Mesa council directs placement of Scott Butler on March 3 agenda for city manager appointment

At a Feb. 27 study session, the Mesa mayor and council directed staff to place Assistant City Manager Scott Butler on the March 3 council meeting agenda for consideration as the city’s next city manager. The mayor said the appointment would occur after current City Manager Chris Brady retires.

Scott Butler, who told the council he has worked for the City of Mesa for 21 years, outlined his background and priorities in a short interview at the study session. “I really appreciate the faith and and trust that you have put into me by, the process that you've chosen to move forward. It, it's very humbling,” Butler said, describing work across the organization and his roles in government relations, deputy city manager, and assistant city manager.

Butler said his priorities would reflect the council’s direction and emphasized fiscal discipline, public safety and innovation. He pointed to Mesa’s fiber program and the police department’s Real Time Crime Center as examples of technology that have improved service delivery. “Public safety is the linchpin of our our community,” Butler said, adding the city must continue investing in police and fire services and in wraparound supports for personnel.

Council members praised Butler’s experience and institutional knowledge. The mayor summarized the council’s direction: “General direction we'll put on the agenda,” and later said, “So I see everybody's head nodding, so that's unanimous that we'll move forward and place him on the agenda for Monday. And that appointment would come after mister Brady's retirement.” The council did not record a formal motion or roll-call vote during the study session; the direction was given by consensus.

Butler outlined several items he said matter most to the city’s future: maintaining Mesa’s fiscal discipline; fostering economic development to attract high-wage, technology-related jobs; and using technology to improve efficiency in areas such as plan review and public safety. He noted state-level changes could strain local revenues and emphasized the council and staff would need to prioritize as those effects become clearer.

The study session remarks also included council and staff references to the size of the organization and its finances: speakers described Mesa as a full-service city with about 4,500 employees and framed the city’s operations in business-like terms, referring during remarks to a roughly $4,900,000,000 company metaphor for the city. The council’s direction on Feb. 27 places Butler on the March 3 meeting agenda for formal consideration; the council indicated the appointment would follow Brady’s retirement and did not complete a formal vote at the study session.