The $57 million road contract that went to someone else

In late May, a release went out on an online newswire called Pinion Newswire under the headline "Investigation Exposes Entangled Public-Private Networks of Yuma County Leadership."

It credits the findings to Dr. Pedro Osuna, whom it describes as a research journalist, and says he spent 15 months on the work. The targets are Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls and San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel. The allegations cover a lot of ground: rezoning, development agreements, special districts, and who ends up with public work.

Most of that is the kind of thing that takes a stack of records to prove or disprove. One claim is different. It has a number on it, and the number can be checked.

The release says Mayor Nicholls' private firm was awarded a "$57,044,316 public contract" to reconstruct Cesar Chavez Boulevard in San Luis.

That's a very specific number. It also belongs to somebody else.

Where the $57 million went

The Cesar Chavez Boulevard project is the road job San Luis spent more than a decade trying to get built. It turns about five miles of the boulevard, from Escondido Street to Avenue E, into a four-lane divided road, with new drainage, signals, lighting and a roundabout. ADOT is managing construction.

ADOT opened bids on Nov. 7, 2025. Fann Contracting of Prescott bid $63,525,777. DPE Construction of Yuma bid $57,044,316. The bid sheet also lists a line labeled "DEPARTMENT" at $43,301,733, which appears to be the state's own estimate, though the page doesn't say.

On Dec. 19, 2025, the Arizona State Transportation Board awarded the contract. Its award list shows the recipient as DPE Construction, Inc., and the amount as $57,044,316.00.

Same figure, down to the dollar. Different company.

Four days later, the City of San Luis announced the project had been awarded to DPE. Riedel later told the Yuma Sun she was happy a local company that employs San Luis residents would be doing the work.

The Pinion release went out in May, about five months after that award was public.

To be precise about what the release says: the sentence with the $57 million figure doesn't name a company. It says "Mayor Nicholls' private firm." But the release identifies Nicholls as the founder of Core Engineering Group earlier on, so that's the obvious reading.

Core and the boulevard

None of this means Core has nothing to do with Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

In November 2024, the San Luis City Council awarded a $942,054.30 contract for water line improvements along the boulevard to Gutierrez Canales Engineering. The contract lists Tomas Sanchez, PE, of Core Engineering Group as the project's engineer and designer.

That's a documented connection, and engineering work for public agencies is what Core does. It's also not evidence of wrongdoing, and it's a long way from being handed a $57 million construction contract.

I've asked Core Engineering and ADOT whether Core has any role in the construction phase of the DPE contract, such as inspection. I'll add their answers here when I get them.

What this does and doesn't settle

One wrong claim doesn't make everything else in the release wrong, and I'm not suggesting it does. The other allegations deserve to be checked on their own merits.

One of them is related. The release says Core has secured more than $78 million in public-sector contracts in the region over two years. I haven't verified that figure. Checking it means pulling contract records from several local governments, and I've asked Osuna for the list behind it. An obvious question is whether that total counts the $57 million that went to DPE.

It's also worth knowing what kind of document this is. The Pinion page carries a disclaimer saying it hosts third-party content, including sponsored or paid material, and that Pinion hasn't verified the claims. The page doesn't say who submitted this particular release or whether anyone paid for it.

I've asked Pinion who submitted the release, whether it was paid for, and what changed when the page was edited on June 18.

A dollar figure like $57 million is the kind of detail people remember and repeat. This one could be checked against a state website months before the release went out.

What Osuna says

I'd like to. When this story was first published, I couldn't find an email address for him anywhere, and the release lists no contact information for him at all. On Facebook, his messages are turned off and comments on his posts are restricted.

So I couldn't put these questions to him directly. I've asked Pinion Newswire to forward them: what document supports the $57 million claim, whether he plans to correct the release, and who paid for it. If he responds, I'll add his answer here.

That's worth knowing on its own. The release names public officials and accuses them of using their offices for private gain. The people it names, and any reader who spots an error, have no direct way to reach the person it credits.

Update, Nov. 7, 2026:

After this story was published, a reader sent me an email address for Osuna, and I sent him the questions directly on the evening of Nov. 6. He replied that night.

He didn't provide a record supporting the $57 million claim, or a list of the contracts behind the $78 million figure. He proposed meeting in person on a Facebook Live, and asked whether I'd invite Mayor Nicholls. I've asked him to provide the records in writing, and I'll add anything he sends.

Here is his reply in full:

Hello Dan,

Thank you for your email.

In your Facebook post you said you couldn't reach me directly. But you did reach me by email, so I'm a little confused about that part.

Your post says I either lied or did bad journalism. Because of that, I think we should meet in person. We can sit down, look at the public records together, and talk about your questions face to face. We can do a facebook live so the public can see the conversation and documents.

We don't have to talk only about this one topic. We can talk about other things as well.

Would you like to invite the public official whose company is mentioned in the story?

Let me know when you're free so we can pick a time and place.

Best regards, Dr. Pedro Osuna, DBA

Pedro,

I obtained your email address through a tip, well after the article was published and my public comments were made.

I asked for documentation, not a Facebook Live debate.

The state awarded the $57 million contract to DPE Construction. Your release says otherwise.

Provide the records supporting that claim and your $78 million figure.

I'll update the article to acknowledge that you responded by email and offered a public discussion but provided no supporting documentation.

I'm interested in evidence, not a public performance.

Dan

If he has a record showing Core received that contract, I'll publish it.

In a Facebook video posted Nov. 5, Osuna challenged Nicholls, Supervisor Jonathan Lines and “every official mentioned” in his work to a “live, unscripted video interview.” The video doesn’t mention the Cesar Chavez contract.

The records

• Yuma Informed preserved copy: Arizona State Transportation Board project awards, Dec. 19, 2025 (Internet Archive capture) (page 4). DPE Construction was awarded $57,044,316.00. The original Board URL returned 404 on Nov. 6, 2026; this file is preserved from the Internet Archive's Jan. 16, 2026 capture.
• ADOT bid results, project SZ01801C. Bids opened Nov. 7, 2025.
• City of San Luis project update, Oct. 30, 2026. The city identifies DPE as working on the ADOT project; this later update is not the award record.
• Yuma Sun: $63M expansion of César Chávez Boulevard set to begin. Reporting on the DPE award and Riedel's comments.
• San Luis contract, Cesar Chavez Blvd. Water Improvements, November 2024. Lists Core Engineering Group as project engineer and designer.
• The Pinion Newswire release. The release containing the $57 million and $78 million claims.