Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry To Resign

TUCSON, AZ — Longtime Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry plans to resign, after being out of the office since October following a bicycle wreck that left him seriously injured.

Jan Lesher, acting county administrator, is set to be appointed to replace him, according to the agenda for the Tuesday Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Huckelberry suffered a head injury and broke several ribs when he was knocked from his bicycle while riding in downtown Tucson Oct. 23 and has been at the hospital and then at home, focusing on his recovery since then.

Huckelberry has worked for the county since 1974 and has been administrator since 1993.

Lesher began filling in for Huckelberry immediately after the wreck, and was officially named acting county administrator in December.

Lesher is a Tucson native and has worked for Pima County since 2010. She's been the chief deputy county administrator since 2017.

Huckelberry's family said in a statement last week that, "He is in great health and speaks often about his eagerness to return to work."

In the statement, the family described Huckelberry as a, "very strong, positive, and optimistic person," adding that his continuing recovery had led him to express a desire to return to work.

But in the statement, his family also relayed that his doctors advised that he focus on continuing to work with his therapists instead.