Norma Alvarez

At the May 7, 2013 City Council workshop during Council Comments and Suggestions, Councilmember Alvarez stepped up to the political plate once again. Her first suggestion was regarding the recruitment of a new City Attorney. She feels council should not recruit for a City Attorney but rather promote from within. She doesn’t want to spend the money. She remarked that Acting City Attorney Nick DiPiazza was doing “a good job” and that the City “should use him.” Now it appears that the city’s Human Resources department will take the lead on this search. Not a good idea. Agendas are rife within the city and will seep into the search parameters. I’ve seen it before. It’s also a bit like asking the fox to guard the hen house. This city needs a set of fresh eyes just as is needed for the City Manager’s position. Her initial thought seemed to spend all of her energy and she drifted off briefly – but wait! She wasn’t quite finished.

In one final burst she opened the barn door for the Phoenix Monarch Group (PMG) horse. She has promoted PMG as willingly as her promotion of the Tohono O’odham. If you recall, she brokered a meeting in June, 2012 between this group and former Mayor Scruggs and former Councilmember Lieberman. At that meeting PMG made a pitch to manage Jobing.com for $7M a year while promising to bring 25 events (tractor pulls??). This time she wants council to look at outsourcing special events, marketing and the Civic Center. Obviously the criteria used in selection of a marketing and special events company will determine the Phoenix Monarch Group’s fate. It has been no secret that Alvarez thinks the money spent by the Marketing and Communications Department is wasteful and unnecessary. If there would be one department slated for oblivion it would be this one. After struggling to release her thoughts she mercifully slumped back into somnolence.