Glendale News-Press

12/29/03

Resident calls for watchdog group

Barry Allen aims to mount grass-roots effort to monitor city's finances and actions by council.

 By Josh Kleinbaum

GLENDALE CITY HALL - Claiming that the city needs better oversight to monitor its finances and actions, a Glendale man is calling on city residents to form a watchdog group to investigate the City Council and city staff.

In a letter that appeared on the News-Press' Community Forum page Dec. 22, consultant Barry Allen asked residents to contact him to form the group. He said he has already heard from a handful of people and is planning a January meeting.

"I want to look into everything," Allen said. "If you have a city commission, they're beholden to the people that appoint them. I think an outside agency that isn't funded by city, that's funded on a grass-roots initiative, is what we really need.

"One of my concerns is that we don't go with people who have a hidden agenda," he said.

But some city officials think Allen has a hidden agenda. City Councilman Dave Weaver said Allen is trying to stir up controversy to help Pauline Field, a business partner, get elected to the City Council in 2005. Field said she may run for council, but has yet to declare herself a candidate.

"He's just grandstanding for Pauline Field," Weaver said. "He is trying to insinuate that there is a lot of corruption within City Hall by those kind of statements. It's insulting. Simply because [Field] is running for City Council and he's trying to build this case for her to be on there.

"No outside group is going to be allowed to come in and start looking over the shoulder of the city attorney, the city manager, and start making reports to whom?" he said. "They have no legitimacy, no power, no rights, no nothing."

Allen denied that he has any ulterior motive, and said that he does not plan to run for any office.

"One of the main issues is money," Allen said. "The city cries poor boy, poor me, we don't have any money, then all of the sudden, there's $4 million here, $5 million there. Where is this money coming from?"

City Manager Jim Starbird took a more diplomatic approach, urging members of Allen's group to attend the city's upcoming budget study sessions to find out just how the city spends its money.

"Any group or individual that wants to get involved in the processes here in government, I encourage that," Starbird said. "We have a whole series of budget study sessions coming up, which are usually void of community leaders or others who have opinions of how the city spends its money. This year is going to be very difficult, and I urge them to come and sit in on the sessions."