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Six months ago, City Manager Ed Beasley announced he would retire,but the Glendale City Council has not yet discussed how it willreplace him. The 17-year Glendale administrator has not given an exact exitdate, saying he first wants to complete a number of projects lefton his plate, namely closing a deal to sell the Phoenix Coyotes. In a January closed-door session, Mayor Elaine Scruggs tried tonail down a time frame for the city manager's departure to plan forhis replacement. The council cannot take any action to replaceBeasley until he sets a retirement date or gives permission tobegin the search. A council majority nixed that attempt, saying it was premature.Councilwoman Norma Alvarez saw it as an attempt to hurry the citymanager out the door. Alvarez advocates waiting for a search until a new council isseated in January. The council makeup will change, because four ofseven seats are on the ballot in August and three incumbents,including the mayor, will not seek re-election. City administrators have noted the city charter makes provisionsfor a vacancy. The charter states that if the city manager resigns or is removedfor any reason, the council "shall appoint an acting city managerat the first regular meeting following such vacancy." A couple of council members said the interim job would most likelyfall to Assistant City Manager Horatio Skeete, who is alreadyhandling the day-to-day operations. Beasley's exit could come soon. Last week, Beasley said he expecteda final deal on the hockey team to be presented to council withinweeks. Beasley has formed his own consulting business, Ed Beasley andAssociates LLC, incorporating on May 3, according to the ArizonaCorporation Commission. Scruggs said she received a phone message near the end of Marchfrom Beasley, who indicated he would "probably be leaving towardthe end of May." The mayor had said a search for a city manager would take months ifa nationwide recruitment was conducted and could cost "tens ofthousands of dollars," which needs to be factored into the upcomingbudget. Because her suggestion to spur dialogue on finding a replacementwas shot down, Scruggs said, she doesn't plan to bring it up againand "go through that kind of hostile and insinuating harassmentagain." The council, in three months of budget workshops, never broached arecruitment process and its possible costs. A preliminary budget isscheduled for adoption May 22. Council members recently were asked if it was time to begindiscussing Beasley's replacement and whether a nationwide searchshould be conducted, given the city's tight budget. Responsesvaried. "I think it is inappropriate for me to discuss any employee of thecity, so I am not going to respond to your questions," CouncilwomanYvonne Knaack said. Councilwoman Joyce Clark said the impetus for the council to actbecomes "critical when Mr. Beasley makes a formal announcement ofhis retirement date." Once that happens, she said, the council will take up the issue inexecutive session. Clark and Vice Mayor Steve Frate anticipate the council willappoint an interim city manager until a replacement is found. Clark said the council will decide whether to conduct a local or anationwide recruitment. She has not taken a position. Frate and Councilman Manny Martinez favor a national search. Alvarez, however, said the current council should have no hand inselecting a replacement. "I don't think there is much of a rush," Alvarez said. "We can hirean interim. "The new council members should have a say on who should be the newmanager. They are the ones who will be working with that person." Alvarez vowed she would fight attempts by the current council tohire a new city manager. Councilman Phil Lieberman said it bothers him that the council hasnot taken up the subject of Beasley's replacement. "We as a council should be working on his replacement," Liebermansaid. "If we are going nationwide, we should have a request forproposals out right now. No one wants to make a mention of it." Lieberman said he intended to raise the issue at Tuesday'sworkshop, which was after press time for this article. The recruitment process for a top city administrator would takemonths if past searches are any indication. Surprise's new city manager came on board in May 2011, nearly fivemonths after the city launched a search. Scottsdale leaders tooksix months to find a new city manager after firing the previousone. And in Fountain Hills, which lost its city manager in July,the search ended with a hire seven months later. "Most of us take 90 to 100 days to do a search," said GregProthman, president of Prothman Co. "It's not too bad, but you haveto factor in a month or so for (a resignation) notice and movingtime, so you figure four to five months is fairly safe." Prothman said the cost of a search has dropped dramatically fromfive years ago largely because of the recession. For a city with about 250,000 residents, Prothman said, Glendalecan expect to pay a fee from $20,000 and $25,000 and an additional$5,000 to $7,000 for expenses, such as travel and recruitment ads. The 11-year-old Washington-based recruitment firm has placed morethan 100 city managers. I am an expert from midumpctabletpc.com, while we provides the quality product, such as ISDB-T GPS Manufacturer , Car GPS Navigators Manufacturer, Tablet PC Atom Processor,and more.
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