THATCHER — Graham County has a voice with the state’s newest regional authority.
As of Dec. 15, Lee Patterson was appointed by Speaker of the state House Rusty Bowers to the Southern Arizona Sports, Tourism and Film Authority.
“First of all, I’m excited to be on the ground level of a brand-new authority that was just created for six counties. And potentially bring some sports and tourism funding to Graham County,” Patterson said.
Patterson, who is the voice of sports on KATO AM 1230, has also been asked to serve on the authority’s bylaw subcommittee.
State Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, sponsored the creation of the authority, which is designed to increase tourism, sports activity and filming in Greenlee, Graham, Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz and Pinal counties.
The authority will have a governing board of 11, composed of one person from each county, one from the three Native American tribes in the six counties, and four people considered expert in one of four fields — filmmaking, tourism, sports and economic development. Appointments will be made by Bowers, the governor and the president of the state Senate.
Once all appointments have been made, the first action of the authority’s board will be to hire staff, including an executive director.
