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• Duane Blumberg - District Board Chair

  

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  Duane Blumberg came to Sahuarita in 2005; he was elected to Town Council in 2009. His professional career involved academics and economic development. He was selected by Town Council to be Mayor in June of 2011.

   

  A Ph.D. mathematician, Blumberg spent 35 years at the University of Louisiana, where he was a faculty member, department chairman, Dean of the College of Sciences, and Vice President.  As Vice President, he supervised the University’s specialized research and development centers and its research park, and helped to form partnerships between companies and faculty members for the commercialization of university research.

   

  Following his academic career, Blumberg was appointed by the Governor as Louisiana’s Deputy Secretary of Economic Development.  In this capacity, he served as chief administrative officer of the department, led efforts to strengthen the contributions of the state’s higher education institutions to economic development, and was involved with several major development projects.

   

  Blumberg is particularly interested in the implementation of Sahuarita’s Strategic Plan for Economic Development, which envisions the creation of a diverse and sustainable economy that creates wealth and opportunities for its residents, and generates revenues to provide needed public services and infrastructure.

   

  Blumberg and his wife, Margaret, have been married for 45 years and now reside in the Quail Creek community. Their son and his family live in Europe.

• Lynne Skelton - Board Member

  

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  Lynne Skelton has served on the Sahuarita Town Council since 1999. She served as Mayor from June of 2007 until May of 2011. She was elected as Vice Mayor in June of 2011.

   

  Skelton moved to Southern Arizona in 1986 and has lived in Sahuarita since 1993.  She has one daughter living in Tucson and one daughter and granddaughter living in Sahuarita.

   

  From 1986 until 2005, Skelton was employed in the title and escrow industry in Arizona.  She ended her career as a branch manager and certified escrow officer to spend more time with her family and to pursue public service as an elected official.

   

  The Vice Mayor is passionate about her town, its quality of life and sense of place she finds in Sahuarita.  Skelton is someone that exemplifies service above self not only in her role of elected official but in her personal life as well.

   

  The Vice Mayor also serves the greater community in other capacities, including serving on the Upper Santa Cruz River Users and Providers Group for regional water planning, and on the Southern Regional Advisory Council for the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. She was past Chair of Regional Transportation Authority, and previously served as Chair of the Pima Association of Governments. She was a board member of TREO, on the Executive Board of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and was also a  board member of the Arizona Tax Commission.

   

   

• Kara Egbert - Board Member

  

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  Kara Egbert was elected to Town Council in 2009. Egbert has lived in Sahuarita since 2005; she grew up in Liberty, Missouri.

   

  She witnessed Liberty nearly double its population; but it still maintained its small town values. She desires the Town of Sahuarita to accomplish the same thing and she works toward that goal.

   

  Egbert earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Management from Brigham Young University.  She worked for several cities in Utah managing recreation programs, fitness centers and parks.  She was involved with special events such as First Night and the Freedom Festival in Provo, Utah.  Egbert ran soccer programs that included over 250 youth teams.  She also helped run one of the largest fitness centers in the state of Utah.  When Egbert moved to Arizona she volunteered to be on the Sahuarita Parks and Recreation Commission and served as the Chairperson for two years.  She currently volunteers in her children's classrooms at school and is the Committee Chair for one of the local Cub Scout packs.

   

  Egbert is married and has five children ranging from nine years old to under a year.  She has enjoyed serving on the Town Council and is excited for the next several years.  She looks forward to improving communication from the town to the residents as well as bringing the town together with special events and service opportunities.  She will continue working hard to keep our small town values in our growing community.

• Bill Bracco - Board Member

  

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  Bill Bracco was elected to Town Council in 2011, he has lived in Sahuarita since 2005.

   

  Bracco has lived all over the United States, but came to Sahuarita from the Washington, D.C. area.

   

  In 2005, Bracco started a service business in Tucson. Through this business he currently employs six to eight people. As a small business owner he is responsible for all aspects of running a business.

   

  Prior to moving to Sahuarita, he worked for Sprint founding their Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT), and later he was put in charge of the Global Data Security Operations Center. Prior to that, Bracco was a contractor providing Information Security support to Defense and Intelligence Community customers.

   

  Bracco is a retired Major in the U.S. Army Reserve with 21 years of service, serving as a Military Intelligence, Psychological Operations, and Information Operations Officer. He holds a B.A. Sociology Fordham University, Bronx, NY, and an M.S. in Systems Management from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Bracco is currently an elected Precinct Committeeman and serves as Chairman of Legislative District 30 for the Republican Party.

   

• Melissa Smith - Board Member

  

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  Melissa Smith was elected to Town Council in 2011.

   

  She is a mother of two who has worked in Sahuarita for the past 16 years.  She moved to the area in 1999 from Tucson because she wanted a rural and small town environment in which to raise her children.

   

  Smith currently lives in Rancho Sahuarita with her boyfriend and their  five children. She attended Pima Community College and studied law, then began working at the Green Valley Fire District in 1995. She was promoted to the rank of engineer ,  then to Captain. She currently serves as Captain and Community Service liaison for the fire district.

   

  She looks forward to supporting Sahuarita’s sustainability through a balance of businesses, recreation opportunities, and residential neighborhoods.  Smith believes in enhancing  partnerships with the community, businesses, developers and other governmental agencies to advance the Town’s economic development

• Gil Lusk - Board Member

  

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  Gil Lusk is currently serving his second two-year term on the Quail Creek Property Owner's Association Board. He was elected by residents of Quail Creek to serve as Vice-President of the Board.

   

   

  Lusk is Managing Partner of The Cholla Group, LLC, with holdings in Cochise County where he also serves on the Board of the Southwest Arizona Economic Development Group.  Over the years, he served on many boards and Commissions including the Montana Nature Conservancy, the Sonoran Institute, and the Flathead Basin Commission in Montana.

   

  Lusk is retired from the U.S. National Park Service where he served for 35 years. He worked in a variety of settings as Park Superintendent including Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania, Big Bend National Park in Texas and Glacier National Park in Montana. In 1997, he received the highest possible honor award from the Department of the Interior, "Distinguished Service Award," presented to him by Interior Secretary Babbitt and President Clinton.

   

  A graduate of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, he also received an Honorary Ph.D. from them in 2001 for his years of work in public service in communities across the nation.  Lusk believes that as a young community, Sahuarita has opportunities for "creative and visionary developments."   He is looking forward to putting his many years of experience and knowledge to work for the Town of Sahuarita.  He and his wife Catherine live in the Quail Creek community where they have resided since 2003.

• Josh Matthews - Board Member

  

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  Josh Matthews was appointed to the Council in 2012 and has lived in Sahuarita since 2006.  He has formerly served on the Town of Sahuarita Board of Adjustment, the Town Manager’s Effluent Policy Committee, and the Environmental Policy Advisory Committee of the Pima Association of Governments.  He has also served in the community as a Cub Scout Committee Chair.

   

   

  Matthews received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University. He believes that “Sahuarita is in a good position to prepare for the gradual economic recovery which has already begun”.  He is interested in creating a favorable environment for business attraction and creation through intelligent ordinance and policy reform.  Furthermore, he supports the annexation of Arizona State Trust Land east of the Town’s boundaries to allow for growth and additional commerce centers.

   

  Matthews lives in Rancho Sahuarita with his wife and children.

Quail Creek Community Facilities District - 375 W. Sahuarita Center Way - Sahuarita, Az 85629 - 520.822.8800