El Mirage council reaches consensus to move El Mirage Cares toward staff-led model after hourlong debate

El Mirage Common Council members spent more than an hour March 4 debating oversight, staff time and the future of El Mirage Cares and agreed by consensus to ask the city manager to prepare a memo outlining a staff-led management option.

The item was introduced at the start of the council's work session as "clarification on oversight, resource allocation, and alternate approaches for the El Mirage CARES program." City Manager Crystal said staff has received mixed direction and asked the council to clarify where oversight should sit and what staffing and budget level the council expects.

Councilmember Norton McDaniel, who led program planning in earlier years, reviewed the program's origins and activity, saying El Mirage Cares began on 2018-05-01 and has delivered events addressing drug awareness, suicide prevention, teen dating violence, domestic violence and other topics. Norton McDaniel told the council the program has held 13 events citywide and described involvement by police, parks and recreation and volunteers. She also recounted that leadership of the program moved to the police department in mid-2024 and later was discussed again by the council in January 2025.

Several council members said their principal concern is the amount of staff time and unplanned budgetary cost the program is consuming as it has grown. One councilmember summarized the point bluntly: "It is costing too much staff time," and advocated that El Mirage Cares be run by staff in the same way special events are handled, with council involvement focused at budget decisions.

Councilmember Dorsey sharply criticized the program's management style under Norton McDaniel: "You are not collegial. People are not welcome to work with you." Dorsey said low public turnout and repeated planning meetings had required many staff hours and recommended moving day-to-day administration to city staff. Councilmember Gentry and others defended the program's community value; Gentry said the events drew teens and families and that even small turnouts can be meaningful.

City Manager Crystal confirmed staff had received mixed direction over several years and asked the council for explicit direction about oversight, budget and staffing. After discussion the council coalesced around a direction for the program to be run by staff in a model similar to Special Events, with council oversight limited to policy and budget decisions. Crystal said she would "put together a memo probably seeking just a little bit more clarity, more direction" and bring it back to the council.

Councilmembers emphasized that the consensus was not to end El Mirage Cares; multiple members said they want the services to continue but managed so they are sustainable and do not require unbudgeted staff overtime. The record shows disagreement over whether the program had performed effectively in earlier years: Norton McDaniel disputed statements that the program was ineffective or funds had been misspent; other members said turnout at some events had been limited and that the program had become more staff-intensive than originally intended.

No formal vote was taken; the action recorded in the work session was a council consensus and an instruction to the city manager to return with a memo outlining the recommended staffing model, budget implications and implementation steps.

The discussion also touched on logistics and open-meeting law: council members noted that if more than three council members participate in a planning group it may constitute a quorum and require public posting and minutes. Several council members stressed the importance of limiting requests for last-minute staff work, especially on staff days off.

Looking ahead, Crystal will circulate a memo that the council requested. That memo is expected to define whether El Mirage Cares will be managed as a staff program (similar to Special Events), what additional budget or staff time is needed, and what role council members will continue to play in outreach and volunteer support.

Votes at a glance: No formal motion or roll-call vote was taken; the item concluded with a council consensus to direct the city manager to prepare a follow-up memo on a staff-led oversight model for El Mirage Cares.