The city of South Tucson has familiar face serving as the interim city manager.

Veronica Moreno, the city clerk and head of human resources, will again run the city on a temporary basis, the South Tucson City Council decided Thursday night.

The decision follows the resignation of City Manager Sixto Molina on Monday, with the council holding an emergency meeting Thursday to accept Molinaโ€™s decision and to appoint a successor.

Molina had offered to stay on the job for a month, but a majority of the council opted to sever ties with Molina immediately and appoint Moreno to the position.

Moreno served as the interim city manager for 18 months before Molina was appointed to the position in January 2017.

Molina likely felt pressure to leave the position because of South Tucson City Council politics as he was appointed by a council that included Mayor Ildefonso Green and Councilmen Rufino Cantu, Robert Larribas and Carlos Romo.

The four were recently removed from office as part of a recall election and the new council majority had publicly stated there would be changes inside in South Tucson City Hall.

Further complicating his relationship with the new council, Molina said on Monday that he passed along information to law enforcement about allegations that Councilman Paul Diaz and former City Manager Luis Gonzales took payments in exchange for a favorable zoning decision.


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Contact reporter Joe Ferguson at jferguson@tucson.com or 573-4197.