Councilman Leon Potter was last to speak.

A motion was on the floor. Four council members had expressed their support. It was clear which way the elected group was leaning.

Gregory Rose, a Texas native with an extensive background in city administration, was about to become Maricopa’s next city manager. On this Tuesday evening in January, Rose’s three-year employment agreement would be approved.

Sitting among his colleagues at the curved council table, Potter had just listened to Councilwoman Peggy Chapados, Councilman Marvin Brown, Mayor Christian Price and Vice Mayor Edward Farrell assure the public the vetting process of the three finalists for city manager had been thorough. Councilman Bridger Kimball and Councilwoman Julia Gusse did not speak during the discussion.

For Potter, the decision wasn’t so clear cut. He liked Rose — there was no doubt about it. But his concern leading into the meeting was how to justify a vote — either yes or no. Potter said there were questions about Rose’s past he didn’t know the answers to. Questions the public — his constituents — had raised.

Potter’s pickle was this.

 A “yes” vote would mean having to face residents who had their doubts about the new city manager. News articles from years back had surfaced about the man’s employment at the city of North Las Vegas. He resigned amid controversy. The city used voter-approved funds designated for hiring new police officers to pay for officers already on payroll — an incident Rose and other officials blamed on human error. Rose and other city employees told the media his eventual resignation in 2009 was not connected to the issue.

A “no” vote would possibly mean going against the rest of the council and would appear to signify he did not support Rose, which would not be true.

“The public’s point of view was weighing heavy on me,” Potter said. “I wanted to know what people thought and why. They’re the bosses.”

Maricopa’s city council members said public perception plays an important role in their jobs as elected officials. As representatives, taking into account what constituents think is a vital piece of the decision-making process.

“I think perception is always a factor in our decision-making process or our opinions,” Chapados said. “To me that’s also a plus, because if you’re going to have open government that’s accountable, you need to consider all those opinions.”

Opinion of Rose

With Rose as a finalist, perception swirled. Past and current news stories prompted backlash from members of the public before a vote took place. Council members received negative emails, comments crept up on social media and Kimball said he even read a letter from a person in North Las Vegas who recommended not hiring Rose.

As common with any major issue in Maricopa, Facebook played a role.

One resident, Lisa Durst, posted on Kimball’s Facebook page with a link to a 2009 North Las Vegas news story about the police officer controversy.

“An open letter to the Maricopa City Council,” Durst wrote with the link. “WHY would you consider someone who was on paid administrative leave to lead our city?”

The news article that Durst posted detailed the days prior to Rose’s resignation in which he took 30 days of paid executive leave.  

Nine people — including Durst and Kimball — commented on the post in days leading up to and following the council’s unanimous vote to hire Rose. Within the conversation, Kimball questioned Durst’s perception of Rose — one shaped, he believed, by a simple Internet search.

In one comment, Durst wrote: “Just Google his name … many stories come up about why he was removed from office.”

Kimball: “Google does crazy things to someone’s rep. Google my name, see what comes up. Does that mean I’m a bad person? Shouldn’t manage a store? The media as well as Internet can make someone out to be who they are not.”

Kimball, general manager of Caswells Shooting Range in Mesa, was referencing the news articles that will pop up when entering his name in the search engine.

Typing the name “Bridger Kimball” will spit out about 232,000 results in .55 seconds. On the first page, a searcher can find several facts about Kimball — he’s a Maricopa council member, a certified NRA instructor, and as news stories will spell out, he was cited for DUI in December 2012.

“I don’t believe in using Google as a way to determine someone’s character — whether they would be a good manager or not,” Kimball told InMaricopa.