Litchfield Park Assistant City Manager Matthew Williams will take over the city’s administrative helm Monday, Jan. 4, stepping in for retiring City Manager Bill Stephens.
The Litchfield Park City Council voted unanimously during its regular meeting Dec. 16 to name Mr. Williams interim city manager at a salary of $127,000, $20,000 more than his current salary.
“We have agreed with Mr. Williams that in the event that we decide as a council not to retain him on a permanent basis as city manager, we would welcome him going back to his former position as assistant city manager,” at his previous salary plus any cost of living increases received during the interim period, Mayor Thomas L. Schoaf said.
The city has no immediate plans to accept applications for the city manager position.
“It would be my intent that we would be looking over the next several weeks to several months at (Mr. Williams’) performance and making a decision on whether it would be in the city’s best interest to negotiate with him as the permanent manager or should we open it up to see what’s available by doing a city manager search for which he would be welcome to apply,” Mr. Schoaf said.
Mr. Williams has served as assistant city manager since December 2019. He came to Litchfield Park after serving nearly two years as town manager of Huachuca City in Cochise County, where he was credited with helping the town avoid bankruptcy, according to news articles in the Sierra Vista Herald Review.
Before joining Huachuca City’s staff, Mr. Williams served as community services manager for the town of Pinetop-Lakeside. He served as economic development director/Main Street manager for the city of LaFayette, Georgia, and as a city management intern in Cumming, Georgia, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He holds a master’s in public administration from Auburn University, and bachelor of science degrees in political and social science from North Georgia College. He is married with one child.
"I was honored to be appointed interim CM," he said Friday via email. "We love Litchfield Park, and I look forward to serving."
Saying, and singing, farewell
Before naming Mr. Williams to the interim position, the mayor and council congratulated Mr. Stephens on his pending retirement and thanked him for his work the last three years.
Mr. Stephens joined the city in March 2018 after serving as Benson city manager for four years. The Ohio native, who grew up in Tolleson and Maryvale, went into city administration after retiring from the U.S. Air Force at the rank of colonel at the end of a career that spanned 37 years.
He plans to retire with his wife, Nora, to the town of Marana, near Tucson.
The mayor and council lauded Mr. Stephens for his work keeping the city on track and putting together a solid staff during a tumultuous period that included the January 2017 death of his predecessor, Darryl H. Crossman, staff turnover and unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You came to us at a very difficult time in the city’s history. We had lost our city manager that was very close to many of us and we had waited a period of time just to let that scar heal a little bit before we tried to bring in a new city manager,” Mr. Schoaf said. “The team that you’ve built has done a great job.”
Councilman John Romack called Mr. Stephens a friend and confidant, saying, “it was truly my honor and privilege to be on the search committee that helped bring you to Litchfield Park.”
“You guys are going to love retirement,” Councilwoman Ann Donahue said. “What do you call somebody who likes Mondays? Retired! Cheers!”
Vice Mayor Paul Faith said he gave Mr. Stephens an application for the city manager position after watching him in action during a seminar at an Arizona League of Cities and Towns conference
“I was quite impressed with some of the questions and comments, listening to Bill,” he said. “You’ve done a great job. You’re everything I was expecting from what I saw.”
“I appreciate that,” Mr. Stephens said. “Thank you for sneaking up behind me and giving me that application.”
Councilman Ron Clair, who was appointed to the council in 2019 and recently won reelection, said he appreciated Mr. Stephens’ guidance.
“I had a lot of questions and was thrown into the fire pretty fast,” he said. “Bill was gracious enough to sit me in his office a couple of times and give me an outline of the do’s and don’ts.”
Councilwoman Lisa Brainard-Watson echoed those sentiments.
“Even up to today, he’s always available by phone to answer any question ... he’s so patient with you,” she said. “He’s been a wonderful asset and a good friend. He and Nora both are just two wonderful, caring, kind people with beautiful souls. You’re going to be sorely missed here in Litchfield.”
After some good-natured teasing from the mayor and council, who discovered Mr. Stephens sings in a band after learning that his staff dipped into their own pockets to give him a Fender electric guitar as a going-away gift, Mr. Stephens played an audio recording at their request.
As the strains of “Pretty Woman” and Mr. Stephens’ voice came over the microphone, they smiled and bobbed their heads, clapping when he said, “OK, that’s enough,” and turned off the phone.
Kelly O’Sullivan is a longtime journalist who joined Independent Newsmedia in January 2020, after returning to the Valley from Twentynine Palms, California, where she worked for eight years as a communications specialist for the U.S. Marine Corps. When she’s not covering stories of interest to Litchfield Park, Goodyear and other Southwest Valley residents, she stays busy rediscovering Arizona and photographing its spectacular landscapes and wildlife.
City of Litchfield Park,
Litchfield Park,
City Manager Bill Stephens,
Assistant City Manager Matthew Williams,
Mayor Thomas L. Schoaf,
Vice Mayor Paul Faith,
John Romack,
Ann Donahue,
Ron Clair,
Lisa Brainard-Watson,
Fender electric guitar,
Pretty Woman
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