On Friday, Rio Nuevo Board member Alberto Moore tendered his resignation. In a letter to Governor Jan Brewer dated November 9, 2014 Moore announced he was stepping aside to allow Governor Elect Doug Ducey to select his own appointee.
In his vague letter Moore said, “I felt it was important that Governor Elect Ducey should have the opportunity to select freely his representatives without any encumbrance by me.”
Moore, who just successfully thwarted an attempt to steer the award of an RFP to one preferred developer, was gracious in his resignation, “With its many twists and turns, it has been an important post with tremendous responsibility for the future success of downtown. I firmly believe that Rio Nuevo has worked to emerge successfully from a most contentious and distrusted history.”
Chairman Fletcher McCusker issued a press release upon receiving the resignation. McCusker said, “People expected Alberto and I to be oil and water but in the end we learned to respect one another and work through very challenging issues for the good of the community. I wish him well!”
Moore was appointed to the Rio Nuevo board by the Governor after the legislature seized control of the District in 2009. The Rio Nuevo board is appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.
Just last year, the Board maneuvered to have legislation passed that removed key constraints that had been imposed in 2010. Under the current legislation Rio Nuevo will continue to spend state tax dollars committed to downtown redevelopment until 2025.
Moore had recently questioned that spending after it became clear that some Board members wanted to illegally make a gift f public monies to the January 8th shooting memorial. After years of fighting for transparency and accountability, Moore did not share his concerns, and there was little point to do so. The Board is stacked and the Legislature has been willing to look the other way.