PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA – The Pima County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to name Jan Lesher Acting County Administrator. Lesher has been leading County Administration as the Chief Deputy County Administrator since Oct. 23 when County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry was badly injured in a bicycling accident.

Huckelberry remains in a medical facility recovering from his injuries and there is no estimate yet on when he may return to work.

Though Lesher has been acting as County Administrator since Huckelberry’s accident, the Board said it took the formal action naming her Acting County Administrator to ensure the continuity of county operations and to remove any ambiguity about her authority to lead the county, including signing any documents or acting in the county’s name under authority designated by the Board to the County Administrator.

Lesher said she looks forward to Huckelberry’s return, adding that he has ample accrued leave to cover his convalescence. If the term of his recovery approaches the limit of his accrued leave, County Human Resources will review with him and his family appropriate changes to his employment status in accordance with the terms of his employment contract, she said.

“The Board and everyone else in Pima County government want Chuck to know they miss him terribly, that we are heartened by reports of his continued progress, and that we send him our best wishes for a complete recovery and return to work as County Administrator,” Lesher said.

Lesher, a Tucson native, has worked for Pima County since 2010 and as Chief Deputy County Administrator since 2017. She previously worked as Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security, as Chief of Staff of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, and director of the Arizona Commerce Department. She also has served on numerous community and charitable boards and committees and was named Public Policy Leader of the Year in 2008 by the Arizona Capitol Times and Metropolitan Tucson Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year in 2005.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – NAI Horizon represented the sellers in the $1.525 million disposition of 3.4 acres. The buyer is currently rezoning the parcels from S-1 to CP-GCP in the highly sought-after Phoenix Sky Harbor submarket.

NAI Horizon Senior Vice President Rick Foss represented the sellers, Jeanne and Larry Blackketter of Phoenix in the land sale at 5815 South 36th St., in Phoenix.

The land is surrounded by the South Mountain Business Park, the Eaton 40th Street Business Park, and AIP South 40 Distribution Development. The buyer will construct an industrial property for a tenant who has committed to lease the property, Foss said.

“This is the last industrial piece between two and five acres that was available for purchase in the submarket,” Foss said. “It went under contract as the highest priced for land without I-10 frontage that had been recorded.”

Foss specializes in building and land sales in the Sky Harbor/Tempe submarket

The developer, CTC Properties, LLC, was represented by Mike Parker with CBRE.

PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA — The Pima County Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 7 meeting approved a one-year master agreement valued at up to $425,000 with four law firms to provide legal services to qualifying tenants who are facing eviction in Pima County.

The aim of the contract is to help tenants who cannot afford legal counsel during the eviction process. The contract will be overseen by the Office of Emergency Eviction Legal Services, or EELS, within Pima County’s Department of Community & Workforce Development.

The master agreement, which was approved on a 4-1 vote, was needed because EELS’ current legal contracts expire Dec. 31. The new agreement would be in effect for all of 2022.

In a memo to the board dated Dec. 3, Andrew Flagg, Community & Workforce Development’s deputy director who oversees the EELS office, said the program is expected to refer more than 1,500 tenants to lawyers next year for representation or assistance in eviction cases.

Flagg added that four law firms were contracted in an effort to provide sufficient capacity to handle the anticipated number of eviction cases.

“Through contracts with nonprofits and private lawyers, the Office of Emergency Eviction Legal Services provides access to justice to tenants facing eviction. In the first three months of operation, the office served nearly 400 households,” Flagg said. “The master agreement approved today will allow Pima County to continue to provide these services to hundreds more households in 2022.”

The firms contracted in the agreement are Southern Arizona Legal Aid, the Ferguson Hill law firm and the law firm of Paul Gattone, all of Tucson, as well as Barton Mendez Soto of Tempe.

Pima County, in partnership with the City of Tucson and the nonprofit Community Investment Corporation, has, as of Dec. 7, handled nearly 7,600 local cases and distributed nearly $38 million in rental assistance and more than $3.6 million in utility assistance since March. About 5,000 cases remain in the pipeline for aid.

Landlords can apply for rental and utility assistance on behalf of their tenants, but households must also take part in the process in order to verify that they meet the income requirements for eligibility.

Tenants or landlords who want to apply or learn more about rental and utility assistance can go to TucsonPimaEP.com.

Any tenants facing eviction who want to request legal aid are encouraged to contact the Office of Emergency Eviction Legal Services by going to www.pima.gov/EvictionLegalServices or by calling (520) 724-3357.