The American Association of Special Districts presents
Southwestern
Special Districts
Governance Summit
September 11-12, 2025
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel
Photo: Mid-America Special Districts Governance Summit; Springfield, Mo.; April 25, 2025
Join fellow special district leaders from across the Southwest beyond for two days of networking, education, and advocacy.
The American Association of Special Districts’ first Southwestern Special Districts Governance Summits will be hosted in Albuquerque, N.M. on September 11-12, 2025. This two-day event will offer thought-provoking and motivating perspectives on longtime and emerging district governance topics – geared special district leaders.
Board members, district managers, and administrators from districts of all stripes will hear perspectives on the importance of community engagement, building intergovernmental relationships for funding success, solutions for procurement, district finance solutions, human resources trends + considerations for special districts, the latest in state + federal advocacy, and best practices for building important relationships with county officials.
AASD strives to deliver these resources in the “backyards” of America’s special purpose government leaders, in regions where such conferences have never occurred, and in a way that is affordable for all types and sizes of special districts.
Register
Full Two-Day Registration
AASD Members: $60
Non-Members: $95
Small District Registration Discounts and Waivers available. Email contact@americasdistricts.org for more information.
Room Block Reserved at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel at $139/night. Includes free airport shuttle and complimentary parking. The Hotel is also walking distance from the ABQ Terminal.
Details provided with registration.
Featured Talks & Speakers
Join fellow special district leaders from across the Southwest for hard-hitting conversations on trending local, state, and federal issues that impact special districts services across Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, West Texas, and beyond.
Agenda Highlights:
Empowering Rural Districts’ Community Services
Olga Morales-Pate | Chief Executive Officer | Rural Community Assistance Partnership
The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) mission is to work with rural communities across the country to elevate rural voices and build local capacity to improve quality of life, starting at the tap.
RCAP is a national network of non-profit partners working to provide technical assistance, training, resources, and support to rural communities across every state, the U.S. territories, and tribal lands. Through RCAP’s regional partners, more than 350 technical assistance providers (TAPs) build long-term, trusted relationships with thousands of communities across the country.
RCAP has a number of initiatives focused on providing technical assistance for water resources and infrastructure and GIS, as well as rural development, disaster recovery and much more.
Join Olga Morales-Pate, CEO of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, for perspectives on trending issues for water, wastewater, and many other districts serving America’s rural communities.
Best Practices and Tools for Community Engagement
Mike Putzu | Granicus – Vangaurd Founding Member
Engaging with your community and stakeholders is a primary key to local governance success. Don’t skip a beat. This presentation will offer insights, best practices, and tools for constituent engagement for the win.
We will also display how the American Association of Special Districts is launching the Public Square for America’s Special Districts using Grancius’ EngagementHQ platform, and how attendees for the Summit can stay engaged with each other after the Summit.
Attendees will learn how to create your own cooperative procurement strategy and take advantage of this procurement tool offered by a variety of organizations.
Navigating Special Districts’ Public Finance Challenges
Melissa Buck | Senior Vice President of Public Finance | UMB Bank
Reagan Holliday | Senior Vice President | UMB Bank
Description coming soon!
Best Practices in Management & Board Relations for Districts
Sara Carroll | Founder / Training Administrator | AZ Districts Solutions | AASD President
Special Districts thrive with the direct involvement of Board Members with the ability to direct and support system staff. Join Sara Carroll has she pulls from her expertise in special district and intergovernmental agreement management to share and emphasize the importance of Board Member’s duties and responsibilities for the Special Districts they govern and to the communities they serve.
Getting Engaged with Local, State, and Federal Partners for Success
Cole Arreola-Karr | Founder/Principal | Special District Strategies, LLC
Join for a perspective on the importance of special districts’ intergovernmental collaboration with county, state, and federal partners. This 60-minute presentation will breakdown some nuances of connecting with each type of government, items to consider with context of current issues, as well as when and how to strike with engagement.
Building the Special District-County Relationship
Moderated Panel Discussion:
Sarah Benatar | Coconino County, Ariz., Treasurer
Brandy Schiller | Pinal County, Ariz., Treasurer’s Office | Administrative Specialist
From budget reporting to collaborating on municipal investment, elections, and more – the relationship between special districts and their county governments is critical. Communication and understanding of how both units of government can coordinate is key to ensuring success.
Join Coconino County Treasurer Sarah Benatar and Brandy Schiller, Administrative Specialist in the Pinal County Treasurer’s Office, as they share best practices for a working, successful relationship from the county officials’ perspective.
AASD thanks our county partners for their support of district services.
Save Time and Money with Cooperative Procurement
Ben Henle | Sourcewell – Vanguard Founding Member
Discover a more efficient way to look at your procurement process that saves time, offers you choices, and delivers better value. This session will discuss the importance of understanding your procurement process and guide you through the advantages of cooperative purchasing, your tool to smarter procurement.
Cooperative procurement has become a widely accepted practice to help local and state governments save time and money. This practice has evolved to cover most products and services special districts need to purchase. This means directors and agency leaders have another tool to save money and reduce overhead while ensuring they get the products they want for their district. You will learn how to create your own cooperative procurement strategy and take advantage of this procurement tool offered by a variety of organizations.
Districts on the Frontlines: Addressing the Water Infrastructure for Firefighting Crisis in the WUI
American Association of Special Districts | National Association of Emergency & Fire Officials
More than 10,000 special districts provide water or fire services across the country, and thousands more have a place in hazard mitigation and risk reduction. But water infrastructure is expensive – and upgrading facilities for adequate fire suppression needs are astronomical for the common district budget.
This presentation covers the landscape of concern for ensuring adequate water supply for fire suppression needs in our communities, and the federal policy gap that prevents robust investment and assistance in this critical need. We’ll also begin to highlight practical solutions for special districts to begin addressing the need.
Federally Defining “Special District” + Trending Policy Rundown
Cole Arreola-Karr | American Association of Special Districts
Raising awareness among special districts of the state and federal policy landscapes impacting district services and arming stakeholders with resources to effectively and successfully advocate on major issues are core elements of AASD’s mission. As we begin to close out the program, AASD will provide perspective on Mid-America legislative trends for special districts and updates on major federal legislative issues for districts in the 119th Congress. We will also cover bipartisan efforts to federally define “special district” in federal law and help place special districts on a more level playing field to access federal programs.
Cole Arreola-Karr
American Association of Special Districts
Sourcewell
Founding Vangaurd Member
Sara Carroll
AZ Districts Solutions
Melissa Buck
UMB Bank
Register Now!
Don’t miss this event for a special purpose. Join fellow special district leaders from across the Southwest. Register today!