This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 8:10 am and is filed under Mayor Lyn Truitt, 9-C History Nov. 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Truitt wants an assistant to the mayor and a council liaison to streamline communication between city staff and elected officials.
Rather than posing questions directly to department heads, council members and the mayor would go through these assistants, Truitt said.
“Information will be disseminated evenly, and it allows (council members) to be more informed prior to meetings, and it frees up time for staff,” he said.
While reporting to the council, the new employees would ultimately answer to Rumpeltes, Truitt said.
Truitt said he will bring proposals for both positions to a vote at the City Council’s first meeting of the year on Jan. 10.
Truitt said he expected fellow members to see the need for extra manpower to keep up with the city’s concerns.
“We need to do a significant PR job in Surprise and present ourselves as knowledgeable and qualified to speak on the issues,” he said.
His idea to hire both an assistant to the mayor and a council liaison is not unique.
“There’s quite a list of communities that have these positions,” Truitt said, naming Mesa, Glendale, Peoria, Goodyear and Tempe as Valley cities that already have such posts.
The positions would need approval by the council, but City Manager Jim Rumpeltes has endorsed the move.
“This has come up through the years because of the workload on the existing staff, and it’s long overdue,” Rumpeltes said.
Truitt hopes the application process for the positions can begin shortly after he takes office in January.
Truitt said he is hoping to hire Miryam Gutier-Brown, a former intergovernmental programs director for Surprise, to serve as mayor’s assistant. Truitt’s intent is to hire Gutier-Brown as soon as possible, at least on an interim basis, while additional applications are sought.
As for the council liaison, the city’s new elected officials would have a big say in the person hired to work with them, Truitt said.
Salaries have not been discussed, but Truitt said they would be competitive with similar positions in other Valley cities.
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