Tension Rises Between El Mirage Police Association, City
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A high-ranking member of the El Mirage Police Employees Association has accused city leaders of breaking Arizona’s open meeting law, an allegation the city manager called “absurd.”
The conflict grew out of a survey of association members. Results of the survey were sent to the City Council before the May 16 regular meeting. The idea was to help open communication about the group’s concerns on training, attrition and pay, said Norm Brice, vice president of EMPEA.
“Instead, they violated the state’s open meeting law, and presented this information without an advance notice to the public so the public could be involved,” Brice said.
The survey had many flaws, said Dr. Spencer Isom, El Mirage city manager. Isom asked the police chief to tell the City Council about the survey during the regular city manager’s update, which was on the council agenda.
“The city manager’s update is there for the city manager to update the council and the community on current events,” Isom said. “This SurveyMonkey was a current event.”
When the chief finished, the mayor asked the rest of the City Council if there were any questions, according to Sharon Antes, El Mirage city clerk. The mayor did not call for a discussion, and no action was taken.
The survey should have been on the City Council agenda, said David Shapera, a three-term city councilman. He thinks the open-meeting law was broken.
“The mayor herself made a number of comments, and I thought that was improper,” Shapera said.
EMPEA is reviewing what happened with its attorney, Brice said. The Executive Board will vote on whether to file a complaint with the Arizona attorney General.
