Vision Task Force

The Vision Task Force (VTF) was made up of 37 citizens representing the greater Flagstaff area. The Vision Task Force was formed early on in the Flagstaff 2020 process, during Phase One. Its members met regularly to evaluate, consolidate, and make sense of thousands of ideas and comments received from community forums and attitude surveys.

The Vision Task Force was in charge of writing the vision statement which was first produced in draft form in February 1997, as shown below. VTF then gathered public reactions and additional comments from community meetings and public events like those held during Phase Two to refine the vision for its final release in June of 1997.

A Vision for Greater Flagstaff (page 1)
A Vision for Greater Flagstaff (page 1)
A Vision for Greater Flagstaff. June 1997. Flagstaff 2020 Records [manuscripts], NAU.MS.294., Box 4, Folder 90. Click to view this item via Digital Collections.
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Group photograph of the Vision Task Force. Circa 1997. Flagstaff 2020 Records [photographs], NAU.PH.1997.44.03.001. View this item via Digital Collections.
Members of the Vision Task Force hard at work, sitting at tables in the downtown office.
Above: Members of the Vision Task Force hard at work. Circa 1996-1997. Personal collection of Steven C. Ames.

In the early stages of the Flagstaff 2020 process, Flagstaff residents criticized the Vision Task Force for not accurately representing the community of greater Flagstaff. Below, a news clipping from the Arizona Daily Sun reflects local concerns about whose vision was being considered. Following such community feedback, Steven Ames drafted a memo reflecting on these concerns to the Vision Task Force.

Blake Morlock. "Whose vision is this?" Arizona Daily Sun. September 10, 1996.
Blake Morlock. "Whose vision is this?" Arizona Daily Sun. September 10, 1996.
Blake Morlock. "Whose vision is this?" Arizona Daily Sun. September 10, 1996. © 1996 Arizona Daily Sun. Article used with permission from the publisher. Photocopy from the Flagstaff 2020 Records [manuscripts], NAU.MS.294, Series 5: Scrapbook, Box 8, Folder 176.
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Vision Task Force members pictured in photograph, left:

Front row (L-R): Unknown person in glasses, Karen Delaibau, unknown person in white, Shari Buhan, Libby Silva, Victoria Rousher, Martin Zanzucchi, Lance Diskan.

Back row (L-R)Florence Karlstrom, Norman Lowe, John Irish, Kathryn Willis, Jonathan Day, unknown person, unknown person in blue turtleneck, Nicole Ack, Jim (Ward) Byrkit, Phyllis Schiller (middle row), Helen Hudgens, Patricia (Patty) Garcia, Leszek Pawlowicz, Sixto Valdivia, unknown person in red jacket, Julianne Hartzell, unknown person holding coat.

Thanks to Kathy Turner for her help in identifying people!

In the clip below, Dr. Laurie Price describes some of the criticisms that students in her Anthropology 599 course offered about the Vision Task Force in the early stages of the Flagstaff 2020 community visioning process. Watch Price’s entire oral history interview via Digital Collections.

VISION TASK FORCE MEMBERS
Nicole AckJeffe AronsonRobert E. BauerRon BoyerElizabeth BrownShari Buhan(Jim) Ward Byrkit
Mary Ann DaviesTerri L. Beeson-DavisJonathan S. DayKaren DelaibauLance DiskanJames DormanRobert Elliott
Elise EyerGrenetta FinkMichael GallegosPatricia GarciaJulianne HartzellHelen HudgensJohn Irish
Florence KarlstromEd LambertNorman LoweSharon MetzlerRobert OwerLeszek PawlowiczVictoria Ruscher
Phyllis SchillerCharles M. SchlingerLibby SilvaSusan SlasorBarry StephensSixto ValdiviaJerome Williams
Kathryn WillisMartin Zanzucchi