On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will vote on the Discretionary Spending policy proposed by the County Administrator. The Board meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. at 130 W. Congress in the Downtown Administration building.
Supervisor Ally Miller first brought the illegal discretionary spending policy to the public’s attention.
According to Miller: “In his recent memorandum, Mr. Huckelberry provided 3 options in regards to Supervisors who wish to allocate funds to non-profits of their choice.” The Board will vote to either do nothing and allow the illegal practice to continue, put $7500 aside in a ‘pool’ per each Supervisory office to utilize for donations, or end the practice, reports Miller.
The Goldwater Institute has threatened legal action if the practice continues in violation of Arizona’s Gift Clause.
While the supervisors themselves called them donations, in a memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the donations are now “characterized as small grants.” However, the entities such as Planned Parenthood did not apply for the monies, nor was any public notice given to other entities that monies were available.
In the instance of Supervisor Sharon Bronson, she donated money to Flowing Wells School District for a graduation event. It does not appear that any other schools were provided the same opportunity for funding.