| 2011-10-22 $300K a year in legal fees and board expenses The Rio Nuevo board costs us more than a city manager. However, they apparently spend $300K+ of our tax money every year deciding on how to sue the city. In the last financial report, total positive project spending has shrunk to $49,171.14. How does it make sense to have $300K of managerial expenses to supervise $49K of spending on projects? In fiscal year 2009, $29,605,274.14 was spent on projects from the Cushing St Bridge to the Greenway Multiuse Path to Barrio Viejo (a nicely done conversion of an old school to a retirement home). How well it was managed is an open question, but at least some things were getting done. The main task of the Board, if you believe their financial reports, is to put a stop to projects. Oh - and the legal and other office expenses for 2009, ...read more... | add comment |
| 2010-11-29 Anyone going to the meeting tonight? Hoping that some people go and pin the Rio Nuevo board down on their spending (on legal fees, etc)as well as the previous spending by the city council. Also there are serious questions about the possible Hotel plan. To me it sounds like a big boondoggle by out of state contractors and not something we should be committing to. " | add comment |
| 2010-12-10 Contact for Rio Nuevo board is their lawyer? Looking to do a follow-up interview on Rio Nuevo, I was surprised to see on the new Rio Nuevo Board website http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/rionuevo that although the board members are listed, the only contact information provided is for their lawyer! They are deciding how to spend our tax dollars, so it seems to me some public access should be available. CONTACT: Keri Silvyn, Esq. General Counsel to the Rio Nuevo District Lewis and Roca LLP One South Church Avenue, Suite 700 Tucson, Arizona 85701 Phone: (520) 622-2090 Called the lawyer's office, and a friendly receptionist took my information to forward to the attorney that represents the board to forward on to them... Hm - not a blank wall, but doesn't quite feel like calling your city councilperson!" And, if they are u ...read more... | add comment |
| 2011-10-03 Jonathan Rothschild's statement on the Rio Nuevo board lawsuit http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_4e5492f1-809b-500d-8872-7f5a938a2ffa.html "I’m not going to raise taxes on Tucsonans just to pay the Rio Nuevo Board. That might be my opponent’s idea of “getting to the bottom of things,” but to me is seems more like hitting bottom. The State Legislatures Board might not like how the money was spent, and there was a lot that should have been done differently, but it is all on the City’s web site to see where it went. If this happens you can look to see the City’s police force cut by a 1/3, or the fire department by ˝ or be required to shut down all of our parks. The lawsuit authorized by the Rio Nuevo Board does nothing to bring the historical mistakes of Rio Nuevo to an end. It just perpetuates them." --Jonathan Rothschild, submitted by email to bTucson.com http://www.jonathanformayor.com/"" | add comment |
| 2010-08-07 Moving forward without giving away the store http://www.pimagop.org/index.cfm/article_475.htm "The city and the district have spent over $15 million on planning, designing and studying this hotel project. It is time to put together the data we have been presented, make a decision and stop spending the taxpayers money massaging the issue over and over again." Steve Kozachik makes some strong points about not spending any more city tax dollars on studies, and asking the developers to meet a reasonable budget. | add comment |
| 2010-12-20 Not to Hotel. Remember the expensive hotel that was going to soak up not only what was left of the Rio Nuevo money, but millions of tax dollars for years? Our City Council nixed it last month, for which this voter is thankful! Now on Dec 9 the Hotel Arizona downtown seems that it has problems staying in business. In light of that story we interviewed council member Steve Kozachik: bTucson: So, if the old Hotel Arizona can't even rent more than 7 rooms a night, seems like a good thing we didn't build an expensive 200-300 extra rooms Kozachik: 6% occupancy rate That's what they said. I'll grant him he said that's because he said he's not going to do any advertising or whatever, but seems to m ...read more... | add comment |
| 2011-10-18 Speak out at Rio Nuevo Board Meeting If you want your voice heard, one way is to attend a Rio Nuevo board meeting in person. The next meetings are tentatively scheduled for Nov 2 and Nov 10: http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/content/r%C3%ADo-nuevo-meeting-schedules-and-minutes Tell the Rio Nuevo board what you think! Should they be demanding to own City of Tucson properties? Should they be suing the city? How have they benefited Tucson taxpayers? Ask them to publish their phone numbers and emails so we can have access as affected citizens! Ask how much has been spent on their own lawyers, vs how much to directly benefit the taxpayers? You will need to submit a speaker card at the beginning of the meeting to be part of the call to the audience. """ | add comment |
| 2010-08-11 The Hotel Feasibility Study Here is the feasibility study which is being used to justify the construction of the convention center hotel: HVS Report 2-10-10 Note that ZERO private sector dollars are invested in this hotel under the current plan, and the developer has expressed an unwillingness to invest any of their own money in the hotel. This raises some questions as to the true likelihood of profitability. Here is the letter sent by HVS explaining the 'extraordinary assumptions' made on p 13 of the HVS Report. These assumptions include completion of the streetcar and 'a significant portion of the downtown investment envisioned by the District' - which I think refers to the original Rio ...read more... | add comment |
| 2010-08-11 To hotel, or not to hotel? This summer, while most city pools closed and the council prepares to lay off 275 police officers, the state legislature has apparently required the Rio Nuevo district board to pursue construction of a luxury hotel - which would be paid for by general-fund backed city of Tucson bonds. Steve Kozachik, ward 6 council member, discussed the situation with bTucson in an interview Aug 10. Kozachik explained that a key point is whether the legislature expressly requires a hotel, or simply requires that Rio Nuevo focus on revenue-generating projects. He has a letter out to Steve Pierce, majority whip, requesting clarification on this point, and is awaiting an answer. Regarding the HVS feasibility study, which has been identified as having some gross calculation errors, Kozachik feels tha ...read more... | add comment |
| 2010-08-07 What about Local, Open Micro-bids? Opinion: we have many excellent local nonprofits and small businesses in Tucson that could make better use of millions of dollars for downtown revitalization than paying for unimplemented designs by expensive outside consultants, and have something concrete to show for it at the end. Perhaps its time to set aside some of our remaining funds for local microinvestment, using an open competitive bid process for local organizations to meet the original Rio Nuevo goals in a creative way. We could give points for matching funds from other sources. Maybe we could get our science center, Mission Gardens and aquarium after all. And a hotel would be fine, if it is largely privately funded as a commercial development should be. | add comment |
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