If a Tucson voter who supported Proposition 400 in 1999, the initiative that created Rio Nuevo, left town and returned ten years later, he or she would wonder what happened.
Glossy promotional materials published by the City of Tucson showed a cultural historical component called Tucson Origins Heritage Park, along with a Mercado, museum district and mix housing development. A stroll through the original Rio Nuevo site on the southwest bank of the Santa Cruz River now shows a Mercado, a few high end homes, and an adobe wall around the Mission Gardens.
The only originally proposed project completed was the Presidio reconstruction in the downtown area.
After the proposed rainbow bridge, slated to house the UofA Science Center over I-10, ultimately failed - the former Rio Nuevo Project Director Greg Shelko publicly stated that he was going to rebrand Rio Nuevo as "Downtown Redevelopment."
What was not stated was that there would be a shift in funding priorities from the cultural historical projects to downtown development. Former ranking City of Tucson officials worked hand in hand with downtown developers to side step 1999's Proposition 400, which passed with 67% of the votes.
The funding mechanism for Rio Nuevo, called Tax Incremental Facilities District (TIF), was high jacked and used to build infrastructure as leverage for private investment in the east downtown area. This plan was presented in the 171-page Infrastructure Study (find it under resource links at www.tucsonaz.gov/rionuevo) by the Downtown Tucson Partnership in May 2007. This plan might have worked if not for the economic recession.
The State Legislature - due to a perceived lack of progress on Rio Nuevo and their understanding that TIF dollars would be used to build a hotel, arena, and convention center - are now mandating through Senate Bill 1036 the construction of a new convention hotel and remodel of the Convention Center. However, the most salient feature of the SB 1036 is that it strips the decision making authority from the City Council and vests it with a nine member Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District Board.
This board will be politically appointed by the governor and the leadership of the Senate and House. The governor will select five members that have experience in such areas as construction, architecture, economic development, and public finance. On the chamber side, the only stipulation is that at least two members reside in the municipality.
The questions that remain now are whether the new Rio Nuevo Board will honor the 1999 voter approved cultural historical projects after the Arizona Legislative mandates are met, or whether the board will prioritize the downtown redevelopment projects.
This process may be co-opted if the board contracts with the Downtown Tucson Partnership to run Rio Nuevo, as their priorities are clear. Recently, Glenn Lyons has been marketing the concept of developing a central corridor from downtown going east on Broadway to Park Place and tied it to Rio Nuevo use of TIF dollars.
Rio Nuevo is not synonymous with Downtown Redevelopment. It was initiated to honor our heritage as Tucson residents.
We need to insist that the new Rio Nuevo Board "honor the vote" that created it.
The board also needs to reflect a cross section of Tucson citizens and not Phoenix folks that know little about our cultural, historical origins.
The board should be free of conflicts of interest that may bias their decision making process in favor of downtown redevelopment.
Once the 1999 voter obligation is met, only projects can follow.
- Raul E. Ramirez, Friends of Tucson's Birthplace member
Editor's note: As of press time, the State Legislature had neither adopted a state budget nor implemented a new Rio Nuevo Board. See Tucson Weekly archives for background on the original proposition. www.tucsonweekly.com//yes-on-prop-400/Content?oid=1065475
