Yavapai County supervisors approve sheriff’s public‑affairs contract, fund code rewrite and infrastructure projects; set timeline to fill District 2 vacancy

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 19 unanimously approved several contracts and purchase orders — including a contract for the sheriff’s public‑affairs and government‑relations work and a nearly $500,000 zoning code rewrite — and voted to accept the resignation of District 2 Supervisor James Gregory while setting a schedule to appoint his replacement.

The actions, taken at the Yavapai County Administrative Services Verde Valley Complex in Cottonwood, included: a contract with Fitzgerald Strategies LLC for government relations and public affairs services for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office; a three‑year $499,905 professional services agreement with Logan Simpson to rewrite the county zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations; a $265,250 engineering contract for the Prescott East Highway and Antelope Lane pedestrian path project; and authorization to buy one 2026 Freightliner water truck and two 2026 Freightliner dump trucks (with plows and sanders). The board also accepted Gregory’s resignation and approved a staff timeline for soliciting applicants and making an appointment to the vacant District 2 seat.

The sheriff’s contract: purpose, cost and amendment

Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes told the board the contract would replace the sheriff’s prior full‑time government‑relations position with a contractor. The county will pay Fitzgerald Strategies LLC $12,800 per month for services, with a contract cap “not to exceed the amount of $217,600” for the term covering Feb. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, the sheriff said. Rhodes said the arrangement should cost the county slightly less than the prior employee package — which he described as about $160,000 per year including salary and employee‑related expenses — because the county will not pay pension, insurance or workers’ compensation for the contractor. The contract also includes a vehicle reimbursement of $800 per month.

County legal staff noted a clause in the draft (identified in the agenda materials as part of section 2.4.1) that they recommended removing. The board approved the contract “as amended” with the sentence in question stricken after county counsel advised the board that the remainder of that paragraph was not required. The motion to approve the contract as amended passed…