Ducey Names Trailor New DES Director Amid Continuing Controversy

On Wednesday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced the appointment of Michael “Mike” Trailor as director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Trailor replaces interim director Henry Darwin.

Trailor has served as director of the Arizona Department of Housing since 2009, a position to which he was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer.

Darwin has been under pressure due to the questionable firing of former director Tim Jeffries and a recently leaked memo in which DES training staff note that any reference to religion is forbidden. In a recent email from Darwin to a former DES employee, that strain was evident as he made bizarre claims about a report crafted by the Department of Public Safety about DES and Jeffries, Chief Accountability Officer Juan Arcellana, Chief Human Resources Officer Morris Greenidge, and Security Operations Administrator Charles Loftus.

Trailor has supervised the small staff of approximately 40 people, at the housing agency. The agency is tasked to work with stakeholders across the nation — including state agencies, banks and lenders, and constituents — to assist struggling homeowners.

Arizona’s Affordable Housing Is Affordable For The Few

DiCiccio went so far as to ask Trailor to “deny the funding for these two projects, and help us find a better means for delivering this housing to those in need in our City.” DiCiccio concluded, “There are many of us at the City of Phoenix that would welcome the decision by the State, and then work closely with you and your team and HUD to get these projects built at a more acceptable cost.”

Prior to the Department’s decision the ADI asked Trailor about the possibility of working with the City to bring the cost of the project down. Trailor dismissed the suggestion. It was clear that after only a few years as a bureaucrat, he has embraced the bureaucracy and spending other people’s money.

Trailor said that the City should have come to them before the application was made and once it had been made, he certainly had no interest in rejecting the project. Although the cynical Trailor said, “we are sensitive to any input we get from the community,” he claimed that most input is only political. “What I have learned is that we have Democrats and Republicans pulling at these things, so the struggle creates additional cost.”

But, DiCiccio was trying to reduce cost.

Prior to his appointment, Trailor worked as principal and urban development specialist at Vanguard CityHome, which under his leadership, defaulted on a $97 million loan used to construct Safari Drive in Scottsdale.

“I’m honored to have been given this opportunity by Governor Ducey,” Trailor said. “The services and programs offered by the Department of Economic Security are vital to thousands of Arizonans, and I take this responsibility seriously. I look forward to working with the DES team as well as clients and stakeholders, and getting started.”

With Trailor’s appointment to DES, Carol Ditmore will serve as Interim Housing Director.

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