Pay cuts for 2 city consultants recommended

Maricopa City Manager Kevin Evans recommended that the City Council reduce the pay for two high-level consultants, but he advised continuing the current arrangement with the lawyer who contracts with the city at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Evans had been asked by the council to look into the amount Maricopa pays for the services of lawyer Denis Fitzgibbons, senior economic development consultant Ioanna Morfessis and airport consultant Ed Beauvais and whether the city should phase out the consultants or possibly hire city staff to fill their roles (see related story).

Evans suggested the council should look at reducing the compensation and workload for Morfessis, who earned $180,000 last year, and Beauvais ($150,000), not only to save the city some money but also because city staff is increasing their roles in projects on which the part-time consultants are involved.

The proposal called for Morfessis’ pay to be cut to $7,500 per month, or $90,000 a year, starting July 1, and then further reduced to $5,000 per month a year later. The same amount in pay reduction was recommended for Beauvais, but with the second phase beginning in January 2010.

While Evans advised reducing both consultants’ compensation and involvement, he warned against suddenly and completely severing the city’s relationship with the pair.

“You don’t want to lose the ground you’ve gained to date,” he said.

As for Fitzgibbons, Evans said the city’s relationship with the lawyer was a bit more complicated. Evans said he reviewed how other municipalities handled their legal matters, either with a city attorney on staff or contracting the business out, and determined that Maricopa’s current agreement with the office of Fitzgibbons, which was paid $394,660 last year by the city, was quite favorable in terms of rates. Fitzgibbons charges the city $155 an hour for civil work, and $135 an hour on criminal cases.

“Their value and comparative cost is excellent,” Evans said. “…If you have an in-house attorney, that’s wasted air that you’re paying for. At $155 an hour, I promise you’re not going to have an inside attorney for that. You (would also) have to pay the support.”

The council will study Evans’ recommendations before deciding on whether to take action on the proposal.

“This is the beginning of the discussion process,” Evans said. “…This is the time to do it because we’re starting the budget process.”

During the meeting, the council approved several agenda items, including the city’s participation in a free prescription discount card for residents, the purchase of a water truck and road grader for road maintenance and buying the interior furnishings for the new Maricopa Public Library.

Photo by David Argabright