SAFFORD — By a narrow margin, the Safford City Council decided to continue the traditional process of searching for a new city manager.
The council voted down the immediate hiring of interim City Manager Eric Bejarano as permanent city manager during Monday’s meeting.
The vote to offer the job to Bejarano failed by a 3-4 vote, with Vice Mayor Arnold Lopez and Council Members Dusti Brantner and Luke Arbizo voting in the affirmative. The proposal was before the council at the request of Lopez.
Councilman Brad Hemphill was in favor of moving forward with the traditional recruitment process, and supported his rationale by using the hiring of Bejarano as assistant city manager in July 2024.
“When we created the assistant city manager position, we had an internal candidate who was a finalist, who didn’t get the position. Had we not done that process then, it’s extremely conceivable that this person would have just been promoted and we wouldn’t even have Eric. The process gave us Eric,” Hemphill said.
Eight members of the public spoke on the vacant city manager position, with all seven speaking in favor of offering the job to Bejarano.
“Let’s keep our community strong, and let’s not go outside. We’ve got what we need,” said Sharon Owens Gale, who added her great-grandfather had served as mayor of the city.
The Human Resources Department will advertise the open position across the state and accept applications.
Bejarano will remain as interim city manager during the recruitment process, and, per the council’s unanimous vote on Jan. 26, he is guaranteed to revert to his position as assistant city manager in the event he is not hired as city manager following the hiring process.
