What was expected to be a routine approval of Town Manager Grady Miller’s compensation package for the next year turned out to be something of a flashpoint for the Town Council at its Dec. 7 regular session.

The action on the item had been placed on the “consent agenda” for the meeting, which are items considered to have agreement and can be approved without discussion. Policy does provide for items to be removed from the consent agenda for discussion by request of either a member of the Town Council or the public. While it is uncertain if there was a specific request to have the item removed for discussion, Councilman David Spelich stated he was upset to see the item on the consent agenda, and it was apparent that several residents also contacted the Town asking to have the item moved for discussion.

Mayor Ginny Dickey acknowledged the item was placed on the consent agenda at her request.

The employment agreement that raises Miller’s base salary from $154,664 to $180,000 was approved by the council on a 5-2 vote with Spelich and Councilman Gerry Friedel voting against.

There is an additional $14,100 in compensation included in Miller’s agreement that carries over from the existing agreement. This includes $500 per month for health insurance ($6,000 annually), $75 per month for cell phone ($900 annually) and a $600 per month vehicle allowance ($7,200 annually). According to information compiled by the Arizona League of Cities and Towns and presented by town staff at the meeting, neither the Town nor Miller contributes to a deferred compensation program (retirement) for the manager.

Deputy Town Manager/Director of Administration Dave Trimble presented in the public session the information on salary comparison that had been presented to the council in its discussions. The information was provided by the Arizona League of Cities and Towns based on surveys earlier this year.

The survey included data from smaller Valley communities, where Fountain Hills was included, and the average manager salary was $181,646 and, at the time, Fountain Hills was the lowest at $154,446. The $180,000 just approved by the council is still fifth on a list of eight communities. The average 2021 salary for 15 city and town managers Valley-wide is $195,573. At the time prior to the increase Fountain Hills was again at the bottom of the list. Miller’s new salary is now 10th on that list.

Comment

Mark Biermann, who has filed a statement of interest to run for Town Council in the upcoming election, stated he is concerned about the transparency of how the agreement was handled.

“(Citizens) should know what’s happening at Town Hall,” Biermann said. “If someone is doing a great job, let the people know. Tell us what is going on so we understand your decisions.

“Whenever there is a problem, it comes back to communication.”

Brenda Kalivianakis, who also has filed a statement of interest in running for Council, said she has no issues with Miller and said she believes he probably deserves a raise.

Kalivianakis said she had been talking with citizens and as a candidate the salary increase seems excessive, and to the public it seems tone deaf, and the optics are terrible. She asked that the council reject the raise.

Spelich agreed he views the amount as excessive.

“I believe we should be good stewards of public money,” Spelich said. “In all of my career I have never gotten a 20% increase.

“I think (Miller) has done some really good things, and some things I disagree with. If not for the (federal) COVID funds (the town) would be really hurting. This should never have been on the consent agenda.”

Dickey said the Town has great staff that has done an amazing job under the direction of Miller. She noted he has a lot of responsibility with a $40 million budget and large staff. Commenting on the COVID funds, Dickey said the town purposefully did not use any of that money for operational expenses, so it had no impact on the real-time financial situation.

There were five members of the public who spoke to the council directly. Town Clerk Liz Klein said there were an additional seven comments she received via email and all seven comments were consistent with what was said at the meeting. Klein provided council members with copies of those emails but did not read them during the meeting.