Sedona mayoral candidates Henry Silbiger and Vice Mayor Brian Fultz made their cases to about 125 voters at a candidate forum jointly held by the League of Women Voters of Arizona, the Greater Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau and the Sedona Lodging Council at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Thursday, June 11.

‘I’m listening, Sedona’

Silbiger predicated much of his pitch to voters on “Sedona has a critical problem. The current council isn’t listening, yet they want your vote again.”

Conversely, Fultz cited communication as the biggest lesson he’s learned over his four years on council, “and in particular, how difficult it is to get messaging uniformly shared throughout the community.”

Fultz pointed to the replacement of one of council’s Wednesday work sessions with a meet-and-greet between council and residents to solicit ideas and feedback.

“Brian, I’m glad to hear that you’re going to do something now,” Silbiger said. “You’ve been in office for three-and-a-half years, we’re in an election year, and now we are going to engage the community.”

Earlier in the week, at the June 9 regular Sedona City Council meeting, council discussed the results of the Sedona Police Department’s Strategic Plan, in which consultants cited SPD’s poor external communication to residents as one of its biggest weaknesses.

“The community doesn’t know enough, because the Sedona website is totally confusing,” Silbiger said.

Council approved a $75,000 decision packet on April 23 to revamp the website.

“How many of you here actually knew that the Cultural Park was bought?” Silbiger asked. “How many of you had an actual idea of what the cost of Forest Road and the [Uptown] Parking Garage was going to be, and where it stands now? … We’re not giving them enough information to understand that info but what we can do for the residents is we can sue you because we don’t want to give you a voice.”

Silbiger pointed to the 2024 referendum, Proposition 483, in which 68% of voters rejected the council’s Cultural Park car camping plan for homeless city employees.

Sedona Cultural Park

The candidates split on their positions on Proposition 403, which is seeking to bar residential development and or camping at the Sedona Cultural Park. Fultz is opposed to the proposition, and Silbiger — who has also predicated much of his campaign messaging over City Council’s failed lawsuit to kick Proposition 403 off the ballot as potentially unconstitutional — is in support. A judge rejected the city’s argument, placing the item back on the ballot.

“I see it as a true community sanctuary with open natural spaces, unobscured views, room for a farmers market and an open head gallery for local artists,” Silbiger said. “By limiting spending on projects that do not benefit the residents, we can fund and build a world-class recreation center.

“I see the Dells as the next area to be developed as [an area] for performing arts and special events. This area should also include pocket housing and ecological community gardens to preserve our environment while fostering local sustainability.”

Fultz also outlined his Balanced Housing Strategy, a plan calling for 775 housing units over the next 10 years targeting seniors and workers with families, and to help reverse a 50% drop in school enrollment.

“[The plan] includes a mix of housing targeted specifically for seniors — so that folks who’ve lived here for decades — have opportunities to continue to live in Sedona as long as they desire,” Fultz said.

In response to how he would support small businesses, Silbiger cited his vision for the Cultural Park to include farmers markets and cultural events to spur economic development.

“Even going back to the original development plans for the Western Gateway event or cultural park that go back over 25 years, there was a vision that there would be arts, that there would actually be some housing, [and] I do support that,” Fultz said. “I’m very supportive of the Sedona International Film Festival relocating there, and stated that very clearly in public meetings.”

City spending is another of Silbiger’s platform issues. He called the city’s roughly $97 million budget bloated, and pledged bringing “real discipline to city hall,” fewer consultants and a pledge to send capital projects over $5 million for voter approval, though whether the city can put such spending decisions to a public vote is itself in question.

“By limiting spending on projects that do not benefit the residents, we can fund and build a world-class recreation center,” Silbiger said.

“In the four years that I’ve been on council, we’ve had a balanced budget every year. In fact, we’ve run a surplus,” Fultz said. “We’ve used those extra funds to pay off debts early.”

The Uptown parking garage on Forest Road drew repeated scrutiny. Council approved the $17.5 million construction contract in May 2024, for about $26 million in public funds total, and the way it was bid raised questions about whether the project saw real competition, and if the public has gotten all the information it needs to scrutinize it.

“The decision was made to use a construction manager-at-risk model, and despite what it looks like, it’s not a sole source deal, like they are incentivized,” Fultz later said. “It is required that they competitively bid every piece of it.”

Silbiger tied his spending critique to a floated purchase of the city Parks and Recreation office on Brewer Road that the city currently leases from the Sedona Oak Creek School District, claiming the city had budgeted “$49 million to buy property that is worth $6.8 [million].”

Later in the debate, City Council candidates Rich Gay made the same claim and Jean-Christophe Buillet previously posted a video on an alleged purchasing plan, however, that is not true.

While the Brewer Road property is mentioned in the city budgets, the $49.5 million is a placeholder for the Real Estate/Land Acquisition Fund, allocating the purchase of any and all future lands or facilities in the Sedona area, not any specific building.

No conversations on a proposed sale of the Brewer Road property have occurred in at least three years, according to SOCSD administrators.

2026 Mayoral Forum Video

Sedona voters heard directly from local candidates during the Greater Sedona Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Mayoral & City Council Candidate Forum, hosted in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona and the Sedona Lodging Council. The canddiates offered voters a chance to learn more about their backgrounds, priorities and visions for Sedona’s future.