"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not.  It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer

Carefree Truth
Issue #1075, February 5, 2024

Valued neighbors, in recent months, Carefree’s Town Staff has received what I believe is unfounded criticism regarding their approach to 1) delivering upon a heavy ongoing workload overlaid with necessary major projects and 2) the overall staffing costs for managing the requirements of the Town.

I would like to address both of these inaccurate criticisms and thank the entire Town Staff for performing their jobs in a professional manner at a fraction of the cost of other municipalities in the State. 

To understand my viewpoint, one has to first understand the nature of the workload handled by the Town Staff. It is what the Town Council and Town Administrator, Gary Neiss, developed when arriving at the current working approach. It is what we came to call a “trough and peak” approach, reflecting both an ongoing base level of work overlaid with major projects that are required on an intermittent basis. For example, the revision and updating of the General Plan is a once every ten years project, and a directional signage strategy for the downtown area, which was purposely laid out to be secluded away from major highways, was a once-in-a-lifetime project.

Contributing to the “base workload” are the many areas over which the Town has required jurisdiction. For example, the number of building inspections of new and remodeled buildings numbers in the thousands each year. In addition, many state reporting requirements must also be met, most of which are unknown to someone not integrally involved in the Town’s business. State reporting requirements in the financial area are particularly comprehensive to assure the financial integrity of the residents’ monies collected to fund required Town responsibilities. Further, many of the relatively small number of Town Staff handle the needs of more than one functional area. It is to fulfill the requirements of this “base workload” that the Town determines its ongoing staffing requirements. 

On top of this base workload are the major projects which occasionally arise. After considerable investigation and discussion, we determined to utilize experienced and proven outside experts to work with the appropriate Town Staff to manage these major projects when they arose. Our thinking was that this approach would deliver the most recent thinking and experience from the municipalities throughout the State regarding the specific topic under development. 

Regarding overall staffing costs, our discussions with the municipalities support that this approach, just summarized, is costing Carefree residents considerably less per resident than that required in other municipalities in Arizona with a comparable number of residents and situations. 

We believe that our experience in this approach has been, and is, very successful. We intend to continue it in the future. It has enabled the Town of Carefree to efficiently handle its many ongoing responsibilities and requirements on both an effective and efficient basis. All of us Carefree residents have the professionals on the Town Staff to thank for a job well done.

**Special acknowledgement needs to be given to not only Town Administrator, Gary Neiss, but also Carefree Water Company General Manager, Greg Crossman, for the prestigious 2024 Build Arizona Awards. Carefree was recognized for two such awards—a pavement preservation project (street repaving) and the water consolidation project, for efficiency and cost controls while bringing all Carefree residents under one service provider.
For the sake of saving space in this letter, I’d encourage you to reach out to Mr. Neiss & Mr. Crossman for more details on each of these awards.  Gentlemen, congratulations, and thank you to you and your staff for doing your best work and serving as a point of pride for the best small town in Arizona: Carefree!
 
Vince D'Aliesio
Proud Councilmember
Carefree, AZ 85377
480.488.3686
VinceDaliesio@Carefree.org
www.Carefree.org