Apparently the Goldwater Institute was unimpressed with the “thoughtful consideration” Pima County gave to the Institute’s warning that the County’s World View deal was a violation of Arizona’s Gift Clause and procurement laws. So, on Wednesday the Institute announced that it would proceed with a lawsuit against the County.
The Institute had asked Pima County officials to give “thoughtful consideration” and respond no later than April 8, 2016. The County responded on April 5.
Goldwater will file the lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court on Thursday, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
The Goldwater suit was filed on behalf of Pima County residents David Preston, a CPA, Richard Rogers, a real estate investor, and Shelby Manguson-Hawkins, a pest control company owner. Goldwater holds that the parties have standing because as “Pima County taxpayers, Plaintiffs are responsible for paying property, sales, and other taxes, and will bear a share of the burden for replenishing the public coffers of Pima County for revenues lost from the unlawful expenditures to be made by Pima County to or for the benefit of World View.”
In their lawsuit, the Goldwater Institute noted that although the County claimed that it had to approve the World View deal as an “emergency” because World View was being courted by other states, the fact is that World View was a recipient of a $250,000 grant from the Arizona Commerce Authority and was required to either remain in Arizona or build a significant portion of its operations in Arizona within a 12 month period.
The Arizona Commerce Authority grant was first revealed by the Arizona Daily Independent.
Supervisor Ally Miller was the only supervisor to question the legality of the “sweetheart deal” the Pima County Board of Supervisors offered to World View, a near-space balloon ride company. Miller had warned her fellow supervisors that the deal was questionable. Supervisors Ray Carroll, Ramon Valadez, Richard Elias and Bronson approved the deal to loan $15 million to the highly speculative enterprise.
Miller questions World View proposal
In their letter to the County, Goldwater attorneys advised the County, “This agreement serves no public purpose. World View will charge $75,000 for balloon rides to the stratosphere – three times the average per capita income in Pima County. This is beyond the reach of most residents, and will only benefit extremely wealthy passengers and World View itself – if it ever begins operations – at the taxpayers’ expense. Moreover, the jobs that World View has said it might create provide no direct benefit to the County, or its residents. These factors are doubtless why the County’s voters overwhelmingly rejected public subsidies for economic development and tourism promotion in November.”
To pay for the project, the County approved new Certificates of Participation (COPs) – debt that the County expects to repay over the course of 15 years.
Related articles:
Miller Exposes Goldwater Dim View Of Pima County’s World View Deal
Pima County Attorney Whips Out Goldwater Response