Pima County BOS avoids tough questions before Primary Election

Over thirty days ago the Pima County Supervisors Ray Carroll, Richard Elias, Sharon Bronson, Ramon Valadez, and Ann Day were asked to account for money spent fighting Rosemont Mine. So far, none of the supervisors facing re-election have responded to the Request for Information.

Only retiring Supervisor Ann Day dared to respond, in part, to the Request for Information.

The Southern Arizona Business Coalition had requested documents from the Pima County Government related to the amount of monies and time spent by various County departments regarding Rosemont Copper.

SABC says that they wanted to “present the information to the public for review and questions, and will also seek clarification and justification of these expenditures from the Pima County Board of Supervisors.”

The chance that the incumbent supervisors would release the information before the Primary Election on August 28, was unlikely.

It is widely understood that the information requested will not serve the incumbent supervisors who have fought so strenuously against Rosemont Mine. Over the years, the actions of the Board of Supervisors have earned Pima County a reputation for being anti-business.

In the past two years, Arizona has had the 7th fastest recovering economy in the country, with Maricopa County creating tens of thousands of new jobs, while Pima County had added several hundred.

On May 18, 2011, AMIGOS (Mining Suppliers Trade Association) submitted a narrower request which revealed $70,000 in taxpayer money spent to review Rosemont Copper issues. A recent review of the County website shows a number of additional contracts and amendments. While it is unclear what the actual expenditures are, there are over $400,000 in outstanding contracts to date.

The Department Environmental Quality (PDEQ), the Office of Cultural Affairs, and the office of the County Manager, has answered in small part the Request for Information.

“What happened to transparency and accountability Board of Supervisors? Some don’t appear to want to walk the political talk,” said one BOS observer.

Related article:

Pima County asked to account for money spent fighting Rosemont

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