Tres Alamos Community Alliance urges supervisors to improve county staff accountability after repeated complaints

At the end of their March 11 presentation to the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, members of the Tres Alamos Community Alliance asked the board to address what they described as failures by some county staff to respond to complaints or to apply county rules consistently.

Mr. Walker, speaking for the group, said the alliance recognizes that many county employees perform well but requested that supervisors undertake "strong and meaningful organizational and behavioral improvements to gain much needed accountability." He read an underlined paragraph from the group's written materials that stated, in part, "TACA recognizes that many county employees under your supervision are performing quite well. However, in some cases, and for the overall good of county taxpayers, TACA hopes that the current supervisors will undertake strong and meaningful organizational and behavioral improvements to gain much needed accountability."

Walker told the supervisors the group's complaints are not motivated by money and urged the board to set clear expectations for staff performance and oversight. The alliance had cited instances where residents said they were told by county staff that a property was "exempt" from county regulation; the residents asked supervisors to clarify authority and to ensure that county offices follow consistent procedures when citizens raise potential violations.

Supervisors said they would review the written packet the residents submitted and instructed staff to prepare responses; no formal disciplinary or policy action was taken during the work session.

Ending

TACA asked the supervisors to direct staff to improve accountability and to provide clear responses to resident complaints; the board asked county staff to review the packet and provide follow-up at a future briefing.