Tom Belshe – Bio
Tom Belshe is the Executive Director for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. From January 2005 until January of 2020, he served as the Deputy Director for the League. From October 2001 until December of 2004, Tom served as an Assistant Deputy Director for the Department of Commerce overseeing the operations of the Community Development Division. He also served as Executive Director of the Greater Arizona Development Authority (GADA) where he was appointed in September of 1999. From July of 1998 until his appointment as Executive Director, Mr. Belshe worked as the Community Development Manager for GADA developing the Technical Assistance and the Community Outreach Programs. Before joining the GADA staff, he worked for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns for five years where he coordinated the Technical Assistance program which includes the League’s training program, publications, conferences, website and inquiry program. Mr. Belshe also worked in the City Manager’s Office for the City of Provo, Utah.

Mr. Belshe received his Bachelor of Science in Economics and his Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University.

Bryant Powell – Bio
Bryant Powell has been City Manager for the City of Apache Junction since 2015. As City Manager, he assists the City Council in developing and implementing a successful strategic plan to maintain and enhance the quality of life of all those who live, visit, work or invest in the City of Apache Junction. Bryant has been with the City, previously functioning as the Assistant City Manager, in 2003 and Assistant to the City Manager since 2001.

Prior to coming to the City of Apache Junction, Bryant served as a Sr. Budget Analyst for the City of San Antonio from 1998 to 2001. Before that, he served as a Management Intern with the City Manager’s Office in Cedar City, Utah; Orem, Utah; and Orange, California.

Bryant holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Utah University. Bryant lives in Apache Junction is married and has three daughters.

Patrick Banger – Bio
Patrick S. Banger was appointed City Manager in August 2011. Patrick has more than 24 years of local government experience in addition to 7 years of executive level leadership in the private sector.

During Patrick’s tenure Gilbert has become the 79th largest city in the U.S., with a growing population of 281,436. Patrick has been a key leader in the process of transforming Gilbert into one of the most sought-after places for residential living and corporate expansions and relocations. He is a forward- thinking, change-orientated leader and has been instrumental in helping Gilbert become one of the most prestigious and award-winning communities in the nation. Since 2011, Gilbert’s financial performance has excelled and was recognized as the top performing city in the nation post-recession, tripling its general fund reserves, and receiving thirty six credit rating upgrades culminating in AAA ratings from all three agencies; Moody’s Investor Service, Fitch and S&P placing Gilbert in the top .002% of cities in the nation.

Patrick has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from Missouri State University and a Master of Arts Degree in Management from Webster University. He is an active member of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Sr. Staff Committee, Past Chairman of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Management Board, current President-elect of the Arizona City/County Management Association (ACMA) and a former Honorary Base Commander at Luke Air Force Base. He also received the 2019 John J. ‘Jack’ Debolski Award for Excellence in City Management by the Arizona City/County Management Association, the highest award ACMA bestows on a public official.

Jenn Daniels – Bio
Jenn Daniels is an expert in navigating the nuances and complexities of municipal government. She served in elected leadership for over a decade as a Council Member, Vice-Mayor and the Mayor of Gilbert, Arizona. Jenn led the Town to earn AAA bond ratings from all three rating agencies, opened three new parks, and transformed the Heritage District into a regional destination with some of the best restaurants in Arizona.

Jenn’s public and private sector experience spans a broad spectrum of responsibilities. She has a deep understanding of critical infrastructure, transportation planning and policy, and economic development strategies. Jenn is currently serving a six year term on the Arizona State Transportation Board and also serves as a board member for the Arizona Commerce Authority. Jenn is a Rodel Fellow, a Senior Housing Fellow for the Common Sense Institute, and in 2020, Jenn was named as an Arizona Capitol Times “Leader of the Year”.

Jenn’s true talent is her innate love of people and ability to organize anything. Her four kids keep getting older while she is unsuccessfully working on reverse-aging. She loves to hike, bake delicious treats, and be out and about in Arizona or wherever her travels take her with friends and family.

Mayor Craig McFarland – Bio
Mayor Craig McFarland has lived in Casa Grande since 2005. He retired from Golden Eagle Distributors in January 2015 as VP of Sales and has 36 years’ experience in sales, marketing, and operations management.

McFarland started his first term as Mayor in December 2016 and is now in his fourth and final term which started Dec 2022 and ends in Dec 2024.

His priorities include; implementation of the City Strategic Plan and 2030 General Plan, pushing for 1-10 widening, Marketing the City of Casa Grande, developing and implement his homeless coalition called CGHELPs and affordable housing projects, improving Quality of Life projects like the Community Recreation Center & Trails system, supporting Education & Workforce Development, developing plans for Down Town Redevelopment, building new Business and Industrial Opportunities and supporting Regional Economic Development.

City of Casa Grande has grown exponentially during his 7 years in office with companies like Lucid Electric Motor Company, Kohler, and semiconductor support industry like CCCP, Kanto, LCY and Solvay. All this industry represents a capital expenditure of $2.6 billion and over 7,000 new full-time jobs.

Mayor McFarland has been married to his best friend, Nancy, for over 46 years.

Christian Price – Bio
Christian Price is the President & CEO of the Maricopa Economic Development Alliance (or MEDA). Christian and his family have been residents of Maricopa since early 2005. Christian is an enormous advocate of networking – meeting new people and establishing relationships because he strongly believes that good working relationships helps directly influence the quality of life of the residents of the Maricopa region through an enhanced economic development climate. For more than 23+ years, Christian has been an entrepreneur and small business owner. He is a professional Financial Advisor and is a partner in the Sierra Wealth Group LLC., a Registered Investment Advisory firm.

Christian has been actively engaged in regional, statewide and national organizations, bringing his dynamic leadership to many endeavors that focus on economic development, infrastructure, transportation and other areas that impact community vitality and sustainability. He was most recently, the Mayor of the City of Maricopa, serving the residents and the State of Arizona from 2012 to 2022. During this time, he was the President of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, Member of the Arizona Commerce Authority's Board of Directors, Regional Councilmember and member of the Transportation committee of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), Officer & Chair of the statewide I-11 Coalition, Board of Director of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council & Chair of GPEC's Ambassador's program, Chair of the Pinal County Governmental Alliance, officer of the Lower Santa Cruz River Alliance, distinguished fellow of the Flinn-Brown Leadership Academy and participant/officer of many other boards, commissions and non-profits. And for the past 12 years he has maintained regular attendance at the Arizona State Transportation Board of Directors meetings, held monthly around the state.

Larry Rains – Bio
Larry D. Rains has 34 years of municipal government experience, where he has served four cities in the capacity of Finance Director, Deputy City Manager, and City Manager. He began his municipal government career in 1989 when he accepted the position as accountant for the Town of Clifton. He was promoted to Finance Director the proceeding year. In 1991 he accepted the Finance Officer position with the City of Willcox. He served in this capacity for 2 ½ years before taking office with the City of Eloy as the Finance Director/Assistant City Manager. In October 1994, Larry was appointed City Manager of Willcox by the Mayor and City Council. He served in this role for 8 ½ years before accepting the post of Finance Director for the City of Casa Grande in 2002. In 2008 he was promoted to the position of Deputy City Manager with the City and has served as the City Manager for the past 7 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and a Master Degree in Business Administration.

Larry has always prided himself on building a strong organization and community. He is a firm believer of teamwork, creating a positive and productive environment, and developing collaborative partnerships. Over the course of the last 30 plus years, Larry Rains has been successful at leading several organizational and community initiatives. Some of the most rewarding aspects of this tenured career were creating efficient and effective business processes, developing and implementing comprehensive financial plans, leading collective and successful organizational strategic planning efforts, leading strong economic and community development activities, planning and completing capital improvement projects, and working with constituents and stakeholders to solve problems to improve the overall quality of life. Larry is most proud of building consensus with the Mayor, City Council, constituents, and staff to establish and implement strategic plans that paved the way to successfully completing these initiatives and projects, while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.

Larry has two children, a daughter, Mckenzie, and a son, Payton who are his inspiration and motivation and one of the primary reasons he has dedicated his professional life to public service.

Jeff Tyne – Bio
Jeff Tyne Jeff is a Senior Vice President for SGR, which specializes in offering local government solutions in such areas as recruitment and leadership development. Jeff currently lives in Arizona, where he amassed over thirty years of experience in local government management. Jeff served in various leadership positions throughout his career, most recently for six years as the City Manager for Peoria, Arizona. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and a Masters in Public Administration, both from Arizona State University. He also attended the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University and is an ICMA Credentialed Manager.

During his government service, Jeff gained specialized experience in public budgeting, strategic management, finance, and overseeing a host of operations. Jeff has always enjoyed being active in the local government profession. For a number of years, Jeff was a Trustee with the Arizona State Retirement System, the largest pension fund in Arizona. Jeff was also on the Board of Directors for the Arizona City/County Management Association, former chair of the Government Finance Officers Association National Committee on Economic Development and Capital Planning, and Past President of the Government Finance Officers Association of Arizona.

As his career progressed, Jeff recognized that a community’s quality of life is strongly connected with the health of their public organization. To that end, Jeff developed strategies that better connect his team to the people they serve. By aligning elected official priorities, committing to professional standards, crafting positive public engagements, and encouraging individualized staff growth, Jeff believes that local governments can go to great lengths to build the trust and confidence of their community.