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February 11, 2010

SALC Report on Tucson Governance

Overview
Because the City of Tucson is the core of the metro region, Tucson • The mayor is the city’s official representative, and he is
city government is the primary instrument by which our region widely perceived by the public to be the city’s CEO. Yet the
realizes its dreams and aspirations. Yet there is wide agreement mayor has even less authority than each individual city
Tucson has not fulfilled its exceptional potential and become the council member.
community residents want and need. Of even more concern, Tucson
faces the future under-prepared, lacking a unified cultural, emotional • Council members are expected to work together as a team to
or economic core. create a cohesive vision for the city through their policy
decisions. Yet the city council offices are dispersed
But why has a city with a number of highly capable top officials and throughout the city. The council members too infrequently
engaged citizens, in a culturally rich and physically beautiful have contact with each other or with other top city officials
environment, failed to realize its potential and to position itself outside formal council meetings. This makes it more difficult
decisively for a prosperous future? for the members to understand each other’s goals and values,
and it removes the daily contact that in typical offices
To answer that question and better understand how Tucson city improves communication and understanding. It also tends to
government could be more effective, the Southern Arizona focus the council members’ attention on constituent services
Leadership Council initiated a several months-long study, during within their wards, rather than on citywide issues.
which it interviewed the mayor, all six council members, the city
manager, three former city managers, and several council aides. • The city manager is considered the city’s chief operating
SALC also conducted research about other cities and consulted with officer. He is responsible for administering the various city
nationally recognized experts on local government. departments. Yet the city charter and city policies deny the
manager the ability to build a cohesive administrative
We learned that Tucson unintentionally has created a spider’s web of capacity that not only can support council priorities, but also
charter provisions, policies and entrenched practices at the very top could help the council to focus on longer-term issues than
of city government. Consequently, authority, responsibility and politics normally would encourage. These limitations
accountability are diffused at the top of Tucson city government, undoubtedly contribute to the high turnover of Tucson city
severely limiting the ability of top city officials to fulfill their roles managers.
and meet their responsibilities, and making it difficult, if not
impossible, for even the most talented of people to succeed. For We also were reminded that the community itself is deeply divided,
instance: with the divisions perhaps best illustrated by placing community
values in diametrical opposition: Growth vs. no-growth. The We want to emphasize that while SALC conducted this narrow and
environment vs. the economy. Quality of life vs. profits. focused preliminary study, we have always believed that it is
Sustainability vs. consumption of resources. essential to any reform effort to build a coalition of an inclusive,
diverse group of community partners. We are committed to building
That these oppositions oversimplify positions and mostly are unfair this coalition, and it is our intent that this coalition will take the lead
does not seem to matter. People on both sides often resort to them to and responsibility for conducting further research, modifying and
build support for their causes or to attack those with whom they developing recommendations, and deciding how to implement the
disagree. Even more important, these underlying divisions recommendations. As additional research and analysis is completed,
dramatically increase the need for leadership – yet at the same time we anticipate that some of the recommendations will be changed,
they constrain the ability of our elected and appointed officials to and that others may be added.
provide leadership.
However, we would like to discourage the temptation to treat the
To rectify this diffusion of authority, responsibility and recommendations as a laundry list from which to pick and choose.
accountability at the very top of Tucson city government, SALC Just as it took a combination of several decisions to create the
offers the recommendations that follow this overview. They are diffused responsibility at the top of city government, it will take a
designed to accomplish four broad goals: systematic set of recommendations that address several problems at
once to provide the improvement Tucson needs.
• To encourage and enable the city council members to focus
more on overall policy decisions – to operate at the “30,000- Finally, these reforms are presented to better position the city for
foot-level” of policy, with more attention on critical city prosperity as the recession recedes and to help create a citywide
issues. environment that will make Tucson the city Tucsonans want it to be.
• To let the city manager manage. (Phoenix is a highly As an added benefit, we believe the reforms will allow significant
regarded example of how best to structure the roles and savings to the city.
responsibilities of a city manager.)
• To create a more effective partnership between the city We are optimistic and confident that the engagement of the
council and the city’s professional staff. community, working closely with our city officials, will help to
• To promote business and community support for important produce more effective and more efficient city leadership, unify our
governmental issues. community, and provide our region with a healthy economy and a
healthy environment.

The following people were members of the SALC Action Team that oversaw and conducted the research: Stan Abrams, Steve Alley, Bill
Assenmacher, Bruce Beach, Fred Boice, John Bremond, Linda Cohen, Pam Duncan, Bruce Dusenberry, Duff Hearon, John Humenik, Jim Kiser,
Shirley Kiser, Ben Korn, David Lane, Peter Likins, Lisa Lovallo, Steve Lynn, Emily Mitchell, Richard Myers, Kathleen Perkins, Bill Roe, Si
Schorr, Ron Shoopman, Sarah Smallhouse, Bruce Wright.

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Suggested City Charter Changes

Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation


Change
Charter 1. Give the city manager The city manager is responsible for implementing the council’s vision (and for helping council
authority to match the members to refine and improve that vision), but the city manager currently lacks the authority
responsibilities of the job to build an administrative team to fulfill that responsibility. For instance, the city manager has
no role in the appointment of the city attorney and the city clerk, and while the manager
appoints the police and fire chiefs with the consent of the mayor and council, only the city
council can fire them. Moreover, other key department heads and their subordinates are
protected by the civil service system. These provisions undermine the city manager’s ability to
build a cohesive administrative capacity that can support council priorities.
Possible action:
Change the charter and civil service rules to allow the city manager to fire all department
heads and their immediate subordinates. With their ability to hire and fire the city manager,
the mayor and council can ensure the manager uses this authority appropriately.
Charter 2. Make the City of Tucson With the growth of the city, the demands on top officials have increased sharply. City Council
mayor and city council members represent many more residents now and deal with vastly more complex issues than
positions full-time jobs the Tucson city charter ever envisioned when it was written in 1929.
Consequently, it is unrealistic to continue to treat the jobs of mayor and council members as
being part-time. Since the mayor and city council members already feel obligated to spend
full-time on their jobs, the city charter needs to acknowledge this change, and their salaries
need to be increased to reflect the demands of the jobs. The current annual salaries for the
mayor ($42,000) and the city council members ($24,000) are a burden to the existing office
holders and severely limit the number of people who are willing to run for the offices.
Possible action:
Index mayor and council salaries to the economy or to the salaries of other office holders
whose salaries are set in an objective manner. One option: Index their salaries to the Pima
County Board of Supervisors, whose salaries are set by state law.

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Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation
Change
Charter 3. Position the City of Tucson The City of Tucson has grown dramatically since the 1929 charter divided the city into six
so that it will have the option wards. Expanding the number of wards would allow council members to better represent their
to annex additional areas constituents. Additionally, it is widely believed that efforts to annex areas such as the Foothills
and Casas Adobes will not succeed unless these areas are able to have their own
representation on the city council.
Possible action:
Change Chapter 3 of the city charter to read that the city shall be divided into eight wards. An
alternative: Develop language that would create a new ward when the average number of
residents in the current wards exceeds a certain number.

Charter 4. Give the mayor parity with Good city government requires a mayor who can lead by virtue of his position as the city’s
city council members CEO and who can participate fully in policy decisions. However, the city charter gives the
mayor even less authority than an individual council member. For instance, the mayor
participates in the appointment of the city manager, city attorney, city clerk, finance director,
police chief, fire chief and city magistrates. Yet the charter denies the mayor a vote in the
firings of the people in any of these positions. Significantly, the mayor does not count toward
meeting quorum requirements.
Possible action:
Change the charter to give the mayor an equal vote with council members, and allow the
mayor to count toward meeting quorum requirements.

Charter 5. Change the election cycle of Electing the mayor and all the council members at the same time every four years would
the mayor and all council reduce the role of politics and political pressure in city government.
members to every four years
In the current election cycle, half the council members run for re-election every two years.
Consequently, there is only one year after an election in which none of the council members
has to contend with the strong political pressures that are inherent in seeking reelection.
Eliminating staggered elections would increase the opportunity for non-political decision-
making from one year to three years. Additionally it would save election costs of $2 million
for each election not held.

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Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation
Change
Possible action:
Change Chapter 16 of the city charter to eliminate staggered elections and instead to elect the
mayor and all city council members at the same time.

Charter 6. Combine city elections with Currently, city elections are held in odd-numbered years, when no other elections generally
state and national elections are being held. Moving the city elections to even-numbered years would permit combining
city elections with state and national elections, thereby increasing voter turnout and saving
additional money.
Possible action:
Change Chapter 16 of the city charter to read that after a certain date, all elections would be
held every four years in even-numbered years.

Charter 7. Implement Arizona Revised The Legislature in 2009 passed ARS 9-821.01, which requires that all Arizona municipalities
Statues 9-821.01, which must conduct nonpartisan elections, and if they are organized by ward, they must conduct
requires nonpartisan and ward-only elections. Tucson’s city charter needs to be amended to reflect that new law. There
ward-only elections are substantive reasons why that law would benefit Tucson. First, as has been stated many
times, potholes are neither Republican nor Democrat. The making of responsible, forward-
looking decisions for the city is hindered, not helped, by partisan politics. Second, Tucson’s
unique system of ward-only primaries and citywide general elections too often results in
wards being represented by people they did not elect. Indeed, 31 times in recent history,
Tucson ward residents have been represented by a councilmember chosen for them by the rest
of the city. Most recently, in her bid for re-election, Nina Trasoff won the vote in her ward,
but was defeated and replaced by a councilmember chosen by voters in other wards
throughout the city.
Possible action:
Amend the Tucson city charter to comply with Arizona law.

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Suggested Policy and Practice Changes

Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation


Change
Policy 1. Clarify the roles and In the interviews with council members and former city managers it became clear that roles at
responsibilities of the mayor, the top of city government need to be better defined and respected. Interviewees reported that
city council, city manager responsibilities are not clear and that there is a “lack of clarity or mistrust about the boundaries
and staff of authority between the manager and city council.” Beliefs were expressed that some council
members over-reach by trying to run the city’s operations, while some former managers were
seen as having trespassed too far into the council’s policy role. Almost all agreed the roles
need to be better defined. It is likely that this failure to clearly define the roles contributes to
Tucson’s higher-than-average turnover of city managers.
Possible action:
Some other cities spell out the respective roles in their charters. Review these provisions and
adapt them to Tucson’s needs.

Policy 2. Implement an orientation Newly elected mayors and council members currently have no formal orientation when they
program for mayors and are elected. Almost all emphasized that they want a better orientation when they first take
council members when they office and that they come into the job needing a better understanding of their duties and those
are elected of the city manager. They also wanted to know more about best practices in other cities.
Possible action:
Presentations from other government officials and from a diverse group of organizations and
interests could increase how quickly and effectively newly elected officials become
acclimated to their responsibilities.

Policy 3. Hold an Annual Retreat for The interviews revealed that the mayor and council members are a collection of seven
the mayor and council individuals who have not formed themselves into a cohesive team that can give the city
consistent, coherent direction.

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Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation
Change
An annual retreat would help them to develop more focused goals and priorities. It also would
help them to better cooperate, develop teamwork and gain mutual respect, all of which would
lead to a better-managed city.
Possible action:
Encourage the mayor and council to hold an annual retreat, with business and other
organizations offering to provide help and participate as appropriate.

Policy 4. Move the primary offices for City council members currently operate from offices in their wards, which limits their contact
council members to city hall with each other and with city employees. Indeed, three council members said they seldom
communicate with other council members outside council meetings. This lack of contact and
communication makes it more difficult to develop an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual
respect.
Moreover, the dispersed offices make it more likely that council members will focus on
constituent service within their wards rather than the concentrate on the “big-picture” choices
that face our divided community.
Former city managers were outspoken in their belief that council members “don’t believe in
the stewardship of the whole,” as one phrased it. “When individuals are in their fiefdoms out
there – working for their own interests – they lose the concept of the whole.”
This recommendation is vitally important for creating a focus on critical issues and for
improving the relationships among the council members and between the council members
and the city manager. People who interact frequently with each other are much more likely to
understand each other’s goals and priorities.
Possible action:
Provide room on the top floors of City Hall for the primary city council offices. However, also
provide for regular space within the wards for meetings with constituents as needed.

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Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation
Change
Policy 5. Reduce the number of aides The mayor and council employ a total of 35 full-time and part-time aides with a total annual
to the mayor and council budget for aides and office operations of more than $3 million. Council members’ large staffs
of aides not only are expensive, especially in this time of financial hardship, but they also have
become, in effect, a second city bureaucracy that sometimes is at odds with the professional
staff. The former city managers all identified the power of the aides as a major problem.
Possible action:
Build stronger relationships between the council members and the city staff by reducing the
number of council aides and encouraging the mayor and council members to rely more heavily
on the city manager and the city’s professional staff.
Policy 6. Research revenue- The current budget shortfall has made all too clear that the city is overly dependent on its
generating strategies for the highly volatile sales tax revenues and needs a more diversified and stable tax base.
City of Tucson
Just as investors need a diversified portfolio of investments, governments need a diversified
portfolio of taxes to protect against the volatile revenue shifts that accompany declines in the
economy. Additional revenue sources for the city quickly need to be identified and
implemented.
Possible action:
Provide the city with options for additional and more stable revenues by conducting research
into alternative revenue-generating strategies.

Community 7. Improve citizen Support such local initiatives as the Tucson Regional Town Hall, Tucson Values Teachers,
practice involvement, cooperation and Imagine Greater Tucson.
and collaboration as
Support such statewide initiatives as those being undertaken by the Center for the Future of
partners in charting the
Arizona, Governing Arizona, and the O’Connor House Project.
future course for the City of
Tucson Possible action:
Encourage and support local and statewide citizen-led initiatives that hold promise for uniting
Tucsonans and developing agreement on values and goals.

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Type of Recommendation Reasons for Recommendation
Change
Community 8. Recognize elected leaders The public will better support government if it is aware of government successes. Moreover,
practice when things go right council members are poorly paid and work hard, yet they are seldom praised or thanked for
their performance. Instead, they most frequently are criticized. “There is not a lot of support
for people who put themselves out there to take risks,” said one council member.
Possible action:
Provide positive feedback to the city’s officials and help develop a greater public
understanding of government accomplishments by publicly and routinely acknowledging
when city government is successful.

Community 9. Help create future elected While most recommendations in this report are aimed at improving the structure of city
practice leaders for Tucson government, it also is true that the diversity and quality of people running for office is
important to a city’s greatness.
Possible action:
Help improve the quality of city leadership by attracting a broader base of talented and
capable people to run for public office.

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