File image of the Pima County Administration Building in downtown Tucson.
Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen has asked county officials to clarify their policies on non-disclosure agreements and environmental impacts. Her motion at the July 1 meeting comes after the Supervisors voted to approve the $3.6 billion Project Blue Data Center last month with little public information.
Allen, who voted against the project, said NDA’s keep the public and legislators in the dark.
“Depending on the scope of the NDA, they can hinder me as a supervisor from being able to make good decisions that reflect the interests of my constituents who I’m sworn to represent,” she said.
In a June 25 county memo, Allen requested County Administrator Jan Lesher and the County Attorney’s Office for a report detailing “how the use of NDAs reflects Pima County’s commitment to government transparency and provides sufficient and timely information that enables sound policy making decisions as well as robust public input.”
She also requested that Lesher draft a new policy requiring environmental impact and environmental justice reports to be publicly available for certain development projects.
Those reports, according to county memo, should include “immediate and cumulative impacts to the quality and quantity of all relevant water sources; energy demand and generation requirements; and the compatibility with Pima County Climate Action Plan, the Conservation Lands System, the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, and Multi-Species Habitat Plan.”
Board Chair Rex Scott, who voted to approve the project, agreed with Allen’s policy proposals.
“Supervisor Allen and I voted differently on Project Blue, but I think we agree that we both would have benefited from having more information to weigh,” he said.
The Supervisors are scheduled to hear the two proposals at a September meeting.
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