🔥 The Billion-Dollar Transportation Betrayal: How RTA Officials Hid a Massive Funding Failure of $1 BILLION for 19 Years
🚌 RTA Crisis Exposes Two Decades of Broken Promises to Southern Arizona Commuters. Emergency funding proposals emerge as RTA admits to unprecedented financial mismanagement
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
The grown-ups 🤓 who make decisions for Pima County had a very long meeting 🕒 where they talked about some really big problems 😟. The biggest problem is that for almost 20 years, the people in charge of buses 🚌 and roads 🚧 promised they would have enough money to build things 💰🏗️, but they never actually had enough money - they were short by $1 billion! 😲
That's like if your piggy bank 🐷💰 was supposed to have $100 but only had $37. The meeting also talked about whether to give a lot of money 💵 to business groups, and some community members came to ask for protection from immigration agents who are scaring families 👪😨.
Some of the county leaders want to help regular families more 👨👩👧❤️, while others think businesses should get more help 💼💰.
🗝️ Takeaways
🚨 The Regional Transportation Authority failed to meet revenue projections for 19 consecutive years, creating a $1 billion funding gap
💸 Pima County renewed a $550,000 contract with the Chamber of Southern Arizona despite calls for greater accountability and transparency
🏠 The board approved affordable housing funding while facing pressure to eliminate corporate tax exemptions for data centers
👥 Community members demanded restoration of immigration enforcement oversight amid reports of federal agents operating without local accountability
🗳️ Conservative Supervisor Steve Christy consistently opposed social justice initiatives while defending business interests
📊 A clear progressive majority emerged on key votes, with Allen, Cano, Hines, and Scott supporting community-focused policies
The Billion-Dollar Betrayal: How Pima County's Elite Failed Working Families for Two Decades
Sometimes the most important stories unfold not in dramatic moments, but in the mundane procedural votes that reveal who really holds power in our communities.
When the Pima County Board of Supervisors gaveled in at 9:00 AM on July 15, 2025, the air conditioning hummed quietly in the sterile government chambers while outside, temperatures climbed toward another triple-digit day.
Inside those climate-controlled walls, elected officials would spend the next eight hours making decisions worth hundreds of millions of dollars—decisions that will determine whether working families have reliable transportation, whether our most vulnerable neighbors have safe housing, and whether corporate interests continue to extract wealth from our desert communities with taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Because apparently, in the richest country in the world, we still need to beg our elected officials to prioritize human needs over corporate profit margins.
What emerged from this marathon session was a damning portrait of regional governance failure so profound it borders on the criminal: a billion-dollar transportation funding collapse hidden from voters for nearly two decades, corporate welfare disguised as economic development, and a systematic pattern of prioritizing business interests over community accountability.
The Land We Stand On: More Than Ceremonial Words
The meeting opened with Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson from the University of Arizona's Indigenous Resilience Center delivering a land acknowledgment that transcended typical performative gestures.
Dr. Johnson honored "the tribal nations who have served as caretakers of this land from time immemorial" and specifically acknowledged the Tohono O'odham Nation and the "multimillennial presence of the Pascua Yaqui tribe within Pima County."
But Dr. Johnson didn't stop with historical recognition. He shared his vision for "One Seed, One Child," a program where every student in Pima County would receive soil, a seed, and water on their first day of school.
"Planting seeds at Hopi is really an act of faith," he explained, connecting Indigenous agricultural wisdom to children's education about food sovereignty—a concept that stands in stark contrast to the corporate data centers seeking massive water subsidies later in the agenda.
It's telling that the most visionary proposal of the entire day came from the land acknowledgment rather than the elected officials supposedly representing our future.
The Transportation Catastrophe: A Billion-Dollar Lie Exposed
19 Years of Deception Revealed
The morning's most explosive revelation came when Michael Ortega, interim executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority, presented financial documents that should send shockwaves through every community in Southern Arizona.
For the first time in public, comprehensive data revealed that the RTA has never met its revenue projections in 19 years.
Let that sink in. Not once. Not a single year since 2006 has this quasi-governmental agency delivered on its promises to voters.
The numbers are staggering:
Projected revenue: $2.7 billion
Actual revenue: $1.7 billion
Shortfall: $1 billion
This represents a 37% gap between what voters were promised and what was delivered—a failure so systematic it can only be described as fraudulent misrepresentation.
Dr. Matt Heinz (District 2), who serves as the county's representative to the RTA board, presented three potential paths forward, including the most controversial: asking the Pima County Board of Supervisors to continue collecting the half-cent sales tax through an unprecedented unanimous vote—a mechanism never used since Arizona achieved statehood in 1864.
"We're short all this money," Ortega explained with bureaucratic understatement that would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. "The reality is that they did not hit the mark. And as I believe Supervisor Heinz mentioned, if you go back through the years, you'll see that they didn't hit it at all."
Translation: We've been lying to you for two decades about our ability to manage public transportation funding, but please trust us with more money.
Supervisor Christy's Revealing Opposition
Steve Christy (District 4), the board's most consistently pro-business member, delivered perhaps the meeting's most revealing speech when he opposed the emergency funding mechanism. While ostensibly defending fiscal responsibility, his comments exposed deeper ideological commitments:
"This board's majority, along with their collaborators and partners in the City of Tucson, cannot be trusted with a revenue stream in the amount of a half-cent or full-cent sales tax over the next how many years with no guarantees of a sunset, no guarantees that the priorities could be changed, and no guarantees that things could be manipulated... Let's redirect this sales tax that we've enacted to some other pet project like public housing, climate resiliency, or climate change."
Note how Christy frames "public housing" and "climate resiliency" as frivolous "pet projects" rather than, you know, basic human needs and planetary survival. This tells you everything about his priorities.
Community Voices: Immigration Enforcement and Corporate Accountability
Five speakers addressed the board during public comment, bringing urgent concerns that cut through the procedural fog with moral clarity.
Rolande Baker: Confronting State Violence
Roland Baker delivered the day's most powerful testimony, demanding restoration of reporting requirements between the sheriff's department and Border Patrol.
"There are kidnappings that are happening right here in this city, and they're happening all across the United States. And they're happening by people called ICE, and they wear masks, and we cannot allow that to continue."
Baker specifically called for reinstating Sheriff Napier's program, which required documentation of all Border Patrol interactions—a transparency measure eliminated by the current Sheriff, Chris Nanos.
"We know about the concentration camps that are across this United States. We know what's going on in those concentration camps. We know that they have to be stopped."
While elected officials debate corporate tax breaks, community members literally fear for their neighbors' safety from federal agents operating with impunity in our communities.
Christina Mokhtarian: Historical Memory and Constitutional Rights
Local public school teacher Christina Mokhtarian connected current immigration enforcement to historical patterns of state violence, drawing from her family's experience of Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
"We need to remember that we have to have due process for everyone... In our country, even elected officials can be wrong. Even the President, Republican or Democrat, even the Supreme Court."
John Doherty: A Veteran's Perspective on American Values
Afghanistan veteran John Doherty spoke about his interpreter who "risked his very life assisting U.S. forces" but was recently "kidnapped by masked thugs that are ostensibly federal agents in San Diego."
His message was uncompromising: "It is anti-American in the extreme to have a secret police, but perhaps even more anti-American to be assisting in kidnappings... This is a grotesque violation of human rights, and it is everything. It is the antithesis of everything I fought for and stand for as a veteran."
When a combat veteran has to remind elected officials about basic American values while they debate corporate subsidies, something is fundamentally broken.
The Chamber of Commerce Controversy: Half a Million in Corporate Welfare
Jennifer Allen's Challenge to Business as Usual
The meeting's most contentious debate centered on renewing the $550,000 contract with the Chamber of Southern Arizona. Vice Chair Jennifer Allen (District 3) proposed a substitute motion to reduce the contract to $300,000 and redirect $250,000 to the county's economic development department.
Her reasoning was methodical and devastating: "The Chamber has little reach across the rural communities and across the expanse of the county. The primary focus is around the Tucson metro area, leaving behind other chambers and some of the small businesses that comprise the rest of Pima County."
Allen also demanded the removal of "if releasable" language from reporting requirements, arguing that non-disclosure agreements prevent proper public oversight of taxpayer-funded economic development efforts.
Steve Christy's Business-First Ideology
Christy's response revealed his fundamental worldview in stark terms: "No one on this board has served in the capacity of a business ownership or put in private capital or private equity into an enterprise. So, it's very difficult, I'm sure, for my colleagues to understand what businesses go through."
Translation: Unless you're personally wealthy enough to own a business, you have no right to question how taxpayer money is spent on corporate subsidies. This is the logic of oligarchy, not democracy.
He went further, characterizing any criticism of the chamber as attacks on the business community itself: "It's a direct slap in the face to business owners, mom and pop, generational enterprises, to employers, to entities that allow people to put food on their table."
Apparently, questioning whether half a million dollars in public money is well-spent equates to hating small businesses. The gaslighting is strong with this one.
Fletcher McCusker's Inadvertent Admission
Chamber Treasurer Fletcher McCusker's testimony inadvertently revealed the organization's true priorities. When pressed about geographic equity, he explained that chamber funds are "attraction dollars" used "exclusively to cater to, market to, host, publish in their newsletters, site selectors and companies that are looking at coming to Tucson."
This admission is crucial: public money flows exclusively toward attracting outside corporations rather than supporting existing local businesses or communities.
McCusker later added: "The optics that we are concerned with, it's the messaging behind that, as much as it is the money, but it goes to the level of support that outsiders see from our government entities."
So the chamber is openly admitting they care more about what corporate site selectors think than what local residents need. At least they're honest about their priorities.
Homelessness and Housing: Systems in Crisis
Kat Davis from the City of Tucson's Housing and Community Development Department presented sobering data about regional homelessness response, revealing a system overwhelmed by the increasing complexity of individual needs.
Key statistics include:
$14.5 million in federal continuum of care funding
63% increase in sheltered homelessness since 2022
Rising numbers of people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders
Davis noted a critical challenge: "What the information from the point in time count showed us this year is that we do have, you know, kind of a stable number of overall but the populations... people with serious mental illness, people with substance use disorder, as well as survivors of domestic violence and people who are experiencing chronic homelessness... all of those categories of people were seen increases."
This means service providers need more resources per person served, creating sustainability challenges for the entire system.
While the county debates half-million-dollar corporate subsidies, our most vulnerable neighbors face increasingly complex barriers to stable housing. The priorities here are crystal clear.
The Data Center Tax Exemption Fight
Jennifer Allen proposed investigating the elimination of data center exemptions from state and local sales taxes, using the controversial "Project Blue" development as an example.
"The equipment costs for Project Blue are about $2.4 billion, which would mean that the city, county, and state are collectively losing out on roughly $209 million in sales tax revenue."
Her argument was straightforward: "Data centers are not a new industry anymore to Arizona. This exemption was established in 2013. Since then, the industry has proliferated across the state... continuing with this exemption when this industry is already firmly rooted at a time when Arizona is facing severe economic impact, city, county, and state budgets are severely strained, just doesn't make sense any longer."
Steve Christy opposed the amendment, warning it could expose the county to lawsuits and jeopardize the data center deal currently under negotiation.
Heaven forbid we ask profitable corporations to pay the same taxes that working families do. The audacity of suggesting data centers contribute to the communities they impact apparently constitutes economic terrorism.
What This Means for You and Your Family
These aren't abstract policy debates—they're decisions that directly impact your daily life:
Transportation: The RTA funding crisis means longer waits for bus routes, delayed road improvements, and continued car-dependency that burdens working families with vehicle costs many can't afford.
Housing: While the board approved some affordable housing funding, the broader crisis continues. Every dollar spent on corporate subsidies is a dollar not invested in addressing homelessness or creating affordable housing options.
Immigration: The lack of oversight on federal immigration enforcement means your neighbors, coworkers, and community members face potential detention without local accountability.
Taxes: Corporate tax exemptions like data center breaks mean higher tax burdens on working families to make up revenue shortfalls, while profitable corporations extract wealth from our communities.
Democracy: Non-disclosure agreements and lack of transparency in economic development deals mean you can't hold elected officials accountable for spending your tax dollars.
Vote Breakdown: Who Stood Where
The pattern is clear: Christy consistently opposes social justice initiatives while supporting corporate interests. The progressive majority of Allen, Cano, Heinz, and Scott supports community accountability and social programs.
The Path Forward: Organizing for Justice
Despite these frustrations, seeds of change are growing in our desert communities. The passionate testimony from immigration advocates, the detailed critiques of corporate welfare, and the persistent demands for transparency all represent the democratic impulse toward collective care over individual profit.
Dr. Johnson's "One Seed, One Child" proposal offers a powerful metaphor: planting seeds of justice, sustainability, and community care that will flourish into the Southern Arizona our children deserve. Just as Indigenous peoples have stewarded this land for millennia, we must think beyond quarterly profit reports to generational responsibility.
Your voice matters. Every public comment period is an opportunity to demand accountability. Every vote is a chance to elect representatives who prioritize community needs over corporate profits. Every conversation with neighbors is a chance to build the grassroots power necessary for systemic change.
How to Get Involved
Attend Board Meetings: Public comment periods are held at every meeting. Sign up at pima.gov or call 520-724-8449.
Contact Your Supervisor: Find your district representative and let them know your priorities.
Support Transparency: Demand elimination of non-disclosure agreements in economic development deals.
Organize Your Neighborhood: Connect with local advocacy groups working on housing, transportation, and immigrant rights.
Vote: Local elections have the most direct impact on your daily life.
Support independent journalism like Three Sonorans Substack that provides the in-depth analysis corporate media won't deliver. Subscribe, share these articles, and help us hold power accountable.
What Do You Think?
The resistance continues with each community member who refuses to accept corporate prioritization over human needs. Together, we can cultivate the seeds of justice that will flourish in Southern Arizona's democratic future.
Leave your thoughts below and help us continue this vital conversation:
How can we ensure elected officials prioritize community accountability over corporate interests in economic development decisions?
What strategies would be most effective for preventing billion-dollar public funding failures like the RTA crisis from happening again?'
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This reminds me that TUSD used to and may still pay dues to the Chamber of Commerce!!!¿?¿?
Pima County shouldn't pay the Chamber of Commerce a dime. The Tucson based Chamber of Commerce is undoubtedly collecting a fortune in dues from it's bigger business members. The Chamber is going to advertise to attract businesses to move here regardless of whether or not Pima pays them anything.
The supervisors need to schedule a meeting for the Chamber to present exactly what they do to help small business within Tucson succeed and grow as well as what they do to help businesses outside Tucson to succeed and grow.
I'm glad you're exposing how Christy votes. He keeps getting re-elected, because people assume he's a "nice" conservative. They don't know he really is.
When Pima County voted to elect Biden, Christy voted against certifying Biden's election.
I live in his district and feel like it's hopeless to email him or to call his office.
Maybe we need to organize postcard campaigns. You know, have a few 100 people send him postcards every time he does things detrimental to the community. Voting for Project Blue and voting to pay too much money to the Chamber of Commerce would be examples.