Meet Kevin Dahl
While I met many Ward 3 residents during my campaign, I wasn't able to meet as many residents and business owners as I would have liked.
To give you a better sense of who I am, my Council aide Ernesto Portillo posed some questions to me and here are my responses. Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend. Thank you.
Kevin
What can Ward 3 residents, business owners and organizations expect from you as the new Council Member?
Ward 3 constituents can expect me to study the issues and listen carefully to concerns, while also seeking input from those not yet at the table. Residents and business owners can expect the same level of responsiveness that they have come to rely on from the Ward 3 office. My office will have a new team in place this January, and my staff and I will be out in the community and engaged.
Environmental preservation and protection are at your core. What short-term and long-term changes in City practices and policies would you like to see?
For Tucson’s long-term sustainability, to protect and improve our quality of life, we need to drastically reduce the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere from City operations, and create incentives and provide support for residents and businesses to do the same. We must prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change to Tucson -– deadly heat and stronger storms. We must protect our residents who will be most impacted by heat and who are least able to pay the costs of adapting.
From a policy perspective, I will view everything through a sustainability lens and how policies help or hinder our changing climate. For example, we know there is a huge need for affordable housing. But as temperatures rise, people are paying more for utilities. If housing is not weatherized or insulated properly, any gain in affordability is offset by other expenses. In the coming months I will be asking many questions and will push for the City to adopt the strongest practices and policies, both short-term and long-term.
How have your life's experiences shaped the person you are today?
I am fortunate to have a mother and father who loved me and instilled the values of hard work, being a good sport, and show concern and kindness for others and the environment. They also demonstrated a passion for life-long learning. I am also thankful for my life with my wife, Bam Miller and son, Brian Dahl.
I’ve learned the value of the healing and the restorative power of spending time in the desert, canyons and forests. This has shaped my conservation ethic.
What do you like the most about living in Tucson?
Tucson is paradise. I like our mild winters and dramatic monsoons. Tucsonans are friendly and interesting. Our food has achieved international status and deservedly so. We have a first-rate university, and music and art scene. I appreciate our nearby national parks, forests and monuments.
Name your favorite hobbies, traditions and foods.
Every day I walk in town or in the desert. I read a lot. I like browsing at locally owned bookstores. My son and I almost never miss a Friends of the Library book sale. My wife and I work on jigsaw puzzles, especially around the holidays.
My years working with Native Seeds/SEARCH introduced me to southwestern Indigenous foods and wild foods (I wrote a small book about desert wild foods published by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum). Chiltepines, cuitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn), tepary beans, and verdolagas (purslane) are part of my diet. Tucson is an amazing cornucopia of great eating opportunities. In future newsletters we might highlight local restaurants whose focus is on local foods.
Ward 3 Gem
Snuggled on an acre-plus site near the corner of Stone Avenue and Roger Road is the Hem and Her Bridal shop, housed in a 1920's structure that harkened to another time. Over the years development of new homes, streets and the nearby Tucson Mall swallowed up this corner which time seemed to forget.
But as Marvin Kirchler and Joyce Feickert, owners of the dress and tailor business, look into the future, they see small local shops and eateries, a gathering place where neighbors and residents from adjoining neighborhoods enjoy a respite, sip on a beverage, all enjoying each other's company or simply watching people pass by.
"Our vision is to create a collection of small businesses," said Marvin. Joyce added, "we really need to make a community."
Some of that vision has already started.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the outdoor patio at the bridal shop will welcome neighbors, friends and artists to celebrate the restoration of the adjacent Stone Curves mural which undulates for more than 600 feet between Calle Arizona and Roger Road. The celebration is scheduled from 2-4 pm at Hem and Her, 4004 N. Stone Ave.
The mural, which was completed in 2001, a year after the shop opened its door, was repainted by some of the original artists with the support of the Ward 3 office, the Department of Transportation and Mobility, and the Limberlost Neighborhood Association.
The first small business to join the Hem and Her vision is owned and operated by Ramses and Julia Trujillo whose Red Mountain Coffee mobile cart has found a home in the shop's parking lot.,
"It took no convincing," said Ramses about the decision to locate the coffee truck at Hem and Her. He and Julia share the vision of transforming the corner into a special community place. "We needed to be a part of this."
Faye Goodspeed of the Limberlost Neighborhood Association, called Marvin and Joyce great partners.
"They have been an avid supporter of the Limberlost Neighborhood Association since its inception," she said.
In addition to allowing the shop to be a venue for Saturday's mural gathering, City roll offs trash bins are placed on the property for neighborhood cleanups and Marvin will pay the extra clean-up costs, Faye said. The property is also being used to store the cans of paint and other supplies that the artists have been using for the past week.
The shop has been a strong advocate for the mural project which in turn has brought the neighborhood together, Faye added.
SAMOS Neighbors Share 2021 Losses
As the COVID virus claimed the lives of loved ones and neighbors since the onset in spring 2020, many families and individuals were left to grieve alone.
For SAMOS resident, Maria Michele Brubaker, the tipping point came early this year when two long-time neighbors, retired educators Wendy and Miguel Enriguez, died three weeks apart from COVID. The couple had lived on Spring Street for more than 40 years.
"I saw a real need to acknowledge these losses," she wrote.
In consultation with Bam Miller, SAMOS Neighborhood Association president, it was decided to hold a memorial tree planting when the time was right.
Last Sunday, a group of about 50 SAMOS neighbors gathered to remember those who have died from COVID and other causes: a suicide, an aunt who died of loneliness and isolation, the wife of Maria's cousin who died from Parkinson's related complications. The collective sadness of the neighbors brought them together to share stories of loss and memories. The memorial included an empty Adirondack chair that Maria had placed on the street outside her home after the deaths of Wendy and Miguel.
"I heard Joe Biden refer to the empty chair at the table and thought of the many people who had died of COVID and other causes and placed the chair at my curb," Maria wrote.
Names of the dead were written on the chair, starting with Wendy and Miguel. Other names began to appear. And in October, Maria wrote the name of her husband, Fred, who died.
"This is a sacred chair," wrote Maria. "An important artifact in our COVID time. We remembered. We grieved as best we could."
After the ceremony Samos neighbors enjoyed a brunch potluck outdoors. In the past, the neighborhood sponsored quarterly parties in the wash. This was the first time they have gathered since the pandemic started.
American Rescue Plan Act Grants
The Mayor and Council have allocated $136 million in ARPA recovery funds over four years, for grants to partner with community nonprofits and businesses to deliver programs that provide for recovery in the areas of:
- Relief for Families, Essential and Frontline Workers, and Small Businesses
- Community Reinvestment and Recovery, Parks, Arts, & Culture
- Workforce and Youth Development
- Promoting Affordable and Stable Housing
The grant application opened Dec. 13 with the first round of application review starting on Jan. 19. Intent to award notification will be Feb. 2.
An informational workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 10 am. To join the Teams virtual meeting please click here. To join by phone, call 1-213-293-2303. Conference ID is 113-553-046#. Recordings of his session and a previous one will be posted to the website for viewing.
City staff has created an information resource line and email address with both English and Spanish support to assist all interested applicants. Appointments are also available to get one-on-one in-person assistance with navigating and completing the online application form.
Information on the available grant opportunities and access to the application can be found at this site or by emailing our Community Partner Grant Resource Team at PartnerGrants@tucsonaz.gov.
Tucson Water Discounts
Call 520-791-5443 to make an appointment or visit this site for more information: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/low-income-assistance-program
Resource Café
The ASU Office of Community Health, Engagement and Resiliency presents the Thrive 05 Resource Café series. Each Wednesday, from noon to 12:30 pm., the Resource Café offers topics, issues and individuals from around Tucson. The live broadcast can be watched on the Thrive Facebook page or later along with previous sessions at this link.
Ward 3 Neighborhood Association Meetings
* For Zoom access information, please contact ward3@tucsonaz.gov or 520-791-4711.
Sugar Hill
Jan. 5
Wednesday
6 pm
Mansfield Park by the community garden
Zoom
Jan. 20
Thursday
6 pm
Good News Community Church, 701 W. Glenn St.
Ward 3 Events
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The Ward 3 office is closed. Staff will answer phone messages and emails by the next working day. Leave your message at 520-791-4711 or email at ward3@tucsonaz.gov. Staff will be off Dec. 24 and 31. |
Work Day at Rio Vista Natural Resource Park
Volunteers are welcomed to the Rio Vista Natural Resource Park, Saturday, December 18 at 8 am, for some light weeding and pruning. Meet at the labyrinth by the first entrance to the park off of North Cactus Boulevard. Volunteers will remove invasive Buffelgrass, and prune mesquite and African Sumac trees. Please bring work gloves, water and pruning tools if you have them. A few tools will be available. Contact Estelle Stern-Eilers estellestern@mail.com for more information.
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Free Food Distribution
Saturday, Dec. 18, at New Life Community Church, 3367 N. Geronimo Ave., on the corner of Mohave, will distribute food and clothing. Sign up begins at 8 am. Clothing barn opens at 8:30 am.
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Valley of the Moon
Outdoor Walkabouts & Art Heist Scavenger Hunt, Valley of the Moon, 2544 E. Allen Rd.
December 17, 18, 19 and 24 from 6-8 pm
Come wander our enchanting paths after dark. A limited number of people will be admitted every 20 minutes. Masks are required.
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