Process of Peed land deal, Councilman’s role unsettling to many

The vision of Maricopa’s future city hall complex being housed on 150 acres located about 2 miles west of John Wayne Parkway on SR 238 in Pinal County outside the city limits was first disclosed to the public at a May 2 City Council meeting. In that same meeting, the Council voted 5-1 to approve the $14.6 million land purchase (see related story).

The lone dissenter, Councilman Will Dunn, was “dumbfounded” that the purchase even went to a vote. “I had no idea they really were going to do this,” Dunn said at the time. “I saw it as a negotiating ploy for another piece of property we were looking at.”

In addition, there seemed to be confusion as to Councilman Stephen Baker’s role in the transaction. The fact that Councilman Baker, a licensed real estate agent, was representing the property’s seller, Dennis Peed, was not disclosed during the meeting, according to Dunn.

Baker did recuse himself from the vote, but that did little to appease his fellow council member. “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 after the May 2 vote. “This just looks wrong. It may not be wrong, but it looks wrong.”

In the three and half months that have passed since, the talk of the Peed deal continues to be water-cooler fodder for local Realtors, politicians and residents alike.

Steve Murray, a local agent with Pro America Real Estate, represents a landowner with 43 acres in the city (see related story) and has followed the process from the beginning. “The process was so confusing; there was no (Request for Proposal) or anything done,” he said. “Originally we heard 20 acres, then we heard 60 acres would be ideal. And the next thing we know it’s a 145 or 160.”

“The whole thing is an absolute mess,” Murray said about the Peed Property. “Why haven’t they ordered ALTA surveys? Why haven’t they done environmental surveys?”

“An ALTA survey is in our possession,” Rick Buss, Maricopa’s City Manager, said yesterday. “To my knowledge, there are no issues with the ALTA survey.”

Buss also said a Phase I environmental study was done on the property but he could not confirm when either the ALTA survey or environmental studies were completed.

“The way this has been handled is horrible,” Murray said. “They did it without anybody knowing about it and there was no counter (offer) to my knowledge. I can’t imagine a $14 million real estate deal they didn’t counter; I’ve never heard of that.”

Murray continued, “If they’re this lax in their purchasing a $14 million property, I don’t want to think about what’s going with the small stuff.”

Wendy Nelson, an agent with Long Realty Alliance, also represents a competing property and is equally miffed at the path the City has taken. “There are zoning, highway and railroad issues,” Nelson said about the Peed property. “They haven’t done any traffic studies and, in my opinion, if you’re going to be spending $15 million on a piece of ground, you’d do the due diligence in advance.”

A concerned citizen, Byron Fanning, Sr., is also frustrated. “The way it was originally done smells of power politics and has no regard for the citizenry,” Fanning said. “It was done in a vacuum.” Fanning is a real estate agent by profession, but not involved in any of the deals being considered by the City.

Adding fuel to the speculative fire is the question of whether or not the commission Baker would earn on the Peed sale was affected by his position on the City Council.

Wendy Nelson thinks it did. “Steve Baker is unfairly being enriched because he was in on those meetings when they decided to look for property,” she said. “There is nothing magical about Steve Baker being the agent; he just happened to be in the executive session behind closed doors and knew about it… the property was for sale by owner.”

inmaricopa.com asked Baker how he ended up as the listing agent on a property that was “For Sale By Owner.” “To be honest with you, a lot of the people out here, they don’t necessarily need a realtor,” Baker responded. “It’s not a solid listing; if he sold it on his own I wouldn’t be involved in it. I had a non-exclusive listing. I’ve had verbal and written non-exclusive listings with a lot of people in town.”

When asked to review his contract with Peed, Baker said, “I’m not giving it to you. That’s my real estate business; that’s not your business.”

Steve Murray indicated Baker could have used his influence to move the(Peed) proposal through. Murray said, “This was done before anyone knew anything about it. It’s ugly. Even if there is absolutely nothing going on, the appearance is horrible.”