A large contingent of Southern Arizona economic development officials is spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a 10-day trip to Taiwan with hopes that Tucson can cash in on Arizona’s semiconductor boom — even if the center of that boom is currently sitting roughly 100 miles north in Phoenix.
Officials with Pima County, the City of Tucson and the University of Arizona made the 7,200-mile trip to Taiwan earlier this week, continuing a two-year courtship of Taiwan-based companies and government officials tied to the semiconductor industry.
Among those making the extended trip to Asia are Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz.
Romero’s growing list of overseas trips has occasionally drawn criticism from political opponents, though her office notes that she serves as the public face of Tucson’s economic development efforts. Heinz, meanwhile, is representing Pima County in his role as vice chair of the county Board of Supervisors.
One expected highlight of the trip is establishing a “sister city” with Kaohsiung, a major industrial and shipping hub in southern Taiwan as well as a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for educational exchange between Kaohsiung, the City of Tucson, and Pima County.
Kaohsiung, Taiwan at night.
Local officials are openly hoping the relationship-building trip eventually translates into semiconductor suppliers, research partnerships or manufacturing companies setting up shop in Southern Arizona as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company continues expanding its massive Phoenix-area operation.
Back in March, the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, the City of Tucson, the University of Arizona, the City of Kaohsiung and Taiwan’s National Sun Yat-sen University signed a “Six-Party Memorandum of Understanding” aimed at strengthening ties between Southern Arizona and southern Taiwan.
The agreement talks extensively about “supply chain resilience,” workforce development and research collaboration, but the underlying goal is fairly straightforward: convincing companies connected to TSMC’s Phoenix semiconductor complex to consider Tucson and Southern Arizona for future expansion.
TSMC’s global headquarters are located in Taiwan.
A six-party Memorandum of Understanding was signed by (from left): Yao-Ching Hsieh of National Sun Yat-sen University, Jennifer Allen of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, Fernando Garcia of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Timothy Thomure of the City of Tucson, and Tomás Díaz de la Rubia of the University of Arizona.
This also isn’t the delegation’s first trip to Taiwan, raising fresh questions about how much taxpayer money Southern Arizona governments are spending on international economic-development travel — and what, exactly, the region has received in return so far.
We’ll also point out that there already is an Arizona-Taiwan Trade & Investment Office in Taipei, which the University of Arizona describes as “a day-to-day liaison critical for building stable business partnerships.”
Part of the trip includes attending the massive Computex and Innovex Conference, which is expected to include a forum specifically on opportunities here in Arizona.
City officials confirmed that, unlike other trips that have been paid for in the past by third parties, taxpayers are footing most of the bill for Romero.
The cost to send Romero and one of her aides was approximately $3,300 a piece, including airfare, hotels, and meals.
Mike Czechowski, the head of the City of Tucson’s Economic Development department, is staying a bit longer as part of the trip and his costs are approximately $5,400.
Two hotel nights are being paid for by Kaohsiung officials.
Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, a Senior Vice President for Research and Partnerships at the University of Arizona, said Romero’s participation is vital.
“Mayor Romero’s engagement on this visit reflects exactly the kind of forward-thinking leadership that positions Southern Arizona as a serious global partner in the semiconductor industry. These international partnerships are essential to the long-term economic health of Tucson, Pima County, and the entire Southwest,” he said.
We’ve heard whispers that other agencies in Southern Arizona spent more on their trips to Taiwan but couldn’t verify the figures before Thursday night.
We’ve filed public records requests with the four Arizona agencies to learn how much the trip cost, but we’ll have to wait until everyone gets back to get those receipts.
The human toll: A 71-year-old great-grandmother has been in Eloy’s immigration detention center for more than 10 months after ICE raided the restaurant where she worked as a dishwasher last year, the Republic’s Daniel Gonzalez reports. Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo was one of 22 undocumented workers detained after the raids on Colt Grill locations in northern Arizona, and while some have been released on bond or returned to Mexico, ICE has repeatedly denied Tapia Cornejo humanitarian parole, despite her medical vulnerability.
Classroom cash: TUSD teachers are getting a $3,000 pay raise thanks to the budget override voters approved in November, the Star’s Sierra Blaser reports. Teachers will go from a starting annual salary of $48,400 to $51,400, while substitutes will get about $6 more a day. Even with the override money, the district remains on shaky financial ground — the state auditor general recently labeled TUSD at high risk of failing to operate within its available budget.
While we’re not subjected to state audits, unfortunately, independent local journalism is always on shaky financial ground. Subscribe to keep us from getting flagged as high risk.
Oversight, overdue: New records reveal more details on the murder of three inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson last year, including that after Ricky Wassenaar killed his cellmate, the cellmate’s body wasn’t found for “several hours,” KOLD’s Mary Coleman reports. Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill to create a prison oversight office last year, but it hasn’t received any funding to actually start overseeing.
@nytimes Two of the U.S.’s most contentious political issues — immigration detention and A.I. data centers — are converging in one swing congressio... See more
Fighting the feds: Pima County Attorney Laura Conover will have the Pima County Supervisors meet on Monday to discuss suing the Trump Administration over the Affordable Care Act. The special meeting suggests Pima County would join with other jurisdictions suing the feds over the ACA, but the memo associated with the meeting is light on specifics.
Texas-sized tab: A woman was convicted in Pima County Superior Court and ordered to pay more than $28,000 in restitution for collecting ESA school voucher funds for nearly a year after she and her child moved to Texas, the Attorney General’s Office announced.
Last week, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced the creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund for his supporters who claim they were wronged by the Biden administration, including the January 6 insurrectionists.
The plan to funnel taxpayer dollars to Trump’s allies has already drawn broad backlash, including from a majority of Republican voters (according to one poll) and a bipartisan group of ex-federal judges.
But embattled Tucson Congressman Juan Ciscomani, as always, is trying to walk the tightrope between subservience to the president and having a backbone.
When confronted at a campaign event about his stance on the slush fund, Ciscomani did what a textbook politicians does best: say nothing of substance.
About all Ciscomani said is that he’s “asking a lot of questions” about the slush fund.
What an inspiring fighter for truth, justice and good government. That’ll sure get the Trump administration to do the right thing. Nice one, Juan.