Renderings of a proposed elevated transit system for Sun City. || Sunshine Transport Solutions Corp.
Ray Stern
Arizona Republic
An Indiana company expecting $850,000 in taxpayer money to fund a study of an aerial tramway in Sun City appears out of the running following an Arizona Republic article that raised questions about the firm’s financial condition.
Anthony Buffa, CEO of Sunshine Transport Solutions, Inc., said he hoped the study would lead to interest by private investors in building the tramway. But The Republic’s reporting revealed Buffa’s troubled financial history and that he recently told a lawyer he might use part of the Arizona grant to pay off a court judgment against him.
Following a recent meeting with Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, the lawmaker who put the funds in the latest state budget, the Maricopa Association of Governments plans to seek bids for companies to do the study with criteria that would seem to exclude Buffa’s company.
