ArvadaforAllthePeople

"No consideration of any ethical concerns or constituents wishes"

More reaction to the $5,000 pay raise for the director of the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority from Arvadan Cindi Kreutzer.

Letter-to-the-Editor sent to the Arvada Press; not yet published.

Soon, Arvada residents will begin to see the results of an urban renewal authority out of control.

They will watch a superstore being built by a notoriously greedy mega-corporation and an entirely inappropriate, meaningless, 5 story, contemporary apartment complex grow into the sky; both projects in the heart of the historic Olde Town area of their city.

If citizens wonder who is responsible for this "graffiti" on the character of our city, they need look no further than their city leaders. At last night's city council meeting [Monday, September 15, 2014] a vote of 7-0 approved another pay raise for the Executive Director of Arvada Urban Renewal Authority, Maureen Phair. Ms. Phair will now be paid retroactively to July, 2014 a salary of $130,000 per year, plus benefits, auto allowance and no requirement that she live in Arvada. She doesn't.

To "earn" this hefty salary Ms. Phair brought us the two projects known as Walmart and Park Place Olde Town utilizing some questionable professional behavior. An example of this is her attempt to coerce a business located on the future Walmart site into bowing to her wishes to reface their building by seeking to delay an application for a Conditional Use Permit for changes made necessary by the upcoming redevelopment. Fortunately, the Arvada Planning Commission did not agree. A second example is her refusal to respond to a citizens’ request for verification of the inflammatory content of a public speech she had given. Both of these examples have been documented either by audio recording or in her own written communications. There are other examples that could cause concern but she is likely behaving within legal limits.

Ms. Phair has not been alone in this behavior. On various occasions and on more than one subject, certain Arvada city officials have had knowledge of and even participated in these activities. If confronted about these issues, the justification is usually based on legalities with no consideration of any ethical concerns or constituents wishes.

On a more positive front, credit can be given to a few city council members who at last night’s council meeting, appointed a handful of outsiders to a new citizens committee formed to aid in determining Capital Improvement priorities in Arvada. An optimist might choose to see this as a sign that things could improve.

But if they don’t improve, do Arvada citizens want their unique and charming city to continue down this current path until it is just another Denver suburb?

Cindi Kreutzer
Arvada, CO

 

  

Arvada Government Sure Does Pay!

By Dave Chandler

UPDATE!
The $5000 annual raise for Ms. Phair was approved unanimously by the Arvada city council -- without discussion -- at its meeting of Monday, September 15, 2014.

UPDATE!
We are now in possession of all three employment documents for Ms. Phair. A correction has turned up in the Third Amendment: the retroactive date is to July 2014 ... not 2012. This kind of incompetent error is what happens when a document is not presented to the public at the time it is approved by the AURA Board of Commissioners. (This 'mistake' is also revealing in light of Phair's other official job title as 'Secretary' ... perhaps some remedial office skill classes are in order, that the taxpayer's would have to pay for, of course.)

Still, we see that Phair has gone from a salary of $110,000 in 2011 to expecting $130,000 now.

Wow! $20,000 in raises in just three years. I wonder how many other city employees are so well considered? How about the average Arvada taxpayer?

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Without comment or explanation, the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority (AURA) Board of Commissioners passed a third amendment to the employment contract of executive director, Maureen Phair, at their regular meeting of Tuesday, September 2, 2014.

On Friday, September 5, I asked for and received a copy of this amendment -- it increases Ms. Phair's annual salary to $130,000 retroactive to July 2012!

Just last summer, Phair's salary was set at $125,000, a $500 a month car allowance, plus other benefits. If the city council approves this generous pay raise, Phair will get a nice fat check for at least $10,000 right off the bat.

Life sure is hard for some top government bureaucrats, uh?

Considering that a great deal of Phair's job is to arrange give-aways of tax dollars to development companies and retail corporations, well, your average Arvadan might be forgiven if they just don't quite comprehend the necessity of this kind of personal government largesse.

Hey, when was the last time you got a retroactive pay raise? A pay raise?

But it does seem that government-types do tend to take care of their own if they are at high enough levels (after all, it's not their money and they always know what is best for you).

Just as troubling as the lavishness of the pay hike is the secretive nature of this proceeding -- no public discussion or explanation before the vote by the AURA board for this contract amendment. [See AURA meeting citizen notes.] If a copy of the document hadn't been specifically asked for, we still wouldn't know what this all about. We are led to conclude, therefore, that in previous secret meetings (also called 'executive sessions'), the AURA board and the executive director 'negotiated' this 'personnel matter'. 

Sometimes, as this episode so far demonstrates, public cynicism and distrust of government bureaucrats and politicans is certainly well deserved.

Of course, I still wonder why there isn't a sunset provision for the executive director's car allowance, after all, after the Gold Line is up and running, Denver resident Phair will be able to take the train to work, right?

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