Scottsdale City Manager Chosen
The Scottsdale City Council has made its choice, and James Thompson is the new city manager. He was unanimously selected by the council at their meeting Thursday evening.
The position has not been permanently filled since June 2015 after the former city manager suffered health problems. Thompson previously served as city manager of Casa Grande.
The council went through three rounds of candidates before deciding on Thompson. He was chosen from six finalists from the Valley and around the country. He says he thinks his regional knowledge made him a strong candidate for the position.
“You know understanding local Arizona politics and how things tend to be — the laws on the books and various other factors I think helped in that process,” Thompson said.
The new city manager has an MBA and a background in accounting. He says his business experience will be helpful when taking on the challenges facing Scottsdale.
“There’s been a couple past bond issues that they’ve had some challenges with," Thompson said. "I'll be looking at those and seeing exactly what we need to do and what we need to be financing and how best to go about that.”
Thompson’s base salary is more than $211,000 a year. His first official day in the office will be Jan. 9.
