On the advice of their attorney, Pima County supervisors postponed a decision on appointing a new county treasurer Tuesday night.
It was a gut punch to the candidates in the audience, as well as the small staff working in the Pima County Treasurer’s Office.
The decision, or lack thereof, means another two weeks of uncertainty and, more importantly, an office continuing to work with one arm tied behind its back.
But this is one of those times where listening to your lawyer is probably the right call.
We will stop using this Halloween photo from back when Beth Ford was still in charge as soon as supervisors appoint a new treasurer.
Despite a breakneck three-week schedule that included applications, a public forum and individual candidate interviews with each supervisor, county officials were unable to complete background checks on all nine candidates before Tuesday’s meeting.
The supervisors began requiring background checks for all appointments several years ago following the murder of Pima County Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay, who was killed while serving eviction papers in 2022.
The supervisors let the process run right up against the deadline, returning to executive session Tuesday night hoping the remaining background checks had arrived in the roughly four hours since they last met behind closed doors. They hadn't.
Rather than move forward without a complete picture of each of the candidates, supervisors delayed the appointment.
Given the recent scandals involving county treasurers in other parts of the state, putting every applicant through a background check was the right decision.
We probably want to know if any of the applicants have a serious criminal history before handing them the keys to an office that manages roughly $1.8 billion in county funds.
Chief Deputy Treasurer Jake Martin will continue to run the office for a little longer, as the county waits for background checks.
Chief Deputy Treasurer Jake Martin, who has been running the office since Treasurer Brian Johnson resigned a month ago, told reporters that the office can’t cut checks until a new treasurer is appointed.
“For another two weeks, we cannot issue refunds to property owners. We cannot issue treasurer's deeds, and a lot of our ministerial and statutory functions are going to be further delayed, which negatively impacts property owners in Pima County,” Martin said.
State law is clear: There is no such thing as an interim or acting county treasurer. So until the supervisors pick someone, the office will continue to operate with limitations.
Supervisor Matt Heinz said he’d support a special meeting to expedite the process, calling for supervisors to return next week to appoint one of the nine candidates once those background checks are completed.
Given the nature of background checks, we doubt those records would become public or be released in any meaningful way. Voters will likely never know what, if anything, they contained.
One lesson seems obvious: Background checks take longer than a few weeks.
If the county is serious about vetting future appointees, it may be time to build a longer appointment timeline.
In the David and Goliath battle between local residents and the deep pockets behind Project Blue data centers, it looks like someone picked up a few stones.
The No Desert Data Center Coalition announced on Tuesday that they’ve successfully lobbied Tank’s Green Stuff to suspend water sales to construction crews tied to Project Blue.
In a post on Instagram, Tank’s Green Stuff said they have stopped providing water that was being used for dust control as contractors for Project Blue are clearing the 290-acre parcel near the Pima County Fairgrounds.
And the company asked people to stop harassing their employees about it.
People living in the Civano neighborhood had been tracking the trucks providing water to the controversial development, leading to the activists from confronting Tank’s Green Stuff about the sale of water to Project Blue.
“Project Blue is not an inevitability. The people profiting off of it are not invincible. If the people of Tucson continue to apply pressure at the right points, we can win this fight,” the group said in a public statement.
Antenori vs. Mayes (continued): The kerfuffle over the now-defunct plan to build an Aluminum Dynamics recycling plant in Benson is showing no signs of wrapping up after the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted to investigate Attorney General Kris Mayes for investigating whether the plant would have been a public nuisance. Supervisor Frank Antenori says he was “disturbed” when Mayes announced she would launch an investigation into the proposed plant, while the AG’s Office said Mayes was acting “well within her authority” to “protect the health and wellbeing” of Cochise County residents, per the Herald/Review’s Terri Jo Neff.
“I went through and I looked at her powers and duties under Title 41-192 and I don’t see planning and zoning in here as part of her duties and authorities,” Antenori said.
In other weird local government sagas: A Tucson woman is suing the City of Tempe after she was arrested for posting a GIF from “Game of Thrones” about a Tempe City Council meeting last September, Zander Adams reports for ABC15. Tempe officials got spooked and evacuated the city council chambers. Kathleen Tierney sued in federal court, saying she lost her high-paying job and suffered “paralyzing embarrassment.” If you’re wondering how bad that Instagram post was, judge for yourself:
More Gutfahr fallout: The Arizona Auditor General’s office has ordered Santa Cruz County to submit a new timeline for its overdue financial audit as a third-party review continues to take longer than expected, Alessandra De Zubeldia reports for Nogales International. County Manager Jesus Valdez said the delay is because of a switch to the new audit firm and the amount of work involved, while state officials say the county has missed deadlines. The audit was delayed due to the $38 million embezzlement scheme by former County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr. The county is blaming the auditor general for not catching the scheme earlier. Plus, there’s a conflict of interest, considering the Auditor General’s Office reviewed the county’s finances during the years Gutfahr was stealing money and didn’t notice it, which led the auditor general to hire a third-party firm.
Harder than it looks: This doesn’t happen often, but not enough people are running to fill the open seats on the Sierra Vista City Council, Alexis Ramanjulu reports for KGUN. The city council has three open seats, but only two candidates qualified for the ballot. Apparently, would-be candidates didn’t start gathering signatures early enough, so only two people got the required 726 signatures.
Housing incoming: Tucson is moving forward with a new affordable housing project at Stone Avenue and Speedway Boulevard, where a city-owned lot will eventually become a 119-unit apartment complex with most rents based on income, Jim Nintzel reports for the Tucson Sentinel. Mayor Regina Romero said the project has been a longtime priority, and construction on the first phase is expected to begin in about 18 months after the city secured funding from federal, state, county and local sources. Meanwhile, the city added more cooling centers to help people escape the summer heat, but many unhoused residents still struggle to use them because of rules about pets and belongings, limited hours, and past experiences with staff, Bella Week reports for the Sentinel.
There were a lot of letters submitted to the Pima County Board of Supervisors about who should be the next Pima County treasurer.
Most were thoughtful advice on how to pick someone who can fix the office, and a few wrote in just to nudge their friends to the top of the pile.
But not well-known anti-vaxxer Dr. Jane Orient, who frequently writes in to share her thoughts on county business. She had another suggestion.
“The county needs a Treasurer with the experience and qualifications to manage a $2 billion budget with prudence and integrity, such as Chris Ackerly, not a 22 year old devoted to spending to advance what he perceives to be social justice to the detriment of County taxpayers.”
It's hard to know where to start.
Ackerly is a Republican. He didn't apply. The law required the board to appoint a Democrat from the pool of applicants. And the county budget isn't $2 billion.
Other than those details, it was a solid recommendation.