It should have been possible to review the performance and the employment of one of the Tucson area’s top officials.
A member of the Pima Association of Government’s board asked for the review to be put on the agenda for Monday, April 21. And it was.
But then nothing happened. And now, nothing may happen for a long time, even as opposition to that official, PAG executive director Farhad Moghimi, has grown on the boards that oversee his employment.
Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller
More importantly, the destiny of the RTA Next plan, a 20-year plan for regional transportation projects, could depend on how the conflict over Moghimi plays out. And it’s playing out slowly, while the deadline to schedule a county-wide vote and campaign for a plan draws nearer.
The delays in reviewing Moghimi, who makes around $200,000 per year, depend in large part on the redundant bureaucratic structure that he leads. The Pima Association of Governments regional council and the Regional Transportation Authority board are made up of the same members, but they have different leaders, and they both must be called to meet separately in order to review his contract, under the terms of that contract.
In addition, when the PAG council tried to review Moghimi last week, he stood in the way. Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz asked Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, who is chair of the Pima Association of Governments board, to put a review of Moghimi on the agenda, and she did.
But somehow, in the execution of that request by Moghimi or his staff, it was done incorrectly and did not include the citation of an Arizona statute that is routinely placed on board agendas.
At the April 21 meeting, a suspicious Romero asked Moghimi directly, “Who is responsible?”
“It’s ultimately my responsibility,” Moghimi said.
Further delay on review
But now the review is being delayed even further. The PAG council voted during that meeting to schedule a new special meeting to review Moghimi’s employment and consider dismissing him.
In the aftermath of the meeting, though, longtime PAG/RTA counsel Thomas Benavidez stepped down. Now, Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield, who is chair of the RTA board, is saying he can’t schedule a meeting until the entities appoint new counsel. And that could take a while, at least the way Winfield described it to me Tuesday.
“It’ll go out to the board with a recommendation or suggestion of how to proceed,” he said. “If there’s no objections, we’ll initiate a process to secure legal counsel.”
“When we have a recommended legal firm, then we would convene a meeting to approve that selection.”
Moghimi
When I asked him directly if he’s trying to delay consideration of Moghimi’s employment, Winfield said no.
“I’m not trying to delay it. I’m just dealing with the cards that have been dealt.”
Heinz, who wants to proceed toward firing Moghimi as soon as possible, fired off an angry letter to Winfield Tuesday, noting that he must schedule a meeting if requested to do so by three board members, as has happened in this case.
“Your invocation of legal counsel as a barrier to fulfilling your obligation is a red herring,” Heinz wrote. “While the departure of the previous counsel is noted, it does not suspend the rules nor excuse your noncompliance.”
A long-building conflict
The conflict over Moghimi as director has been building for years. City officials, especially, have complained about his treatment of their projects and his management of the authority, arguing the region’s biggest city has suffered under his management.
Previous efforts at challenging Moghimi’s position have failed, though, because each of the member jurisdictions has equal voting power. Suburban jurisdictions such as Marana and Sahuarita, along with, at times, some of the tribal officials or South Tucson’s mayor, have supported him on the nine-member board. He’s always had majority support.
A series of coincidences have broken down that bloc of support for Moghimi, though. Peter Yucupicio, the long time chair of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and sometime supporter of Moghimi, was replaced by Julian Hernandez in July 2024 as tribal chairman and as the tribe’s representative on the board.
Marana Mayor Ed Honea, a longtime supporter of Moghimi on the board, died in November. His replacement, Mayor Jon Post, voted in favor last week of setting a meeting to reconsider Moghimi’s employment.
Roxanna Valenzuela took over as mayor of South Tucson, replacing previous mayors who have sometimes supported Moghimi.
And most importantly, Heinz took over from fellow Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott as the county government’s representative on the boards. It’s Heinz who has been behind the recent push to fire Moghimi.
The RTA Next problem
For years, committees have been coming up with a so-called RTA Next plan. This is the regional transportation plan that would go for the next 20 years, after the current one expires in June 2026. Voters would have to approve RTA Next in order to extend the half-cent, countywide sales tax that pays for it.
The planning has been rife with difficulties, in part because there isn’t enough money to pay for some of the projects passed as part of the original RTA project. And disproportionately, those projects are in the city of Tucson, which has angered city officials and residents. Some of those projects have been pushed off into the RTA Next project, but with two projects — on East Grant Road and North First Avenue — it remains uncertain how they’ll be completed.
What board member Ted Maxwell wants, he told me Tuesday, is to put a plan to voters and give them a chance to consider it. For now, that vote is scheduled for March 2026.
“Our job is to put something in front of them and see if they want to continue this. If we don’t put anything in front of them, then we’ve said your decision-making isn’t important,” he said. “We don’t have time to go back to the drawing board completely, but do we have time to make some improvements.”
Winfield, too, said his priority is to get a ballot measure to voters.
“To a certain extent, this business with the director is a distraction,” he said.
He added that he thinks Moghimi’s experience and the stability he brings would help the likelihood of passage.
RTA’s leadership problems
I view the issue differently. In my view, having watched dynamics at PAG and the RTA for years, I think Moghimi’s presence is an obstacle to success.
He holds significant responsibility for the situation the RTA is in now — with incomplete projects, an uncertain plan and hostility from the region’s biggest municipality, Tucson.
An RTA led by someone else has a greater chance at bringing around city officials and city voters than an RTA led by Moghimi, I think. And city voters are the key to the RTA Next plan’s success at the polls.
Replacing Moghimi with a trusted interim leader could well remove the negativity that has surrounded the RTA in recent years and give the RTA Next plan a better chance of passing.
