By Linda Kor
Lifetime resident and local businessman Ray Alley has taken over the reins as the new interim manager for the City of Holbrook. For some residents, this may be a case of déjà vu since Alley has filled those shoes before.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business from Grand Canyon University, Alley returned to Holbrook to work as a banker for a short time before being hired as the city’s finance director. He worked in that capacity, as well as that of assistant city manager, for four years before being hired as the city manager.
“I was the city manager for five years and realized that I wasn’t spending enough time with my family. So I left the position to spend time with my kids and work on my businesses,” explained Alley.
His businesses have included construction, rental properties, investments, the Alley Tire Company and Alley Lumber. He is also a licensed commercial contractor. He also managed Auto Safety House for four years after selling the business, and he estimates he and his brother Joe have built somewhere between 60 and 70 buildings in town.
The contract that Alley and the city council have agreed upon for his term as interim manager is for six months, ending on May 11, 2010, with a base compensation of $45,500. He will be entitled to the same benefits as other full-time city personnel, and will accrue vacation time and sick leave in the same manner as other employees of the city.
The contract also states that if the city does not appoint a permanent city manager on or before May 11, the agreement may be extended for an additional six months, with the option to negotiate the base compen-sation amount.
Alley openly admits that he intends to apply for the permanent position of city manager.
“Right now I plan on putting in for the position, but that depends on council, too. If we’re not a good fit and can’t work together, then it wouldn’t be good for any of us. I don’t see that as a problem at this point, though. Each member on the council right now has a vested interest in the community and that makes a big difference,” stated Alley.
According to Alley, there are two trains of thought to what might be considered a hometown advantage, the first being that people know you and the second, well, that people know you.
“People know I care about the city, what happens here affects me as well as anyone else. Then again, the people you know may try to take advantage of that relationship,” said Alley. “As long as there are ade-quate policies and procedures in place, then everyone will get equal treatment. They may not agree and get mad, but if it’s fair and equitable, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
After only a week on the job, Alley has made changes that he believes are necessary to get the city pre-pared for the inevitable budget cuts that will take place over the next two years as a result of a faltering economy.
He made it clear that this is just the beginning. “To begin with, there will have to be a reduction in forces with a combining of duties so that the public will not see any lapse in services,” said Alley, who added that four positions were already being eliminated from the city payroll.
Although the cuts may seem harsh, Alley reiterated that they were necessary. With budget projections looking very grim over the unforeseeable future, the focus needs to be put on preserving funds and main-taining services.
“We have nothing in reserves now and we are two years behind a real hit. I’m a planner and I’m good at privatizing. I plan to treat the city as if it were a business, because I know how to build a successful busi-ness,” said Alley.
Those strengths were precisely the reasons cited by the council for hiring Alley after concerns of finan-cial instability within the budget.
Other changes include a revolving work schedule for the water/wastewater department. At this time the department works Monday through Friday and is on call for the weekends. By creating a rotating shift where workers are either off Sunday and Monday, or Friday and Saturday, Alley claims the city will save from $15,000 to $20,000 per year in overtime wages with no lapse of coverage.
As far as projects go, the repairing of the scouring done to the levee remains the number one priority in order to prepare for recertification.
“We’re going to be facing weather issues soon, and we need to put as much personnel as we can on that project to get that completed,” stated Alley.
In regards to the investigation into allegations of falsifying employee timecards in some departments, Alley’s response was to move forward and not waste valuable resources on something that could extend indefinitely into the past.
“Within the next couple of weeks we will be implementing a new computerized time card program within the city hall. Once that system is up and running, and the glitches are worked out, we will go city-wide with it. I disagree with an investigation into past issues on this. We’ve spent too many hours and re-sources, and we have no time to go back and enforce anything. We’re going to be enforcing from this point forward. I believe we have more important things at hand,” he said.
A very hands-on manager, Alley openly admits to being a micro-manager.
“I expect to be out in the field most of the time and will be taking over the duties of the public works director as well. These are all things I did when I was here before, the difference being that now I have a finance director and before I did that as well,” stated Alley.
If it appears that Alley has high expectations, it would be an accurate assessment. Having what he labels “pet peeves,” Alley has definite opinions regarding city employees.
“I’m going to demand respect, integrity and efficiency. Employees will have to be willing to cross-train in other fields,” he said, adding that more jobs will have to be eliminated and it will require that the city run efficiently.
Another area that Alley wants to see changed is the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and the chamber of commerce.
“I like things black and white, and this MOU seems pretty vague. I want to create an intergovernmental agreement with the chamber that provides them with a specific amount of funding in specific allocations along with what we expect for those dollars. If they do those things and have funds remaining, then they can use those according to their discretion. I want the agreement to be the same as we would have with a contractor we hire to fix streets. They do what needs to be done and we don’t interfere. I believe we all want the same things,” stated Alley.
Another high priority for Alley is road improvements.
“The streets are in pretty bad shape. The funds that we save from personnel will be allocated to ensure the streets are well-maintained and safe,” stated Alley.
Rate structure and internal policy changes should also be anticipated. The city currently offers potable or drinking water from Well 4 for 20 cents per 100 gallons for anyone, including non-residents and indi-viduals from the reservations, who don’t have access to city water or well of their own.
“If I were to do that as a businessman, I would be out of business. That needs to be changed. We’re also going to be looking at delinquent water accounts and our shut-off policy. We have a lot of people who live on a fixed income and they’ll get a shut-off notice just prior to getting their monthly check. They end up having to pay hook-up charges and experiencing a great deal of stress,” stated Alley, who wants to put shut-off dates at the fifth of each month and if that date falls on a weekend, then it would carry over until the following Monday.
Included in rate structure changes will be the cost of utilizing the transfer station.
“Sanitation also needs to be equitable and consistent. I can bring the same trailer, with approximately the same load on the same day and the cost can vary by $40 depending on the operator,” stated Alley, add-ing that set rates will be posted for using the transfer station.
Alley knows that even the most efficient businesses will experience some losses.
“We’re going to win a few and lose a few. Some of the areas that we will consistently lose money at will be the golf course, airport, swimming pool and the library. These are things that we will never make money on, but are necessary to have in order to maintain a quality of life,” stated Alley. “We’ll look at the possibility of subsidizing these areas, or just having to carry the loss.”
While some of the changes Alley is proposing may be difficult on many levels, the ultimate goal is to serve the best interests of the city.
“I’m going to treat the city’s money like my own. I have no axes to grind, but I will make this city run efficiently. There may be people who won’t be happy with my methods and that’s OK as long as I’m being fair and equitable,” stated Alley.
Alley has given himself a Dec. 5 deadline in order to have what he calls a “clean slate” that he can move forward with and plan.
“Everything that I’m dealing with are areas I’ve handled in the past. The only real change I can see is the technological aspect. It’s a change to be dealing with e-mails and how that applies to open meeting laws. So there are some new aspects, but overall I think I have it covered,” he said.
Ray Alley
