Within President Trump’s first 100 days in office, he has issued back-to-back executive orders aimed at cleansing America of woke ideologies as well as dismantling the Green New Scam. States can hardly keep up with the rapid changes being made. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary (USDOT) Sean Duffy is leading the effort to defund city projects involving road diets and “green infrastructure.” Leftists and bike-enthused activists are losing their minds over the removal of “Complete Streets” links on the USDOT website, horrified by the idea that vehicle travel might be prioritized over barely used bike lanes.
And good to his promise to unleash American energy, Trump’s team has eliminated excessive greenhouse gas (GHG) rules, vowed to get existing and new coal plants opened, and most recently played a major role in the House’s passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” that included the repeal of many of the Inflation Reduction Act green scam subsidies. Every day this administration is dismantling the Green New Grift and restoring practical, pro-America policies.
And if there ever was a city in Arizona that should be jumping on the Trump bandwagon – it’s the City of Prescott. Prescott is a conservative community where registered Republican voters out number Democrat voters 3:1. It’s “Trump Country.” But take a look at Prescott’s recently proposed General Plan and you would never know it.
In Arizona, every municipality is required by statute (ARS §9-461.05) to build out and adopt a General Plan that outlines a pathway for growth in the community, covering topics such as land use, transportation, environment, water, and energy. This seemingly innocuous document that must be ratified by voters has become a pathway for city bureaucrats to sneak woke ideologies and climate goals into city planning.
General Plan Transportation Policy: Drive Less
Prescott’s Plan is nearly 150 pages and includes a number of statements and policies that do not align with the conservative ethos of the community. Under the “Air Quality” section (pg. 26), the Plan editorializes the reasons increased urbanization is harmful to the environment and claims that they must reduce dependence on automobiles as a solution. It further promotes “alternative transportation” which is typically code for forcing people to walk or bike and subsidizing a bunch of public transit people won’t ride. It is unlikely that the residents of Prescott will agree with “Prescott’s Plan” that they should give up their cars.
The General Plan includes an entire section dedicated to “Complete Streets, Vision Zero, and Transportation Safety Planning” (pg. 79-81). The Vision Zero initiative, funded by the Left, claims to aim for zero traffic deaths by making it increasingly difficult to drive. This signals a shift toward a “multimodal transportation system,” and the emphasis on “traffic calming” measures reveals their intention to narrow roads, reduce speed limits, and expand heavily subsidized public transportation – such as buses, light rail, and street cars. Prescott’s General Plan also looks to create a “Traffic Calming Design Guide” to implement many of these policies and disincentivize driving by adding layers of inconvenience (pg. 53).
General Plan Energy Policy: Use Less
Additionally, rather than the proposed general plan recommending the prioritization of cheap and reliable energy, it pushes for “renewable” sources to reduce carbon emissions (pg.41), a policy goal the council itself hasn’t declared is a priority of the community to begin with. It calls for increasing energy efficiency by promoting land use patterns that “encourage walkability and reduce dependency on cars” (pg. 42). In other words, residents are to be forced into centrally planned 15-minute city boroughs so Prescott residents will stop gobbling up so much energy. And because bureaucrats are at least realistic about literally no one doing this of their own accord, the city plans to provide financial incentives to manipulate residents and businesses into installing solar. Because solar is unreliable and Prescott would rather residents just use less energy anyway, they then intend to conduct energy audits in homes, potentially requiring costly upgrades at the expense of the homeowner (pg. 43).
General Plan “Services”: Pay More
Lastly, Prescott is pursuing designation as a “Tree City” (pg. 83). Achieving this status would require the city to expand bureaucracy and increase costs for city residents. To be eligible as a “Tree City,” Prescott would need to create a “tree board” or designate a tree czar. They would need to adopt a “municipal tree ordinance” to “protect” public trees, and the organization recommends the city develop their licensure for any person looking to trim, plant, or work on public trees, and even become a certified arborist. The Tree City USA program also creates an unfunded mandate of Prescott taxpayers, requiring a minimum expenditure of $2 per capita every year on “urban forestry”. What does the city get in return for obligating taxpayers and expanding government? Nothing. They get to call themselves a “Tree City.”
This expansion of government authority over routine plant management is excessive and emblematic of something President Trump would undoubtedly sick DOGE on. The Tree City USA section as a whole should be removed, and Prescott City Council should reject adding more layers of unnecessary government.
The city council in Prescott will be voting on the language in its 2025 General Plan on June 3rd; if approved, it will go to the voters on the ballot in November of this year. The majority-Republican city in rural Arizona should be safe from net-zero, anti-car, 15-minute city goals. However, it seems that these bad ideas have seeped into even the reddest of areas.
Republicans have the momentum with President Trump leading the charge to restore sanity in our country. Prescott council should feel empowered to follow in this administration’s footsteps and send a General Plan to the voters that reflects their conservative values.
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