A prominent figure in Arizona’s progressive political scene and longtime friend of elected officials in Tempe received more than $70,000 from the city, even though an audit from September couldn’t find documented proof that he actually did the work he was hired for.
Tempe made the payments as part of a no-compete contract that ran from November through June. On average, the contractor raked in about $9,000 worth of public funds every month during that period.
The city audit doesn’t say the consultant failed to work the hours he was paid for, however. The contractor himself said he “absolutely” did, and every city source who spoke with The Arizona Republic believes him. There just isn’t documented evidence for that one way or another.
And that’s because the city never asked for proof of his work. The internal review also found Tempe broke its own rules by awarding the contract without a competitive process and paid out nearly $10,000 more than the contract maximum — including thousands for out-of-state travel that wasn’t within the scope of the agreement.
The contractor is Roy Tatem Jr., the former head of the East Valley NAACP. He worked on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, was a…
