Weller: Thompson has earned Scottsdale firefighters’ respect, loyalty

During times of crisis, leadership is a precious commodity.

Scottsdale is blessed to have many excellent leaders. At the top is our city manager. Jim Thompson has done stellar work since his arrival in Scottsdale.

Within the city, Jim has earned the respect of the rank and file, executive leadership, the business community, community advocacy groups, and his peers around the Valley.

Jim has the ability to bring people together on difficult issues to build consensus, never loosing focus on what’s best for the City of Scottsdale.

As a community we are struggling to make sense of the challenges a global pandemic brings us. Stable leadership with a view towards recovery and the future is what is needed.

Jim brings this and so much more to the table. He has led from the front since the very early stages of this crisis. His early implementation of a city-wide incident management team, defined expectations for employees, and solid communication has allowed essential services to continue without any disruption.

This is no small task. As firefighters, we spend a career managing crisis. We have never experienced one like this. Firefighters have a saying “Integrity is valued, respect is earned, trust is gained, loyalty is returned.”

Jim has integrity, we trust him. Most importantly he has earned our respect and loyalty.

Editor’s Note: Sasha Weller serves as president of the Scottsdale Fire Fighters Association.