Rio Nuevo Treasurer Alan Willenbrock, the chief critic of a new convention center hotel, quit the new Rio Nuevo Board Tuesday after the board's attorney issued a legal opinion he has a conflict of interest over the hotel and would be restricted from talks about it.
Willenbrock won't talk about why he quit the board, saying only that it was a honor to serve on the board and for Gov. Jan Brewer, who appointed him.
Keri Silvyn, Rio Nuevo's lawyer who issued the conflict-of-interest opinion, said the opinion is attorney-client privileged and therefore does not have to be turned over under public- records law. Only the board, as the client, could waive the privilege and release her opinion, she said.
Silvyn said she wrote the legal analysis after her opinion was requested on the issue by Rio Nuevo Board Chairwoman Jodi Bain and Vice Chairman Mark Irvin. Both Bain and Irvin confirmed they asked Silvyn for how to handle potential conflicts of interest on the board.
People are also reading…
Although Willenbrock and the board refused to make the opinion public, others familiar with the situation said there may be questions about Willenbrock working for a financial firm - Morgan Stanley Smith Barney - that was involved with the sale of Rio Nuevo bonds in 2008 and could be a bidder for the any bonds that are issued by the board.
Silvyn referred questions of why Willenbrock resigned to him. Willenbrock declined to say.
The Rio Nuevo Board talked about Willenbrock's departure at a meeting on Wednesday, and then talked about the issue in closed session. They took no action and did not discuss the issue after the closed session.
Bain said during the meeting she was upset Willenbrock resigned, calling the situation unfortunate and adding Willenbrock was a "very big loss."
Contact reporter Rob O'Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com
