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Several community and advocacy groups spoke out against the City of Phoenix’s decision to bring a retired city manager back into the same role.
Mayor Kate Gallego and the rest of the city council voted 5-4 to approve the re-hiring of Ed Zuercher on Wednesday afternoon.
“There is no better person to serve as our next City Manager than Ed Zuercher, whose steady leadership will help provide the stability we need as an organization and can help us navigate the road ahead,” Mayor Kate Gallego said in a news release. “I’m looking forward to working with him, the City Council and every City employee to make our community even stronger.”
Ahead of the city council meeting, a trio of organizations put out a “CALL TO ACTION,” asking members of the public to challenge the hiring.
The digital flyer is titled, “THE CITY OF PHOENIX IS FUCK-ED.”
Earlier this week, ABC15 uncovered that Gallego had joined with the more conservative members of the city council to quietly take steps to bring back Zuercher, who previously retired in 2021.
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Sources said Phoenix did not conduct a comprehensive or national search for candidates to run America’s fifth-largest city.
Notice of their vote was added to Wednesday’s city council meeting agenda at the literal last hour. Open meeting rules require agenda items to be posted at least 24 hours in advance.
The vote was added just before 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Current City Manager Jeff Barton announced his retirement earlier this summer. He is scheduled to stay on the job until November.
Records show that is when Zuercher will take over with a salary exceeding $415,000.
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Since his 2021 retirement, Zuercher has been working as the executive director of the Maricopa Association of Governments while collecting a city pension.
His newly-proposed contract states that his pension benefits will be frozen while he works again as Phoenix’s city manager.
POLITICALLY CHARGED: ABC15 investigates Phoenix protest cases
When Zuercher retired in 2021, the city was in the middle of a massive scandal.
ABC15 exposed that the Phoenix Police Department had colluded with county prosecutors to invent a fake gang and falsely charge protesters as members.
The scandal directly led to the Department of Justice launching a three-year investigation into the city.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
