City Manager David Cavazos

David Cavazos’ 22-year career path to becoming Phoenix city manager provided him with a wealth of experience in city government.

David was appointed city manager by the Phoenix City Council in October 2009 and is responsible to the Mayor and City Council for day-to-day management of a $3.3 billion budget and more than 14,000 employees. He works closely with the Mayor and City Council, helping them formulate strategies and programs to enhance the quality of life in Phoenix for residents, businesses and visitors.

Prior to being appointed city manager, Cavazos spent more than three years as a deputy city manager, working on a number of diverse and important city issues, including development of the $250 million Arizona State University downtown campus; water strategy; neighborhood revitalization; urban planning; and information technology. He played key roles in improving the city’s successful adaptive reuse program, establishing a customer advocacy office to assist small businesses throughout the city, simplifying the building plan-review process and enhancing the impact fee program.

Enormous budget challenges awaited Cavazos when he became city manager. Facing a general fund shortfall of $275 million, he worked with the Mayor and City Council, city unions, city employees and the community to get the city back on solid financial footing. One of his first official acts was to create the city’s Innovation and Efficiency Task Force, made up of city employees and private-sector members. Those efforts produced $10 million in general fund savings. Factoring in enterprise departments, such as Water and Aviation, the total savings exceed $25 million. Cavazos also worked tirelessly with the city’s union leaders to enact across-the-board, 3.2 percent wage and benefit concessions totaling more than $90 million over two years. Those savings, combined with other budget measures, resulted in a $24 million surplus at the beginning of the 2010-11 fiscal year. Overall, the savings brought the employee count down to the smallest number per capita in 40 years, with more than 2,000 positions eliminated mostly through attrition and retirements.

Other major accomplishments include developing a partnership to sell reclaimed water to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. The billion-dollar agreement is bringing in $30 million over four years to Phoenix and partner cities. Also in Cavazos’ first year as city manager, major downtown amenities opened, such as the $900 million CityScape project, or broke ground, such as the $129 million Health Sciences Education building at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.

For 2011, Cavazos' major focus will be working with the Mayor, City Council and the community to develop a strategic plan for the city and implement Phase II of the Innovation and Efficiency Task Force. The strategic plan focus areas include: economic development and education; financial excellence; infrastructure; innovation and efficiency; neighborhoods/livability; the Phoenix team, focusing on employees and volunteers; public safety; social services delivery; sustainability; and technology. Innovation and Efficiency Phase II will focus on areas such as fines and fees; compensation and benefits; right sourcing; regulatory review; communications; and customer service.

David’s commitment to the community goes beyond his day-to-day duties with the City of Phoenix. In his capacity as chairman of the board of directors for Phoenix Children’s Hospital, he is actively involved in the hospital’s ongoing $500 million expansion program and creation of new centers of excellence. Reflecting his strong support for community diversity, he also participates in numerous scholarship programs for disadvantaged youth and all of the ethnic chambers of commerce. Under his leadership, city employees raised nearly $1.2 million for the 2010 Community Service Fund Drive, which supports Valley of the Sun United Way and other agencies.

Cavazos shares the management philosophy of the city’s two longest-serving city managers, Frank Fairbanks and Marvin Andrews - be inclusive. He stresses that problems get solved by working together with the Mayor, City Council, city unions, employees at every level of the organization, residents, businesses, civic organizations, schools and others seeking to improve their city.

Cavazos has a Master of Science degree in Management and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. A Chicago native, he joined the City of Phoenix in 1987 as a member of the nationally recognized Phoenix management intern program. After completing the program, he worked in the Economic Development Department, where he helped expand the city’s economic base by helping new businesses locate in the community and nurturing the growth of existing businesses. Later, he held a variety of key positions with the Aviation Department, including acting director, at a time when Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was experiencing major growth.

City Manager's Commitment to Budget Transparency

View a Video of the City Manager Reading to Children at the Bret Tarver Learning Center

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