Frustrations with “staff-run city” mount

Maricopa’s City Council gathered for a special meeting Thursday at the Maricopa Agricultural Center. The primary purpose of the two-hour meeting was to review the tentative 2006-07 fiscal year budget, but the majority of the discussion dealt with the last-minute nature of important council decisions and a perceived burnout of key city staffers.

Roger Kolman, the city’s finance director, began his budget presentation apologizing for not having gotten the information to the city council members earlier, a comment that foreshadowed a later debate, followed by a statement describing the sense of urgency surrounding the approval process. “In order for us to hit our statutory requirement,” he said, “we have to adopt the budget on July 5; that is next Wednesday.”

At the conclusion of his presentation, Kolman requested any changes from the council as soon as possible “because we are under such a gun” time wise.

Mayor Kelly Anderson (left) and IT director Richard Terrell were among those attending the city council meeting at the Maricopa Ag Center.

The discussion quickly turned from the revenues and expenses to the timeliness of the process as the tight time frame forced upon the city council did not sit well with several members.

Councilman Will Dunn was visibly upset that this was the first time he had seen the proposed budget. Dunn, who in recent weeks voted against the city’s $15 million land purchase and a development agreement with Vestar, citing the city’s hurried request and lack of time for council to review the issues, said, “I’m not saying you’re not working as hard as you can, but this last-minute stuff has got to stop.”

According to Councilman Edward Farrell, other city councils spend three to five months reviewing budgets, versus the three to five days Maricopa’s council was given. Farrell said council members from other cities in the county were “flabbergasted” by the predicament in which the Maricopa council finds itself.

Members of the council listen to a presentation by City Manager Rick Buss.

“We’re late,” city manager Rick Buss conceded. “We’re understaffed, and we’re late.”

“If we’re understaffed, let’s go get staff,” Farrell exclaimed. “I want to see the fire back in everybody’s eyes. Everybody’s burned out.”

Dunn said he’d been asking about the budget for two months, and that “giving it to me today to approve next week is not right. It’s just not right.”

“We don’t have any say in this,” Dunn continued. “I feel like we’ve been put in a bad position.”

Farrell echoed Dunn’s sentiment, saying, “We’re asked to approve this budget in five days without being involved in it.”

The city’s budget has gone from about $580,000 to $75 million in just three years, and, according to Dunn, “we took more time on the five hundred thousand dollars than the seventy-five million.”

“Staff-run city”
Dunn rhetorically asked how a $75 million budget can be created without council input. “It’s not our goals and objectives,” Dunn said. “Because you don’t know what our goals and objectives are.”

Dunn noted that the council has gone on just two retreats since the city incorporated and asked, “Why have we not gotten together and retreated and been leaders for our staff?”

“It doesn’t need to be a staff-run city; it needs to be a council-run city,” Farrell said. “And it’s not.”

Dunn addressed Mayor Kelly Anderson, saying, “Kelly, you’ve been elected as mayor here. You need to step up and do it.”

Anderson accepted the challenge with a response indicative of the current communication challenges. “I’ll do a better job,” he said. “And give me a call sometime.”

Describing Mayor Anderson as the group’s “spokesman,” Councilman Joe Estes said “It’s all our responsibility; it’s all our fault.”

“He’s not our spokesman,” Farrell contended. “He’s our leader.”

Farrell also praised Mayor Anderson for his recent weekly reports to the council, saying he has been more informed the last two weeks than at any time in the last two years.

“The reality of the matter is,” Farrell said, “at the end of the day, staff doesn’t have to answer to the public; we do.”