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Photo of the week
“I saw some boys parking this ‘vehicle,’ before entering the store on Friday. I couldn’t help but take a pic. Too cute!” —Marilyn Majalca
News
Patagonia Town Council passes $4.3 million budget, dissolves Library Advisory Board; no vote yet on fire/EMS contract
By Jay Babcock
The Patagonia Town Council voted 5-0 to adopt a $4.3 million budget for Fiscal Year 2026 at a one-hour meeting on May 14 attended by eight members of the public in person and four more on Zoom.
Outside of administration, the Town budget’s biggest spends are for law enforcement ($456,095), parks ($283,990) and the library ($283,990). A comparatively small sum of $70,008 has been allotted for the Town’s fire and emergency medical services coverage.
The recipient of the Town’s fire/EMS contract, traditionally Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue, has still not been determined. With rumors swirling that Sonoita-Elgin Fire District has already been told that they will not win the bid, Mayor Andy Wood reported to Council that “we have had a meeting with [PVFR Acting Fire Chief] Zay Hartigan from the Fire department, and offered him a proposal. We have not heard back from him yet.”
Mayor Wood offered no further details about the meeting’s participants or the nature of the proposal, and there was no discussion. Nor was a date given for an official Council vote on the contract.
Over 30 minutes of the May 14 meeting were devoted to a resolution to dissolve the Patagonia Public Library Advisory Board, which has existed for decades, and immediately replace it with a new “Library Operational Advisory Council.” The Advisory Board has been led by the Library Director and made up of members of the community approved by the Town Council, whereas members of the proposed new Operational Advisory Council would be chosen by the Town Manager.
Prior to the vote, former Library Director Abbie Zeltzer, who retired in 2019 after 25 years of service, urged the Council to keep the current Library Advisory Board structure, arguing that it was a part of a “bottom-up rather than top-down” system that, she said, had “worked prior to my employment and through 2020” to ensure that the Library provided services representative of the community that it serves.
Responding to Zeltzer, Mayor Wood seemed to suggest that the resolution was in response to a possible violation of Arizona’s open meeting law by the Library Advisory Board at the Board’s monthly meeting on April 15. (The Town’s notice for that meeting said the advisory Board would “hold an executive session to discuss library policy items.” That meeting followed the abrupt resignation of Library Director Shawnie Kennedy on March 24 after a little more than two months on the job.)
Asked by Mayor Wood if the Board during Zeltzer’s tenure had ever had issues in following Arizona’s open meeting law, Zeltzer said no.
“We had a solid board,” Zelzter said. “We may have had one person leave that board. When a new person came in, they definitely would have read the bylaws and know the procedures that the board needed to follow, because people that had been there before shared that with them, whereas now…? I have no clue. I think that’s one of the major issues right now, is there has been NO continuity. They’re all new Library Board people. [Library] staff is constantly changing. There have been more people appointed, or hired—I don’t know what the procedure is now—in [the last four years] then there were in [the previous] 25 years. Something is amiss.”
A second member of the public, Carolyn Shafer, argued in favor of the resolution, saying that the Library be treated like any other Town department: that is, any advisory council affiliated with the Library should report to the Town Manager, and should not include any Town employees.
“The Library is a Town department, just like every department in this town,” Shafer said. “You have the people here in the office, the people running the garbage stuff, and everything else. All those departments report to the Town Manager. This is in my mind an administrative issue for the Town, [about] clearly keeping departments that have employees functioning all in the same way.”
Mayor Wood and the other four Council members voiced general agreement with this argument, and the resolution passed 5-0.
The Council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28 at 6pm. and will include a public hearing on a proposal from T-Mobile (see the Town’s official public notice below). The full agenda for the meeting should be available on Monday, May 26.
Here is the agenda:
PUHS students heading to D.C.
By Carrie White
Eight Patagonia Union High School students are heading to Washington D.C. in early June as participants in Civics Matters Arizona, a program for forthcoming 11th and 12th graders aimed at empowering participation in the democratic system.
Lenin Albarran, Adahir Ayon, Isela Cervantes, Noah Gallardo, Louis Reyes, Alex Ruskowitz, Skylar Sanchez and Jaxon Yslava will serve as ambassadors after completing essays on civic engagement. 275 students from across the state were chosen for the four-day, three-night experience running June 4-7. The all-expenses paid trip includes transportation on the Arizona Cardinals team plane, and once in D.C., academic and social activities geared around civic engagement. The students will also have the opportunity to explore D.C.’s monuments, memorials, museums and Capitol Hill.
“It’s quite an honor, and we at Patagonia Union High School are ecstatic that these students were selected,” said history teacher Nate Porter. “It is an amazing cultural and education opportunity, and we do not doubt they will represent PUHS well in D.C.”
Following the trip, the ambassadors will receive monthly toolkits and recommendations for organizing impactful civic activities.
Program sponsorship partners include the Arizona Cardinals, the Governor of Arizona, Greater Phoenix Leadership and the Close-Up Foundation.
Memorial Day is coming
The PRT has compiled and updated a list of veterans who are buried in local cemeteries in Duquesne, Elgin, Lochiel and Patagonia in order to recognize these men and women for their service and sacrifice for our freedom. Click here to download a PDF of “Honoring Those Who Served.”
And, from Murphy Musick of Patagonia:
Mama Lope and kids
“I was told long ago that the ground the house sits on here in Elgin used to be a pronghorn birthing ground. Well, by golly, I guess it is true. Caught this once in a lifetime little video on Sunday. Trust me, nothing in my photography skill bag had anything to do with this. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. That doe came back to birth in the darkest place she could find, which just happened to be in a place that has been steadfast in preserving the dark skies environment that makes those miracles still possible.”—Matt Parrilli
Easy meal
Above: A common raven savors the hind leg of a desert cottontail high in a Frémont’s cottonwood. Road-killed wildlife are a staple for this species—watch for them patrolling local thoroughfares, searching for an easy meal. Despite this proclivity, they rarely wind up as “flattened fauna” themselves. Driving slower and more alert is one way to spare local species an ignominious death. —Vince Pinto
School News and Youth Events
Upcoming Events
To share information about an upcoming event in this newsletter, please submit a poster/flyer in JPEG or PNG format. Email your submission to prtadast@gmail.com by Monday, 5pm. Remember to submit your event at least one week before the event date. Thank you!
Benefit for Ukrainian War Relief
On May 31 there will be a fundraiser to benefit the victims of the Ukrainian War at the Café in Sonoita from 1-3:30. The fundraiser will be a workshop to teach how to decorate Ukrainian Easter Eggs (AKA Pysanky). All art supplies needed have been donated. All money collected will be sent to war relief. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Jim Koweek at jim@azreveg.com or call 520-455-5780.
If you would like to help out but aren’t interested in the workshop we will be accepting donations at that time.
The Café is located at 3280 H-way 82 in Sonoita.
Recurring Events
Alcoholics Anonymous:
- Sonoita Bible Church – Tuesdays at 7pm, 3174 N. Doors open at 6:30. Highway 83, Sonoita. Zoom option: 601-758-3907.
- Patagonia Methodist Community Church – Thursdays at 6:30pm. 387 McKeown Ave., Patagonia. Contact Dave at 207-249-8302.
Overeaters Anonymous: to find a meeting go to oasouthernaz.org. Contact Adrienne H. for more info 520-404-3490.
The Patagonia Senior Center has received a grant from Delta Dental of Phoenix to help seniors with dental expenses. Vouchers are provided for up to $350 to participating dentists. If interested, please call the Senior Center at (520) 394-2494.
Click here to consult the PRT’s ‘Community Calendar’ for additional events and meetings.
Employment Opportunities
To list an employment opportunity, please contact Nisa Talavera at prtads@gmail.com or 740-206-9594.
Farmers Markets
Patagonia Farmers and Crafts Market – Thursdays 10am-12pm by Red Mountain Foods.
Sonoita Farmers Market – Saturday Mornings 9am-12pm at the Sonoita Post Office parking lot (NW corner of Hwy 82/83)
Sierra Vista Farmers Market – Thursday 10am-2pm at Veteran’s Memorial Park.
Nogales “Little” Mercado – Fridays 4-7pm 163 Morley Ave, Nogales.
Church Events and Schedules
St. Therese Parish in Patagonia
Patagonia United Methodist Church
Click here to consult the PRT’s ‘Community Calendar’ for additional events and meetings.
Our Advertisers
For information on advertising in the PRT’s print edition, weekly newsletter, website or a custom package, please contact Nisa Talavera at prtads@gmail.com or 740-206-9594.
Private collector interested in buying good quality minerals from the Patagonia area and other Arizona locations. Please contact Bob Stewart, 315-440-2786 (Sahuarita)
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