Editor’s note: Click on links to see video clips from the event.
FLAGSTAFF — With issues ranging from federal funding cuts to local health care, highway construction, homeless shelters, food services, wildfire and flooding prevention projects to staffing cuts at local universities and national parks — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said she wanted to hear it all so she can include the feedback of myriad lawsuits being filed by nearly two dozen state attorneys general against the Trump administration.
Coconino County residents provided that information and much more during Mayes’s Flagstaff Town Hall held on April 15, 2025, at the Coconino Center for the Arts. With a capacity-stretching standing-room-only crowd approaching 300, local government officials, former government workers, community service providers and others shared a variety of stories on how the administration financial cuts and funding delays have impacted the region.
The most heart-wrenching stories came from local residents and veterans who are on the verge of or have lost their government jobs and are forced to fend for themselves as they try to pay for housing, food and medical services, with many saying they will be forced to leave Flagstaff and region to find jobs elsewhere.
Coconino County District 1 Supervisor and Vice Chair Patrice Horstman introduced Mayes telling the audience that Mayes wants to hear their stories.
“We have a voice. Let’s use it,” Horstman said.
After thanking the audience for attending the event, Mayes opened the town hall with an overview of the lawsuits against the Trump administration, which included an impressive list of newspaper headlines, and details on stopping the federal funding freeze, cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that affects Northern Arizona University, filing a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing 25,000 probationary workers, and the injunction to stop the administration from eliminating the entire Department of Education.
Mayes said it is the job of Congress to stop Trump from executing unconstitutional orders but until then the Democratic state attorneys general will continue to fight.
She plans to continue to do as many town halls as possible because she continues to learn about violations to court orders by the Trump administration and shares that information with the other 23 state attorneys general.
Mayes talked about a variety of issues impacting Northern Arizona including decisions by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and cuts to Indian Health Services and concerns that we are in the midst of a coup.
“Fight for your country,” she said. “Do it now. Do it now because if we do not do it now there may not be time to do it later.”
Horstman then took to the microphone to talk about the impact of the federal financial cuts to Coconino County, which were followed by presentations by County Health and Human Services Director Michele Axlund, Forest Manager Jay Smith, District 2 Supervisor Jeronimo Vasquez and District 4 Supervisor and Chair Judy Begay.
Other speakers included former Flagststaff City Councilmember Deborah Harris, who talked about cuts to local safety information programs; North County Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Anne Newland, who spoke of the effort by the Trump administration to change the language of NCHC’s website to make it less inclusive; and former Arizona State Sen. Jamescita Mae Peshlakai and Julie Comnick, interim executive director of the Coconino Center for the Arts.
Other community speakers included a veteran concerned about the Trump’s administrations move toward an authoritarian regime, another veteran who is concerned about her federal job and loss of healthcare, current and former federal employees and family members, Ron Lee, a member of the local indigenous community concerned about food insecurity, and an educator.
Community members were also concerned that administration is ignoring court orders and is seeking to overturn the constitution. Maye said the time to fight, vote and protest is now.
The audience gave Mayes a standing ovation and urged everyone to voice their opinions, protest and vote.
“Everyone single one of you is a patriot and don’t ever let anybody take that word away from us,” she said.
Also see:
• Great Circle Media — Attorney General Kris Mayes Hosted Town Hall Meeting Tuesday Night
• KNAU — ‘Attempted coup on our democracy,’ AG Kris Mayes tells packed Flagstaff town hall
• Office of Attorney General Kris Mayes (Facebook) — A heartbreaking story from yesterday’s town hall in Flagstaff
• Office of Attorney General Kris Mayes — Attention Arizona: Report Continued Funding Issues
