PHOENIX – In a case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” the Phoenix City Council rehired Ed Zuercher to manage Arizona’s largest city on Wednesday.
Zuercher previously served as Phoenix city manager for eight years before retiring from the powerful job in 2021. His retirement lasted four years.
His replacement, Jeff Barton, announced last month that he will be stepping down. Zuercher will resume his Phoenix city manager duties on Nov. 17.
“It’s rare to have your dream job once in a lifetime, let alone twice, and I am incredibly lucky to get that chance,” Zuercher said in a press release.
He is currently serving as executive director of the Maricopa Association of Governments, a regional planning and policy entity. Before taking that job, he spent 28 years in various roles with the Phoenix city government.
“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 the release. “I’m looking forward to working with him, the City Council and every city employee to make our community even stronger.”
Why is Phoenix city manager an important job?
City manager is the only Phoenix government job hired directly by the City Council. The position manages the city’s day-to-day operations and provides policy advice to the elected councilmembers.
Phoenix is the nation’s largest city with a council-manager form of government. The city manager oversees 14,500 employees and a multibillion-dollar annual budget.
During Zuercher’s first stint as Phoenix city manager, which started in 2013, Phoenix dug itself out of a $37 million budget deficit and had a $30 million surplus when he stepped away.
“Phoenix faces a critical moment. We are losing not just an exceptional forward-thinking city manager in Jeff Barton, but we’re saying goodbye to other key leaders with decades of experience and institutional knowledge,” Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien said in a statement. “At a time like this, we need a leader who can and will hit the ground running. That’s why I believe Ed Zuercher is the right person for Phoenix now.”
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