Town council listens to residents critical of Stahle

After a string of Rancho Sahuarita residents called for the firing of Town Manager Jim Stahle, the town council spent more than two hours Monday evaluating the manager’s performance, then continued their evaluation to a future meeting.

The council is not expected to make a decision on Stahle’s contract until June.

Two sharply differing portraits of the town emerged at Monday’s Town Council meeting.

On the one hand, town staff reported new athletic fields will open this year at Anamax Park, North Park, Anza Trail School Park and Quail Creek Park, and a number of road projects are underway.

On the other hand, a half dozen or so critics asked for Stahle’s firing, saying he has let the ball drop on wastewater, parks and other issues.

The council conducted an evaluation of Stahle’s job performance in closed session but put off until June the annual consideration of the manager’s salary and whether to extend his contract, which runs through June.

The critics said that if no decision were made this week, they would return in the future. The closed session ran from about 7:50 p.m. to after 10 p.m.

Rancho Sahuarita residents have asserted the town has not dealt fairly with developer Bob Sharpe and that this has led to the town settling for a lesser level of parks amenities and wastewater service.

Sharpe has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the town, claiming he has lost development opportunities because the town failed to expand its wastewater plant fast enough to keep up with demand, which has resulted in the state and county suspending new sewer connections in the commercial area.

Town officials said the 2006 decision to expand the plant to 490,000 gallons per day (gpd) rather than 750,000 gpd was based on economics, because a larger plant by law would have required more expensive odor control technology than was included in the first phase of the plant, which was built by Sharpe. The town meanwhile has added a temporary expansion to 690,000 gpd and is designing a permanent expansion to 1.5 million gpd, which will include odor controls.

The call for Stahle’s job is a new facet in criticism of the town by Sharpe, his staff or residents.

Town Planning and Zoning Commissioner Patrick Devine, a Rancho Sahuarita resident, said: “There is a list of failures for which the town has not taken responsibility, and the biggest is the relationship, or lack thereof, between the town and Sharpe & Associates. I challenge anyone here to say this is productive relationship. That would be a lie.”

Devine said Stahle, as the chief executive officer, is responsible for the overall performance of the town.

Mayor Lynne Skelton noted that the town and developer cooperated successfully on an agreement to reimburse him $1.3 million for building a septic system that has allowed for development of the Rancho Sahuarita commercial area. Rancho Sahuarita officials say the septic field they located there is hindering their ability to continue development.

Town staff note that no other developer has complained publicly about a breakdown in relations with the town, and say the developer and town cooperate daily on issues dealing with the planning and construction of 500 new homes a year in the master planned community.

Other issues laid at Stahle’s door include the decision by the town council to build a 10-acre North Park near the wastewater plant rather than a larger park that Sharpe first proposed in 2004, then withdrew in 2005, then proposed again in 2007.

The Town Council voted 6-1 in September to build a 10-acre park after getting a unanimous recommendation to do so by the town Parks and Recreation Commission, partly to get new sports fields in operation by August, 2008.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Hans Duerr, who does not live in Rancho Sahuarita, said of the possible expansion of North Park, “When Sharpe’s proposal came to us, no one was there to represent either Sharpe or the community. Five of the seven members (of the commission) are residents of Rancho Sahuarita, and they are very concerned with park activities for Rancho Sahuarita — the rest of us are equally concerned. Hopefully we can work together in the future, but the responsibility also lies with you. Not one of you have I seen at a PRC (parks and recreation commission) meeting.”

Town officials have said they are open to continuing negotiations with Sharpe on expanding the park.

Two critics of the town, Kia Harris Birdsong and school board member Tom Murphy, on Monday called for Stahle’s firing, but also thanked Skelton for reaching out to Sharpe about the possibility of expanding the park in the future.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738