Brian Johnson for Pima County Treasurer
✓ Democrat for Treasurer
✓ SERVICE & EFFICIENCY – TRANSPARENCY
Empowering Our Finances, Enriching Our Community: Your Prosperity, Our Priority
A Defense Perspective
A Defense Perspective
Every story has different sides. Consider the lesson of the Japanese play and the Western movie Rashomon. So, now I’m going to address the allegations of sexual harassment that were levied against me as Pima County Treasurer. Keep in mind, county officials didn’t disclose the findings of any investigation into the allegations’ veracity, whether conducted independently or by the Pima County Attorney’s Office.
Let’s begin with things that could have been verified, not the ‘he said/she said’ stuff that’s difficult.
Consent
One major allegation was that text messages and emails were sent without consent, i.e. unwanted and unsolicited. Consider the following:
What this indicates is that on June 8th, 2026, the accuser had a change of heart about how she felt about the text messages sent in 2025. Coincidentally, June 8th was also the day that she was interviewed by county HR personnel, according to emails obtained through a public records request. Could this suggest that the accuser was coached?
Paintings
In January 2025, I hung four original oil paintings on the wall in my office at 240 N Stone Ave. They remained there until June 15th 2026. During that time, many people were in the office, including Jan Lesher, County Administrator, other county officials, Treasurer’s Office personnel, and folks from the Pima County Attorney’s Office. Here is one of those paintings that was supposedly ‘pornographic’ and ‘sexually explicit’.
In nearly a year and a half, nobody objected to it. I painted it to honor my late wife and her passion for nature, depicting her as part of nature’s fabric. Is it offensive? You decide.
The Novels – Grooming?
In 2024, I self-published two novels I wrote from 2022 to 2024 on Amazon: The Agave Bloomed and Imperia. It’s perplexing that The Agave Bloomed became part of this smear campaign against me. I did, however, give two of the 2025 interns at the Treasurer’s Office signed copies of Imperia as a personalized going-away gift. The third, a younger male intern, I gave a book of puzzles and math problems I purchased on Amazon, not a comic book.
I wrote Imperia as an entertaining political thriller with a romance element. Nothing in the story could be considered Erotica. Deputy County Administrator Kasmar, former Chief of Police for the City of Tucson, determined that. Why, then, was he prompted to find something criminal or salacious about it? Emailing back to the County Administrator that it could be considered ‘grooming’. The two interns who received the book could easily have been contacted and interviewed about my relationship with them after June of 2025. The suggestion of grooming was ignorant and demeaning.
The Spa
In January of 2026, the accuser had a personal rough time when her son was hospitalized. As a friend, I recognized her need to recover and take time to heal and rejuvenate. I bought her a gift certificate to the Spa at Hacienda del Sol for one of their highly recommended rejuvenating spa treatments. Here is the bank transaction for that gift certificate:
This transaction can be verified with Hacienda del Sol. The accusation that I was soliciting a couples’ sexually oriented massage at Casino del Sol is untrue and another example of false statements that painted a false picture with the intent to smear my reputation.
250 Champions of Public Service
I felt honored, considering my 20 years of service to Pima County in various capacities.
I was selected from hundreds of entries submitted by the peers of public servants across the United States.
The person who submitted the entry, unbeknownst to me at the time of submission, was the person accusing me of sexual harassment. Again, what precipitated this change of heart toward me?
I also want to note that during my tenure as Treasurer, the office under my management had an exemplary employee turnover rate, losing only one professional staff member, whom I inherited from my predecessors, in April of 2026. Before I took office, the property tax division had an 80% turnover rate over the previous ten years.
I announced my resignation to the staff on Friday, June 12th, and on Monday, June 15th, , my last official day, I received this card from the staff:
What Do We Take From This?
I’m not denying my activities in Consensual Non-Monogamy. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by it. Actually, I believe it’s healthy in relationships. I also don’t deny that some of my original paintings and writings, published under a pseudonym, fit the description of Erotica.
How does that relate to my service to the people of Pima County? As I stated earlier, the office provided exemplary service to Pima County’s citizens during my tenure. In my campaign for Treasurer, I promised to pursue transparency and accountability firmly.
When I discovered questionable practices and issues, I worked to correct them. For example, when I learned that several fire districts were commingling restricted and unrestricted funds, my staff, with assistance from the county attorney, developed a policy for fulfilling warrants that complied with Arizona law. The Arizona Auditor General’s Office representatives lauded that policy during their Internal Control Review of the office and shared it as an example with the other 14 Arizona County Treasurers. When a $1.6 million mistake was discovered, I made the issue and the course of correction public.
However, when it became apparent that the County Assessor was issuing questionable property tax refunds, and I paused processing those refunds until the issue could be investigated, the County Administrator met me with fierce resistance. When I issued a memorandum to the Board of Supervisors on May 8th addressing the problem, I became a target for removal from office.
Take what you will from this perspective, but I hope county officials, the media, and the people of the county will start asking questions and demanding answers.
THANK YOU!!!
Brian Johnson for Treasurer
Vision
My goal is to bring efficiency and transparency to the Treasurer’s Office. I will accomplish that by working with the County Administration and the Assessor’s Office to institute an Integrated Data Infrastructure so that Property Tax and 0ther pertinent information is efficiently maintained and accessible to Pima County taxpayers.
Investing responsibly for returns that are not only financially beneficial but are also investments in People & Planet. That means following ESG criteria in managing discretionary investments of public monies.
What Does the Treasurer Do?
The Treasurer has two major functions: The first is to Bill & Collect Property Taxes and other assessments for the 98 taxing jurisdictions and districts in the County.
Secondly, the Treasurer acts as the Banker for the multiple taxing districts and jurisdictions in the County. The Treasurer maintains the accounts and oversees short term investments.
The Treasurer’s duties are generally set forth in the Arizona Revised Statutes and overseen by the Arizona Department of Revenue.
My Experience
I have worked for Pima County for 14 years in Finance & Risk Management (5 years) and the Assessor’s Office (9 years.) Included in my responsibilities was representing the interests of the County in claims against it in the Arizona Tax Court. I have a thorough working knowledge of Arizona Property Tax Statutes.
Investments
Public Funds do not sit idle until they are needed; these monies are invested. State statutes dictate how the public funds can be invested for Safety and Liquidity. The Treasurer does have some discretion as to where, in what investment issues, the money is placed. A return of value is not only calculated in dollars and cents – future prosperity, the health of the community, and the environment are important considerations.
Pima County’s Prosperity Initiative provides a basis for decision making where our Public Funds are invested.
How would I Manage the Treasurer’s Office?
I understand that the most important aspect of Public Service is SERVICE. That will be the culture of the Treasurer’s Office under my direction. For 10 years during my service as an employee of Pima County, I was actively involved in SEIU (Service Employees Union International.) I have contributed to making Pima County a better workplace which translates into better service its citizens.