Same story here in Phoenix!!
There is about a 3-4 week wait once you call the FSDO.
ALL CFI initial ride have to be done by the feds over here. That went into effect about 6 months ago. Greedy DEs went and ####ed it all up!!
The feds here are also notorious for first time zaps. Out of the last 7 guys that had their check with the feds, only one passed first time round. Just last week we had a guy bust his MEI (Initial) and now has to wait until May for his retake. He had already waited 3.5 weeks for the first ride.