The Peoria City Council approved an amendment to the contract of City Manager Henry Darwin at its Jan. 6 meeting, allowing for a 15% raise, retroactively effective Feb. 3.
The item was listed on the consent agenda, where a single motion approves all items.
It was approved 5-2 with Councilmembers Denette Dunn and Brad Shafer voting nay. Their dissent came because Mayor Jason Beck refused to allow them to pull the item from the consent agenda, which contains items requiring action by council that are generally routine and do not require council discussion.
The councilors say they wanted transparency and discussion on the item.
But Beck said amendments to the city manager’s employment agreement have historically been considered routine in nature in Peoria. Four of the last six city manager agreement amendments have been considered on the consent agenda, dating back to 2016, he said.
“The proposed amendment to the contract agreement, which is publicly available information, has undergone the standard review processes, which align fully with the previously established practices here in Peoria, and across the Valley,” he said.
However Dunn and Shafer say amendments to the city’s highest paid official are not routine, especially since Darwin received a 15% raise, increasing his annual salary from $275,000 to $317,255, which city officials say would place him as the sixth-highest paid city manager in the Valley. Peoria has the sixth-highest population in the metro area, excluding Phoenix.
Dunn said she requested the item be removed from consent for discussion by writing 24 hours before the meeting, but was refused by Beck.
“When an elected official asks for something to be pulled off the consent agenda and it’s denied by Mayor Jason Beck, he is not only denying the elected representative, but the people, and hindering them from hearing the questions and getting those questions answered," she said.
Good communication and transparency are important ingredients for governance, she added.
“When you deny information and lack transparency, it makes me and others think there is either something being hid or corrupt behaviors and cover-ups. Why not let the people hear? Council members who move to approve and second without getting other council members questions answered are also participating in hiding information to their constituents,” she said. “Again, why are they doing that? Why can’t our citizens know what’s going on? Maybe when all is said and done everyone can understand and agree. Unfortunately, when you shut down the voice of the other elected officials it doesn’t seem to be a very healthy democratic process, and in my opinion, it’s a shame.”
This is not the first time Beck has refused Dunn and Shafer their right to pull items from the consent agenda.
The issue was highlighted recently regarding the city’s attempt to lease a hangar planned to house a helicopter the city has approved funds to purchase.
At the time, Dunn and Shafer said they provided requests to the mayor in writing to remove the item from the consent agenda 24 hours prior to the council date, but they were denied.
It is not uncommon for elected officials to request items to be removed from the consent agenda, and many Arizona agencies support councilors’ ability to remove items for discussion.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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