Earlier today in Tucson the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized all Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District (Rio Nuevo) records. There was no official reason given, but, following a State Audit, the Arizona Attorney General’s office said they were looking into any possible criminal wrongdoing in the ten-year Rio Nuevo project.
The Arizona Auditor General's audit was released last week and said Rio Nuevo was guilty of “gross mismanagement”.Rio Nuevo's ten year, 230 million dollar, invisible project has little to show the taxpayers of Tucson. A quick, partial State audit found plenty of “bad judgment, bad management, and misplaced priorities”, but apparently did not look for criminal acts. (Crowe Horwath, 2010)
A partial listing of Rio Nuevo activities will illustrate – and probably make you angry.
The audit notes that nearly 46 percent of the funding for the district (or $71.5 million) was spent on projects “currently on hold” (but see #7).
1) $45.1 million in completed projects includes $11.5 million renovating Fox Theatre.
2) $4.6 million to design and build a new entrance to the Tucson Convention Center.
3) $3 million for landfill and "environmental remediation" for Congress Landfill, Mission Landfill and Rio Nuevo Landfill Stabilization.
4) Widening the I-10 underpass cost $9 million.
5) $244,200 was spent removing "drill tracks" for "Southwest Drill Track" improvements for the city.
6) Among its findings, the audit points out that items included as land purchases were not land purchases. (my emphasis)
7) The audit indicates the District "will likely not have funds to complete all of the 'on-hold' projects' that were originally a part of the Rio Nuevo plan. (Crowe Horwath, 2010)
Craig Smith of KGUN9 News asked local Tucson attorney Mike Piccarreta if a prosecutor could pin a criminal rap on “bad management”. Piccarreta said prosecutors, “… would need proof someone got money they weren't entitled to…but you really need to look at transactions and find out who benefited…was the benefit the result of illegal activity?" He said, without more detail a criminal case is unlikely. (Smith, 2010)
The FBI and the Attorney General are now looking for that illegal activity. Stay tuned.
Crowe Horwath (2010). pdf. Performance & Financial Analysis of the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District.
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/kgun/KGUN/RioNuevoAudit.pdf
Smith, C. (2010). KGUN9 on your side. Prison for Rio Nuevo mismanagement? Not likely.
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