ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

Farhad Moghimi, the executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority and the Pima Association of Governments, was terminated on a 5-to-4 vote during a joint meeting following a months-long dispute with leaders from Tucson and Pima County over project selection and scheduling, among other issues.

Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz made the motion to terminate Moghimi’s contract. The effort was supported by Mayor Regina Romero, Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose, Pascua Yaqui Tribe Chairman Julian Hernandez and South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela. Marana Mayor Jon Post, Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy, Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield and Arizona State Transportation Board Member Ted Maxwell voted against the firing.

Heinz said the leadership structure of PAG-RTA has been a barrier to progress on RTA Next, a half-cent sales tax plan that would would go to voters and cover regional transportation planning for the next 20 years.

“We have so far in almost 20 years completed 18 of 35 named projects. That is not what success should look like. Another important thing that I looked at that helped me arrive at the decision that leadership change was necessary is turnover,� Heinz said about projects included in the current 20-year regional plan that expires next year. “There are 55 full-time employees at the organization, and 42 of them have left since 2018. That is over 80% turnover, and that tells me everything I need to know about the leadership style and effectiveness of our former executive director, and that’s why I moved to terminate the contract.�

Moghimi made about $200,000 per year as executive director for both the RTA and PAG, a post he’s held since 2013, the Star has reported.

The nine-member RTA Board is a collection of top elected officials from the region’s cities, towns and tribal communities that is tasked with overseeing the implementation of about $2 billion of projects included in the 20-year half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2006. It also manages tax revenues, project schedules and budgets, among other responsibilities.

The , comprised of the same nine representatives, work on region-wide transportation, air and water quality planning, as well as “economic vitality.�

The tension between Moghimi and some local officials had been building for years. It came to a head in late April when Heinz, a critic of Moghimi, joined the boards and immediately requested a performance review.

It wasn’t the first time Heinz targeted Moghimi, who has faced criticism from several Tucson officials who said he favored smaller, suburban jurisdictions over the city. Nearly three years ago, for Moghimi to be fired, sharing concerns over a lack of a performance review for the executive director and poor management of transportation plans for the area.

But the review of Moghimi’s performance that Heinz wanted earlier this year didn’t happen, because that meeting’s agenda lacked language required by law. Moghimi, whose role included putting requested items onto the meeting agenda, told the board he was ultimately responsible for the mistake that delayed his own performance review.

Shortly after that same meeting, the board’s long-time legal counsel resigned, which appeared to delay the performance review as the boards seemingly needed to hire new legal representation before the review could occur. Legal representation for the board was apparently not an issue with a majority of the board.

During the joint meeting Thursday, Heinz made a motion to terminate Moghimi’s contract effective immediately despite the lack of legal counsel.

Mayors Murphy and Winfield cited the lack of a lawyer for the board, saying voting Moghimi out could be a legal liability. And Maxwell, from the state’s transportation board, made a substitute motion, offering Moghimi two weeks of paid administrative leave and the opportunity to consider tendering his resignation. That failed.

“You all have witnessed, as well as the public, the concerns that I have had with this particular executive director,� Romero said. “There’s timelines that we have to work on, and unfortunately I have lost all confidence that Mr. Moghimi will help us move along the work that the public deserves.�

A working group of board members will be appointed to search for a new executive director, along with new legal counsel.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors will have to vote on an RTA Next plan by the end of August if it is to go to voters in March 2026, Heinz said.

For now, however, Heinz said his priority is finishing RTA projects voters have already approved, and gaining the public’s trust.

“I think we need to back up a little bit and make sure that our focus is on continued regional transportation funding and programming, finishing the RTA one projects that we promised the people that we would do,� he said. “We need to do that, and we need to focus on actually being accountable to the voters and finishing the other 17 projects, frankly, before we ask them for another 20 year extension. That’s just my opinion, but I think that makes the most sense.�