This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Bloggers coments, Mayor Lyn Truitt. 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.
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Truitt: 1 win, 1 loss
1 win: Getting Miryam Gutier on board as a City Council aide on a six-month contract at $8,945 a month.
1 loss: Getting shot down on awarding Marianne Archibald a six-month contract at $9,100 a month as a culture director.
Not a terrible record for Truitt after his very first meeting as mayor.
Now, what teeters on terrible is that Gutier and Archibald supported Truitt and were paid to work on his mayoral campaign. To be fair, newly elected officials always bring their political supporters on board. It happens.
However, Truitt could have been a little more sensitive in his approach, especially given the political climate in Surprise. Sure, it can’t be construed as lining his own pockets, but could it be viewed as lining his friends’?
If those jobs are going to be permanent staff positions, shouldn’t they go through the usual hiring process? If they remain as contracts, shouldn’t there be a bidding process?
And, the idea of giving a City Council aide so much authority — especially when it’s a handpicked position — also raises eyebrows. Truitt wanted Gutier to act as mayor in Truitt’s absence at events? Um, isn’t that the vice mayor’s gig?
Because it is his first meeting — I’ll go easy on him. But the honeymoon period doesn’t last forever.
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