PHOENIX (CN) - A public official says he was illegally ousted from his seat on the Glendale City Council in a Thursday lawsuit citing a misapplication of the city charter that bars council members from holding another paid public office.
Jose Conchas Jr., who goes by Lupe publicly, was elected to the Glendale City Council in 2024 and recently won a seat on the governing board of the Salt River Project, one of Arizona's largest utilities. Soon after, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said residents raised concerns that Conchas was no longer eligible to serve on the council.
Weiers and a majority of the council concluded that the $60 per diem Conchas receives for attending board meetings constitutes compensation under the city charter. On Thursday, the council voted 4-3 to remove him from office.
Conchas says he has done nothing wrong.
"Put another way, compensation is earned in exchange for services rendered; per diem provides reimbursement for costs incurred," Conchas Jr. wrote in the complaint filed late Thursday night. "Plaintiff earns no compensation for his service on the SRP Board.
Whether a court would agree that per diem is not compensation is immaterial to the situation, he added.
"In any event, plaintiff has waived any right that he had to receive per diem for his service on the SRP Board," Conchas Jr. wrote. "He has thus not received and will not receive any payments as an SRP Board Member."
The Salt River Project's bylaws provide that board members "may draw a salary" in addition to a per diem, but Conchas says he waived that right as well.
He is asking a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to nullify his removal and block the council from illegally removing him again.
In a 12-page lawsuit, Conchas argues neither the Glendale City Charter nor the Arizona Constitution bars him from holding both positions at once. He also points to a 1978 Arizona attorney general opinion approving similar arrangements. From 1989 to 1990, Richard D. Mahoney served simultaneously as Arizona secretary of state and a board member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.
Conchas further argues that even if the city charter prohibited dual service, state law would preempt the city code because the Salt River Project board oversees matters of statewide concern.
"The City of Glendale, through its City Charter, cannot impose an additional restriction found nowhere in state law," he says. "The voters who elected Plaintiff to the SRP Board did so under a state legal framework that permits him to serve. The City of Glendale cannot override that framework."
Conchas Jr. says no member of the council, including Mayor Weiers, has responded to his May 1 letter explaining why he hasn't violated the law.
Conchas was elected to the Glendale City Council in 2024 to represent the southern district. He was later elected to the SRP board in April as part of a "clean energy" slate of candidates focused on renewable energy and utility affordability.
The city has not responded to a request for comment.
Source: Courthouse News Service
