After 3 years of zero results, it’s time to say goodbye to Tucson City Manager Mike Hein.  After aborting a national search, the City Council fast-tracked him to his present position.  Sad to say, it also looked liked local restaurateur Bob McMahon started him on that fast track.  Looking back, I bet Bob is regretting that decision.  Bob’s a businessman and probably thought he had an understanding of Hein, which he wouldn’t have with an out-of-state stranger.  Sad to say, Bob was wrong. I believe that the last 3 years of Hein has made Tucson even more business-unfriendly than ever. 

Businesses are complaining even more about how hard it is to do business in the city.   Last year, the Arizona Small Business Association named Tucson the most unfriendly municipality to do business in.  His development services department’s reputation is so bad, it make Oro Valley’s look friendly and helpful.

Rio Nuevo.  His mismanagement of this has reached legendary status the last month or so.  How does Shelko keep his job?  His arrogance combined with ignorance makes him the “Baghdad Bob” of downtown redevelopment.  Hein (and stooge Jaret Bar) also flubbed the hotel deal.  The smart thing to do was to the Hotel Arizona deal. It’s location is better for all of downtown and helps improve an existing location.  Hein was never going to do it because he does not like Bert Lopez.  This is not a reason for making decisions on behalf of the people of Tucson.  His blue ribbon panel was swamped with city staff who overran the decision making process.  So, we now have the Garfield Traub-built Sheraton.  Hein buys the bonds too soon, so he can beat the State’s ax.  Which in turn, will cost the people of Tucson about another $10 million.  The news never gets better.

Hein should just selling some land at discount to capitalists with some tax incentives and get out of the way, but he’s not built that way.  This guy went to school for Public Administration and has been a bureaucrat ever since.  The last time he acted as a capitalist was when had a newspaper route in Wisconsin.

Hein then restructures the Downtown Partnership so it becomes an unofficial department of the City of Tucson, but appears to retain its independence.  He hires Glenn Lyons from Calgary with no money in the budget to do so.  He has his puppet Hecker and Lynn say they are going to get that money from the private sector, which, of course, never happens.  He then has Don Durband fired as the director of the DTP and replaces him with Nina Trasoff’s chief of staff’s wife.  Get your scorecards out keep track of all this. 

There are other things to talk about(lack of oversight on TREO and Visitors Bureau, but I digress), but this blog can only hold so much.  I have heard others say that he is at the will of group of 7 dunderhead council people.  There is some truth to that.  The proper thing to do for Hein to do is provide a vision, a plan and the will to get things done.  If the council keeps shooting you down, so be it.  Then, it’s truly all their fault.  The way it looks now he is complicit in their poor actions.  He’s supposedly the freaking expert. Start acting like one.  Actually start earning your $200,000 plus salary! Tucson will always be second rate, if the City actions are solely based on Mayor Bob and his cast of clowns.

I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  The best thing for you to do, Mr. Hein, is leave.  Sorry, your dreams of being the Super Chuckleberry of Pima County are over.  Please get on your custom Harley Davidson and drive out of Tucson’s life now.  It’s for the best.