There are many problems with Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s piece entitled There’s a lot more to the story than Miller shared.
Chuck writes in the Green Valley News, “Large-scale construction projects that cost millions of dollars and unfold over a number of years can run into unforeseen obstacles that require creativity and flexibility.” Chuck is right; it did require creativity. He was very creative when he swept funds in and out of County accounts to cover the expenses, for which he did not anticipate.
If Chuck had added more Pima County tax dollars to this sentence, he might not have raised red flags so early on for readers.
Huckelberry then writes, “Understandably then, there were some inaccuracies in an opinion piece by Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller that ran Dec. 17 in the Green Valley News (“Courthouse vote brings more debt,” Page A7). Supervisor Miller noted ‘voters weren’t aware they would eventually have to pony up more cash to pay for interior finishes.’ This is not accurate. At the time of the election, the project was fully funded.”
According to Chuck’s rebuttal, Miller’s claims are completely accurate. They have to be if Chuck’s claims are accurate. Chuck claims he didn’t know that taxpayers would have to pay more, so how could the voters have known the $76 million bond proposal wasn’t even close? What voters need to remember is the estimate for this project was done when construction costs were through the roof.
At the end of the day, this project has overrun by more than 100%. A minor overrun might be reasonable, but this is out of the ballpark. Come on, Chuck, we know that you know the voters are stupid because they keep re-electing clowns like Richard Elias, Sharon Bronson, and Ray Carroll, but give them some credit.
Chuck writes, “Although Supervisor Miller indicated the City’s portion would be $18 million, their contribution would have been much higher, since it was based on utilization. The City was to occupy a majority of the facility, and their contribution to cover only their costs, in excess of available bond funds, would have been approximately $28 million based on their 54 percent use.”
Huckelberry doesn’t accept responsibility for never having executed an agreement with the City. Having never entered into a contract allowed the City of Tucson to simply back out at the last minute. The handshake agreement was $18 million (read about it here). Perhaps he thought he could bully them like Ray Carroll does with citizens, but it wasn’t successful. Perhaps he subscribes to the motto “build it and they will come,” but for that to work, you have to build something people want to come to, and something they can afford.
Unless they are lawyers or applying for a marriage certificate, the public generally wants to steer clear of courthouses.
The City of Tucson is broke, or will be very soon. To rely on them to cover your mistake was a huge mistake. Chuck can point his finger until he is blue in the face, but remember what they say about pointing fingers: three are pointing back at you, Chuck.
Huckelberry writes, “I appreciate innovative solutions to challenges confronting the County, especially given the limited resources that all governments face. But Supervisor Miller’s recommendation to lease the space to outside parties and have them pay for tenant improvements is not a solution. Aside from the fact that the improvements are being financed with tax-free bonds available only to the public sector, County voters designated a project to improve conditions for the County courts, not to provide office space for private tenants.”
It is hard to imagine that County voters want Chuck to keep raising their taxes, which by the way, are the highest in the state. Many have alleged that Chuck has used taxpayer dollars to buy private property from his friends at inflated prices and few objected, so why would they object to him collecting rents from private business?
Come on Chuck, if you think we are this stupid, do you really think any of the masses for whom you have such disdain, are suddenly going to object to collecting rent?
The truth is finally revealed by Chuck towards the end of his assault: “We hope for your sake we don’t see you in Justice Court anytime soon to pay a traffic citation. But if we do, at least we will efficiently process your case in a building with enough capacity to serve this region for generations to come, that honors voters’ wishes and that helped boost the construction industry at a time when revenues were sorely needed.”
That is really what this was all about; the Board’s buddies in the construction business were dying and unlike the rest of us, who are dying under the weight of the County’s taxes and resistance to the new and desperately needed jobs Rosemont Mine could bring, we don’t have projects through which Chuck and Co. can funnel us money. Taxpayer’s money.
Chuck concludes, “The new Pima County Downtown Public Service Center will also serve generations of County residents long after the cost to build it has been repaid.” Quite true Chuck, but the old folks who benefited from the County’s corruption for so long will soon die off, and the younger generations are fleeing the 8th poorest metropolitan area in the country. As a result, it is likely that the old building, which had just become too small for the County, might once again be just the right size.
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