Maricopa City Councilman Stephen Baker and the real estate firm he works for stand to make more than $435,000 for representing the landowner selling Maricopa 150 acres for its town hall complex, according to the sales contract.
The City Council voted 5-1 on May 2 to spend more than $14 million to buy about 150 acres at $14,608,200, or $97,000 per acre (see related story). The contract notes that the property owner used Stephen Baker (right), a licensed Realtor, as its agent, also noting that he is a Maricopa City Council member. The contract states that the seller would pay a 3 percent commission. Brokers and agents typically split such commissions, with the agent receiving the majority.
Before the land purchase discussion at the city council meeting, Baker got up and sat in the audience, taking part in neither the discussion nor the vote – a common event when an elected official has a conflict of interest. Neither he nor anyone from the city, however, disclosed publicly what his conflict was.
Baker was asked this week whether he saw the appearance of a conflict of interest in the arrangement. “I do not, sir,” he responded. “I have a right to work in this town, do I not?”
Baker has been a real estate agent for less than a year. He declined to answer whether he had been involved in any real estate transactions of this magnitude, referring all other questions to City Manager Rick Buss.
“I’m not going to comment on it further,” Baker said, “because as far as I’m concerned you’re trying to blow it out of proportion.”
Council member Will Dunn, the only “nay” vote on the land purchase, said no one had explained what Baker’s conflict of interest was during the meeting and that he voted against the deal for other reasons.
“I thought the whole deal, aside from this issue, is a bad deal for the city. This puts another bad light on it,” Dunn said this week. “This just looks wrong. It may not be wrong, but it looks wrong.”
Dunn added that “I absolutely do not think he’s doing anything illegal. Everything should have been disclosed a little more.”
Dunn’s original complaints about the purchase are:
* that the city didn’t shop enough for other, perhaps better and cheaper parcels;
* that the city hall complex should be closer to the center of town, where its location would benefit existing merchants more;
* that the police complex also will be too far west to be effectively located;
* and that the city seems to be speculating in land because staff told him Maricopa needs 50-60 acres and it’s buying 150 acres.
Since the purchase decision, Dunn said, he has heard from a couple of Maricopa real estate agents who said if they knew the city was looking for land, they would find something.
Peed Equipment Company is the seller of the land on which the City plans to build City Hall.
The land is on the north side of SR 238 about two miles west of John Wayne Pkwy.
The May 2 vote to purchase the land was made at the first meeting where it was disclosed to the public that Maricopa was even looking at that parcel.
“I had no idea they really were going to do this,” said Dunn. “I saw it as a negotiating ploy for another piece of property we were looking at. I was actually dumbfounded.”
City Manger Rick Buss returned a call from a reporter for inmaricopa.com regarding the transaction, but they missed connections and did not speak directly. Through the city’s management assistant, Buss was asked what real estate professional represented the city, whether other parcels were considered and whether Buss had given thought to whether Councilman Baker’s large commission in a city land purchase constituted a conflict of interest or the appearance of such. Buss issued the following statement regarding the purchase process:
“Yes, many other parcels were considered and for varying reasons were not selected. I would guess that we looked at 15-20 different properties, with five particular properties being at the forefront. The City did not engage the services of a real estate agent or consultant. Research, review, and evaluation of the sites were conducted by staff, with Planning, Public Works, Engineering, Finance, City Attorney, and my office carrying the brunt of the work.”
Councilman Kelly Haddad said that while he believes the approval of the purchase might have been rather quick, it was a good decision for Maricopa.
“I believe we could have taken a little bit more time to evaluate the market and see what’s out there, but overall I really don’t think it’s a bad purchase,” he said. Haddad added that he is a real estate agent who keeps his eye on the market, and the price seems reasonable.
The complex will provide a one-stop shop for Maricopa residents, Haddad said, and the land not needed by the city could be used for a park and/or to entice companies and jobs to town, which could ease rush hour traffic going to jobs in the Valley.
“I see a lot of things that we can do with the excess property, so I don’t necessarily have a problem with that,” Haddad said. “I believe the city should buy a lot of land.”
Haddad said the downsides of location are offset by it being accessible on a major thoroughfare toward Mobile and Gila Bend.
Regarding Councilman Baker’s role as an agent for the seller to the city, Haddad said, “I can see where public perception might not be favorable, but as a real estate agent myself, if I had the listing myself, I’d hate to have to back out of that because of the perception. But sometimes perception is reality, and you have to walk a fine line being an elected official.”
Dunn remains unsatisfied with the deal.
“Do I think anyone did anything wrong intentionally? Absolutely not,” Dunn said. “But do I think we did it wrong? Absolutely.”
If the transaction goes through as anticipated, Baker’s commission also will have been earned on the same night that council members voted themselves a salary for the first time, $1,000 a month.
