Mayor & Council

I was born in Safford, Arizona in 1948. When I was a teenager I spent summers with my grandparents in their home in Cottonwood,

where my grandfather built and ran a Western Auto Store that was on the corner across the street from where the Tavern Grill

is now. I grew to love the Verde Valley and its small-town atmosphere and values, and especially the Verde River during those

summers. My deep roots in Arizona and the Verde Valley give me a valuable connection with the state and its issues.

In 1966 I graduated from Prescott High School and in 1970 from Arizona State University with a degree in biology. The Vietnam

War interceded in my plans for a continued education, as I was diverted by the country's needs to the US Air Force, where I

spent 6 years as a pilot. I was flying C-130s when I left the Air Force as a captain in 1976. I then became an independent biologist

in Arkansas. My two daughters, Krysta and Kara, were born while I was in the Air Force, and they still live in Arizona. Soon the necessities of family life

and a yearning to return to Arizona brought us back to the Verde Valley. I worked briefly with my father in his insurance and real estate agency, and

after a few years I bought the company and converted it to an insurance agency which I sold eight years later. It has since become the Butler-Leavitt

agency on Main Street in Cottonwood. As a commercial specialist in the agency, I handled the insurance for the Towns of Clarkdale and Jerome. My

son, Douglas was born in 1981 and attended Clarkdale elementary from Kindergarten through 8th Grade, then graduated from Mingus Union High School.

"I am currently an environmental consultant and professional photographer, specializing in Industrial, nature and portrait photography. My

consulting company, Riparian Systems Consulting, worked on environmental issues, concentrating on conserving southwest rivers. I have been

a Clarkdale business owner for more than 20 years. For 10 years I operated a manufacturing business which made tourist-oriented items of copper, glass

My experience in Verde Valley business and especially in tourism have taught me a great deal about this most valuable of Arizona industries, and my

love for the natural environment, especially the Verde River, have helped form my philosophy of sustainability. I was first elected Mayor in 2004 and have

I currently serve on the boards of the Verde River Valley Nature Organization, the Verde River Institute, the Verde River Basin Partnership, the Yavapai

County Water Advisory Council, and the Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, the Greater Arizona Mayors, and I devote a tremendous

amount of time to working on water issues. I believe passionately that the future of water in the Verde Valley is the future of the Verde Valley�s people

and economy, and I work virtually every day to encourage appropriate planning for a sustainable water future for the Valley. I also serve on the Arizona

Game and Fish Heritage Fund Advisory Board and am proud to be the President of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, where I work to make Arizona�s

My Goals as Mayor:
1. To give something back to the town that has enhanced my life for the last 32 years.
2. To help Clarkdale move into the future in an intelligent way that will improve the lives of its current citizens.
3. To bring people from varying backgrounds and perspectives together to reach consensus on the many issues facing our town.
4. To improve communication between the town and the citizens it serves by using all the modern tools available to us.
5. To educate myself on every town issue to the best of my ability and apply what I have learned to each decision.
6. To lend my experience and time to my neighbors.
7. To encourage and implement sustainable practices in the Town and the Verde Valley.
8. To foster a regional perspective in all matters in the Verde Valley.
8. To pass on a bit of what I love about Clarkdale, the Verde Valley, and Arizona to our community.

Richard Dehnert was born in Galesburg, Ill and graduated from Shimer College in Mt. Carroll, Illinois with a BA in Humanities. Shortly

after college, he began a career in radio broadcasting as a news director at KSIL in Silver City, New Mexico. After a stint as

operations director at KATO in Safford, Arizona, Richard and his wife, Krysta, purchased KYBC (then KVIO) and moved to Cottonwood

along with their three young sons in 1979. Their daughter, Ellen, was born in Cottonwood in 1980. They built KVRD-FM in 1991,

subsequently selling their broadcast holdings to Yavapai Broadcasting in 1996. After several years of traveling the West, Richard

and Krysta settled in Clarkdale in 2001. They purchased a little brick Clarkdale classic in 2002 and have spent the ensuing years

During his years as a broadcaster, Richard engaged in a number of community service activities, serving at various times as President of the Cottonwood

Chamber of Commerce, President of Verde Valley Rotary Club, Chairman of the Yavapai County Foster Care Review Board, and on other committees and

Richard is currently employed as Community Relations Coordinator for the Verde Valley Guidance Clinic. In addition to his Chamber duties, Richard

remains active in Rotary and serves as the Clinic�s representative on the MATForce Executive Committee and The Arizona Council of Human Service

Providers. He has served for several years on the Clarkdale Board of Adjustment.

Richard considers his service on the Clarkdale Town Council to be a continuation of his life-long dedication to community involvement. �I love Clarkdale

and look forward to the opportunity to serve the community as it faces the challenges ahead.� Vice Mayor Dehnert may be reached by email or phone

I was born and raised in Randolph, NY, a small village about 60 miles south of Buffalo, and graduated from Randolph Central School

in 1952.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy where I spent the next twenty years. After retirement from the Navy, I moved to Indiana, where I

worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for 7 years as an Inspector, Regulatory Enforcement. When that office

was closed I left ATF and remained in Terre Haute and worked for International Minerals and Chemical Corporation in their R & D

department as a chemical pilot plant operator/technician.

In 1984, my high school sweetheart, Winnie, and I were married in Cottonwood, where she had been living since the mid 70's. I convinced her that

Indiana was a good place to live and we lived there for about a year and a half. One snowy day, after plowing a 1/4 mile of driveway, we decided

that Arizona was a better place to live. We've been here in the Verde Valley since 1985, and in Clarkdale since 1992.

Now that I have lived here longer than twenty years, which is longer than I have lived anywhere else, Clarkdale is my Home Town. I can be contacted

by leaving a message at Town Hall or by email.

Councilmember Bill Regner

Elected 2010

I was born in LaGrande, Oregon into a military family and spent my childhood on U.S. Army posts all over the United States and

Japan. I graduated high school in Edina, MN and college at the University of Arizona in Tucson where I earned a bachelors degree

in Political Science with a minor in Psychology. I have also done graduate studies in Business Administration and the Education of

I met my wife of 33+ years, Janet, when we worked together directing a residential treatment center for adolescents in Mesa. We

have two grown sons, Jonathan and Douglas. My professional life includes time as a congressional aide in Washington, DC, behavioral

health management, small business management, sales, professional staffing recruitment, and human development. I feel strongly

that community is important and have tried to demonstrate that through my professional work and volunteering for committees, boards, and commissions.

We came to Clarkdale in 2001 to visit friends and fell deeply in love with the Verde Valley. We bought our lot that year and spent the next six figuring

out how to move here permanently. We finally moved up here from Tempe in 2007. Our house overlooking the Verde River was finished in 2008. Prior

to election to the Town Council, I served on the Planning Commission for over two years.

I love the small town sense of Clarkdale and look forward to the challenges that come with preserving that identity while enhancing our quality of life

Councilmember Reynold P. �Rennie� Radoccia

Appointed 2012

I was born in Manhattan, New York in 1947. I grew up in the Bronx and on Long Island. I graduated from high school in 1965

from St. Dominic�s High School in Oyster Bay, NY. From there I went to college to study architecture. I graduated from New

York Institute of Technology in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Upon graduating, I applied to the University

of Rome in Italy and spent the next year studying in Italy. Returning to New York, I started my apprenticeship working for a

firm on Madison Avenue, assisting in the design of retail stores across the USA. From there I moved on to a small architectural

firm, again on Madison Avenue, Fred L. Liebman, Architect. There I was introduced to the New York City Building Department

and all of its complications. I worked for this firm for one year and was offered an intern position with a young small architectural

firm, Vitto & Robinson Architects. Their office was on 16th Street and Union Square (in the same building as Andy Warhol). I

worked there for three years and during that time went back to the City College of New York (CCNY) and received my Bachelor of Architecture. At

this office I was deeply immersed in urban architecture doing mostly community based projects and low income housing. We completed in many

international competitions and in the summer of 1973 were invited to be part of an urban housing architecture exhibition at the Museum of Modern

Art (MOMA). I took a sabbatical from my work in the spring of 1974 and came to Arizona to work for Paolo Soleri at Arcosanti. It was there I met my

wife, Andrea, who was living and working at this urban laboratory site.

From that point my life changed dramatically. After several months at Arcosanti and visiting the Verde Valley on weekends, I decided to travel back

to New York City, leave my job at Vitto & Robinson Architects and permanently give up my apartment in Greenwich Village. I returned to the west

and joined Andrea. We relocated to the Sedona/ Cottonwood area & eventually bought 16 acres of land in Cornville, in a remote area on Oak Creek.

During this time I designed and built affordable passive solar masonry homes in the Verde Valley.

In 1980 with our 4 year old daughter Maya, we decided to move back to New York to assist in the design and construction of a new community

owned by the Seva Foundation. It was there that our son Emanuel was born. We lived there for two years and built a number of earth integrated

buildings, but the southwest was calling us back. After much consideration we sold the home we built there and moved to Santa Fe for one year.

There Andrea was trained in alternative healing and I received my license to practice architecture. Still longing for the Verde Valley and our friends,

we moved back to Clarkdale in 1984 and purchased the 40 acres of land we presently call Candlewood Retreat (our home). Over the next 28 years

we developed our property.

We raised Maya and Emanuel here. They both attended the Clarkdale Jerome School and Mingus Union High School. Today Maya and her husband

Jesse live on Main Street in Clarkdale. Maya is a mother and a Lactation Consultant working at the Flagstaff Medical Center. She has three beautiful

children ranging from ages 1 to 11. Emanuel, our son, lives in Austin, Texas and is a PGA Golf Professional managing two golf courses at The Hills

Country Club.

As the years progressed we built multiple passive solar buildings and developed extensive organic gardens and landscaping. In 1999 I built my

architectural studio and a dance/workshop space here. Prior to this, I had my office at 921 Main Street in Clarkdale (the corner building on Main

Street, adjacent to the park). I was in uptown Clarkdale for 11 years. During that time I served on many boards and commissions and was elected

to the Town Council, serving two 4 year terms, part of which I was Vice Mayor and Mayor of Clarkdale.

In 2000 we completed construction on my studio and I relocated my architecture practice to our now 22 acre home site. Since that time my practice

has continued to grow. I have focused my work on individual and community projects incorporating sustainable and green design. We have successfully

completed many projects in the Verde Valley, throughout the State of Arizona and across the USA.

My wife Andrea is a massage therapist, potter, master organic gardener and an �American Tribal Style� belly dance teacher and performer. We have

now been together for 38 years.

This generally brings us to the present. Recently I began to participate in Clarkdale�s growth (after being away from Clarkdale politics for 10 years).

I was inspired by the Town�s direction with regard to sustainability. I attribute much of this work to the visions of our Mayor and recent councils.

Sustainability has been a genuine goal throughout my life. I practice it in my personal life and my work. It is for these reasons that I wanted to re-

My goals are to use the many years of experience I have accumulated in sustainability and public work, to assist the Town of Clarkdale in its vision

for our future and support practical and affordable policies.

I can be reached at 928-634-3349 (work); 928-634-2067 (home); 928-300-8857 (cell) or by email rennie@architectureworks.net.

Councilmember Bill Regner

Elected 2010

Councilmember Reynold P. �Rennie� Radoccia

Appointed 2012