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 (where the "Outsider" restaurant is now). I grew to love the Verde Valley and its small-town atmosphere and values 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. 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. 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 a professional photographer, specializing in Industrial, nature and portrait photography. I have been a Clarkdale business owner for more than 14 years. For 10 years I operated a manufacturing business which made tourist-oriented items of copper, glass and steel in lower Clarkdale.

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

I currently serve on the Verde River Basin Partnership, the Yavapai County Water Advisory Council, and the Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and devote a tremendous amount of time working on water issues which affect the Town's future".

1. To give something back to the the town that has enhanced my life for the last 22 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 the Internet, newspapers, radio and other tools.
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 pass on a bit of what I love about Clarkdale, the Verde Valley, and Arizona to the 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 enjoying the small town lifestyle of upper Clarkdale.

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 projects.

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 639-2437.

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.

Councilmember Pat Williams

I was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in New Jersey. I joined American Airlines at the age of 21 as a flight attendant and lived in New York and Los Angeles. When I married, we lived on the upper west side of Manhattan and raised our two children there, a daughter and a son. In 1986 I moved to a small town in Connecticut, population 1,743. I moved to Tucson in 1997 and relocated to Clarkdale in 1999. I have always been involved in volunteerism serving in various capacities. My work experience has been in administrative positions in the education, legal and medical fields. I hold an Associate Degree as a Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Counselor and worked at Sierra Tucson in Tucson and at Crossroads Youth Shelter in Cottonwood. In July of 1999 I was appointed to two town boards, the Design and Review Board and the Heritage Conservancy Board, serving as chairperson of both boards, and have been extremely involved in town affairs. I feel privileged to serve on the Town Council. Clarkdale is at a crossroads and there will be many difficult issues to be faced as a community. The council members need the residents' input.

I can be reached at 639-2436 or by email. Please contact me if you have any comments or concerns.

Councilmember Pat Williams

Councilmember Bill Regner

Elected 2010