Bisbee Forward Responds to City in the Observer

Bisbee Forward response to “The Hold” – for the Observer Dec 8, 2025

Bisbee Forward has a core value of transparency and stands firmly with our neighbors in supporting the democratic process.  We have publicly expressed our positions and shared our work online on our website, and are grateful for the widespread support we’ve received from the community.  Our mission is to positively impact Bisbee as a whole.

Any deliberations to consider how best to address the painful issues we’ve observed with our Bed Tax fund must be a public conversation.  It appears the city has attempted to circumvent this public discourse through use of Executive Sessions as a way to govern in the dark – this is not consistent with democracy that our city deserves.

Open Meeting Laws in our state require votes to be held publicly, to encourage public engagement and feedback.  Executive Sessions preclude any decision making by definition: “Members of the public body may not vote or take a poll in executive sessions. A.R.S. § 38-431.03(D)”.  

The city sent an email (dated December 3 2025) to Bisbee Forward, Describing a “hold” in negotiations.  The email itself is evidence of clear violations of the statute.  The full email is posted on www.bisbeeforward.org and includes the following issues:

1. “that Council has directed staff to put a hold on negotiations with Bisbee Forward”; How can direction be determined without a vote or poll, exactly?  If the city council chooses to do so that is completely fine with Bisbee Forward, but to do so requires a public vote to countermand the instructions council has shared with the city attorney (at the previous public session dated November 18^th).

2. “The City will continue to maintain a physical Visitor’s Center”; Again, this requires a public vote.

3. The city apparently expanded the discussion beyond the Agenda items posted, which requires notice.  The DMO and Bisbee Forward were not on the agenda at all.

In sum, it appears the city is attempting to alter the public direction provided by council in the back room, without public comment.  We think Bisbee deserves on honest and transparent conversation and not leadership by decree. 

At every step since Bisbee Forward was established we have attempted to work in collaboration with the City. Our position is anything but adversarial. This community cannot function effectively without the talents and resources of our City staff and City Council. We have been working tirelessly to ensure that our many talents and resources as businesses and residents are aligned with the City’s so that we all, together, can avoid a coming financial crisis in Bisbee. 

The writing is on the wall (and in the numbers). Unless we take action now, our prospects for a healthy and sustainable economy — and City budget — in the next year are dim.