The new Rio Nuevo Board voted to hire former Tucson Downtown Alliance Executive Donovan Durband as its first executive director Wednesday, on a 5-4 split vote.
Two members of the board will negotiate with Durband over the next month to see if they can come to an agreement on compensation, said board Chairwoman Jodi Bain.
Durband would be a contract employee. He did not return calls for comment.
Board members Carlotta Flores, Mark Irvin, Tim Bathen, Jannie Cox and Rick Grinnell voted to hire Durband, while Bain, Alberto Moore, Jonathan Paton and Jeff Hill voted no.
Bain said she believes Durband is skilled but said she is troubled by his connection with the city of Tucson. Durband is currently an aide for City Councilman Steve Kozachik.
"Is there a perception issue?" Bain said. "It's one of the most difficult things we have to work through."
People are also reading…
Bain said that since Rio Nuevo is in litigation against the city and is under investigation by the FBI and the attorney general for actions taken when the city controlled Rio Nuevo, any city connection is troubling.
Paton said he voted no because he wanted everyone to get on the same page and get all their questions answered before the vote. He said he likes Durband and thinks he is skilled.
"One of the things he brings to the table is the knowledge and history of the program and what got us to this point in the first place and how to get out of it," Paton said.
The other finalists were Larry Lewis, a former president of Florida Builder Appliances and current branch manager for Guardsmark LLC, and Lou Ginsberg, the city's former real estate director who retired in the face of allegations that he worked other jobs while on the clock with the city. The city referred a criminal complaint against Ginsberg to the attorney general.
Durband was the executive director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance, where he worked for about 10 years, until he quit in 2008 after it merged with other downtown groups.
The Tucson Downtown Alliance oversaw the business improvement district downtown, providing security and maintenance there. The alliance was merged with other groups in 2007 to form the Downtown Tucson Partnership, and the new group brought its own chief executive, who made Durband his deputy.
Contact reporter Rob O'Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com
