Eric and Susan Duthie have taken a liking to Yuma.
The new city manager and his wife have been in town since late last month, as Duthie began his new role on July 28.
“The reception we have received here has been marvelous,” he said.
Duthie shared that they received a welcome visit from a neighbor after they had moved into their house.
“We have done that before, but we never had someone come knock on our door to welcome us,” he said.
He also shared their impression when the military veterans and VFW Color Guard passed their vantage point at the Yuma County Fair Parade. He said everyone stood, took off their hats and were silent, even the youngest of the onlookers.
“That doesn’t happen everywhere,” Duthie said.
The new city manager said he is impressed with the city staff. He also has been visiting businesses and some churches.
“I appreciate the welcome I’ve had doing that,” Duthie said.
He has displayed his bilingualism while visiting with Spanish speakers in the community.
“The reception I’ve seen from them has been good,” he said.
The Duthies are seven grown children and 17 grandchildren. Susan is a retired educator. She mainly was a math teacher and school counselor.
Duthie has been in city administration since 2003, but he was in law enforcement for 23 years before that, all of it in smaller towns in Arizona. He said he held a variety of roles in law enforcement, including investigator, and was a chief in a small town. He also served as a school resource officer.
“That was the best 1-1/2 years of my life,” he said, “you see the positive impact you can have on these kids.”
However, he said he grew tired of the political battles in law enforcement, so he ended up moving from that role to city manager in St. John’s, Arizona. He has been doing that for the last 22 years. His last stop was in Hildale City, Utah, which did not end well. (See accompanying article.)
Duthie said was applying for city manager openings over a wide area when he was selected as a finalist for the Yuma job. He said he was impressed during his two-day visit here with the other finalists, and was more than happy to accept the job when offered by the Yuma City Council.
“What impressed me was what this community has built with relatively little resources,” Duthie said. “That doesn’t happen everywhere.
“This is a good community. We’re glad we’re here,” he said.
Now it is time to fully settle into his new role.
“I have a list of 30 to 40 priorities,” Duthie said. “I am starting to tackle them one at a time.”
Lawsuit
Just as Yuma’s new city manager was moving here, he and another former fellow employee filed a lawsuit in Washington County, Utah, demanding slightly more than $20 million, against Hildale City’s municipal government.
According to the article by the St. George (Utah) News, the plaintiffs are Eric Duthie, the former Hildale city manager, and former City Recorder Sirrene Barlow. They allege they were driven from their posts in a toxic workplace environment fostered or condoned by city leadership.
The article states that the core of the 20-page lawsuit accuses defendants — Hildale Mayor Donia Jessop, City Council member JVar Dutson, and City Attorney Shawn Guzman — of profiting from illegal contracting practices and wielding governmental power for personal gain.
According to earlier articles in the St. George News, the mayor and others went into Duthie’s office in the late afternoon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year, and escorted him out of City Hall. He reported he was told he done nothing wrong, but his services were no longer needed.
Duthie continued to be employed. The Hildale City Council did not act on his employment until two months later in late February, when it held a special meeting and voted to sever ties with Duthie.
The mayor and others took over the city administration leadership, and Jessop is now getting paid as city manager.
Duthie told the Pioneer he has nothing to hide, and the Yuma City Council has been fully aware of the situation throughout the hiring process. He said it will not detract from his new role as Yuma’s city manager as most lawsuit-related activities will be done remotely.