In an unexpected move, Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton announced last week he is retiring Nov. 14.<\/p>\n
Barton, who has led the city\u2019s administration for the last four of his 25 years of service to Phoenix, started his career with the city as an internal auditor and gradually worked his way up through the city bureaucracy to becoming Phoenix\u2019s first African American city manager.<\/p>\n
The move sets up a new challenge for City Council as it prepares to return to work at the end of this month from a summer recess.<\/p>\n
The city manager is the council\u2019s only direct hire to oversee a city workforce of 13,000.<\/p>\n
Mayor Kate Gallego gave no indication of how Council will proceed to fill the city manager post as she released a statement last week praising Barton.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the sharpest financial minds I know, he has helped navigate incredible challenges including the uncertainties of COVID-19 and ensured strong economic footing in a time of great change and\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 opportunity,\u201d the mayor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJeff has delivered important investments for our city\u2019s future, such as the voter-approved General Obligation Bond program that will bolster critical infrastructure, support public safety and improve residents\u2019 quality of life for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left unsaid in that statement is the city\u2019s looming challenge in the fiscal year beginning next July 1, when Barton projected Phoenix will have to dig its way out of an $83 million deficit.<\/p>\n
Barton was not the only top city executive to announce his departure.<\/p>\n
Water Services Director Troy Hayes also announced his retirement, though his replacement was already named. He will be replaced by Brandy Kelso, a 22-year city employee who most recently was assistant Water Services director and interim director of the Street Transportation Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barton last week also named Briiana Velez the new director of the city Street Transportation Department, which she has served for over 23 years, most recently as assistant department director.<\/p>\n
In announcing Barton\u2019s retirement, the city said some of his other accomplishments included the\u202fFundPHX Tool, which gave residents more input in how city funds are allocated, and his update of the City Manager\u2019s Performance Dashboard, which the city said improve gives \u201cclear performance indicators for City operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also credited Barton for helping the achieve \u201cstellar credit ratings, reflecting his commitment to fiscal responsibility and sound financial management.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played a pivotal role in\u202feconomic development, working with major employers to create high-quality jobs and boost the local economy,\u201d the city said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe simultaneously supported vulnerable communities, including those experiencing homelessness, by helping the City add 1,200 indoor shelter beds and 300 additional spaces at the safe outdoor space. \u201c<\/p>\n
Barton said,\u00a0 \u201cIt has been a privilege to work alongside the hardest working public service professionals in the country, whose dedication and commitment have been the cornerstone of our success towards building the Phoenix of tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an unexpected move, Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton announced last week he is retiring Nov. 14. Barton,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":163450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,94425,1589,94427,78288,94426,94428,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-163449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-jeff-barton","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-phoenix-breaking-news","14":"tag-phoenix-city-council","15":"tag-phoenix-city-manager","16":"tag-phoenix-city-manager-job","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115066066927301223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}