The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has appointed a former county flood control director as a temporary replacement for suspended Assessor Paul Petersen.
Bill Wiley will be paid more than $72 per hour as the acting administrator of the assessor's office. That's nearly double what Peterson made.
The board voted unanimously Monday to suspend Petersen without pay for 120 days. It doesn't have the power to permanently remove Petersen from his office, which determines the value of properties for tax purposes in the Phoenix area.
Petersen has been charged with running a human smuggling scheme that brought pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give birth and then paid them to give up their children for adoption.
He's facing federal charges in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas.
