In what Senator Frank Antenori called a coup, the powers that be in the Old Pueblo crushed the public’s hope for a an honest accounting of millions of dollars and a revitalized downtown. After weeks of pulling strings at the State Capitol, two Tucson big wigs and the corrupt members of the Tucson City Council, convinced Senate President Steve Pierce that it was in his best interest to remove Rio Nuevo District Board Chairwoman Jodi Bain and member Rick Grinnell.
The two stood in the way of sweeping the matter of an unaccounted for $230 million under the rug. The current Board was two weeks away from releasing what was expected to be a highly damaging audit of the City’s use of tax funds.
In a brief letter, Pierce wrote, “As President of the Senate, I will be appointing new members to Rio Nuevo District Board of Supervisors. I wanted to personally thank you for your service and commitment to the Board. I wish you the very best on your future endeavors.”
Antenori received a call from the Pierce’s aide moments before going on the Buckmaster radio show on KVOI, 1030 AM. Antenori said the decision will force him and Senator Al Melvin to pass legislation to end the TIF funding for the District completely, next legislative session.
For weeks, many speculated that the powers-that-be had hoped to force new members on the Board with the ultimate goal of bankrupting the District, forcing fire sales of the District’s properties.
The Governor had received calls from the Tucson power brokers, but had rebuffed their requests. Pierce conceded, after much pressure, to name two new members to the District Board, one of whom, Fletcher McCusker, is heavily invested in downtown properties and a close associate to Tucson power player, Jim Click. The second new Board member, Christopher Sheafe, is another very close associate to Click.
Senator Frank Antenori told Buckmaster listeners that he questioned how two new Board members could not have conflicts of interests considering their business interests in downtown projects.
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Irvin’s conflict of interest questions arise in Rio Nuevo (updated)