If there is big drama on a relatively minor, powerless advisory committee made up of volunteers – yes, you’re in Scottsdale.
Though certainly not as air-consuming as some of the controversies on City Council 2025 (canceling DEI, the sustainability plan and a roundabout; “Parkingate”; mayor staffing tug-of-war, etc.), the Budget Review Commission is off to a bumpy second act.
Indeed, at the Oct. 7 council meeting – concerning the banal-sounding agenda item “Budget Review Commission code amendments” – Mayor Lisa Borowsky accused her colleagues of “tying (commissioner’s) hands behind their backs” and taking “another swipe at undermining” the mayor’s office.
“I’m completely opposed to everything that’s being discussed,” she added. “I don’t know what the goal is other than to deprive the Budget Review Commission.”
As a candidate last year, Borowsky frequently repeated a campaign point to restart a volunteer committee to oversee budget matters.
Though a “bloc of four” swatted down many of her other passes, Borowsky completed this one.
In January, Council unanimously approved a new Budget Review Commission. The mayor and the other council members each appointed a volunteer.
Borowsky appointed David Smith, former city councilman and city treasurer, who became the committee chairman. Other appointees were Carla (who goes by just one name), Brad Newman, Jim Ransco, Daniel Schweiker, Sharyn Seitz and Mark Stephens.
At the Oct. 1 Budget Review Commission meeting, those original seven from nine months ago dwindled to four: Schweiker, Carla, Newman and Stephens.
Skyler Badenoch was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Seitz, leaving two vacancies.
Schweiker, the vice chair, ran the meeting – as Smith stepped down from the commission in September. Ransco and Seitz also bailed after serving just six months of three-year terms.
According to Kelly Corsette, a city spokesman, Tom Hatten was selected by the mayor to fill Smith’s position.
Several were critical of this, as Hatten is chairman of the Goldwater Institute’s board of directors – and the Goldwater, in its latest battle with the city, is suing Scottsdale over sales tax election results.
According to Corsette, Hatten “indicated shortly thereafter that he would not take the position. He did not complete his onboarding paperwork so he was never an official member of the Budget Review Commission.
“Now, Mayor Borowsky has appointed Bob Lettieri, but he still needs to go through the required training and complete his paperwork.”
Lettieri failed in a run for the council last year.
Before approving the 2025-26 budget that went into effect July 1, several council members praised the time and effort put in by the commission – then generally ignored a number of its 75 recommendations.
While a June city press release boasted the $2.2 billion budget was “a 4.0% decrease from the prior year’s adopted budget,” Smith was cynical and critical.
He underscored a raise-fueled 10-16% increase in the city’s operating budget – and a concerning 20% drop in Scottsdale’s reserves.
“Unsustainable financial imbalance,” Smith called that, pointing to scores of fully funded but unfilled jobs.
The BRC, Smith said, “recommended Council consider directing staff to eliminate/defer the budgeted $12.5 million increase for salary adjustments for existing staff.”
To his disappointment, “no such action was taken.”
But their work was not in vain, apparently.
At the Oct. 1 BRC meeting, City Manager Greg Caton did not – explicitly or implicitly – congratulate the work of the BRC.
He noted this is the first time in his career he has worked with a budget commission and that he is “still migrating conceptually on how to best use your time.”
Caton gave the commission a brief presentation.
One of his slides – titled “Initiatives and Changes Made” – showed several initiatives of the BRC are, indeed, in play:
• New Capital Projects Review Team;
• Review project prioritization and execution;
• Increased department collaboration on scoping;
• Increased efforts on cost estimation;
• Paving Study initiated;
• Unfilled Positions on-going review;
• Contract Services on-going review.
More changes
Even so …
It’s not just new faces: Caton and City Treasurer Sonia Andrews pitched major changes in the BRC’s “Purpose, Powers and Duties,” which were unveiled at the commission’s Oct. 1 meeting.
Originally, the BRC was directed to “provide written recommendations to the City Council regarding the following matters, listed in order of priority:
- Operating Budget (Department and program/services funding);
- Capital Budget;
- Major revenue forecast, taxes and feeds;
- Budget governing policies.
Those were presented to the BRC Oct. 1 – but with many strikethroughs.
Instead, the commission is to “review the proposed budget and provide recommendations to the City Council regarding …
- Operating Budget for departments and programs/services, including appropriations for new services and programs and revenue projections;
- Capital budget appropriations, including appropriations for new capital projects and material changes to existing projects;
- Changes to budget policies that materially impact operating and capital budgets.
The changes were presented to the commission as essentially “read only” – members were not asked for input on the changes, or how they felt about them.
Smith spoke at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting, saying “I’ve handed off the baton, but I want to talk about the proposed changes.”
He said the changes “limit the scope of the commission” and that “I frankly recommend these so-called enhancements be struck.”
Borowsky pushed to have the changes delayed until Council meets with the BRC – old members and new.
Her motion died, with no second.
After multiple iterations of motions, Council finally voted on all the BRC changes Caton and Andrews recommended, striking only:
“D. Each fiscal year, the Commission may conduct in-depth examinations and analyses of specific budget topics, or review additional matters related to City revenues and expenditures, for the purpose of making recommendations for future budget consideration to City Council. Before initiating such reviews, the Commission shall prepare a workplan and submit it to the City Council for approval.”
Councilwoman Solange Whitehead’s motion also included taking the mayor’s power to appoint a chair away, instead allowing the commission to elect its leader.
With only Borowsky opposed, Council approved the changes.