Karin's Note: Friday, September 24, 2021

There are a few items on our meeting agenda for Tuesday I wanted to alert you to: 

One is the First Avenue corridor project. Mayor and Council will discuss whether to a) advance the RTA-scoped project for a six-lane roadway, which would require funds beyond RTA-projects resources or b) advance a four-lane option, and seek an amendment to the RTA scope. 

We will also be reviewing our fiscal performance against the budget, and reviewing how we can implement relief for Tucson Water Customers who accrued past due balances during the pandemic. We will discuss legal parameters associated with that relief, as well as how best to be sure the relief is offered to those in genuine financial need. 

During our evening meeting we will be reviewing and taking action on a proposed Planned Area Development (PAD) at Prince and I-10. The development team has held meetings with me and the Ward 3 team, area residents, and key stakeholders (e.g. sign code compliance advocates) to come up with a plan that I believe will be beneficial to the immediate area and Tucson as a whole. 

Materials on these and other agenda items can be found at these links: 1:30 pm study session, 5:30 pm regular session, and Public Housing Board of Commissioners meeting. 

The Ward newsletter also brings you detailed information on two upcoming Ward 3 resource fairs which will be held next month at Mansfield Park and in the Grant/Alvernon area. You’ll also read about Pima County Constable Kristen Randall’s vital eviction prevention work with apartment residents at Grant/Alvernon. And for landlords in Ward 3 and across the City, you’ll find information about new financial incentives to join the City’s Section 8 Landlord program.  

Thank you for sharing your input, and enjoy the first weekend of fall (come on rain!)! 

Ward 3 Resource Fairs  

Raise your hands if you feel the COVID pandemic has been hard on you, your families and neighbors.  

OK. Hands down.

Now raise your hands if you feel you need help in finding much-needed resources, like rental assistance eviction prevention, a FREE COVID vaccination, information about social programs, or books for the children. Yup, plenty of hands are up. 

If you raised your hand and if you know of other folks like yourself, join Ward 3 and allies at the Sugar Hill Resource Fair on Oct. 2, from 10 am to 2 pm at Mansfield Park. In addition to information about rental and utility assistance, there will be a marijuana expungement clinic, and food, music and kids’ activities like the Ward 3 Ready, Set, Rec! van, and much more.

Ward 3, along with the Sugar Hill Coalition, the Pima County Attorney’s office, the Parks and Recreation Department, and other public allies, will host the resource fair to bring vital information to Ward 3 residents. The Mansfield Park event will be held behind the Donna Liggins Recreation Center on the basketball court on the south side of the center.  

And if you can’t attend this resource fair, a second one will be held on Oct. 6, from 4-6 pm, near Grant and Alvernon, with similar offerings.

Kevin Woodard of the Sugar Hill Coalition, said the resource fair is more than bringing help and information to those who need it. It is also intended to bring neighbors together again. 

His roots run deep in the Sugar Hill neighborhood. Kevin remembers the days when families would gather at the park, enjoy each other’s company, talk and laugh, swap stories and just hang out. He thinks it’s time again to strengthen the neighborhood. 

“If we can work together, we’re a lot stronger than working individually,” said Kevin, who also doubles as president of the Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association. 

The Sugar Hill Resource Fair is the first of several gatherings that are being planned at Mansfield Park.  

On Halloween night, Oct. 31, there will be some goodies for the kids. On Nov. 14, a Sunday, there’ll be a block party at the basketball court by the pool. And on Friday, Nov. 26, the long-held Day After Thanksgiving celebration, will return to the park. 

The resource fair on Oct. 6 will be held at Wings of Freedom, a City-owned public housing complex at 2425 N. Haskell Dr. Wards 3 and 6, the Community Investment Corporation, and other government and non-profit entities, are co-sponsoring this second resource fair. 

Pima County Constable Kristen Randall will be at the Oct. 6 event to offer critical information on eviction prevention. Read further below about her valuable work in the Grant and Alvernon area.  

Constable Randall 

She’s a familiar face and presence to tenants, landlords and property managers in the Grant and Alvernon area, an intersection shared by Wards 3 and 6. She is frequently in conversations, searching for solutions and earnest in her attempts to avoid evictions in an area known for high turnover of residents in the cluster of low-income apartments. 

But into this area of high need and high stress, Constable Randall finds ways to reduce the number of evictions or, if they can not be avoided, to get tenants help before she delivers the official notice. And her difficult work is, in her experience, often made a bit easier with the cooperation of property managers of the apartment buildings.

It would be impossible with a certain amount of buy-in without the help of landlords, said Kristen. She is one of 10 constables in Pima County who are tasked for enforcing eviction notices, among other duties. She covers the midtown area of Tucson.

Before the onset of the COVID pandemic, evictions were a constant. During the pandemic, state and eviction moratoriums put a hold on most evictions. But in August, after some back and forth jostling, the U.S. Supreme Court ended the Biden administration’s attempt to keep the moratorium alive. 

Now the number of evictions today are approaching the level seen in February, 2020, before the pandemic shutdown, Kristen said. 

While evictions are rising, Kristen is able to maintain some level of eviction soberness in Grant/Alvernon.  

Constable Randall and the late Pima County Supervisor, Richard Elías  

Property managers who work with her, permit her to enter the properties to notify tenants of impending eviction and to help them seek alternative housing. In some cases the solution is not eviction but helping the tenant get financial assistance or rectify a hold up to Social Security or some other government payment that the tenant is expecting. 

“There’s a lot of trust,” she said of her relationship with property managers. 

Some of the trust extends as far as some property managers who give Kristen a key to the complex if it has a security entrance gate. Other managers are in constant contact with her, giving her notice when a tenant needs assistance from her or a social worker within the Constables’ office. 

“We’re lucky we have good managers,” she said. 

This isn’t true city wide. In other apartment complexes, there is resistance to working with Kristen and like-minded constables. And not all of the County constables work to avoid or delay evictions. But Constable Randall has been an aggressive advocate for tenants, many of whom she spends time with to find a resolution or alternative. 

Kristen said that property managers are willing to work with her because they have confidence in her and because they know their tenants are struggling, financially and emotionally. “They know that’s their community,” she said. 

Without the prenotification work that she conducts, Kristen said the alternative would be to show up at a tenant's door and give them minutes to gather a few possessions and vacate the property. Most likely the individual or family becomes houseless, she added. 

“It’s really impossible to help them make the transition without the pre-notification work,” she said. 

If you need rental assistance to avoid eviction, it is available at this site. Or call the City-County Eviction Prevention hotline at 520-447-4423.  

Section 8 Landlord Program 

One of the most damaging consequences of the COVID pandemic has been housing. Many people in Ward 3 and across Tucson haven been hurt. They have lost housing or seen their current housing costs go up. 

In a major effort to provide more affordable housing options, the City’s Housing and Community Development Department is beefing up its Section 8 Landlord incentive program. Using federal COVID relief funds made available to the City, bonuses will be paid to new and existing landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program.  

Resource Café 

Next week’s Thrive in the 05 Resource Café will feature Sierra Boyer from the Parks and Recreation Department. Sierra will talk about the department’s Ready, Set, Rec! vans which visit the City’s parks in all six wards. She will also talk about the many programs slated for the fall and plans to improve our parks.

The Resource Café streams live every Wednesday at noon on the Thrive’s Facebook page. Or you can view it at any time later.  

Keeling  

Monday 

September 27 

7:00 pm 

Zoom   

Ft. Lowell Country Club Safety Coalition Meeting 

Monday 

September 28 

6 pm  

St. Francis Cabrini  

3201 E Presidio Rd 

Alvernon Grant Initiative 

Tuesday 

October 12  

6:00 pm 

ZOOM

If you would like to attend the Monthly Zoom AGI meeting, send an email to paloverdena@gmail.com with your request by Tuesday, October 12, at noon. 

Ward 3 Events

Sugar Hill Resource Fair 

Saturday 

October 2 

10 am - 2 pm 

Mansfield Park 

2000 N. 4th Avenue

Grant/Alvernon Resource Fair

Wednesday

October 6

4pm - 6pm

2425 N. Haskell Drive

City Wide Events

Mobile Vaccination Clinics

Get answers to your questions about the COVID19 vaccine. Check our FAQ's to find up-to-date information on distribution, safety and much more.

Upcoming open mobile vaccination clinics -- no appointment needed 

The variety of locations to get a COVID-19 vaccine makes it easier than ever to get a shot, but we know there are a lot of people still making up their minds. 

To register someone who qualifies as an In-Home Long-Term Care Recipient, use this link. 

Did You Know?

SUN TRAN TO UNVEIL NEW FLEET OF ELECTRIC BUSES NEXT WEEK - Celebrate National Drive Electric  

Thursday 

September 30 

9:15 am 

3920 N Sun Tran Blvd 

Celebrate National Drive Electric Week next week with Sun Tran’s unveiling of five buses that are fully powered by electricity. The launch event on Sept. 30, at 9:15 a.m., at 3920 N. Sun Tran Blvd.

Webinar Series for Small Businesses 

Monday 

September 27 

3-4 pm 

Register for webinar