Arizona Independent Daily
(Editor’s note: Posting opinion pieces does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rose Law Group.)
Wagers are being made on which Arizona legislator is either stupid or greedy enough to run legislation on behalf of the Rio Nuevo District Board this legislative session. Even money is on Senator Steve Farley and Representative Ethan Orr carrying the water with the Board’s lobbyist, Jonathan Paton.
The Rio Nuevo Board instructed Paton to enlist lawmakers and craft legislation that would allow the TIF district to abandon the requirement that it participate in the development of a downtown Tucson hotel.
Rio Nuevo must secure a Notice to Proceed by participating in the development of a hotel. Once the District receives the Notice to Proceed, it may then fund and develop other pet projects.
However, Board members argue that it is just too complicated to work out a deal with a hotelier, and they want to be able to throw more money at projects like Mission Gardens.
