🏛️ Former Tucson City Manager Ortega Named RTA Chief as $261M Unused as Projects Go Unfinished Exposed
Mike Ortega appointed to oversee transportation authority despite admitting he hasn't followed RTA Next details, while millions earn interest instead of serving communities
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🚨🚍 Local government officials in Pima County had a meeting where they confessed they have $261M 💰 just sitting in bank accounts, earning interest instead of building buses 🚌 and bike paths 🚴 that people voted for in 2006. They're pocketing millions while people sweat 🥵 in the heat, waiting for buses that don't come often enough. A mayor discovered a $20M math error, and they've hired pricey lawyers 💼 without public input. They're treating taxpayer money like their personal piggy bank 🐷 while communities needing better transit suffer. 😠🏙️
🗝️ Takeaways
🔄 Mike Ortega appointed interim RTA executive director despite admitting he hasn't followed current planning details
💸 $261 million in public funds, earning $4.8 million annually in interest, while transit projects remain incomplete
📊 80% staff turnover revealed - 42 of 55 employees left since 2018 under previous leadership
⚖️ Corporate law firm unanimously appointed without public input on potential conflicts
🚧 Only 18 of 35 voter-approved projects completed after nearly 20 years of taxpayer funding
🌡️ Transportation agencies met only 59% of performance measures during the deadly heat crisis
The Transit Shell Game: Former Tucson City Manager Ortega Takes Control as PAG/RTA Shuffles Millions While Communities Walk in the Heat
Behind closed doors on June 16, 2025, regional power brokers appointed former Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega as interim executive director and played financial hide-and-seek with $261 million in public funds while working families continue suffering from Arizona's transportation apartheid
The most significant development buried in the June 16, 2025, joint meeting of the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) and Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) was the appointment of former Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega as interim executive director—positioning him to oversee billions in regional transportation dollars during a critical transition period.
Yet this leadership change happened in executive session, hidden from public scrutiny, while officials openly discussed the $400,000 monthly interest they're earning on transportation funds sitting idle in bank accounts.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, Ortega was unanimously appointed just eleven days after the RTA Board voted 5-4 to fire longtime executive director Farhad Moghimi following months of conflict between urban and suburban representatives.
Picture this: It's 115 degrees in the shade, and María has been waiting forty-five minutes at a bus stop with no shelter, clutching her infant son while trying to get to her second job cleaning office buildings.
Meanwhile, just miles away in air-conditioned boardrooms, Mike Ortega—who just last year called supporting RTA Next "fiscally irresponsible"—now finds himself managing the very transit authority he criticized. At the same time, officials casually discuss banking profits from taxpayer funds.
Welcome to the surreal world of regional transportation planning in Trump's America, where former city managers cash in on government connections to manage larger pools of public money while working families face transportation apartheid in deadly heat.
The Players in This Corporate Power Game
The June 16 meeting reveals a tightly controlled hierarchy where real decisions happen in executive sessions, away from public scrutiny. Let me break down the cast of characters who control billions of dollars in public transportation funds, while most residents have never heard of their names.
The Corporate-Government Revolving Door in Action
The appointment of Mike Ortega as interim executive director represents a classic example of the revolving door between municipal government and regional authority positions.
Ortega now controls access to $261 million in public funds and will oversee the transition to RTA Next, potentially determining transportation priorities for the next twenty years.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, when asked about the current RTA Next plan, Ortega admitted: "I don't know the details of the current plan on the table, so I don't know the details of it. I've not been following it that closely."
This stunning admission reveals that the person now responsible for managing a multi-billion-dollar regional transportation program hasn't even been following the basic details of the plan he's supposed to implement. Former city managers don't retire to teach civics classes—they cash in on their government connections by managing larger pools of public money with less oversight.
The meeting transcript reveals that Ortega's appointment was discussed during the executive session, with multiple references indicating that this interim director will work closely with the newly appointed interim legal counsel to address what General Maxwell ominously described as "significant potential work in the personnel field."
The combination of new executive leadership and specialized legal counsel for personnel issues suggests underlying problems that the public has been deliberately kept unaware of.
Mr. Adler's comment during the meeting schedule discussion revealed the rushed nature of this appointment:
"Again, once we get some determinations, then we'll be asking for some memos to come your way." This suggests Ortega will be immediately thrust into crisis management mode, dealing with legal determinations and policy memos rather than focusing on community-centered transportation planning.
The Power Brokers Behind the Curtain
The meeting chair wielded procedural power with practiced precision, managing vote sequences and cutting off discussions with the efficiency of someone accustomed to controlling narratives. It's interesting how quickly these meetings progress when there's no community input to slow things down.
Mayor Regina Romero emerged as perhaps the most transparent voice in the room, consistently pushing for accountability and asking the hard questions others seemed eager to avoid. When discussing the RTA budget crisis, she pointedly observed:
"I understand that the TMC provided recommendations on the scope changes that the City of Tucson proposed. However, before we, the RTA Board, consider scope changes, we need absolute clarity on the available funds to complete the 2006 RTA plan."
Translation: Stop the fancy accounting tricks and tell us exactly how much money we actually have.
Supervisor Matt Heinz demonstrated genuine fiscal curiosity, asking pointed questions about interest earnings that exposed uncomfortable truths about idle public funds. When the mayor asked about annual interest income, the response revealed that these agencies are essentially running a profitable banking operation with taxpayer money:
"Lately, we've been earning about $400,000 monthly for the account in interest."
Let me do that math for you: $400,000 monthly equals $4.8 million annually just from one account. While people are literally dying from heat exposure, they are waiting for non-existent transit.
General Ted Maxwell brought military-style strategic thinking to the discussion, but also revealed the rushed nature of their decision-making when he warned about the compressed timeline for RTA Next: "Obviously, we know that we've had a lot of conversations today about how short the window is to try to get to it."
The Technocratic Gatekeepers
Mr. Ledford delivered a presentation on federal transportation reauthorization that should terrify anyone concerned about climate justice. His casual mention of proposed $250 registration fees for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrids represents a striking example of regressive policy that penalizes working families for attempting to reduce their carbon footprint.
Because nothing says "environmental policy" like taxing people who buy electric cars while continuing to subsidize fossil fuel infrastructure.
Budget manager Mr. Towe controlled the financial narrative with carefully parsed numbers that obscured more than they revealed. When pressed about available funds, his responses consistently deflected to "legal opinions" and complex procedural barriers—classic bureaucratic techniques for avoiding accountability.
Perhaps most revealing was the appearance of Lisa Ann Smith from DeConcini McDonald, the corporate attorney who secured the interim counsel contract without meaningful public input. Her brief comments revealed a troubling willingness to prioritize corporate legal strategies over community transparency:
"I'm very happy to step in immediately as interim counsel and work with you all to determine whether you need a second interim counsel or a different permanent counsel."
Nothing builds public trust like lawyers offering to hire more lawyers to help them figure out if they need even more lawyers.
The $261 Million Shell Game: Following the Money Trail
To understand the magnitude of this financial crisis, you need context about how regional transportation funding actually works—and how it's failing our communities.
According to PAG's official website, the Regional Transportation Authority was created through a 2006 voter-approved initiative that imposed a half-cent sales tax to fund 35 specific transportation projects.
Nearly two decades later, with the tax set to expire in 2026, 17 projects remain incomplete, while $261 million sits in fund balances earning interest for banks instead of being used to move people.
According to Supervisor Heinz, "So far, in almost 20 years, I have completed 18 of 35 named projects. That is not what success should look like."
It's the perfect government efficiency model: collect taxes from working families, let the money sit in accounts earning interest for financial institutions, then claim you need more time and money to complete the work that voters have already paid for.
The budget presentation revealed staggering numbers that should prompt immediate community organizing:
$24.3 million collected in regional HURF (Highway User Revenue Fund) dollars through March 2025
$132 million total HURF and vehicle license tax collected across the region
$94 million in Transaction Privilege Tax collected
$144.5 million total revenue projection for FY 2026
$222.4 million in rollover funds from previous years
When Supervisor Heinz pressed for details about interest earnings, the response exposed the profitable banking operation being run with public funds. Mr. Towe acknowledged that "last year, the audited numbers showed that we collected about $7.5 million in interest on excise tax". At the same time, a financial analyst added that they're "earning about $400,000 monthly for the account in interest."
So, while families choose between gas money and groceries, regional transportation agencies are earning millions in interest on funds that should be used to build transit infrastructure.
The Mathematical "Error" That Reveals Everything
The most damning moment came when Mayor Romero identified what she called a $20 million math error in cost projections that could reduce the claimed funding shortfall from $143 million to $123 million. "In our analysis of the City of Tucson's analysis of the table presented by the RTA staff, we found a $20 million math error that would bring the actual shortfall down to $123 million."
A $20 million "error" in public budgeting isn't a mistake—it's either gross incompetence or deliberate obfuscation. Neither option builds confidence in these agencies' ability to manage billions in public funds.
This revelation perfectly captures the broader pattern of fiscal manipulation that characterizes regional transportation planning. When pressed about available funds, officials consistently hide behind complex legal interpretations and procedural barriers, while millions of taxpayer dollars generate profits for financial institutions.
The Human Cost of Bureaucratic Games
While officials debate legal technicalities and interest earnings, real people suffer the consequences of failed transportation planning. Arizona's extreme heat makes reliable public transit a matter of life and death; yet, the 2055 Regional Mobility and Accessibility Plan admits to meeting only 59% of its performance measures—a failing grade that would likely result in any teacher being fired.
Transportation Planning Director Jeanette De Renne's presentation outlined ambitious spending projections: $800 million for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, $5.5 billion for transit operations and expansions, and $7.1 billion for multimodal roadway improvements. But these numbers ring hollow when viewed alongside the pattern of incomplete projects and financial mismanagement that characterizes current operations.
Planning to spend $13.3 billion over thirty years while failing to complete projects voters approved twenty years ago isn't visionary—it's delusional.
The federal transportation reauthorization discussion revealed equally troubling priorities. While highway infrastructure continues receiving massive subsidies—$275 billion transferred from general funds to the Highway Trust Fund since 2008—working families face proposed punitive taxes on electric vehicles and hybrids.
The Resistance Path Forward
This meeting analysis exposes the urgent need for organized community resistance to corporate capture of regional transportation planning. With critical meetings scheduled for July 31st and early August 2025, we have a narrow window to demand accountability and community representation in decisions that will shape transportation justice for decades.
The next RTA meeting will determine whether $261 million in existing funds is allocated to highway expansion or transit equity, whether corporate consultants continue to profit from community needs, and whether working families receive meaningful representation in regional planning processes.
Immediate Action Steps:
Attend meetings at 1 E. Broadway Blvd., 4th Floor, Tucson
Submit written comments to info@RTAmobility.com demanding community representation
Call (520) 792-1093 to register for virtual participation
Organize community groups to demand transit equity representation on all planning committees
Demand transparency about the 80% staff turnover and underlying personnel issues
The math is simple: $261 million in existing funds could immediately address the most urgent mobility needs of working families. The only thing standing in the way is political will and organized community pressure.
Our communities deserve transportation systems that prioritize people over profit. The fight for transit justice is the fight for economic justice, environmental justice, and racial justice—and it starts with holding officials like Mike Ortega accountable for every dollar they collect in our names.
¡La lucha continúa! The resistance continues, and our collective action will determine whether regional transportation serves corporate interests or community survival in the climate crisis ahead.
Support Three Sonorans Substack to keep this critical government watchdog journalism coming. Independent media is essential for community accountability and resistance organizing. Without community-funded media holding these officials accountable, corporate capture of public agencies will only accelerate.
What Do You Think?
How can working families demand real accountability when Mike Ortega—who admitted he hasn't been following RTA Next details—now controls $261 million sitting in bank accounts earning interest while our communities lack basic transit access? Should community organizations organize direct action to demand immediate use of these funds for emergency transit services during extreme heat events?
Why do you think seven elected officials unanimously approved corporate legal counsel without public input, and what does this 80% staff turnover rate reveal about the personnel crisis they're hiding from the public? What kind of workplace creates such massive employee exodus, and shouldn't taxpayers know about potential misconduct or mismanagement before approving million-dollar budgets?
Your voice matters in this fight for transportation justice. Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas for community organizing in the comments below. The future of regional transportation depends on community resistance to corporate capture of our public agencies.
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