In the wake of the Project Blue data center debacle last year, Pima County changed its rules to put an expiration date on secret agreements with private developers.
But a handful of older deals remained locked away — including one involving a previously unreported data center proposed near the Sahuarita town limits.
Yeah, the Pima County Board of Supervisors signed off on a whole new process related to nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) last September, establishing a timeline for how long agreements with private developers could stay secret.
But based on a legal analysis that reportedly concluded the county couldn’t amend preexisting contracts, that process only applied to new agreements.
That giant loophole could close next week, as the supervisors consider a big change to how the county handles its NDAs, including agreements that were grandfathered in before the board changed the policy.
At least when Pima County first talked about Project Blue they used this blurry image. With an NDA still in place, we don’t even know or have a map of where the Sahuarita adjacent data center would be built.
Not that one
For what it’s worth, this secret, undisclosed data center is not the same one that has been openly discussed by the owners of Rancho Sahuarita and a developer who wants to build on a 200-acre parcel set aside for industrial development.
To their credit, the principals behind that proposal have been transparent about their desire to build a data center on the edges of the residential community.
This one is still in the “let’s talk about it” phase. The Town of Sahuarita says it has not received a development plan, site plan, building-permit application or other formal data center application.
This new data center near Sahuarita — but inside unincorporated Pima County — has flown under the radar because of the aforementioned NDA, signed by county staff early in 2025 under the county’s old economic development policies.
Multiple Pima County insiders confirmed to the Tucson Agenda that the proposal was discussed in executive session, reinforcing the secrecy surrounding the proposed data center.
In the aftermath of Project Blue — which bitterly divided the Pima County Board of Supervisors last year — some elected officials are deeply frustrated that they continue to operate under what is essentially a gag order because of an agreement signed by staff without their knowledge.
Details are scarce, but our sources tell us the new proposal would build a data center complex close to established residential neighborhoods, including churches and parks.
On the agenda Tuesday
The Pima County Board of Supervisors will consider two items on Tuesday night to amend its existing nondisclosure policy.
The new policy would keep the same timelines established for “new” NDAs:
An initial 180-day agreement to keep things quiet
An option to extend the NDA for an additional 185 days with board approval
The possibility of an additional one-year extension — again subject to Board of Supervisors approval — as long as the agreement does not exceed a total duration of two years
The next step would be to send a letter asking those companies to voluntarily accept new terms, including the new timelines under which the agreements could remain private for as little as a few months.
The letter they’re pondering sending
Pima County officials did say they have other options besides just saying please to the unnamed companies, but they didn’t go into detail on what legal “sticks” they might wield if the aforementioned “carrot” fails.
And while it might seem like the companies that have NDAs with the county hold all the cards, it’s worth remembering that just because county officials signed a legally binding oath of secrecy doesn’t mean they actually need to approve another data center.
Right near the top of the list: Salpointe Catholic High School was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the state’s school voucher program, 12News’ Craig Harris reports, based on 2 million records the news station obtained after suing the Arizona Department of Education. Since the Arizona Legislature made the voucher program available to every student, Salpointe received $15 million in voucher money. That puts it behind only Gilbert Christian Schools ($34 million) and Northwest Christian School ($25 million) in Phoenix.
This is bonkers: The Republic’s Taylor Seely has a wild story about a Tucson man that goes a little something like this: Lane Myers got into a heated argument at an auto parts store, got mad at a city prosecutor, got kicked out of a Tucson City Council meeting, got the viewers of his YouTube channel to threaten to rape the wife of the prosecutor, got arrested and is now sitting in the Pima County jail. Now, he’s arguing his First Amendment rights were violated because the wife of the prosecutor wants him to stop posting videos about her, and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero wouldn’t let him back into council meetings. And that’s just scratching the surface.
A somber moment: As Tucson grieves for the victims of the shooting at the Venture-N, Lookout’s Joseph Darius Jaafari and John Washington captured the emotions among the 1,000 people who gathered at Catalina Park, just a few blocks from the bar, on Wednesday. They put together a photo gallery you can view here.
Rate hike fallout: After the Tucson City Council raised fees for city pools, the swim team at Mica Mountain High School is going to either pay $3,100 more for the season or find a new place to practice, the Arizona Daily Star’s Hannah Cree reports. The swimmers’ parents are now asking the council to reconsider. The parks department says it costs money to staff a pool for exclusive use, and if they don’t charge enough, that cost gets passed on to everyone else.
It costs money to put out a daily newsletter, but we’re not raising our rates anytime soon.
Want to be on a school board?: Facing a dearth of candidates, Santa Cruz County officials canceled all but one school board race, Graham Krewinghaus reports for the Nogales International. Several board members decided not to run again and nobody has stepped up to fill those vacancies, although Nogales Mayor John Doyle ran as a write-in candidate and he’ll be appointed to a seat on the Nogales Unified School District board. County officials will appoint people to fill the rest of the open seats, and Superintendent Maya Donnelly is encouraging residents to apply.
When President Donald Trump told supporters recently that he is on the November ballot, his people took it a little too literally.
The folks at America First Works — the conservative group that was founded by Trump staffers — started leaving these door hangers in some Tucson neighborhoods.
We think this mailer has a convenient typo.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says inflation for 2026 is 3.4%, not 2.4%.
Unfortunately, this mailer was left at the home of a prominent Democratic activist.1
Our best guess is that each door hanger cost about 35 cents — labor not included.
Apparently, voter targeting costs extra.
1 Keep sending Joe photos of your election mailers. He genuinely loves to see them.