🎭 RTA Board Installs Hand-Picked Lawyer While Mayor Jets to Qatar on Embassy Cash | RTA 5.22.25
$200K backroom deal bypasses competition as Romero networks with petrostate that abuses immigrants while constituents lack transit equity
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🚍👥 Nine powerful mayors and officials controlling public transportation in Southern Arizona met to hire an expensive lawyer. Instead of reaching out to the community 🗣️ or comparing different lawyers ⚖️, one official chose his friend 🤝 and everyone agreed without asking questions 🤷♂️. They are without a lawyer 🚫📝 and everything worked fine, but now they're rushing to spend $200,000 yearly 💸 on legal help instead of improving buses 🚍 and bike paths 🚴♂️. No regular people got to speak at the meeting 🙅♀️🗨️, even though this decision affects everyone who rides the bus or needs better transportation 🚌. One official discovered that other places manage transportation without lawyers at every meeting 🌍❌⚖️, but most officials ignored this and hired the expensive lawyer anyway 💼.
🗝️ Takeaways
🎯 Elite networking replaced competitive bidding for $200K+ annual legal counsel position
🚫 Zero public participation in decisions affecting 1.1 million regional residents
⏰ Artificial urgency created by board members’ vacation schedules drove rushed hiring
🤝 Unanimous 7-0 vote suggests predetermined outcome rather than genuine deliberation
🔍 Alternative governance models exist without constant legal representation, per Dr. Heinz's research
🌵 Climate and equity priorities are completely ignored during the legal representation debate
📞 Community organizing remains the only path to democratic accountability in regional governance
RTA Board's $200K Backroom Deal Exposed: General Maxwell Installs Corporate Lawyer While Mayor Romero Jets to Qatar
The fix was in from the start.
On May 22, 2025, eight powerful elected officials convened to address a crisis of their own creation as transit-dependent families face service cuts and fare increases. With Mayor Regina Romero conveniently absent on a Qatar Embassy-funded junket, the Regional Transportation Authority board installed a hand-picked corporate attorney through elite networking rather than competitive bidding.
The context: Just three weeks earlier, Romero had exploded at Executive Director Farhad Moghimi, accusing him of "hatred" toward Tucson while $143 million in voter-approved projects—promised nearly 20 years ago—remain unfunded in working-class neighborhoods. Her confrontation exposed systematic obstruction of accountability, with required documents mysteriously "disappearing" when Supervisor Matt Heinz attempted a performance review.
The May 22nd response: Elite consolidation disguised as emergency action.
Background story from the last meeting:
The Power Players
General Ted Maxwell dominated proceedings with military efficiency, presenting D. Samuel Coffman not as one option among many but as the predetermined solution. Maxwell's dual role—Southern Arizona Leadership Council president and RTA board member—represents a textbook conflict of interest: corporate interests controlling public transportation decisions.
"I have talked with Mr. Coffman... he's more than willing to take this role," Maxwell announced, confirming backroom deals preceded any public discussion.
Mayor Joe Winfield (Oro Valley) allowed his personal vacation schedule to drive a $200,000+ annual hiring decision affecting 1.1 million residents. His May 28th departure became the artificial deadline, forcing rushed procurement.
Mayor Regina Romero (Tucson): Absent. While 550,000 constituents needed advocacy during maximum institutional vulnerability, their mayor networked with Qatari officials on the authoritarian embassy's dime.
Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz delivered the meeting's bombshell: his research revealed alternative governance models operating without expensive legal dependencies. "They did not have a lawyer present for their meetings, that they almost never went into executive session... They were kind of confused when I asked how they handled that because they don't really do that."
Yet inexplicably, Heinz seconded Maxwell's motion for expedited hiring—revealing either institutional pressure or reform's limits within captured systems.
The Conspicuously Silent and Absent
Mayor Regina Romero's absence wasn't just notable—it was a betrayal of her constituents' transportation justice needs. While Tucson's working families wait for buses in 100-degree heat without adequate shade structures, their mayor was networking with Qatari officials whose government funds infrastructure through migrant worker exploitation and environmental destruction.
What raised eyebrows was that the mayor’s trip was initially a secret, that the city at first gave false information about who paid for it, and that she went to an elite gathering in Qatar of all places, paid for by the Qataris.
As the information dribbled out, eyebrows rose.
Qatar is a country that, in my mind, was synonymous with international bribery and corruption long before the recent Trump-jet episode, in which the president allegedly solicited a new, $400 million Air Force One as a gift. In 2010, Qatar improbably won the right to host the 2022 men’s soccer World Cup. Quickly, accusations arose that they had paid bribes to win it, eventually leading to a U.S. Justice Department indictment.
via Tim Steller's column: Jet deal, secrecy undermine Tucson mayor's trip to Qatar
The city's initial lie about Bloomberg Philanthropies funding—quickly exposed and corrected—revealed the same casual relationship with transparency that characterizes regional governance. When your mayor needs multiple attempts to accurately disclose who's paying for her international luxury travel, what does that say about transparency in local decision-making?
Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela (South Tucson) participated virtually, her voice literally marginalized despite representing the region's most transit-dependent and economically vulnerable community. The tribal representatives—Chairman Verlon Jose (Tohono O'odham Nation) and Chairman Julian Hernandez (Pascua Yaqui Tribe)—remained completely silent while decisions were made affecting transportation access to reservation communities already underserved by regional transit planning.
When officials representing the most diverse, working-class, and transit-dependent communities have the least voice in regional transportation governance, that's not coincidence—that's structural racism embedded in institutional design.
The Corporate Installation
Maxwell's motion revealed military-style civilian governance:
“I move that we instruct the executive director... to enter into an agreement with D. Samuel Coffman of the Dickinson Wright law firm, who is also the general counsel of the Maricopa Association of Governments to serve in an interim and temporary status as our special counsel."
Coffman's credentials:
Current MAG general counsel with decades of regional experience
Dickinson Wright Labor and Employment Practice leader
25-year institutional relationship between his firm and MAG
Result: 7-0 unanimous approval with zero questions, zero public input, zero competitive bidding
Democracy Excluded
Staff announcement: "There are no speakers today."
Zero public participation in decisions affecting every transit user across the region. This wasn't accidental—systematic barriers excluded working families:
3:00 PM weekday meetings, excluding hourly workers
English-only proceedings in a region where 35% speak Spanish at home
No childcare or interpretation services
Fourth-floor downtown location inaccessible without reliable transportation
When transportation decisions exclude transportation users, that's technocratic authoritarianism.
The $200K Question
While officials debated corporate lawyers, transportation crises festered:
$143 million in voter-approved projects unfunded after 20 years
Sun Tran routes eliminated in working-class neighborhoods
Bike lanes stalled pending legal review
ADA improvements delayed by legal bottleneck
But let's prioritize Maxwell's preferred attorney over infrastructure that could save lives.
Timeline Manipulation
Maxwell's artificial emergency exposed how elite schedules drive public policy:
May 28th deadline accommodating Winfield's vacation
June 1-14: Maxwell traveling internationally (corporate obligations trump accountability)
Mayor Romero is out of the country for this May 22nd meeting.
The Pattern: Accountability Crisis to Elite Consolidation
April 21st: Romero demands transparency, Heinz seeks performance review, community pressure mounts
May 22nd: Romero absent on international trip, elite networks install preferred counsel, accountability deferred
This trajectory reveals how power neutralizes threats through procedural manipulation, elite coordination, and strategic absence of reform voices at crucial moments.
Corporate Capture Perfected
Maxwell's dual role represents regulatory capture in action: corporate interests simultaneously control the public boards they're supposed to influence.
While SALC's specific transportation positions aren't documented, the structural conflict is clear: business lobby leaders shouldn't control transportation resource allocation affecting working families.
The RTA structure enables taxation without representation—community members pay regressive sales taxes funding decisions made by officials accountable to suburban municipalities and corporate networks rather than transit users.
Community Power vs. Elite Networks
Despite institutional dysfunction, pathways for transformation remain:
Immediate Actions:
Monitor Moghimi's performance review process
Document board conflicts of interest
Demand transparency on $70 million in uncommitted RTA funds
Long-term Organizing:
Electoral accountability for corporate-captured officials
Community-controlled transportation planning
Climate justice integration in regional decisions
Resource reallocation from consultants to infrastructure
The Stakes
With $143 million in promised projects unfunded, $70 million sitting unused, and a deadly summer approaching without transit heat protection, corporate capture consequences aren't just political—they're potentially fatal.
The Regional Transportation Authority belongs to working families, not corporate networks. Every consultant contract represents resources stolen from lifesaving infrastructure connecting communities.
Take Action Now
Support Three Sonorans Substack, independent journalism that exposes elite networks while centering community voices. Your subscription enables accountability coverage that mainstream media won't provide.
Get involved:
Contact board members about competitive bidding requirements
Join Tucson Bus Union for ongoing equity organizing
Register voters in excluded communities
Support candidates committed to accountability over corporate networking
¡La lucha continúa! Victory requires sustained organization against corporate capture.
What Do You Think?
Should regional boards conduct full consultant spending audits before hiring expensive legal counsel while promised community infrastructure remains unfunded?
How can transit-dependent communities organize to ensure their voices are heard in decisions currently dominated by corporate interests?
Your participation can transform governance from elite capture to community accountability.
Quotes:
General Maxwell: "I have talked with Mr. Coffman... he's more than willing to take this role" - Revealing predetermined backroom deal before public discussion
Mayor Murphy: "We've never not had an attorney present, not only at our meetings, but... we've always had an attorney present" - Defending expensive legal dependency culture
Dr. Heinz: "They were kind of confused when I asked how they handled that because they don't really do that" - Exposing alternatives to constant legal representation
General Maxwell: "Every week we lose if not having a legal counsel puts us farther behind on getting a plan to the point where we can get it to the voters" - Creating false urgency for expedited corporate hiring
Staff announcement: "There are no speakers today" - Confirming complete exclusion of community voice
General Maxwell: "He's out of the region so he's got no connection with anybody, any of us around this board in any way, shape or form" - Questionable independence claim given SALC networking
Dr. Heinz: "I was really struck to find out that they did not have a lawyer present for their meetings, that they almost never went into executive session" - Challenging legal necessity assumptions
People Mentioned:
Mayor Joe Winfield (Oro Valley) - RTA Chair, whose personal travel drove a rushed timeline "I will be out of town beginning tomorrow... leave to go out of state on the 28th"
General Ted Maxwell (SALC/State Transportation Board) - Corporate lobbyist forcing predetermined counsel selection "I would like to propose that we instruct executive director to reach out... to make an offer to bring in Samuel Coffman"
Mayor Tom Murphy (Sahuarita) - RTA Vice Chair defending suburban legal orthodoxy "We've always had an attorney present... I think that would be very important"
Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz (Pima County) - Reform voice with alternative governance research "I do think that for any, I guess, any voting for process on Permanent Council, I would appreciate if we had you be yourself as well as Mayor Romero-President"
Mayor Regina Romero (Tucson) - Absent on Qatar Embassy-funded luxury trip while constituents lack transit equity
Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela (South Tucson) - Marginalized virtually despite representing the most vulnerable community
Samuel Coffman (Dickinson Wright firm) - Selected interim counsel with 25-year MAG relationship, "Current general counsel for the Maricopa Association of Governments"
Mr. Moghimi - Executive Director, managing federal funding complexity and timeline logistics
Thomas Benevidas - Former attorney whose departure created an institutional crisis
Chairman Verlon Jose (Tohono O'odham Nation) - Silent tribal representative in governance affecting reservation transportation
Chairman Julian Hernandez (Pascua Yaqui Tribe) - Absent tribal voice in regional transportation decisions
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