Development department to be nixed, says council

The Nogales City Council tentatively cut the legs off the economic and community development department by abolishing it’s funding for fiscal year 2009-10.

The cut requires final approval by the council in a public meeting, but it would get the city nearly $350,000 closer to balancing next year’s budget which is about $1 million off kilter on the expense side.

The move comes at a time when the business community is looking to local and state officials to help begin a planning process to coordinate with the expansion project at the Mariposa Port of Entry.

In what is the largest financial boost to the community ever, the federal government is investing $213 million on the port of entry.

But other improvements must compliment the project to avoid bottlenecking the anticipated increase in commercial traffic that will occur after the work on the port is done in 2012.

Logistical and costly considerations such as building a more efficient and faster way of getting traffic on to Interstate 19 from Mariposa Road need to be examined. Issues, such as bus stops and other accommodations for non-commercial and pedestrian crossers also will confront Nogales government.

The community and economic development department theoretically would be the clearinghouse or liaison between city government and the private sector in planning how to cash in on the opportunities that the port expansion will provide.

Who will lead the charge? This was not considered during the budget hearing on Tuesday, June 2.

Likely the Nogales Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce will not be in the position to help.

A day earlier, Chamber CEO Olivia Ainza-Kramer, was sent back to the drawing board on her request for $75,000 for the organization, which struggles financially.

Council members said they would consider helping out the chamber on specific projects, rather than providing a lump sum.

Terry Shannon Jr. of Shannon Brokerage and a founder of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, said, “More and more people are going to be looking to Nogales as a possible site for establishing new businesses and industry or expanding existing operations.

“They will be calling on the City of Nogales to inquire about resources and other information,” he predicted. “Who will they talk to? It is ridiculous for Nogales not to have a community and economic development department. Every city that intends to progress has one.”

On Tuesday, Nils Urman, director of the community and economic development department, came under fire from Vice Mayor Arturo Garino who said, “I will not approve one cent” of Urman’s proposed budget.

But his ire seemingly was aimed more at the man than the department.

Garino said he was angered when he learned the previous Saturday that the SouthEastern Arizona Governments Organization (SEAGO) did not include several Nogales projects, such as a pedestrian overpass and two vehicular bridges over the railroad tracks in a list for funding consideration.

He blamed Urman and the engineering department for not providing timely information to SEAGO to get the projects considered.

Urman said he only recently learned he was supposed to help represent the city at SEAGO meetings.

Garino and Councilman Nubar Hanessian also blasted Urman for not moving fast enough on a project to improve Terrace Avenue, for which the city received funding eight years ago.

Urman came on board two years ago, however and inherited the cumbersome “Main Street” project estimated at more than $1 million.

It was to have been completed by the end of 2005. But issues such as transitioning mayoral administrations, obtaining rights of way, and burying utility lines have proved time consuming.

The project delay has placed the city in a precarious and embarrassing position with SEAGO and state officials, Garino charged.

Hanessian and Garino told Urman that his department fell short of setting a “vision” for community and economic development.

Urman shot back, “This is the first time we have ever been able to sit down as a group and have these types of frank discussions.”

He said the council had never given him a clear understanding of what direction his department should take.

“It is up to department heads to come to us with a vision,” Garino said.

Hanessian asked City Manager Jaime Fontes to rate Urman’s job performance. “What grade would you give him?” he asked.

Fontes said he had no objective tool to rate his performance because no specific goals were ever set out by the council for his position. “Economic development is an extremely broad concept,” he said.

Due to the lack of direction, Urman said he took “existing projects off the shelf” and carried them out or expanded on them.

Among the projects his department has worked on this year is developing a business resource guide; provided free tax assistance to 723 low-income families in Nogales; expanded the Nogales Rides transit service, which was recognized as “Outstanding” this year by the Arizona Transit Association.

Also the department participated in securing a $148,000 Preserve America Grant to fund “Rediscover Nogales;” obtained technical assistance from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to fund a community cultural inventory; and hosted a recent planning charrette with the help of the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office.

Also, the Downtown Nogales Wayfinding Project, funded by the Arizona Office of Tourism, is nearing completion. It comprises two kiosks, one at Herald Square on Crawford Street and a second one at the Terrace Avenue Ramp. They will feature maps, business locators and art work.

Budget adjustments are scheduled for further council discussion at a meeting set for Wednesday, June 17, Fontes said. It is expected that the tentative budget will be approved later this month, including a plan on how to spend $6 million in capital improvement bond funds, he said.