Before we move on to Rio Nuevo III, and whatever story that becomes, we have one more mystery to unravel from the last chapter in our downtown development saga.
Just what were the city and Rio Nuevo mediating over all this time?
For months, the two sides engaged in private talks on the public's behalf until it all shattered beneath the weight of pretense.
Documents from the failed mediation - provided before the recent Rio Nuevo shake-up - show the talks were destined to go nowhere fast between the city and the state-run downtown development entity.
Rio Nuevo demanded what the city couldn't provide, and when it became clear the city wasn't going to bend on those deal points, then-Board Chairwoman Jodi Bain turned to friends at the Arizona Legislature for results.
The most significant demand from Rio Nuevo? That the city create and hand over a bank of development credits valued between $140 million and $180 million.
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Rio Nuevo would use those credits to pay for development, impact and permit fees within the district - up to $28 million a year. The city would have no say in who got the credits, which would represent money coming out of taxpayer pockets and going into developer pockets.
"Details and procedures of the offering of the credits will be established and managed by the District, but the District may recognize some level of input from the city into the award of such credits," says a document outlining Rio's demands.
"That's basically like taking, over time, $180 million out of the city coffers," Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said.
It was a deal-breaker, so Bain shopped the idea to the state Legislature where state Sen. Al Melvin took up the cause. He tried - unsuccessfully - to get legislation to prohibit any city or county from levying impact and development fees inside a special taxing district like Rio Nuevo.
Given that downtown landowner Allan Norville somehow found his way into one of the private mediation sessions, the demands about development freebies is poignant.
That's how talks die, and the public gets disabused.
"They never got off their wild stuff, so we never got anywhere," Rothschild said.
More wild stuff Rio Nuevo was demanding from the city:
• Transferring the arena parcel to Rio Nuevo.
• Having the city indemnify Rio Nuevo board members for any lawsuits or claims from would-be convention hotel developer Garfield Traub and other businesses. Garfield Traub filed a lawsuit in late 2011 against Bain and former Rio Nuevo board member Jonathan Paton for comments they made about the firm's billings. The hotel was never built.
• Returning the Thrifty block, which the city sold to developer Don Bourn in 2004 for $100, to Rio Nuevo. Bourn has never developed anything on the downtown block.
• Paying the district $8.1 million for the Cushing Street Bridge, with $4 million going to the Tucson Convention Center and the balance used as a development credit.
• Paying Rio Nuevo $16.1 million for the Depot Parking Garage downtown.
The list is quite brilliant, really. On one hand, it's designed to guarantee the talks fail, while reeking of false accountability.
The city couldn't meet the demands, and even if it could, it wouldn't make the city's sins of the past whole.
Why? Because whether it's under the city's banner or Rio Nuevo's, it's still the same taxpayers.
It's sort of like taking money from your left pocket and putting it in your right - only, in between, you hand a little over to lawyers.
So that's what they were paying lip service to, and now with five new board members joining Rio Nuevo, there will be a new discussion.
"I think all of us believe this should not be litigated," said Fletcher McCusker, a downtown bigwig and one of Rio Nuevo's new board members. "At the same time, we are not going to let the city off the hook."
McCusker said the board will be focusing on any unauthorized expenses Rio Nuevo made, identifying how much money it has and figuring out a project it can do.
The first version of Rio Nuevo spent roughly $230 million with little value for the public. It will scar this community for generations.
The second version of Rio Nuevo did nothing. When it came to political accountability or downtown development, the state-run board couldn't break ground. It tired this community out.
And the third version of Rio Nuevo? It has one year to turn things around. The clock is ticking.
Contact Brodesky at 573-4242 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com
