If there is big drama on a relatively minor, powerless advisory committee made up of volunteers \u2013 yes, you\u2019re in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
Though certainly not as air-consuming as some of the controversies on City Council 2025 (canceling DEI, the sustainability plan and a roundabout; \u201cParkingate\u201d; mayor staffing tug-of-war, etc.), the Budget Review Commission is off to a bumpy second act.<\/p>\n
Indeed, at the Oct. 7 council meeting \u2013 concerning the banal-sounding agenda item \u201cBudget Review Commission code amendments\u201d \u2013 Mayor Lisa Borowsky accused her colleagues of \u201ctying (commissioner\u2019s) hands behind their backs\u201d and taking \u201canother swipe at undermining\u201d the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m completely opposed to everything that\u2019s being discussed,\u201d she added. \u201cI don\u2019t know what the goal is other than to deprive the Budget Review Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a candidate last year, Borowsky frequently repeated a campaign point to restart a volunteer committee to oversee budget matters.<\/p>\n
Though a \u201cbloc of four\u201d swatted down many of her other passes, Borowsky completed this one.<\/p>\n
In January, Council unanimously approved a new Budget Review Commission. The mayor and the other council members each appointed a volunteer.<\/p>\n
Borowsky appointed David Smith, former city councilman and city treasurer, who became the committee chairman. Other \u00a0appointees were Carla (who goes by just one name), Brad Newman, Jim Ransco, Daniel Schweiker, Sharyn Seitz and Mark Stephens.<\/p>\n
At the Oct. 1 Budget Review Commission meeting, those original seven from nine months ago dwindled to four: Schweiker, Carla, Newman and Stephens.<\/p>\n
Skyler Badenoch was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Seitz, leaving two vacancies.<\/p>\n
Schweiker, the vice chair, ran the meeting \u2013 as Smith stepped down from the commission in September. Ransco and Seitz also bailed after serving just six months of three-year terms.<\/p>\n
According to Kelly Corsette, a city spokesman, Tom Hatten was selected by the mayor to fill Smith\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
Several were critical of this, as Hatten is chairman of the Goldwater Institute\u2019s board of directors \u2013 and the Goldwater, in its latest battle with the city, is suing Scottsdale over sales tax election results.<\/p>\n
According to Corsette, Hatten \u201cindicated 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, Mayor Borowsky has appointed Bob Lettieri, but he still needs to go through the required training and complete his paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lettieri failed in a run for the council last year.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013\u00a0 then generally ignored a number of\u00a0 its 75 recommendations.<\/p>\n
While a June city press release boasted the $2.2 billion budget was \u201ca 4.0% decrease from the prior year\u2019s adopted budget,\u201d Smith was cynical and critical.<\/p>\n
He underscored a raise-fueled 10-16% increase in the city\u2019s operating budget \u2013 and a concerning 20% drop in Scottsdale\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnsustainable financial imbalance,\u201d Smith called that, pointing to scores of fully funded but unfilled jobs.<\/p>\n
The BRC, Smith said, \u201crecommended Council consider directing staff to eliminate\/defer the budgeted $12.5 million increase for salary adjustments for existing staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
To his disappointment, \u201cno such action was taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
But their work was not in vain, apparently.<\/p>\n
At the Oct. 1 BRC meeting, City Manager Greg Caton did not \u2013 explicitly or implicitly \u2013 congratulate the work of the BRC.<\/p>\n
He noted this is the first time in his career he has worked with a budget commission and that he is \u201cstill migrating conceptually on how to best use your time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caton gave the commission a brief presentation.<\/p>\n
One of his slides \u2013 titled \u201cInitiatives and Changes Made\u201d \u2013 showed several initiatives of the BRC are, indeed, in play:<\/p>\n
\u2022 New Capital Projects Review Team;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Review project prioritization and execution;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Increased department collaboration on scoping;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Increased efforts on cost estimation;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Paving Study initiated;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Unfilled Positions on-going review;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contract Services on-going review.<\/p>\n
More changes<\/strong><\/p>\n Even so \u2026<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just new faces: Caton and City Treasurer Sonia Andrews pitched major changes in the BRC\u2019s \u201cPurpose, Powers and Duties,\u201d which were unveiled at the commission\u2019s Oct. 1 meeting.<\/p>\n Originally, the BRC was directed to \u201cprovide written recommendations to the City Council regarding the following matters, listed in order of priority:<\/p>\n Those were presented to the BRC Oct. 1 \u2013 but with many strikethroughs.<\/p>\n Instead, the commission is to \u201creview the proposed budget and provide recommendations to the City Council regarding \u2026<\/p>\n The changes were presented to the commission as essentially \u201cread only\u201d \u2013 members were not asked for input on the changes, or how they felt about them.<\/p>\n Smith spoke at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting, saying \u201cI\u2019ve handed off the baton, but I want to talk about the proposed changes.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the changes \u201climit the scope of the commission\u201d and that \u201cI frankly recommend these so-called enhancements be struck.\u201d<\/p>\n Borowsky pushed to have the changes delayed until Council meets with the BRC \u2013 old members and new.<\/p>\n Her motion died, with no second.<\/p>\n After multiple iterations of motions, Council finally voted on all the BRC changes Caton and Andrews recommended, striking only:<\/p>\n \u201cD. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilwoman Solange Whitehead\u2019s motion also included taking the mayor\u2019s power to appoint a chair away, instead allowing the commission to elect its leader.<\/p>\n With only Borowsky opposed, Council approved the changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there is big drama on a relatively minor, powerless advisory committee made up of volunteers \u2013 yes,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":302038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,138900,5310,119118,120342,153464,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-302037","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-budget-review-commission","12":"tag-city-council","13":"tag-city-manager","14":"tag-goldwater-institute","15":"tag-greg-caton","16":"tag-phoenix","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\/115371316723653243","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302037","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=302037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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