Recall committee replies to Mayor Young’s rebuttal

A citizen’s rights and concerns are not made less valid by their choice not to serve on the council. By falsely identifying Linda Kor as the author of the narrative provided for the recall petition, the mayor is attempting to divert attention from the issues raised and focus them on the person allegedly raising the issues.

“Mayor Merrill Young has failed to lead the city council in creating a strategic plan.”

The purpose of a city council is to set policy and procedures and to establish long- and short-term objectives and priorities. By not making the strategic plan a priority of the council how can the council effectively come together and decide what projects should get priority? How do you create a budget, without goals on what you want accomplished? There should be annual goals set every year and a strategic plan that is reviewed and updated as often as needed.

With no strategic and community planning a city is at the mercy of who and what businesses come in. There is no one to keep the values of the city in check. Code enforcement has never been a priority and we are seeing the devastating effects of it. Mayor Young was concerned that this recall was going to make Holbrook look bad to somebody looking to invest in Holbrook, but all you have to do is drive down the street and realize why investors are going elsewhere. It is a hard sell to convince someone to invest in a property when the property next door is falling apart.

What is the plan for economic development? Just wait and see what comes along? What are the plans if the state bypasses Holbrook by putting in additional off-ramps from the freeway to facilitate travel to the White Mountains? When did the city council last meet to discuss and develop long-term and short-term plans?

“Under his leadership, he has allowed City Manager Ted Soltis to manipulate and disregard proper procedures and decorum to the detriment of citizens and employees.”

Many citizens have expressed their concerns that City Manager Ted Soltis is unavailable to speak with them or to help address their concerns. Issues that are important to them seem to fall on deaf ears. Also, many times public records requests have been ignored or the information given was not requested.

Despite the clear language in the city charter and in the state statutes, Manager Soltis and most of the council attempted to have then Mayor-Elect Young sworn into office two months before his actual term could legally begin.

This was only stopped when, during the council meeting, a call was made to the city attorney who informed the council that they could not proceed with the swearing-in. Further, when there was a vacancy on the council it was advertised for those interested to apply for the position. Two people applied. One was unqualified according to the plain language of the charter. Nevertheless, the city manager put that name on the agenda and the mayor and two council members actually voted to put that person on the council. Three members voted for the other candidate, resulting in a tie.

Tellingly, Mayor Young, Manager Soltis, and the six council members had no idea that the charter plainly prescribed the action to be taken in this situation.

There was talk of “flipping a coin” and other methods of breaking a tie, until one council member received a text message from a member of the public explaining what the charter required.

“Young has allowed relations to degrade with outside municipalities and organizations, and has elevated the office of mayor above what is authorized by the charter.”

Mayor Young’s rebuttal to this states: “The city manager and I have good relations with area municipalities, routinely attending the Apache and Navajo Counties’ Mayors and Councilmembers Association (ANCMCA) meetings, as well as other meetings as scheduled.”

The committee is more concerned with the lack of relationship with organizations within the City of Holbrook, such as businesses, schools, vendors, non-profits, etc.; organizations that want to partner and work with the city to join resources and make us a stronger community. These relationships have suffered over the past few years.

The committee acknowledges that the city council meetings seem to be run fine; however, discussion and debate on agenda items rarely take place during council meetings. The concern is that decisions are made and agreements are arrived at prior to the public meeting.

“Through his leadership, Young has allowed Manager Soltis to understaff the city workforce, eroding the safety and morale of city employees and of the residents of Holbrook.”

Mayor Young claims that no safety related positions have been eliminated, the committee is concerned that when staff resigns or retires those positions are not replaced leaving the remaining overworked staff in positions where their safety is at risk.

We recently saw this very scenario play out earlier this month at the wastewater treatment plant, thankfully it had a good ending but that may not always be the case. The city is short staffed on police officers, which is a major safety concern for the citizens of Holbrook as well as the police officers on duty. Officers have been required to work overtime to meet the needs of the city.

Mayor Young claims that because they have not filled these vacancies, they can use these funds to eliminate rate increases, however, we have had multiple rate increases. So, according to Mayor Young, they have saved enough money off salaries that we should not have had any rate increases.

“Young facilitated the cancellation of the 2020-2021 election cycle and extended the terms of his office and that of council in violation of city charter.”

The city charter is the people’s charter and cannot be amended or interpreted by the mayor, city council, or city manager. The meaning and understanding of the provisions of the charter are those that were understood at the time the charter was adopted. The charter was created by a vote of the citizens of Holbrook and was approved by the governor. Any changes to the charter must also be approved by a vote of the people and approved by the governor.

Arizona State Legislature has attempted to consolidate elections by passing statutes. The courts have ruled that those Statutes (16-204 and 16-204.1) cannot be applied to charter cities when their charter specifies other dates.

Contrary to what the mayor stated, the state has no authority at all to tell a charter city, such as Holbrook, to consolidate their elections with those of the state.

The mayor, city council, and manager should have known that these statutes did not apply to Holbrook. A.R.S 16-204.1 was being litigated but, based on previous rulings, the city should have been prepared for the court to rule that this statute did not apply to charter cities. They were not prepared. State ex rel. Brnovich v. City of Tucson: The Supreme Court held that Ariz. Rev. Stat. 16-204.01 cannot apply to require a city to consolidate local elections with state and national elections if the city’s charter provides otherwise.

Having failed to hold a primary election in March of 2021, thus having no candidates to run in the May 2021 general election and with the terms of three council members expiring, the mayor and council under the guidance of the City Manage Soltis, decided to take a radical course. Rather than seek legal advice on how to remedy this situation according to state law and the charter, the mayor and council determined that the best fix was to give themselves the authority to reinterpret the charter.

Despite the fact that the people understood what the charter required, despite the fact that this understanding was held by the various Holbrook city councils for over two decades, and despite the fact that this was the understanding of the Governor of the State of Arizona when the charter was approved, this council, by a vote of 4-3, determined that what the charter really stated allowed them to cancel the election cycle, to extend the term of office for all the council members, and to consolidate the city elections with the state elections.

This radical change to the charter was not submitted to the citizens for approval and was not submitted to the governor for ratification.

This is the most egregious example of the mayor, council, and manager either being ignorant of the provisions of the charter or of holding the charter in disdain.

“Young has reached beyond the charter duties allotted to the mayor and given himself the responsibility to approve financial activity in concert with Soltis.”

Mayor Young quotes Resolution 19-18, which states that the mayor and a staff member should sign-off on the accounting, the committee has no issue with this, the concern is the lack of transparency with that process. In the past if there was an issue or a question on any part of it, that particular item could be pulled from the consent agenda by council until any answers or clarifications were resolved. Where is the oversight? Why did the mayor and manager want less transparency in terms of the city budget?

“Young has allowed scheduled council meetings to be cancelled, ignoring the many needs facing the city. In addition, Young has given Soltis the authority to control the city council agenda.”

Yes, Mayor Young, the charter states you are only required to hold one meeting a month, the issue stated was there are many pressing needs that could be discussed during those council meetings but are being pushed off to later dates.

Yes, the charter states that the city manager prepares the agenda but that does not give him full authority to what goes on the agendas. Members of the council are allowed to add items to the agenda and it is our understanding that Soltis has not allowed this to happen, everything had to go through Soltis for his approval and if he doesn’t want it on there, then it is not added. City managers work for the council, not the other way around. We think there is some confusion on the part of the council and they are not fully aware of their rights and responsibilities.