Project CENTRL tours Maricopa

As rural communities all over Arizona grow, as Maricopa is doing, leaders within the communities are challenged to find solutions for increasingly complex problems. To deal effectively with issues like economic development, use of natural resources and regional planning, community leaders must be experienced and knowledgeable. How do rural leaders, or future rural leaders, obtain this experience and knowledge? The answer is Project CENTRL.

The Center for Rural Leadership (Project CENTRL) is an educational program developed by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension under a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Similar programs in 30 other states and four other countries have shown the program to be a success. The mission of the program is “to assist highly motivated leaders to improve and expand their leadership skills to become more responsive and effective in meeting the needs of rural people in public affairs.”

The two year program takes participants to various locations around the state, includes a state exchange seminar at the end of the first year and finishes the second year with a national seminar in Washington D.C. Class members are also required to complete an internship project utilizing the leadership skills acquired in the program.

Arizona’s agricultural research station was among the tour stops in Maricopa.

Vaughn Wilhelm (left) of St. Johns and Wilcox’s Andy Terry contemplate the fish breeding process at the Agricultural Center.

Rusty Mitchell tries his hand at milking a cow during a visit to the Dairyland Milk Company in Stanfield.

Last week Maricopa was host to the current Project CENTRL class. Members spent the weekend seminar meeting with community leaders from Pinal County, Casa Grande, Gila River Indian Community and Maricopa.

After touring the University of Arizona’s Maricopa Agricultural Center, the group visited Dairyland Milk Company in Stanfield, which is co-owned by class member Scott Blevins, then headed to Maricopa to meet with Mayor Kelly Anderson. Leading the class on a bus tour through the growing community, Mayor Anderson explained the problems facing Maricopa in its state of hyper growth.

Maricopa Agricultural Center’s fields are quickly being surrounded by new homes. (Above photos courtesy of Rusty Mitchell.)

Mayor Anderson guides the class on a tour through developing areas of Maricopa.

Referencing the 800 building permits being issued per month and the current growth rate of “three people per hour moving to Maricopa,” Anderson addressed some of the groundwork that went into preparing Maricopa for this influx. “We worked with Pinal County, Casa Grande, the Gila River Indian Community and the Ak-Chin Indian Community when we started planning for this growth,” Anderson told the group. “We didn’t want annexation wars; we didn’t want to have disputes over land.”

Mayor Anderson focused on some of the efforts that have gone into “trying to become a sustainable city.” He explained how city staff works closely with developers to bring all the necessary elements to new neighborhoods and commercial areas. “We’ve got a great staff,” Mayor Anderson noted. “I’m just happy to be a part of the team.”

A few of the other important issues Mayor Anderson discussed during the tour included Maricopa’s economic development, bringing in more high-end local jobs with salaries that support the lifestyle of Maricopa families and existing infrastructure plans.

Councilman and Project CENTRL Class XVI grad Edward Farrell addressed the current class after dinner

City Manager Rick Buss talked to the class members about Maricopa’s hyper growth.

After the informative tour, class members joined several local Project CENTRL alumni at the home of Maricopa Councilman Edward Farrell for a barbecue. The members listened to Mayor Anderson, City Manager Rick Buss, Councilman Kelly Haddad, Councilman Farrell, Parks, Recreation and Libraries Director Martin McDonald and current Project CENTRL class member and Maricopa resident Scott Bartle talk about the past, present and future of the City of Maricopa.

Referring to Maricopa as the “community with a heart,” Rick Buss told the group, “Your heart has to be in the right place.” Said Buss, “Maricopa has humble leadership; everyone counts.”

“This program is something that you’re going to get as much out of as you put into it,” explained Edward Farrell. A Project CENTRL Class XVI graduate, Farrell led the drive to incorporate the City of Maricopa as his internship project. “Without Project CENTRL, I wouldn’t have had the aspiration or the desire to incorporate Maricopa,” he told the current class.

Other notable local alumni of Project CENTRL include:
• Mayor Kelly Anderson, Class III
• Ms. Alma Farrell, Class XV
• Councilman Edward Farrell, Class XVI
• Councilman Kelly Haddad, Class XVII
• Mr. “MacD” Hartman, Class I
• Mr. Greg Main, Class XVI
• Ms. Sue Riley, Class X

Last weekend’s seminar, Building Community… Local, County and Tribal Government, and the tour of Maricopa, gave Project CENTRL class members the opportunity to compare and contrast the operations and public policy formation of local, county and tribal governments in Arizona.