.
That afternoon meetings of county elected official associations were held, including Arizona County Attorney and Sheriffs Association and a combined meeting of Arizona County Recorders and Election Officials.
On Thursday morning, there were two blocks of Learning Labs offered covering a wide rang of issues so attendees could choose their educational experience. Brian Namey (NACo) presented on civic engagement, Tammy Patrick (Democracy Fund) discussed the challenges and solutions with voting by mail, and Jennifer Marson (AACo) gave a introductory presentation on the legislative process in Arizona for those attendees not familiar with it. The second block of learning labs included Bernard Stefaniak (AZ Dept. of Public Safety) who discussed the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center, Mark Zollitsch (Texas Association of Counties) encouraged members to "move it, move it" with a presentation on health and fitness, and Esperanza Padilla (AZ Dept. of Housing) provided attendees with state guidance and an overview on the mobile home relocation fund.
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AZ Rep. T.J. Shope speaking on about what to expect in upcoming legislative session.
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During the Luncheon on Thursday, the attendees had a chance to listen and do a Q&A with Arizona State Representative Thomas "T.J." Shope, who discussed what to expect in the upcoming legislative session.
That afternoon attendees participated in a couple informative presentations on the economy of Arizona and the Country.
Elliot Pollack (Elliot Pollack & Company) provided an state economic forecast and Mike Murphy (Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget) presented on the fiscal health of the nation. The general session finished with motivational speaker Jean Steel (Happy People Win), who advised the attendees that attitude is a choice and that sometimes we need to let loose and be sill, which held true when several of the attendees went up to o the chicken dance in front of everyone!
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Yavapai County Recorder Leslie Hoffman being sworn in as AACo's 2020 President. |
That evening held the President's Dinner in honor of 2019 AACo President and Yuma County Recorder Robyn Pouquette.
During the dinner the new AACo officers were sworn in;
Leslie Hoffman, Yavapai County Recorder,
was sworn in as AACo President.
Michael McCord, Pinal County Treasurer,
became First Vice President, and Sarah Benatar, Coconino County Treasurer, became Second Vice President.
Jeremy Ford, Greenlee County Attorney will become Third Vice President.
Officers were sworn in by Yuma County Recorder Robyn Pouquette, who is now Immediate Past President.
The 2019 Annual Leadership Conference proved to be a successful, exciting, and informative event. AACo is deeply appreciative of the event's sponsors and all the attendees and speakers who spent their time with us.
