On Monday, TREO said that due to questions of whether “we were doing enough for the money,” they were going to change their funding structure. TREO came under scrutiny last spring when Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham got drunk at a boondoggle in San Diego sponsored by the organization.
“TREO sent out a Press Release that said the “municipalities” will be invited to sit at their table without any financial participation agreements being required,” wrote Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik in his weekly newsletter.
The head of TREO, Joe Snell called the move “bold.”
Kozachik is challenging TREO’s claim that Pima County is now the only taxing entity being called a “regional partner”. He says that Pima County “collects taxes from us all. TREO announced this new model. They’re still operating on City of Tucson residents’ tax money.”
TREO’s release reads in part; “In an effort to strengthen the regionalism approach, local municipalities will no longer be charged to participate in TREO and each local jurisdiction will be invited to serve on the TREO Board of Directors. This includes the following local municipalities: City of Tucson, Town of Oro Valley, Town of Marana, City of South Tucson and Town of Sahuarita. In addition, local Native American tribes and nations will be invited. TREO will continue to effectively interact with and assist government partners to develop tools, programs and policies that are business-friendly and competitive. Pima County will retain its seat on the TREO Board of Directors as a regional partner.”
Kozachik took exception to TREO’s announcement and questions whether this “buy-your-way-to-the-table scheme” resulted from his suggestion “that we not count “projected” jobs in the “jobs created” category.”
Kozachik claims that he, “along with a couple of the other council members were poised to require” that TREO’s job creation count did not include “jobs that were hoped for, and that were not yet created. If those requirements drove TREO to this new model, one wonders about the validity of the data we have been being fed in the past.”
TREO’s claims have been questioned by many in the past.
In 2005, TREO was created to replace the unsuccessful Greater Tucson Economic Council. The two major funding sources were the City of Tucson and Pima County. In 2009, the budget was $2.4 million.
Since its inception, TREO has had little success and has cost a great deal of money. TREO received $936,000 in public money in 2012. The head of TREO, Joe Snell receives a salary of $313,000, not including benefits.
At the time news of the San Diego boondoggle broke, Pima County Board of Supervisor candidate Ally Miller called for Pay for Performance. “Joe Snell is paid a salary of $313k per year. I don’t see the community getting the return on investment to justify this salary. I would like to see his pay structured with a base salary and bonus plan tied to specific performance metrics. For example: the number of jobs created greater than $50K per year would merit some bonus amount. Another metric might be new business creations under his watch.”
Miller said while TREO is supposed to create a “report card” to the community on their performance, “I can find no concrete performance data aligning with this “report card” promised to the community. I see an annual report of bumper sticker slogans with nice pictures and little substance. I want performance metrics and those responsible for them held accountable.”
Marana Town council member, Roxanne Ziegler, told morning radio host Garret Lewis of KNST, that Marana had used the services of TREO. Their services were terminated in a 5-2 vote of the Town Council in 2007.
Ziegler said that in 2007 when the bill from TREO arrived it was $50,000, “So I said, what did they do for us, for $50,000? Our staff looked at me and kind of scratched their heads and held up a blank piece of paper. Nothing. At that point Marana had spent close to a half a million dollars.”
Ziegler reported that TREO had brought in one employer over the years, “So in ten or fifteen years they had brought us one company and had about 250 people there, but it has gone out of business.”
David Welsh of TREO, “with some very large title came to our Council and was very arrogant, and very rude,” and told us “why we needed to come back to TREO. For two weeks after that the Arizona Daily Star, Explorer, and Inside Tucson Business “mocked us so to speak.”
Marana hired their own economic development person, and now “have control in our town,” said Ziegler. “We are very pro-business. We have a strategic plan, and we stick to it.”
Ziegler cited Sargent Controls as an example of Marana’s success in retaining companies. She said that if “you look at TREO’s data, they will tell you that they are the ones, they took the credit for saving Sargent Controls, and that is absolutely wrong.”
TREO’s change will cost TREO a 40% reduction in funding, or over $460,000. Pima County will contribute $350,000 of taxpayer’s money a year.