New Scottsdale City Manager Draws Concern From Members Of Previous Left-Leaning Council

New Scottsdale City Manager Draws Concern From Members Of Previous Left-Leaning Council

By Matthew Holloway |

Scottsdale’s new City Manager Greg Caton has drawn heavy criticism following the resignations of former City Manager Jim Thompson, former Public Works Director Dan Worth, former Transportation, Assistant City Manager Bill Murphy, and Streets Director Mark Melynchenko. As reported in the Scottsdale Progress, former City Councilwoman Linda Milhaven accused Caton of “creating chaos,” and added that “it’s uncharacteristic for an interim city manager to be letting people go or making changes.”

“(Caton) got to work pretty fast firing people,” Milhaven speculated. “It had to be at the direction of the City Council.”

Concern over turnover seems to be consistent in members of the previous left-leaning City Council, with incumbent Councilwoman Solange Whitehead expressing as much saying, “This year under the new council majority, we’ve lost 100-plus years of experience. These are the people who have delivered for Scottsdale. And people are continuing to leave. For me, this is a top concern.”

Both Whitehead and Councilwoman Maryann McAllen voted against the conservative majority when they approved Caton’s appointment on April 15th.

Councilman Barry Graham, one of the newly elected conservative members, denied the notion outright telling the Progress, “That’s not true. I only discuss city performance and results” with the city manager,” Graham clarified. “I don’t discuss people.”

When asked during an interview with the Progress, Caton told the outlet that “Dan Worth retired, ” adding, “I did not ask him to submit his resignation.” He continued, “I did not ask anyone to retire or resign.” However, Dan Worth contested this, telling the publication that Caton “directed me to resign or retire,” and declined to comment when asked if the move was “politically motivated.”

Vice Mayor Jan Dubauskas also expressed support for Caton saying, “Greg makes independent decisions. I happen to agree with many of them.” Dubauskas noted to the Progress, “Cost overruns and road diets were high profile issues in the community, so I’m not surprised Greg had concerns about them.”

Explaining the staffing turnover, Caton told the outlet that he discussed plans for ‘flattening’ the city’s organization. “In conversations with (Worth and Melynchenko), I discussed future plans to make changes to the organization – the ‘flattening’ we have referred to,” he said.

“Given that those future changes would affect their positions, both Dan and Mark opted to retire,” he added. “The agreements we signed are evidence of our mutual desire to determine what that transition would look like.”

Caton is remembered by Southern Arizonans as the Town Manager for Oro Valley from 2012 until he stepped down from the role to take a City Manager role in Colorado in 2016.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

More Bureaucracy Keeps Water Desperate Rio Verde Foothills Residents In Limbo

More Bureaucracy Keeps Water Desperate Rio Verde Foothills Residents In Limbo

By Terri Jo Neff |

More than 700 residents, many of whom are children, have been waiting for months for government officials to find a reliable and affordable water source for Rio Verde Foothills after the City of Scottsdale shut off the taps which had supplied water to the residents for years.

But with city and Maricopa County players failing to come to a quick rescue, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) is now slated to try its hand at resolving the problem, adding yet another layer of bureaucracy that worries residents as temperatures continue to increase.

The problem dates back to Jan. 1 when Scottsdale announced its water would no longer be sold to private companies that haul water to the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills community located north of the city. The homes are part of a wildcat development.

Scottsdale’s public explanation for ending the longtime arrangement was that it was necessary for the city’s drought management response. A variety of proposed solutions have been put forth since then, one being to leave it up to individual residents to arrange their own water purchases.

The majority of the other solutions have involved Maricopa County in some capacity. And therein lies the problem, according to many property owners and residents who believe the county board has not taken the public health situation seriously enough.

An early solution introduced in the Arizona Legislature on an emergency basis would have permitted Maricopa County to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Scottsdale to allow water from the city to once again be used by Rio Verde Foothills residents for payment.

County supervisors rejected the IGA plan, causing the legislation to be put on the back burner while long-term political interests took priority over getting residents immediate help.

What the county supervisors proposed was to wash their hands of the problem by having Scottsdale city officials work out a deal with Canada-based EPCOR, a private utility company whose U.S. headquarters is located in Phoenix.

The Maricopa County supervisors issued a resolution to that effect in early March.

Supervisor Tom Galvin, whose District 2 encompasses Rio Verde Foothills and Scottsdale, was vocal about keeping a hands-off approach while leaving desperate residents at the mercy of a major conglomerate.

Some homeowners are also encountering problems trying to sell their property due to the lack of water service.

And with the highly bureaucratic ACC now involved, residents can only wait and see what happens. Some state lawmakers, including Rep. Alex Kolodin and Sen. John Kavanagh, continue to look into legislative options.

In the meantime, Galvin and the other county supervisors have not put forth any alternatives in the event an EPCOR solution is rejected.

Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.