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Welcome to 2021.
Happy new year and welcome to the first Ward 4 newsletter of 2021! I hope your holidays were safe, restful, and provided the recharge you needed to begin the new year. My family and I enjoyed our small celebration and spent a lot of our time chasing around these two:
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I won't ignore the fact that the new year has gotten off to a rough start. Last week, we witnessed a hugely disheartening assault on our nation's Capitol. Further, COVID-19 cases are extremely high in Pima County and across the state - last week, it was announced Arizona has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the United States.
Nonetheless, I have a lot of hope for what’s to come. Next week, a new president will be sworn in. Political allegiances aside, many of us are looking forward to beginning this new chapter. Members of our community have begun receiving vaccines, and I'm excited to receive mine when it’s my turn. I do believe it's always darkest before the dawn, and I'm keeping positive that dawn will be here soon.
That being said, it's up to us to make sure things don't get worse. I cannot stress enough the importance of continuing to wear your mask and staying home as much as possible. As a reminder, COVID-19 information and resources can be found here.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at ward4@tucsonaz.gov. We are happy to help you in any way we can.
Please see below for news and updates. Previous newsletters can be found here.
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Important Dates:
- Tuesday, January 12 at 5:30 PM: Virtual public meeting to discuss changes to medical & adult use marijuana zoning regulations. More information, including how to register, can be found here.
- Tuesday, January 12 at 5:30 PM: Virtual town hall for residents to learn more about the implementation of the glass reuse program, hosted by the City of Tucson Environmental Services. Register here. (You can also attend on Friday, January 15 at 10 AM, or Thursday, January 21 at 6:30 PM).
- Wednesday, January 20: Mayor and Council Meeting. Click here and go to "Mayor & Council Meeting Live" to watch!
- Friday, January 22 at at 1:00 PM: Ward 4 Central Business District Community Meeting. Tucson's Mayor and Council and the Office of Economic Initiatives are hosting several virtual meetings this month to engage the community in co-creating a shared vision for the future of the Central Business District. Register here.
- Tuesday, February 9: Mayor and Council Meeting. Click here and go to "Mayor & Council Meeting Live" to watch!
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January 5 Council Meeting Recap
During last Tuesday’s council meeting, we were lucky to hear from Dr. Theresa Cullen, Director of the Pima County Health Department. Dr. Cullen discussed current COVID-19 case data, vaccine distribution, and more critical pandemic information. Importantly, she mentioned that volunteers are needed to help with vaccine distribution. Please note, you do NOT have to be a medical professional to volunteer – people are needed to assist in directing traffic and other tasks. If you would like to volunteer, please email the Emergency Operations Center Volunteer inbox at EOCvolunteer@pima.gov.
Also during the meeting, I made a motion to direct City staff to draft a development agreement with the company TuSimple, and place the agreement on a future agenda for Council consideration. For more information about TuSimple and the primary jobs incentive, check out my newsletter from last month.
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Ward 4 Constituent Survey Closes January 31
As part of our commitment to best serve our constituents, my team and I have put together this 2021 Constituent Survey. If you live in Ward 4, I hope you'll take a few minutes to complete the survey, which will close on January 31. Participation is 100% voluntary and most questions are optional. If you have any questions, please reach out to ward4@tucsonaz.gov.
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January 8 Anniversary
Last Friday marked the 10th anniversary of the Tucson shooting tragedy. This year's ceremony was broadcast live from the new memorial that is soon to open downtown.
While I'm sad we couldn't gather in person, I'm glad such an important ceremony was still accessible to our community. I encourage you to read this beautiful piece written by Former US Rep. Ron Barber, one of those injured on that horrific day.
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Speed Hump Pilot Program Extended
The City of Tucson Speed Hump Pilot Program has been extended another year, allowing Ward 4 neighborhoods to have speed humps installed on residential streets at a discounted price. If you are interested in learning more about how your neighborhood could request speed humps, click here. When you are ready to begin the process, email the Ward 4 Council Office at ward4@tucsonaz.gov and we will be happy to get you started. We will begin awarding the discounted speed humps February 1, 2021.
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Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month
The International Association of Firefighters in partnership with the Firefighter Cancer Support Network have designated January as Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month.
Cancer has rapidly become the leading cause of line of duty deaths in the fire service. The data is alarming:
Results from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) 2010 multi-year study evaluating cancer in fire fighters found that mostly digestive, oral, respiratory and urinary cancers were found in fire fighters. The study also identified that there was a two-fold excess of malignant mesothelioma, a very rare cancer. NIOSH identified the most common cancers diagnosed among fire fighters, but there are additional cancers associated with the job as well. The overview of common cancer found in fire fighters compared to the general population from the NIOSH study is as follows:
• Testicular cancer – 2.02 times the risk • Mesothelioma – 2.0 times greater risk • Multiple myeloma -1.53 times greater risk • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – 1.51 times greater risk • Brain cancer – 1.32 times greater risk • Prostate cancer -1.28 times great risk • Colon cancer -1.21 times great risk • Leukemia – 1.14 times greater risk • Esophageal cancer – 1.16 times greater risk
The NIOSH study identified that fire fighters have a 9% greater chance of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% greater chance of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population.
This hits very close to home for our firefighters as we recently lost one of our own, Captain Jacki DeHaro, who passed away from occupational cancer this past year. She will especially be missed by those of us in Ward 4 where she ended her many years of service to the Tucson community as the Captain in one of our Southeast side stations.
The Tucson Fire Fighters Association along with The Tucson Fire Department will be conducting month long education and training to its members to provide our firefighters the necessary tools and guidance to develop life-saving protocols for cancer prevention. Please join us in supporting our firefighters this month as they continue to search for ways to end this horrible epidemic in their profession. You can find more information about the dangers in this N4T Investigators video.
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Treecycle Continues through Sunday
The City of Tucson's annual TreeCycle program continues through this Sunday, January 17. Nine sites are open for collection. Residents are asked to remove all lights, ornaments, decorations, plastic tree bags, and tree stands before dropping off real trees at a TreeCycle site. Please wear a mask and practice social distancing when dropping off your tree. Please do not leave trees outside the collection time or area due to fire hazards. The City of Tucson will not collect Christmas trees from curbs and alleys. For more information on sites, hours, and locations, click here.
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#Ward4Pups Update
Hopefully by now you've been introduced to the #Ward4Pups taking over our office.
Kaiya and Koda updates will be a mainstay of our newsletters from now on. We hope seeing them grow will bring some joy to your days in the coming months!
Be sure to follow my Councilwoman Facebook page to stay up to date on more of their shenanigans.
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How Can I Stay Updated?
There are multiple ways to stay updated with my office and the City's work:
- Looking for city updates? Follow the Ward 4 City of Tucson page to learn about core services, projects, events and helpful information about all things Tucson.
- Looking for me? Follow my Councilwoman Nikki Lee page to see what I'm up to around town, articles I write, official events I'm hosting, and more!
- Follow my Council Member twitter account, @CouncilwomanLee.
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