City manager likely to step down

Editor’s note: Mayor Nancy Smith declined to respond to questions about City Manager Rick Horst stepping down and the city’s search for his replacement, citing a lack of knowledge about the issue. After this story published, she provided this comment to InMaricopa:

“I will say, based on conversations with developers who have brought retail and commercial to Maricopa since the city manager has been here, [they] have touted that they seriously love Maricopa and give much credit for their successful arrival to their working relationship with the city manager.”

It appears the end of an era is fast approaching.  

Maricopa City Council will decide Tuesday whether to end Rick Horst’s tenure as city manager effective July 1, 2024, according to city documents. 

The council will discuss recruiting a new city manager during a special city council meeting next week, the documents show. 

An employment contract shows Horst may take on a new role as a chief strategy officer next year, working for about 18 months alongside a new city manager.  

In that role, Horst would work fewer hours and see a pay cut. The agreement lists the annual salary at $174,500, a 21% reduction compared to his current $222,000 salary. 

As CSO, Horst would be tasked with imagining “what could be” in Maricopa, according to a job description. 

That includes breathing new life into PHX Surf, the waterpark that promised “ocean views and the sound of crashing waves breaking in the desert sun” before most of the plans were trashed earlier this year. 

Horst and Mayor Nancy Smith declined to comment. 

In June 2018, Horst replaced then-City Manager Gregory Rose, who left for a similar role in Missouri. Horst took the reins with a vision of holistic success. 

“I feel my primary job is to create an environment where everyone can succeed, whether that’s a single parent or a church or small business or a big business or a developer,” he told InMaricopa in 2021. “I don’t want to create the city of Maricopa’s wealth, I want to create the community’s wealth.”