Phoenix council votes to give former City Manager Ed Zuercher his old job back

Former Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher retired shortly after the U.S. Justice Department launched a sweeping civil rights investigation of the city’s police.

Now, with the Trump administration having retreated and retracted blistering findings, he’s getting the job back.

Zuercher will once again be Phoenix city manager come November, after two close votes by the City Council.

“It’s been my commitment as city manager that we at the city of Phoenix will embrace any opportunity for reform and improvement,” Zuercher said in August, 2021, when the Justice Department came to town.

In the years since, the city has taken some steps to follow through on Zuercher’s statement.

A former interim police chief set a goal of becoming a self-assessing and self-correcting department.

Other city officials have described a list of public safety reforms roughly two-thirds done as continuous improvement.

Zuercher will earn about $416,000 a year, which is a roughly 28% raise from his current salary as director of the Maricopa Association of Governments.

Zuercher gets his old job back despite objections to the hiring process by four city council members.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, member Anna Hernandez asked a city attorney if there was public feedback taken on qualities sought in a new city manager.

“Mayor, members of council, I am not aware of any community input prior to this meeting,” Julie Kriegh answered.

Hernandez also asked Kriegh if internal candidates, such as Assistant City Manager Lori Bays, had opportunities to pursue the job.

“We were not directed to do any kind of process to have interviews,” Kriegh answered.