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With some new blood on Miami’s Town Council, their last two meetings have seen new discussion of the council-manager form of government – namely, the roles and powers of a council and a town manager.
The discussion has centered around a federal move to freeze funding, and Town Manager Alexis Rivera’s plan to meet the resulting uncertainty.
That plan, presented at the February 10 Council meeting, included a six- to eight-month hold on salary increases for Town staff, purchases, travel, and delaying significant acquisition of assets. It was crafted in response to a January 27 memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announcing the freeze. Though the memo was later rescinded, the fate of those federal monies remained unclear. “Right now we have $2.3 million that was awarded, and we don’t know the future of that funding,” Rivera reported to the Council. “We have a staff and a community that we need to take care of, and this is the best way to create that balance without knowing the future of the financials.”
Miami was not alone, Rivera added. “You have multiple jurisdictions, more than 45 in Arizona, with millions they don’t know when they’re going to receive.”
“I suggested that he prepare some plans to protect us from fiscal and financial disaster should these freezes on funds continue,” said Councilmember Don Reiman. “This kind of unprecedented federal action – I don’t mean to be Chicken Little, but it’s an existential threat to Miami and every other small town in the country. You can’t afford to take chances with the existence of the town, in my opinion.”
The new blood includes recently elected Mayor Gil Madrid, who felt Rivera’s action was premature. “If what happens at the federal level continues to happen, it’s not going to be six or eight months; it’s going to be one or two months and then it’s going to come back and we’re going to be okay,” said Madrid. “So now we’re going to go ahead and just not let our staff get their increases for six to eight months because we move too fast.”
“I promised that if this situation came up, I was going to do my best and that’s what I’m doing,” Rivera said. “It’s not for me, it’s for the Town of Miami. We need to protect our staff; we need to protect our citizens.”
Madrid also questioned whether implementing the plan was within Rivera’s authority or required mayor and council approval. Town Attorney Joe Estes addressed that question at the next Council meeting, February 24.
Estes, likening the town manager position to a CEO, said a manager “has the authority to run the town as he sees fit. With that said, the council oversees the town manager and sets the policies, goals and objectives of the town.”
Estes said that if the council as a whole – not an individual member – disagreed with a town manager’s decisions, that could be discussed in a council meeting. He suggested including the topic in the Council’s March 1 strategic planning meeting.
During the February 10 meeting, Madrid said Town staff should receive retroactive pay “when it all comes back together.” Estes also addressed that on the 24th, answering that the council could make salary increases retroactive.
“That would be if was allocated in the budget for raises,” said Vice Mayor Sammy Gonzales, filling in for the absent Madrid (who was excused from the meeting). “If it wasn’t allocated in the budget then that shouldn’t be an issue, is that correct?” Estes affirmed that this was so.
Gonzales asked about a council’s options in an emergency, like the federal funding freeze and potential loss of grant monies. “Do we hold a special session or an agenda item to tell our town manager what to do? As far as I know, we only set policies and procedures in the budget. We have a town manager that runs the Town.”
“Right,” Estes replied, “but if the town manager’s not running the Town in the manner you deem fit then that’s your authority.” He added that typically a council would schedule an agenda item to discuss the emergency’s impact on the town budget and Town projects.
“There are a lot of things that go into play, and that’s why your manager and your finance director are there, to give all that information to Council.”
The Town Attorney also gave an update on federal actions and court cases in response. Estes noted that 23 state attorney generals, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, have filed court actions to unfreeze the funds.
Estes also reported on a recent video meeting with Governor Katie Hobbs’ office regarding the freezes. “There are certain payments that are being slow-rolled; they’re still being funded but everything’s being reviewed, so it’s taking longer for those payments to get processed,” he said. Certain projects the Town has are reimbursement grants where you don’t get the money up front; you get it after you spend the money and complete the project. What’s the impact of that?”
Rivera noted that, after three weeks, the Town was still waiting on a $1.1 million Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona grant. “That’s a perfect example of where we’re at.”
David Sowders, who now lives in Globe, has been in southern Arizona since childhood and grew up in Tucson. David earned an associate of applied sciences degree from Eastern Arizona College. He has 10-plus years of experience as a newspaper reporter and editor in Safford and Globe, and his articles have won several Arizona Newspapers Association awards. Writing, hiking and discovering new places around Southern Arizona are some of his greatest joys.
