Ed Moore, a former Pima County Supervisor who served on the Board for over a decade, died last week. He was 88.
Moore was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1984 as a Democrat. He switched party affiliation to Republican and it ended with him running as an independent in the 1992 election.
Moore was a “key figure” in the 1992 creation of the Metropolitan Water District, the municipal utility provider for more than 50,000 people and hundreds of businesses in metro Tucson, the Arizona Daily Star reported at the time.
In 1993, as the leader of a Republican majority on the board, helped push through the firing of six longtime county executives and the demotion of four others during the tenure of Manoj Vyas as county administrator. Several of those fired or demoted were later successful in a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county.
In 2006, Moore helped lead the effort to send Rillito horseracing to Marana.
Moore’s death was acknowledged at Tuesday’s Board meeting. A written statement read during the period from U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who served on the board with Moore, noted how the congressman missed the political fights with the late supervisor.
“A smart and complex man. I fought with him on politics and policy, and liked him as a person,” Grijalva wrote. “We both liked good books, history, family, and the west. Our fights were about ideas and the future and not hate and revenge. I miss that, and Ed.”
