Conflict of Interest In our Town "Updated"

As always the Town of Buckeye continuously receives bad press as a result of certain key officials and their self motivated agendas. This is not news this is embarrassing!

As reported by The Buckeye Sun in their March 6th edition as well as a well written blog by Republic editorial writer Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor on Feb 28th Councilman Hardesty has push the limits of his position for the last time. Both articles have brought to the forefront the ultimate questions “Conflict of Interest or Not?”

If you have not had a chance to read either article contact the Buckeye Sun (480)204-4511 to request a back issue and use the following link to review the Republic blog. As a result of this latest and past news on Councilman Hardesty, public polls have shown an overwhelming outcry by the public that he should either resign or be recalled. As of today this was the latest poll statics for on AZCentral.com in the lower right hand corner.

The question

About eight months after Buckeye Councilman David Hardesty voted to award Core Construction a $1.7 million contract to build Town Hall; the construction firm hired his company to do the insulation work. Is this a conflict of interest?

Yes: 91.60%
No: 8.40%
Total Votes: 119

As a result of this recent news an action is presently underway to recall Councilman Hardesty. Within the upcoming weeks volunteers will begin a door to door campaign gathering the required signatures for his recall. Rumor has it that there is at least four candidates ready to run for his council seat later this year.

As long as we are on the subject of recall lets talk about another Councilman who is also being recalled and signatures are already being collected. We are speaking about Councilman McAchran.

While searching public records we learned Councilman McAchran had a questionable background in multiple areas i.e. past employment and other business ventures. Just recently public record searches show beginning in late February we have noted new documents have been filed possibly as an effort to clean up ones trail. As a result of this most recent activity we have decided to focus primarily on the Councilman McAchran's 2008 campaign and the promises he has not kept. This by itself is enough to question Councilman McAchran's integrity, honesty as well as his moral and ethical demeanor

The following story “Buckeye councilman's past raises questions” written by Rebekah L. Sanders - May. 22, 2008 Arizona Republic; should definitely shed some light on the Councilman's past. As far as his campaign promises for transparency, fiscal accountability and honest government go... we have not seen any indication that these promises will ever transpire. Therefore one would have to ask is Councilman McAchran truly working in the best interest of the town. If you feel we need to bring better government to the town of Buckeye, then encourage everyone to let your voices be heard by signing the recall petition in district one when it is presented to you.

We will begin next week providing a weekly signature count summary on both recalls. We are also looking for additional volunteers. If you would like to volunteer a few hours a week to help insure a better future for Buckeye through better government, please contact us by email at rfbuckeye@gmail.com.

UPDATE to Ms. Guy’s Salary Increase

As previously reported in my last blog it was pointed out the Buckeye’s Town Manager Ms. Guy had given her self a 5% salary increase. Today according to my sources Ms. Guy now has decided not to receive this salary increase.

Though the information I received came from a reliable source it has yet to be confirmed. I hope to have a more accurate confirmation within the next couple of days. In my opinion this sudden change of heart if true does not change the facts.

The facts are Ms Guy is still under qualified and continuing to cost the town money. My advice to Ms. Guy is to simply resign before even more damaging information is exposed. The same goes for anyone else who has used their position for personal gain other than normal honest employment.

Why is Buckeye’s City Officials any Different from the rest?

With today’s economy hitting budgets hard everywhere, many are being forced to take pay cuts and worst case layoffs. With this being said, I would like to know why Buckeye’s Town officials are any different. Many other town officials throughout Arizona are taking pay cuts and reducing employee’s hours rather then laying them off.

Over the last few months we have seen 8% of Buckeye’s town workers laid off as a result of budget cuts and talks of potentially more to come. Though this is what the Town’s citizens are being told, I find it odd the Town’s management was able to receive a pay increase.

The entire pay increase does not make much sense however; one pay increase which disturbs me the most is the 5% salary increase taken by Town Manager Ms. Guy. This is disturbing for multiple reasons beginning with her lack of credentials and education. First let's examine here experience…

Experience:

~ 1992 – 2001: The Town’s website states she was the Director of the Public Library, everyone knows she was the librarian.

~ 2001 – 2006: Director of Parks / Recreation and Libraries.

~ July 2006 – January 2007: Community Services Director and Interim Town Manager.

~ October 2007 – April 2008: Interim Town Manager.

~ April 2008 – Present: Appointed permanent Town Manager with stipulations to her ongoing employment.

Education:

~ High School Graduate

Taking her experience and education in mind I do not understand why the Town feels she is worth $168,000.00 a year. When she was appointed to the position by the Council certain requirements / stipulations had to be achieved in order for to maintain her position. The most critical was she was to obtain certification for town manager which was to be completed in December 2008. To date this goal has not been met. I find based on an email to the Council as well as the quote from Ms. Guy in an article in the Arizona Republic (Feb. 10, 2009) I feel the certification is not forth coming therefore she is in breach of her original agreement at the time of her appointment to her position.

The Arizona Republic quoted her "there is no particular certification required for a town manager." She said she chose to focus on completing her bachelor's degree at the University of Phoenix, which she is still pursuing, rather than get a certification. Additional statements were made by Ms. Guy and I would encourage all to read the article.

You can find this article here:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/02/10/20090210swv-certification0210-ON.html

So far Councilman Rioux is the only council person who has showed concern about Ms. Guy’s Breach of her oral agreement. I am sure Councilman Rioux’s has strong reasons why he made his statement in the same article about his desire to replace Ms. Guy and her Assistant Scott Rounds. He was quoted to saying the following;

“Rioux said the town could have interim replacements for Guy and Assistant Town Manager Scott Rounds, within 48 hours, from a pool of qualified individuals approved by the Arizona League of Cities and Towns. The interim managers would stay on while the town conducted a national search for permanent replacements, he said.

Rioux said that a more experienced manager might have been able to avoid the layoffs Buckeye implemented in November, when the town cut 39 employees.

"I want to act right away," Rioux said. "I've tried to be positive . . . We are lost in so many ways."

Since I have been following this I have found Ms. Guy is truly under qualified as well as overpaid

The following has been derived from my research;

QUALIFICATIONS 2008 RECRUITMENT

Through my research I have found the National basic qualifications for a Town/City Manager of which Ms. Guy does not even come close to are the following.


Education & Experience Requirements

~ A minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Government, Political Science or Public Administration and related fields; a Master's in Public Administration is preferred, along with advanced education at senior management institutes/programs.

~ Certification as a Public Manager through ICMA or similar associations is also preferred.

~ Ten plus years experience as an City Manager in a high growth community of 50,000+ residents or as a Assistant Town Manager in a community of 75,000 residents or larger; or other combination of experience and training sufficient to perform the duties of the position. Such as Experience as an Executive.

~ Director or General Manager in a Special Services District, Utility, Economic Development Agency or similar environments would be beneficial.

~ Applicants must demonstrate ability to proactively engage community interests and collaborate on differences in opinion and philosophy, a strong background in employee and labor relations, innovation in community relations and communications programs a background in municipal finance and creation of alternative public financing mechanisms.

~ A strong public presence.

SALARY

Through research we have found that she is seriously overpaid her. Based on The Bureau of Labor Statistics State and Local Management Positions (March 12, 2008), Salaries DOE for Town Managers/City manager/Chief administrative officers ranged from $92,799 - 109,000 based on a town of 50K population.

Presently, as an example, The City Manager for Scottsdale’s salary is slightly higher $180K. Based on the demographics and current population of Scottsdale and the experience / education required we find this to be in line.

As tax payers of the Town of Buckeye we are responsible to speak up and take action when such issues present themselves. This is one case where we need to vocalize our concerns and demand what is right. I encourage each concerned citizen in this town to write, call or email the Mayor and your Councilman and demand the resignations for both Ms. Guy and Mr. Rounds immediately.

We need responsible, experienced and qualified personnel with the unique ability to think outside of the box as well as being able to plan into the future. These skills are not something you just learn but rather these are skills one acquires from experience.

If you agree then I urge you to pass this along to friends, neighbors and relatives within Buckeye.