On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted on an amendment to a 3-year contract with Accelerate Diagnostics that went into effect January 2013. The Original contract for Accelerate Diagnostics included Pima County taxpayers paying for $1.4 million in improvements for wet labs in the Abrams building which is owned by Pima County.
In addition, Pima County was to give Accelerate a below market rate per sq. foot for the 3-year term for 15 thousand square feet. Supervisor Ally Miller questioned the amendment and the apparent sweetheart deal due to the fact that it included additional incentives for Accelerate Diagnostics beyond those outlined in the original lease agreement. She argued that Pima County taxpayers paid $1.4 million in initial construction costs and offered a below-market rental rate for 3 years as an incentive for Accelerate to relocate to Tucson. The original lease agreement clearly stated that if Accelerate expands and requires additional space, it would be at the then-current rental rate.
The cost of the furnishings includes a Bosch dishwasher for the break room.
The Board voted 4-1 to allow Accelerate Diagnostics to expand at the below-market rental rate and included taxpayer-funded furniture and loan money for their wet labs and equipment. Miller said later, “I believe we need to provide incentives that will assist in the creation and retention of jobs, but the taxpayers do not need to continue supporting what has become an already very successful business venture.”
The Board then voted on the Jose Gabe Loyola $40,000 No Bid Contract. Supervisor Miller has questioned whether the contract was ever officially ratified through a vote by the Board.
For weeks, Miller has been trying to get information on the contract, but the County has not been forthcoming. As a result, Miller submitted a formal Request for Information during the discussion of the controversial contract.
Loyola, from Phoenix, held a fundraiser with Dan Eckstrom for Richard Elias and Ramon Valadez. Many questioned whether Valadez and Elias should have recused themselves from the vote in order to avoid a conflict of interest, either perceived or real. However, the two voted along with Ray Carroll and Sharon Bronson to approve the contract.
The Board also approved spending the remainder of the 2004 $10 million Bond money for low income housing. The County has only spent those monies in three of the five districts in Pima County despite the need to low income assistance in Catalina and Marana. The monies have been spent primarily in the districts of supervisors Elias, Bronson, and Valadez. Miller questioned why the needs of the people in Catalina and Marana were unmet.
In other county business, earlier this month, Elias and a staff member flew back to Washington D.C. to participate in an immigration reform discussions. They attended a briefing with House staff on border enforcement, economic prosperity and accountability, arranged by CAMBIO, the Campaign for an Accountable, Moral, Balanced Immigration Overhaul. According to the staff member, they also visited the White House. Elias, wants a bill to mandate a uniform protocol for dealing with border-related deaths, ranging from guaranteeing that next-of-kin are notified when a body is identified to setting up a DNA database to help identify bodies whose identity is not known.