Light rail may not start on time — and Arpaio’s investigation of AG Goddard may never finish

But the tentative "memorandum of understanding" ACI sent over in March would require a 130-day probation period. A good bus driver could train for months before learning that he didn't make the grade as a rail driver — but by then, his old bus job wouldn't necessarily be waiting for him.

Surely, ACI can understand why the union won't sign off on that. And that's hardly a problem with the bus contract. It's a real problem for any driver with seniority who wants to give rail a chance.

The whole thing is incredibly frustrating. After all, we've paid more than $1 billion for tracks that won't even take us to the airport. We the citizens of Phoenix and Tempe and Mesa have been living in the middle of a construction zone for three years now.

Is it too much to ask that the trains be ready to run when the tracks are finally done?

We do not want to wait one extra minute for light rail to start running and make our hassle worthwhile. Nor do we want to see Valley Metro lose its federal funding because a low-bid consultant flouted labor laws.

This project has cost us enough already.

We're ready to get on the train. And that train better be ready for us — with a driver.

13 MONTHS, AND COUNTING

Thirteen months ago, Sheriff Joe announced that he and County Attorney Andrew Thomas were investigating Attorney General Terry Goddard — at a press conference.

If that seems a little surreal, consider this: At the very same press conference, Arpaio proudly played an audio recording of what he considers the key piece of evidence against Goddard.

Pretty absurd stuff. After all, every good investigator knows that you play your cards close to your vest. You want to trick your suspects into admitting more than they realize.

You certainly don't do that by broadcasting what you've got to the media.

Of course, Arpaio has never exactly been Sherlock Holmes. Instead, he likes to use his agency as a mere prop in his never-ending self-promotional tour — no wonder the real cops, and even his own deputies, consistently endorse his opponents.

But if the press conference was truly weird stuff, weirder still is Goddard's alleged crime.

The attorney general's criminal division had been investigating then-State Treasurer David Petersen for misconduct in office. But when Goddard's investigation failed to reveal any big-deal felonies, Petersen was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. He agreed, quitting the treasurer's office.

That should have been that.

The problem is that, right around the same time, Goddard's civil division needed Petersen's office to sign off on a $1.9 million payment for its legal work on an unrelated fraud case. In the audio recording that Arpaio played for the media in April 2007, Petersen and his son sat in their kitchen, speculating about whether hurrying the payment would help resolve Goddard's criminal investigation.

The recorded conversation certainly didn't do the Petersens any favors, but only in Arizona would we consider this worthy of a criminal investigation. Even in the worst-case scenario, Goddard allegedly let the treasurer off the hook in return for money given to the state's coffers. It's not as if Goddard personally garnered one penny from the arrangement.

And, of course, just because the Petersens discussed whether the payment could influence the investigation doesn't mean that it did. Goddard's office insists there's a "firewall" between its criminal and civil divisions; one side does not know what the other is doing.

Whether Goddard manipulated the two concurrent deals should have been a relatively easy question.

And, I suspect, it was. The Sheriff's Office just didn't find the answer it was looking for.

If it had found anything sinister, don't you think we'd have an indictment by now?

Instead, the Attorney General's Office tells me that five months have passed since anything has happened in the probe.

Indeed, last October, Goddard sent a letter to County Attorney Andrew Thomas, asking him to recuse himself from the case. Goddard's people say there was no response, and there's no sign of life since.

Neither Thomas' office nor Arpaio's responded to requests seeking comment.

Steve M. Wilson, Goddard's director of communications, said in a prepared statement:

"We have no idea what is taking so long or if any investigative work is still being done. Our office has provided more than 70,000 pages of documents at [Thomas'] request. More than five months have passed since the last of those documents were produced . . .

"We have yet to learn of any evidence of wrongdoing by anyone in this office. The investigation has now stretched more than 13 months, and we have no idea when, if ever, it will end."

It's pretty clear that Arpaio and Thomas have no intention of closing this investigation before November. (They are both up for re-election.) For one thing, they're both going to look pretty stupid for grandstanding about an investigation that fizzled.

For another, as long as Goddard is "under investigation," he's hamstrung.

That debate about whether Arpaio's "crime sweeps" are racial profiling? Goddard can't weigh in without looking like he's attacking the agency that's investigating him. That money-for-Honduras flap? The state's chief law enforcement officer can't touch it. Same with any election-law violations that surface during what's sure to be a nasty campaign.