Yavapai County supervisors adopt five strategic priorities at retreat; workplans to follow

YAVAPAI COUNTY — The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors used a two‑day strategic planning retreat that began Aug. 18 to set five priorities and ask county staff and consultants to prepare measurable workplans.

The board agreed the county’s primary priorities over the next two to five years will be infrastructure; housing; regional economic development (including workforce and entrepreneurial support); public safety; and water and open space. Consultants from the facilitation team said the list reflects alignment across three stakeholder groups — town and city managers, department directors and supervisors — from interviews and a community survey.

Consultant Jeremy Stevens told the board that the process is intended to produce “results” rather than lists of activities. “We’re not looking for you to come out of here with 20 goals,” he said, urging the board to choose a limited set of strategic results so staff can build implementation roadmaps and performance reporting.

Supervisors flagged several near‑term emphases under infrastructure: renovating the aging Gurley Street complex, planning a sheriff’s administration facility, and constructing or acquiring office space to relieve crowded staff operations. They also directed staff to prepare a complementary goal to expand multi‑use service facilities in rural areas so residents can “efficiently access quality county services.”

Housing emerged as a standalone priority after discussion about whether it should be folded into economic development. Board members said housing — and the political and regulatory questions around density — was too prominent in stakeholder feedback to go unnamed. Development Services Director Jeremy Dye briefed the board on an ongoing housing study and parallel zoning and subdivision code updates intended to reduce regulatory barriers to more housing types, including ‘missing‑middle’ units, manufactured or modular options and by‑right approaches.

Regional economic development will focus on recruiting targeted industries, supporting small businesses and growing livable‑wage jobs, supervisors said. Transportation and transit were raised as cross‑cutting needs that support both economic development and housing; the board asked staff to work with regional partners such as NACOG and SIMPO on practical, phased strategies.

Public safety received detailed attention after Sheriff David Rhodes outlined capital and operational needs including rural substations, a new 911/dispatch facility, expanded training capacity and technology upgrades. The board agreed to make a regional approach to 911 and emergency communications a measurable result to pursue with municipal and tribal partners. “People expect to get somebody on 911 to come help them in their time of crisis,” Rhodes said.

The board also asked staff to develop a financial plan to support the strategic agenda. Consultants noted the county currently uses general‑fund dollars to subsidize jail operations and recommended options be explored for a sustainable funding approach to relieve ongoing pressure on property‑tax funded services.

Next steps include staff and consultants drafting technical implementation roadmaps — with timelines, required resources and performance measures — and returning to the board in September for department‑level review. Supervisors said they expect routine progress updates so they can monitor milestones and tell the public what the county is delivering.

The retreat concluded with a direction to keep the plan a living document: the board agreed to revisit priorities periodically and to keep public engagement and transparent communications central to the plan’s success.