We want to be like Phoenix! Except not.

At the City Club debate between Charter change proponent Bob Ball and opponent Chris Smith today, Bob was asked a question he’s been asked at pretty much every forum so far – “Which city uses the proposed form of government that is as good as or better than Portland?” Bob gave his usual answer, that there are thousands of cities using the proposed model, and of course Portland is just as good if not better than them. But moderator Nick Fish didn’t let him off the hook: “OK, if there are thousands, I’ll settle for just one,” he said. “Phoenix”, replied Bob.

OK! Finally, after three months of asking, we have a city to look to, to see how it’s working out for them.

Except not.

Being a code geek, the first thing I did was check to see what the Phoenix Charter says. And much to my disappointment, I find their structure isn’t much like what is being proposed. The Organizational Chart shows the Mayor and Council in the same box, with the City Manager below in charge of everyone else. The Mayor is a part of a nine person Council, and the Council as a whole, not just the Mayor, makes decisions on hiring a City Manager (not a Chief Administrative Officer). There is a provision in their Charter that all hirings of bureau directors and other staff are by the City Manager, not the Mayor or the Council. It says, “Neither the Council nor any of its Members shall direct or request the appointment of any person to, or his removal from, office by the City Manager or by any of his subordinates, or in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of officers and employees in the administrative service of the City.” A vote of 2/3 of the Council can remove the City Manager from office.

The Mayor is an ex-officio member of the Council of eight other members. The Council in Phoenix has all the Specific Powers assigned to the Mayor in Measure 26-01.

I could go on, but it seems clear that the mention of Phoenix as a model city using the form of government proposed in 26-91 was a mistake. I’ve heard the Commission looked at many city charters and structures, and perhaps Phoenix contributed some ideas towards some parts of one of the four ballot measures. But this means we still haven’t been given a single example of a city using the structure suggested by our Charter Commission, that works as well or better than Portland.

Sigh.