Pima County administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s right-hand-man Martin Willet, is riding into the sunset on July 26. Willet, best known for suing the County for an accident he had on his bicycle, tendered his resignation last week.
He has sued the County for his accident and after having worked for the past several months, is now citing the accident as a reason for his resignation.
Willet has worked for the County for the past 27 years, and he and Huckelberry are close friends. Willett is the second-highest-ranking official under Huckelberry.
Frequently seen walking around downtown Tucson unaided, Willet, is being represented by his wife’s law firm McEvoy, Daniels, and Darcy, PC., which filed a Notice of Claim with the County on December 18, 2013 for $5 million for his injuries as well as $1 million for the suffering of his wife, Sally.
Willet claims he was seriously injured, and his wife incurred damages when the front wheel of his bike “became lodged in a drainage gap” on the Dodge Boulevard Bridge.
Willet claims that he turned to look behind him and swerved into the small gap. However, the gap is not within the bike path but along the sidewalk. While Willett is claiming negligence on the part of the County, he would have had to be off the marked bike path to have hit the drainage gap. His bike would have had to be less than ½” from the sidewalk to come in contact with the gap.
Willett shattered a number of bones in his back, which required nine surgeries.
Attendees at the State of the State event this past year, were surprised to learn that Willet, who appeared to be having a pleasant time, was at the same time claiming that his “associated pain is constant, unrelenting and permanent.”
Due to his relationship with Huckelberry, and Huckelberry’s tight control over four of the five Pima County supervisors, it is believed that the County will settle Willet’s seemingly baseless claim for a considerable sum of cash.