Saved by the Snafu

It really shouldn’t be this hard.

A bureaucratic SNAFU likely saved Farhad Moghimi’s job on Monday.

As executive director of the main board for transportation in the Pima County area, Moghimi has become a polarizing figure, particularly with a multi-billion-dollar decision looming on the horizon.

Frustrated elected officials blame him for unfinished projects promised to voters back in 2006. Sympathetic officials believe he did the best he could despite turbulent economic conditions over the last decade.

That conflict came to a head on Monday, leading to a procedural snarl that’s about as convoluted as you’re likely to see in local government.

You can take your pick on which bureaucratic rules weren’t followed. But the end result was that the executive director of the Pima Association of Governments/Regional Transportation Authority avoided a pink slip.

Your possible reasons include:

• A lack of Wi-Fi on a flight prevented Moghimi from instructing staff to immediately place his own performance review on the next executive session agenda.

• Incorrect language on the initial public notice that was missing a reference to a specific section of state laws related to executive sessions.

• The corrected notice not being physically posted publicly until Friday afternoon. Even then, the public had no access to see the paper copy. The building was closed on the weekend before the Monday afternoon meeting.

• A requirement in Moghimi’s contract that the Pima Association of Governments board and the Regional Transportation Authority must hold a joint meeting to discuss his performance.

The drama began a week ago when Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz, immediately after getting appointed to the RTA board last Tuesday, asked for an item about Moghimi's contract to be placed on the agenda of the RTA board meeting.

Regina Romero, the RTA Regional Board chair (and Tucson mayor), supported the motion.

The attorney for the Pima Association of Governments, Thomas Benavidez, said he was uncomfortable with moving the item forward.

Ultimately, Benavidez said language in Moghimi’s contract barred them from putting the item on the agenda.

“(Oro Valley Mayor Joe) Winfield brought to my attention that the Executive Director's contract says that performance reviews will be done in a joint session. So in session with … regional PAG and the RTA board, and in checking with Farhad, he's not willing to waive that provision,” Benavidez said.

Heinz, who has been openly critical of Moghimi’s performance for years, said he and his staff took extraordinary steps to make sure the item was properly put on the agenda in full compliance with state open meeting laws.

He suggested the series of events that eventually blocked a formal discussion of Moghimi’s contract was “intentionally obfuscated.”

“This was the most difficult thing to agendize in my career, and I don't know why,” Heinz said. “Like, I have a list of the things that I had to do or my staff had to do. We had to monitor staff. We had to make sure that it was properly noticed. It required a letter from me to Mayor Romero and then, of course, her to forward it to you all. The note was noticed to the members of this council on Wednesday, April 16, but didn't end up on the website for a day or more afterward.”

The sparring over the details brought in other members of the PAG Board, including Romero, Winfield, and the representative for the State Transportation Board, Ted Maxwell.

At one point, the discussion devolved into a fight over who could call for a special meeting. When Benavidez could not cite the specific rules, Romero pointedly and repeatedly offered the attorney a 15-minute break to find the answer.

“I'm sorry, but that's not an acceptable response,” Romero said. “We could give you a 15-minute break and we can find a solution today. You tell us. You're our attorney, Mr. Benavidez. You tell us. You should know this by heart.”

Eventually, a majority of the regional council voted to hold a new meeting — the exact date/time to be decided sometime this week — in the next 7 to 10 days.

The joint boards will discuss the “appointment, promotion, demotion, dismissal, salary, disciplining or resignation of the executive director,” as Romero put in the agenda item.

The item also includes the possible appointment of an interim director.

And Benavidez himself might land in some hot water. Heinz asked for a review of Benavidez’s contract at the same meeting.

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Big implications

The looming decision whether to fire Moghimi likely signals that the PAG Regional Council — and by extension the RTA Board — is simply not ready to hammer out the details for an extension of the half-cent sales tax dedicated to regional transportation projects in time to put it on the November ballot.

Under the best circumstances, voters might see an extension of the taxing authority — commonly called RTA Next — in the spring of 2026. This could be a will-they-or-won’t-they decision, as the RTA expires next year.

If voters reject renewing the half-cent sales tax, a number of projects would be left unfinished or never realized — despite promises made to voters back in 2006.

It’s unclear whether local governments might opt to go it alone with their own dedicated sales tax for transportation. The Tucson City Council briefly flirted with the idea recently before re-engaging with PAG on the planned RTA Next.

Romero did have some serious criticisms of the RTA, asking its members to dig deep into their pockets to solve the current $143 million funding shortfall that has sidelined a number of current projects — often referred to as RTA One — inside the city limits.

“The city of Tucson has more than 10 projects from RTA One that there is a shortfall for. So the possibility of the City of Tucson finding funds and its general fund to finish what voters approved in RTA One is pretty ridiculous to even suggest,” she said.

However, she had come to the meeting with an olive branch, offering to reduce the scope of several projects and delay others in an effort to reduce the price tag on the projects inside the city limits.

While several board members welcomed her proposal, the board decided to put the final discussions in the hands of a technical and policy advisory committee that has hammered out similar recommendations on other RTA road projects.

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