A little more than two years after Frank Castro's engineering firm abruptly shut down, costing Tucson and Pima County almost $1.7 million to finish his unfinished jobs, the county put him on the payroll.
Castro was hired for $80,000 a year in January as a public-works project manager.
Castro Engineering closed with little notice to the city, county or subcontractors in 2008. He said he couldn't get enough non-government jobs to keep the doors open any longer.
He will be responsible for managing Corazón de los Tres RÃos, a proposed massive new park on the northwest side, urban loop planning and a proposed land-use agreement between the county, Tucson and Raytheon to provide a buffer zone around the defense contractor's property near Tucson International Airport.
Castro competed against 15 other applicants for the job, and scored highest of the four interviewed, said John Bernal, deputy county administrator for public works.
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The job was advertised from Dec. 23 to Dec. 30. Five business days is about average for departments to post a job, said Gwyn Hatcher, the county's human resources director.
With a lot of qualified engineers looking for work, the county didn't need to advertise it longer than that, Bernal said.
When Castro Engineering closed in 2008, the firm was finished with work on three county contracts, but had three others under way, including designing the Pantano linear park, the Southeast Shooting Range and Valencia Road widening.
The county hired other firms to finish the work, but ended up paying $973,000 more than Castro's contracts, Bernal said. Castro Engineering's closure cost Tucson about $700,000 in work designing Houghton Road widening, said Andy McGovern, a city Transportation Department administrator.
In his new county job, Castro replaced someone who retired from the position in July, Bernal said.
"It's not that unusual" that the county leaves a job vacant for a while to determine if it needs to be filled, "then once we make up our mind we get in a hurry because it's been vacant for a while," Bernal said.
Bernal said the county's previous experience with Castro wasn't an issue. He said he didn't think that situation was abnormal, given the recent economy.
"In a way, I don't know how different it is from a guy that gets laid off for lack of business than a guy that closed his business because he didn't have enough business to sustain himself," Bernal said. "It doesn't take away from the fact the guy's got a long history of work experience as a project manager, an experienced engineer and a former Transportation Department director for Pima County."
A four-person panel conducted the interviews, scored the applicants, and recommended Castro to Bernal and County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
Bernal said Castro's experience was a sign of the times.
"I realize that the fact that we didn't have a great experience with Castro Engineering when he had to fold up was an unfortunate circumstance, but it's a reality that's being faced all too often in these economic conditions," Bernal said.
In the late 1980s, Castro was Pima County's transportation director. He left in the early 1990s and worked in the private sector. Castro said this is his first job since he closed Castro Engineering.
He said he billed the county monthly on the contracts he had when he closed the company, "so when we quit providing work, we quit getting paid."
"The county got the product that we were paid for," he said. "There are provisions in the contract for not completing the work, which is basically if you don't complete the work you just don't get paid."
Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at akelly@azstarnet.com or 807-7790.
