Council vote Thursday could yield $400K for member

A Maricopa councilmember will make $400,000 in taxpayers’ money Thursday night if City Council exercises an option to purchase the controversial Peed property (see related stories from May 19 and August 22).

Councilmember Stephen Baker and his firm, AMS Real Estate, LLC, will earn this windfall commission for Baker’s representation as the seller’s real estate agent in a deal with the city to buy land for a permanent city hall site.

The purchase of this property was originally postponed after members of the business and residential community raised question to the quality of the property and ethics of the deal. Although the deal was proven to be legal, the city optioned the property and paid roughly $30,000 for an evaluation of Peed and five other properties by HDR Studio Concepts (see related story).

The city has three options tomorrow: extend the option to buy at the cost of $100,000, forgo the property and focus on another option or proceed with the purchase of the property.

The decision is expected to come as a five-member vote, since Baker is expected to recuse himself, and Councilmember Kelly Haddad will not be in attendance.

Historically, the council has voted as follows: Mayor Kelly Anderson and Vice Mayor Brent Murphree have voted for the purchase of the property with Councilmembers Will Dunn and Edward Farrell voting against it. Councilmember Joseph Estes has voted for the purchase, but later initiated the motion and rallied the council to exercise the purchase extension, so council could look at other properties.

Tomorrow’s meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Maricopa High School’s Summit cafeteria located at 45012 West Honeycutt Ave.