Update on O’Dell story about Letcher, city spending

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by David Safier
This morning I took apart a Star story by Rob O'Dell that implied City Manager Mike Letcher was spending all kinds of money for pay raises and new hires. Using the information in the rest of the story, I came to  the conclusion that O'Dell was creating a false impression.

Later today, I got an email sent out by Ward 6 to people on its email list confirming my conclusions and taking O'Dell to task for not printing information Letcher sent to O'Dell. Letcher's letter says his staffing changes will save about $377,000 this year, using information I didn't have available. Here's the relevant portion:

Mr. Letcher did NOT add staff.  Rather, he promoted one person to Deputy (the position he held until becoming our new City Manager) and replaced him with an Assistant City Manager.  Each will be paid less than his predecessor in that position.  And three other positions have been eliminated.  Mr. Letcher’s moves will end up saving us as much as $377,000 THIS COMING YEAR.  Here’s how he explained it in an email to all City employees:

The Arizona Daily Star article today did not print all of the information we provided them regarding the recent promotions and new hire in our office. We have eliminated three (3) positions in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget including an Assistant to the City Manager, Rio Nuevo Project Director and an Intergovernmental Relations Program Liaison. Information we sent to the paper indicated these cuts will save our office $377,000. This information was not printed.

The staffing in our office has not changed. We still have a City Manager, a Deputy City Manager and an Assistant City Manager. I promoted Richard Miranda to Deputy City Manager and hired Sean McBride as my new Assistant City Manager to replace Richard

.Marie Nemerguth and Christina Parisi are promotions. Marie is being paid comparable to former Budget Directors and Christina is receiving a five percent raise provided for in our Administrative Directive on Employment Compensation.

This City is a $1.3 billion operation. I need help managing it. It is important to me for you to know the reasoning behind my actions.

Thank you,
Mike Letcher, City Manager

NOTE: I don't know if Letcher's figures include the $200,000 in salaries being paid by the city to people moved to the Downtown Tucson Partnership. If not, that would lower his savings figure to $177,000.