Ward 6 Survey
Our next survey Zoom is coming Tuesday. We’ll talk about 5G, development, and roadway projects. Spoiler alert – I'll be including some comments about the RTA and the Sunshine Mile overlay.
Our special guest will again be our transportation/mobility director Diana Alarcon. She’ll have a short presentation showing how we’re incorporating some of the Complete Streets design criteria into roadway projects – the stuff that happens outside the curblines. And we’ll tag team on the 5G items.
We’re cherry-picking the issues and grouping them together based on what you told us are priorities. Once again, the topics for Tuesday are all 60% or higher for a combined ‘important’ or ‘very important.’
Same as before, we’ll go from 5:30 pm until 7 pm. Here’s a link for the event. Please share it widely so others can take part. We’ll end this summer series a week later, on the 27th. I’ll share more on that one next week.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86461841023?pwd=VGhXSjFZa29ZQjlOY1hIWkRoTE9EUT09
Meeting ID: 864 6184 1023
Passcode: 860493
Thanks very much for your active participation in the survey. It was an important tool validating that we’re tracking the issues of greatest importance to you.
And if you’d like to take a look at our July 8th roundtable, this Youtube link will take you to it. We’ll record the upcoming Zoom’s too.
https://youtu.be/CO4cybvj1lE
PFAS
This graphic shows why PFAS must be addressed now. It shows the boundary of Lake Mead in 1984 (the yellow lines) compared to today. Lake Mead is the barometer that indicates when shortages will be declared and when our Colorado River allocation will be reduced. Mead is at around 36% capacity right now.
 Last month Lake Mead was below 1,075’. That’s the point that’ll trigger federally mandated cuts to CAP recipients. The Bureau of Reclamation has reported they expect it to drop below 1,048 by the end of next year. It’s at that point Arizona will see a 20% reduction in our CAP allocation. The issue of our becoming reliant on our groundwater supply is not years down the road. It’s nearly now.
The Department of Defense has said they want to study the PFAS issue out by DM until about the end of 2024. The Arizona Air National Guard is suggesting they’ll be studying the issue out by the TARP treatment facility until 2023. The plumes are moving faster than the process.
In the meantime, the seven states who are all using the Colorado have it oversubscribed. That includes California, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Mexico, and Arizona. We all signed a Drought Contingency Plan a couple of years ago, but even as the ink was drying, everyone involved knew it would need to be refreshed in about 5 years. That meter is also running.
Tucson Water has spent or committed over $50M on the PFAS issue. There are bills in Congress that will help, but the pace of government is what it is. And it’s not fast enough to keep us from having to come out of pocket even more. Every time we have to change carbon filters from the treatment plant, it costs in the $500K range. That’s a constant cost because those filters are the only way we currently have of scrubbing the PFAS out of the water coming through that plant. There are about 60,000 customers being served that water. The rest get the CAP water that’s not tainted, but that is a dwindling source.
We’re constantly testing the water, monitoring for PFAS. We’re working with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on identifying the plume, shutting down wells when PFAS levels reach our self-imposed quality standard and beginning the engineering for remediation wells. All of that represents hard costs that will at some point be borne by the responsible parties. None of those parties are you.
I’ve said on candidate forums all campaign season that PFAS is the number 1, 2, and 3 most important issue for us to address. Others on those forums think that since DM ‘isn’t even in Ward 6’ that perhaps it’s not such a big deal. I’m going to continue making it a big deal until we are assured our groundwater is clean and the responsible parties have paid their bill.
Vaccine Update
Of the 25 counties nationwide that have seen the sharpest increase in COVID in the past couple of weeks, all but 1 had a vaccination rate of less than 40%. And 16 of them had vaccination rates of less than 30%. That’s not by mistake.
On Saturday, the Pima County health folks partnered with TMC, Pyramid Health, and the zoo for another vaccine Summer Safari Night event. People were lined up even before the gates opened – here are some of the early arrivals in line to get their shot.
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 You can see they’ve got things well organized, and the setting allows for people to socially distance while going through the process. I was happy to provide some music – and yes, it was a bit toasty.
They got 66 people vaccinated, and over 2,000 attended the evening event, so I think everyone involved felt it was a success. Thank you to each of those who came for the vaccination – and thank you to all of you who came and chatted between songs. It was a nice way to spend a little downtime.
For the past few weeks, the COVID and vaccine items have fallen down in priority in the newsletter. But our progress has been slowly eroding. We’re not unique. In the past 14 days, there has been a 111% increase in cases nationwide. We’ve had a 45% increase in Arizona. And we’re only 44% fully vaccinated throughout the state. This chart shows us as #10 nationwide, measuring a variety of data points.
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 The national COVID map shows the Missouri surge. And it shows troublesome areas in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and Montana. It’s scattered all over the country. In LA County, they’re mandating masks for all indoor activity again. And last week, Ducey said Catalina Foothills School District is violating his Executive Order by telling unvaccinated kids they’ll need to quarantine for 14 days if they test positive. That’s nuts.
 This graph shows the recent national uptick in cases. Most of that is now attributable to the Delta variant. And the Delta is more highly contagious than the COVID-19 we became all too familiar with last year. Vaccines will mitigate its impact. Vaccination rates are dropping. That’s nuts, too.
 Thanks to the Pima County health team for conducting the vaccination program last Saturday evening at the zoo. Every arm is a step back towards ‘normal.’
Here are upcoming mobile vaccination sites. No appointment is needed for any of them.
 And these are the remaining standing points of vaccine distribution – same as with the mobile sites, no appointment will be needed. Do you remember not so long ago that everyone had to have an appointment, and getting one was a major hassle? Now there is no good excuse for not vaccinating.
 Go to the Pima County Health site if you want to find the list of pharmacies that’ll give you a dose or if you’re a veteran looking to be vaccinated. Use this link - www.pima.gov/covid19vaccine.
At the start of June, we were down to a weekly average of new cases, around 130. It rose each week through June, topping at 413 new cases two weeks ago. Last week in Pima County, there were 529 new cases reported. That’s the highest weekly total Pima County has had since the week of April 5th. The Delta variant is present in Pima County, so the likelihood is that’s playing a significant role in the case increases.
Here’s the past month of ‘spread-rate’ data. Above 1.0 means the virus is spreading. The most recent UA data is 2 weeks old, so I’m tending to watch the weekly case counts as a more current and accurate gauge. But all of the data put together still show an unsettling picture.
You can find the most current data at this site: https://covid19.arizona.edu/dashboard.
It wasn’t long ago that the news on COVID was mostly good. Now case counts are increasing, vaccination rates are falling, and people are out celebrating. Please consider the impact your actions will have on others. And get vaccinated.
Glass Reuse Update
It was last November that M&C unanimously approved our glass reuse program. The change went into effect on February 1st, after a public education rollout. At the time, the message was to please stop putting glass into the blue recycle bins and instead find one of the 21 sites around the region where we’re collecting glass. They’re positioned, so the collection sites are within 2 miles of nearly every city resident. The program is intended to demonstrate productive secondary reuses for glass – sand once it’s crushed.
We continue to see some customers forget and toss glass into the blue bins. But there has been a significant reduction in the amount of glass found in the bins. From February through May, we’ve seen a drop off of from 500 tons per month down to 200 tons per month of glass in the blue barrels. That’s good – but it’s still not where we want to get.
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The amount being collected at the 21 sites has continued to increase as people get to know of the program. On February 10th, we collected 15 tons from those sites. On June 29th, that had grown to over 45 tons. That’s more than a 200% increase in participation. If the tonnage continues to increase, the staff is projecting we’ll collect over 2,300 tons of glass in the collection sites through the new program. That’s about ½ of the total number of tons that we used to gather curbside. But if you add the totals together, we expect a combined increase of more than 1,000 tons collected by the end of this fiscal year. That means some people who were not recycling glass before the program started are now taking that extra step.
Please do not put your glass in the recycle bin. We’ve now got about 500 tons of glass stockpiled out at the landfill, waiting on the arrival of the new glass crusher. That was delayed due to the pandemic, but we expect it on site later this year. The eventual goal is to crush it on a commercial scale and use the sand we get for a variety of things – sand for mortar, sand for monsoon sandbags, sand for filling ruts in alleys – things that we’d otherwise be going to the quarry and buying sand. The yellow highlighted row in this chart shows how the glass collected in bins has fallen dramatically since we started the program. That’s a testament to you and your buy-into the reuse program.
 While we’re waiting for the crusher to arrive, the staff is continuing dialogues with recycling/reuse companies, most of whom are saying there is a good market for recycling glass. Who knows where this will all end up, but it’s great the program is off the ground and that there’s such positive community buy-in.
Waste Stream Contamination
It costs the city a couple of million dollars each year to pay Republic Services for the contamination we continue to find in the blue bins that end up out at the Material Recycle Facility (MRF.) Our contamination rates are above 25%. They need to be 10 points lower than that. In order to change that direction, last August, we initiated a recycling partnership program that included monitoring bins with the goal of educating people whose bins regularly contained contaminants. The program has been somewhat successful.
Approximately 22,000 homes were targeted – they're scattered pretty evenly throughout the community. First, staff inspected and tagged bins, producing a baseline contamination condition that we have to compare later results to. In addition, they sent a postcard to the addresses involved explaining the program and educating on what is ok to put in the bin. Over the course of the next 8 weeks, our contractor re-inspected those bins and tagged them with more educational material. What we found was that the number of good, clean, and compliant bins improved by 17%, and contamination rates overall dropped by 50%. The most common contaminant found in blue bins continues to be single-use plastic bags – another reason my plastic block program is important to get off the ground.
We’ll have the final results of the pilot educational/monitoring project we started around the end of this month. If you have any questions about whether what you’re about to toss into the blue bin is appropriate, please check this website first - https://www.tucsonaz.gov/es/announcement/recycle-it-right - the costs absorbed for contamination in our blue bins shows up as added costs for the overall trash collection service the city operates. So it’s worth it to take a moment and be sure you’re doing it right.
Redistricting Commission
The 2020 Census information that was recently compiled and released is playing a part in the Arizona state redistricting effort. There is an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) that has started its work, but there’s a lot of public outreach and other work it’ll be doing before they draw new maps for the legislative boundaries.
Early in the Census work, we had hoped to gain at least another seat in Congress. Due to what is likely an undercount, we’re going to remain with 9 seats – for the next decade. That’ll be finalized by the end of September, but all indications are that’s where things are headed. And that undercount will cost us hundreds of millions of federal dollars over the next 10 years.
The 5 members of the IRC have been selected, and they’ve hired legal counsel, mapping consultants, and an executive director. Now they’re headed out on a “listening tour” around the state. The plan is for them to be in Tucson for public hearings on August 7th and 8th - the locations are yet to be determined. You can use this link to see their press release and to make comments on their process. It’s important that they hear the Tucson perspective, so please let them know we’re an engaged community.
https://irc.az.gov/sites/default/files/media/Public%20Hearings%20FINAL.pdf
This is the link to their website, where they’ll post the location of the public meetings.
https://irc.az.gov
Extreme Heat – Physicians for Social Responsibility
I saw on the news last week that in the Phoenix area, 2 people died due to heat-related causes after their electricity had been shut off for lack of payment. During a 1995 heatwave in Chicago, researchers found that when they controlled for income status, neighborhoods that were more engaged with one another and cohesive had significantly fewer fatalities. Our friends from Physican’s for Social Responsibility (PSR) have put together a 2-hour online workshop on the topic of heat resiliency. It’s aimed at informing neighbors how to prepare and how to protect neighbors.
We can all do more when it comes to reducing our impacts on climate change. The workshop will cover ways we can do that and become less vulnerable to heat-caused emergencies in the process. Jackie Day will be the presenter. Many of you may know her as a past secretary for the Tucson Mountains Association. She’s also a founding member of the Milagro co-housing project. Topics she’ll address include
- Weather changes in the desert Southwest
- Risks to our power grid posed by global warming
- How to recognize and treat signs of heat illness
- What YOU can do to prepare your household and help your neighbors as well
The forum will take place on Wednesday, August 4th, from 7 pm until 9 pm. It’s free, but you need to register. Please use this link to get signed up.
Registration required: https://resilience.bpt.me
I’m grateful to Sam Hughes, neighbors Stuart and Wendi for letting me know about the event. It’s timely and will include practical ways we can all build more resilient neighborhoods, one home at a time.
Expungement Clinic
The clinics being sponsored by NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) are continuing. With the passage of Prop 207 last year, people who have existing convictions for possession on their records may appeal to the courts to have those removed. These clinics are intended to help guide you through that process. I shared in a previous newsletter about the event that took place earlier this month. Since then, more have been scheduled, so I want to let you know in advance in case you or someone you know can benefit from what’s being offered.
The counseling sessions will only take you about a half-hour. Please take as much documentation as possible that relates to your previous case. It needs to be an Arizona conviction for the group to assist you through. The clinics are scheduled for Saturday, August 14th, from 5 pm until 8 pm, and Saturday, August 21st, from 11 am until 3 pm. Each will be held at the Harambe Café at 6464 E. Tanque Verde.
I’ll be meeting with the group and the Pima County Attorney’s Office later this week to talk through our hosting a similar clinic. More on that to come.
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Harvard Global Health Institute
Last Saturday, Arizona recorded over 1,100 new COVID cases. Pima County accounted for 123 of them. I bumped the COVID/vaccine item up in this week’s newsletter and am adding more at the end to reinforce the message. COVID, and specifically the vaccine-responsive Delta variant, is clearly with us. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away.
Two weeks ago, the Pima County 7 day moving average reported by the Harvard folks was 3.9 new cases per 100,000 people. Here’s what they counted for this past week. This did not include the cases reported over the weekend.
And here’s a comparison between the risk level map I had in last week’s newsletter vs. the one Harvard posted at the end of last week.
This is what I had in the newsletter last week:
Compared to the current one:
Look at Florida. Look at our neighbors and up through the mid-mountain states. That red blotch just east of us is Hidalgo County, New Mexico. They’re at over 37 new cases per 100,000. And just up over our left shoulder, the red risk county is Clark County, Nevada. They’re at 29 cases. We jumped from 3.9 to 6.7 in the past week. In last week’s newsletter, I shared that our case counts in Pima County had exceeded 400 for the first time all summer. This week we continued that increase. In May of last year, we had more than 1,100 cases. In June, that number jumped to over 5,600 in Pima County. In the past month, we’ve moved past where we were last May.
Due to vaccines, it’s unlikely we’ll start seeing the huge increases we witnessed last year. That assumes UA students will have done the right thing and gotten vaccinated before coming back to Tucson at the end of the summer. The UA will not be requiring that, though – a state mandate – so we’ll just have to keep watching and hope.
You can check what’s going on in your home county by hovering your cursor over it on the Harvard map. Use this link to access it:
https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/
Here’s our statewide map. These are cumulative numbers. As noted above, they’re increasing once again.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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