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By Chase Kamp Southeast Valley Ledger
Brian Tapp, the Executive Director of Central Arizona Governments (CAG), announced on Aug. 13, 2012, that he would resign from the position effective Sept. 6 to take a position at aMissouriuniversity. Tipp was appointed Executive Director of CAG in 2010.
Tapp said in leading the organization he aimed to create a more efficient organization that could expand its breadth and more effectively address the needs of the Counties and members.
“One of the issues with CAG traditionally is that it has been so dependent on social services programs, it never really went out to provide the direct services it’s needed to provide to its members,” he said.
“When you’re so dependent on doing day-to-day stuff, you’re not aggressive and not pushing forward to new additions and new items,” he added.
However, one former director was critical of his methods in office, and some argued that CAG as a whole has not been giving small communities and rural members a reasonable share of resources and consideration.
Tapp and others agreed that new leadership at CAG will arrive at a time of good opportunity, but many invested parties are unsure how the scope and direction of CAG will take shape in the future.
Tapp will depart CAG to be the new outreach director forSoutheastMissouriStateUniversity’s Douglas C. Green Innovation and Entrepreneurship center.
“It was a great career opportunity for me and my family,” Tapp said of the move. “I was looking forward to that transition and it’s another opportunity for me to use my skill set the best way I can.”
Al Larsen, the Regional Development Director at CAG, has been appointed as interim Director by the group’s executive committee with plans to find a full-time director in the near future.
CAG suffered a blow in June when it lost out on a $637,000 grant that would have gone toward workforce investment area Title 1 youth programs that would provide job training for young workers.
Gila County serves as the fiscal agent for that program, as well as the Workforce Investment Board, and the program is required to go out for proposal every two years.
Funding was forwarded through CAG for its adult workforce programs, but Central Arizona College was instead granted the ability to administer youth program funding.
One former CAG director, who requested anonymity, said it was the first time in decades that CAG was challenged for the grant and lost out to another agency. Having served at the time of the proposal, the former director alleged the grant process was handed over to an inexperienced staff member.
“I just don’t know how they’re going to function, losing that much money,” the former director said.
Tapp said the application process for the WIA grant was pursued in the usual manner. “We pretty much focused on what we did in the past,” he said.
The former director also said experienced employees were let go and replaced by out-of-state replacements, something they argued goes against the organization’s traditional regionalism. “The leadership was just lacking,” they argued.
Tapp disagreed. “You bring in some different ideas and get different perspectives,” he said. “It gets back to the idea of what the expectations are per County and per member entity.”
Tapp argued that ideally, CAG should have provided additional services outside of the social services and WIA programs.
The loss of the grant might even be a blessing in disguise, he argued. “Maybe there could be a different transition with what’s going on. That’s my personal feeling in my 20 years in the council of government.”
Representatives from smaller member entities argue they are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to CAG resources.
Coolidge Councilmember Jon Thompson said his town is re-evaluating whether or not to pay their assessment to CAG, one that all member entities dole out to the organization in exchange for various services and information.
“We’re not generating the revenues we used to generate,” Thompson said. “If we’re not getting the service, then we don’t want to pay it.”
Thompson said smaller entities were not given enough of a voice in the organization, and weren’t entitled to as many financial benefits.
“The administration was dealing mainly with the big boys,” he said. “If you were small, you didn’t get nearly the consideration.”
At a Gila County Board of Supervisors meeting in June, Vice-chairman Shirley Dawson criticized CAG for maintaining an attitude of “we’ve grown big now and we don’t need rural areas.”
Florence Mayor Tom Rankin disagreed and called for renewed efforts for the shared goal of prosperity.
“I would hope the towns would stay solid together behind CAG,” he said. “CAG can be a viable organization for the two counties if we all work together to make it so.”
Tapp said he was optimistic about CAG’s future as the two counties eventually return to growth. “There’s a lot of big issues on the horizon and I think there’s some good opportunities to push it forward by the leadership at the Council,” he said.
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