Pima County Leaders Went To Great Lengths To Send KFC Into Stratosphere With World View
This week, World View announced that the company is pairing with KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to send a chicken bucket payload on-board World View’s maiden multi-day Stratollite mission. Emails recently obtained by the Arizona Daily Independent reveal just what lengths Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has gone to in order to make chicken fly.
In February 2017, Pima County Superior Court Judge Catherine Woods struck down Pima County’s contract with World View Enterprises that would have required taxpayers to foot the bill for a new facility for the company’s luxury tourism business. According to the judge, the County was required to have the building appraised, hold a public auction, and set the lease rate no lower than 90% of the appraised value.
The judge’s ruling was issued in the Goldwater Institute lawsuit against the County on behalf of Pima County taxpayers.
The judge’s ruling surprised no one. The County’s violation of state law had outraged taxpayers and Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller. Miller was supportive of the Goldwater lawsuit, but in her capacity as supervisor, she was a defendant in the lawsuit. As a result, Miller was very careful to express her disapproval of the World View deal in order to avoid putting the County at risk in relation to the lawsuit.
Over the years, Huckelberry has grown accustomed to controlling the narrative in Pima County through a compliant press and large in-house communications team. However, emails written in August 2016, reveal a panicky Huckelberry willing to attack a lawyer with a stellar reputation and strip Miller of her right to represent her constituents.
Huckelberry’s plans, as laid out in his August 12, 2016 memo, are so contrary to the basic tenets of decency and democracy, that Deputy Pima County Attorney Regina Nassen practically begged him not to send the memo to anyone…..