Supervisor Harry B Oberg
Harry B. Oberg is a longtime resident of Prescott whose father, Nils, emigrated here from Sweden in 1929 to work in ranching throughout Yavapai County, and was a deputized county brand inspector in the 1930’s. In 1949, Harry was brought to Prescott by his parents at the age of 2 after they had completed their service with the U.S. Army in the European Theater during WWII. He attended Prescott schools and graduated from Prescott High in 1965.
After receiving Army helicopter flight training, Harry served two tours in Vietnam—first as an Army “Aerial Scout” pilot where he was wounded in combat operations and convalesced for several months at his parents’ home in Congress, AZ. His second tour was as a “Flying Crane” pilot, which included duty in Laos. His combat decorations include 2-Distinguished Flying Crosses, 2-Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, 34-Air Medals, and numerous service achievement awards. Harry pursued his 33-year Army career until April 2000 retiring at the rank of Colonel in the Army and as a Brigadier General in the Army National Guard.
Harry received a bachelor’s degree in accounting/business from Northern Arizona University, a master’s degree in international relations from Salva Regina University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. Immediately prior to retirement, Harry worked as a Pentagon budget director managing a $1.5 Billion logistics budget providing equipment and supplies for Army National Guard units deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq. After retirement in 2007 Harry and his wife, Jeanna, returned to Prescott, Arizona.
In 2015, Harry decided to give back to his local community by running and being elected mayor of Prescott. As Mayor, Harry worked extensively with the State Legislature on the issues of Sober Living Home management and resolving the growing insolvency of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. He also initiated the work that led to improvements at the Prescott Regional Airport including a 20-year airport master plan and the construction of the new airport terminal.
After his mayoral term Harry served his community on boards and committees including the Western Heritage Center/Foundation, Sunup Rotary Club, VFW POST 541, Rodeo Advisory Board, and the Friends of the Airport. He is currently the 1st Vice Chairman of the Yavapai County GOP Committee and VP of the Yavapai Republican Men’s Forum Board.
Harry’s goals as supervisor include:
- Restoring and reinvigorating economic prosperity in the county
- Effectively conserving and managing our scarce resources
- Streamlining county services to make every tax dollar deliver for taxpayers
- Improving county traffic/transportation infrastructure