By Phil Riske, managing editor
Alleged viewing of scantily clad women on a workplace computer and accusations of withholding information regarding a casino road contract have colored the applications of two of five candidates for Glendale City manager.
One of them, David Garcia, spent eight years as Phoenix deputy city manager. In 2008, Garcia was fired as Chula Vista, Calif. city manager after he was investigated for viewing inappropriate images — reportedly conducting Internet searches for scantily-clad women, published reports said.
“Looking at inappropriate images on a city computer is incredibly disturbing,” Glendale City Councilwoman Lauren Tolmachoff told The Arizona Republic.
Craig Malin, who was Davenport, Iowa’s administrator for 14 years, was booted after the Quad City Times reported after the city experienced unexpected costs of up to $2 million regarding development of a casino and a road leading to it.
Malin denied reports Davenport was grading and doing infrastructure improvements on the casino site. He and the city’s lawyer did not reveal the work and were not authorized to give it the go-ahead.
Since June 2012, when Brenda Fischer, former Maricopa city manager, left, Glendale has had four city managers or acting managers
The city manager finalists include two administrators with Valley connections: John Pombier, Mesa deputy city manager since 2011, and Susan Thorpe, Corpus Christi, Texas, assistant city manager since 2013, who was a deputy city manager of Peoria for seven years.
Kevin Phelps, Pierce County, Wash., deputy county executive, is another finalist.
