12 Years-and-Six Months Ago Chris Brady Became City Manager

That's Chris Brady in an image from 2005 just after he was unanimously selected by the Mesa City Council as 'the first outsider' and fourth city manager since the position was created 62 years ago.
Huh? Outsider some might ask?? Well, not really - he fits the mold of many officials - both elected and salaried - inside City Hall who got degrees from Brigham Young University.

A Mormon-educated background and membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appears to be a frequent factor in nearly all city government, politics, economic development and finance here in Mesa and the entire East Valley. There's no question about that.
One startling fact sticks out looking at Chris Brady's 12-year tenure in office as the City of Mesa's Chief Executive Officer is that debt has exploded exponentially on his watch.

In 2005 he inheriting a looming budget shortfall of about $36 million . . . under more than ten years of his management that "shortfall" in 2018 has blown up to an  unfunded debt burden of $784.6 million.It works out to $5,900 for each taxpayer in the city, according to the TIA analysis.
Source: Report by Gary Nelson in East Valley Tribune 28 Jan 2018

QUESTION: Why is your MesaZona blogger bringing this fact up NOW?
Simply because it should matter to YOU, since the money comes out-of-your-pocket year after year after.
Once again City Manager Chris Brady wants to raise your taxpayer debt even more in budget hearings going on RIGHT NOW in front of your eyes at Mesa City Council meetings. It's a good thing for city officials if citizens stay ignorant and are not active or engaged in what their governance is doing.

They like it when
YOU DON'T KNOW AND DON'T ASK QUESTIONS
. . . That's what works here in Mesa.
You might not realize these small incremental hikes in sales taxes and increases or 'adjustments' in city services and utilities usage add up really fast, mostly appropriated in areas that expand opportunities for vested interests of a chosen few that rob from the poor and give to the rich.
Is the public better off now than before Brady?

Residents here in Mesa need more discussion about where Mesa has spent its sales tax dollars.
Does he have the enthusiasm and the personality that lends itself to selling the city to its residents and prospective businesses that he sold the Mesa City Council on?
Does the City Manager have the personality that lends itself to selling the city to its residents and prospective businesses, which will be a must as the council prepares to seek more new taxes from voters next year.
Has he become "the great communicator" and "public face" he had the opportunity to become?