Democratic Supervisor Raul Grijalva voted with Republican board members to keep Chuck Huckelberry as county administrator.
Democrats Dan Eckstrom and Sharon Bronson have been backing Bruce Postil, a former deputy county manager, for the job.
But neither offered Postil as a replacement at yesterday's meeting.
Instead, Eckstrom voted to install former County Manager Enrique Serna, whom Grijalva has supported recently.
Bronson seconded Eckstrom's nomination, but the motion failed 2-3.
After the meeting Grijalva said he voted against Serna because he did not think Eckstrom's motion was sincere.
Eckstrom said he nominated Serna because he thought he was the person Grijalva wanted for the post.
Both Eckstrom and Bronson have criticized Huckelberry in recent weeks, saying he lacks a firm grip on the county budget and has been slow to correct personnel changes forced on the county in January 1993.
Both Serna and Postil were ousted in the 1993 reorganization, pushed by the then-Republican majority.
Serna was replaced by Manoj Vyas, who lost the job to Huckelberry in December 1993.
Serna is currently town manager of Guadalupe, a community just south of Phoenix.
Postil, who with his wife contributed $3,540 to Bronson's recent campaign, won a hefty settlement from the county last year in a lawsuit he filed after losing his job.
Yesterday's vote lets Huckleberry keep his $127,000-a-year job as long as a board majority continues to back him.
He does not have a contract.
Grijalva said after the meeting he wants the board to give Huckelberry a list of specific changes they want in how the county functions and its bureaucratic structure.
"I'm really happy that Sharon and Dan recognize Henry (Serna) to be a legitimate candidate," Grijalva said after the meeting. "(But) the issue is whether we're going to give Huckelberry a chance to succeed or fail."
Eckstrom first put appointment of an administrator on last week's meeting agenda. But he delayed the matter to yesterday because Republican Supervisor John Even left the last meeting for a doctor's appointment.
In other action yesterday the board voted to:
*Call for a joint meeting with the City Council to discuss what items to include on a ballot for a bond election scheduled for May.
Grijalva favors holding a second bond election for transportation and flood control-related issues in November. The City Council and other board members say splitting a bond election would be too expensive and might confuse voters. The board scheduled a meeting to discuss the bond election for Feb. 11.
*Award a two-year, $230,000 lobbying contract to the Munger & Munger law firm. Grijalva sought to eliminate the contract because a partner in the firm, John Munger, tried to eliminate the universities' Affirmative Action programs in 1995 while serving on the Board of Regents. Eckstrom joined the Republicans in approving the contract.
