Pima County Removes Entire Industrial Development Authority Board, Names New Treasurer
TUCSON — The Pima County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday removed all five members of the county's Industrial Development Authority without cause and seated three replacements, declining to reinstate two sitting directors the county administrator had recommended keeping. The board also named Jorge Soto county treasurer — the fourth person in the job in just over two years — and ordered a three-year plan for a preschool scholarship wait list now 630 children long.
The IDA board is out
The board voted 5-0 to remove all five members of the Pima County Industrial Development Authority, which issues bonds for nonprofits funding low-interest mortgages and small business loans. A second 5-0 vote approved a new structure and reporting requirements, excluding the attachment naming proposed appointees.
Chair Jennifer Allen, who made both motions, said the removal "is not an indictment of the board members" but a chance for structural change. "Reporting requirements are going to be critical to ensure transparency and really good stewardship moving forward," she said.
In a revised memo filed the day before, County Administrator Jan Lesher recommended keeping sitting IDA directors Patrick DeConcini and John Payne and adding two retired county officials: Ellen Moulton, who led the Finance and Risk Management Department before retiring in 2025, and Patrick Cavanaugh, deputy director of economic development until his 2025 retirement.
On a 4-1 vote the board seated Moulton to a term running to 2032, Cavanaugh to 2030 and a representative of the IDA's four affiliated nonprofits to 2028. It did not reinstate DeConcini or Payne; a second 4-1 vote gave the IDA 60 days to name replacements.
Supervisors declined to remove the board in May, ordering a governance and compliance review instead, with roughly $45 million in mortgage assistance then awaiting commitment. IDA general counsel Max W. Larnerd warned that removing the whole board at once would cause "significant disruption."
A fourth treasurer in two years
The board voted 4-0 to appoint Soto, an independent consultant who spent 17 years as a manager at Citi, from nine applicants. Supervisor Steve Christy abstained. Soto fills the term through December 2028. Predecessor Brian Johnson resigned in June amid a county investigation into sexual harassment allegations.
Supervisor Rex Scott, who nominated him, cited Soto's "calm, gentle, and positive demeanor," quoting Soto's letter of interest: "Managing large financial portfolios taught me that leadership is about more than numbers. It is about earning trust."
Allen cited Soto's 14 years in leadership roles and said the office needs someone who can restore confidence, adding that employees should not fear reporting harassment or abuses of power. Supervisor Andrés Cano had nominated another applicant; that motion failed for lack of a second.
630 children waiting, and no new money
Supervisors spent half an hour on the wait list for the Pima Early Education Program Scholarships, or PEEPs, which draws $10.75 million a year from the library district. No new funding was approved; Lesher was directed to return with a three-year plan including public-private options.
Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz floated $1,587,600 in one-time contingency funding to cover 126 scholarships the county stands to lose as First Things First and Quality First funding decline, but made no formal motion. Scott and Allen balked at tapping contingency funds 28 days into the fiscal year. Cano proposed halving the wait list within two years, backed by a county match of up to $1 million, but said the money must be ongoing. Clearing the list entirely, he said, would cost $7 million to $9 million.
Four vendors, no bids, 15 months
Supervisor Steve Christy pressed the administration on a $220,000 contract with Arizona Rehab Campus, L.L.C., to run the county's Inmate Navigation Enrollment Support and Treatment program — the fourth vendor awarded that work by direct select, without competitive bidding, since April 20, 2025. Christy traced it through an initial contractor that was terminated or withdrew, then Old Pueblo Community Services, then Recovery in Motion, also terminated.
"Why no bid, and why such turnover?" he asked. Lesher said she lacked the full history and offered a memorandum. The contract passed 4-1.
A second border wall through a sacred spring
Allen said she attended a "hands around the spring" event Sunday at Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 30 to 40 feet from the border wall. She said contractors are building a second wall that, based on plans she has reviewed, "goes right through the middle of the spring." The spring is a Tohono O'odham sacred site.
The Tucson Daily Brief has not independently reviewed the plans Allen described.
Also discussed: The board voted 4-1 to expand bereavement leave for county employees to 40 hours of paid leave, which Cano credited to employees and AFSCME.
Updated July 29, 2026 to identify the abstaining supervisor in the treasurer vote and to add Soto's professional background and the length of the term he fills.