 Last week the city completed its internal work on putting guidelines into effect for the use of our new city logo. You’ll start seeing it on city correspondence. I think it’s nice, clean, highlights our saguaros and sunsets – nice. And it’s much less institutional than the city seal. Good work to our graphic design team for pulling this together.
Poets Square
Each time the neighbors from Poets Square have a planting event, they have a significant turnout. Last week’s planting at their new triangle median GSI project was no exception. High marks to neighborhood president Zack and his neighbors for coming together in this fun and important project. It’ll be great to watch all the new landscaping mature over time.
 We have regular meetings with neighborhoods on possible Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects. Palo Verde is working on a traffic circle. Blenman Elm just finished a pocket park near a Tucson Water property. Feldman’s has integrated work into bike routes, as has Rincon Heights. If your neighborhood would like to pitch a project, get ahold of us at the ward office, and we’ll help make the connection.
Municipal Zoning Preemption
Last week I shared some of the details on a proposed state preemption of local zoning for housing. The bill would allow up to 8 homes on a 1-acre lot, increase ‘by right’ heights and effectively do away with most of our local residential zoning rules. This language shows the intent behind the bill:
 It’s the state saying they know better than local jurisdictions when it comes to residential zoning. The bill is HB2674. It was supposed to be in the commerce committee last week for a vote. Right before the committee hearing, it was pulled from their agenda. That can mean any of a few things. One is it’s going back to the drawing board for tweaks. Another is it’s dead for this session. And another option is that it’ll reappear as what’s called a ‘striker’ bill. That’s when they take the language of the bill and drop it into some completely unrelated bill that’s getting voted on at the end of the session. It’s a way of avoiding committees and lots of debate.
For now, the bill is off the table. Until the legislature adjourns for the session, we cannot assume it’s a dead issue, though. Below I have listed the members of the House Commerce Committee. If you’re so inclined, let them know the bill needs to find a permanent home under a rock, not to see the light of day.
 Chairman Jeff Weninger
jweninger@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3092
Vice-Chairman Joseph Chaplik
jchaplik@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3436
Rep. Neal Carter
ncarter@azleg.gov
(602) 926-5761
Rep. Cesar Chavez
cchavez@azleg.gov
(602) 926-4862
Rep. David Cook
dcook@azleg.gov
(602) 926-5162
Rep. Diego Espinoza
despinoza@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3134
Rep. Steve Kaiser
skaiser@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3314
Rep. Sarah Liguori
sliguori@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3300
Rep. Robert Meza
rmeza@azleg.gov
(602) 926-3425
Rep. Justin Wilmeth
jwilmeth@azleg.gov
(602) 926-5044
Prop 101 Extension
During our special meeting a week ago, we made a decision to take the existing Prop 101 to the ballot on May 17th. It will be called Proposition 411.
The current Prop 101 is our ½ cent sales tax earmarked 60% for public safety capital needs and 40% for residential road repair. It sunsets on June 30th. Last week we unanimously voted to bring this back to the ballot, but in a very different form. The tax will continue to be ½ cent, but the distribution will change. Now we will be allocating 80% to residential roads and 20% to roadway safety elements. Those safety elements will include things such as lighting, HAWK lights, traffic calming devices, and that sort of thing. The duration of the tax will be extended from the current 5 years to 10 years.
If adopted, this will mean roughly $60M annually for fixing our streets and $15M annually for the safety elements. Over 10 years, that’s a significant $600M and $150M investment into making our streets safer and smoother. If you’d like to submit written comments either for or against the proposition, they’re due by February 16th at 5 pm. There’s a $240 filing fee. Use this link to learn how to file comments:
How to submit arguments for or against Proposition 411
Afghan Refugees
The State department contact I have has been largely unresponsive to emails. Also, their phone isn’t set up for taking messages, so the ‘exchange’ has been much of a 1-way street. What I’m told is ‘they’re busy.’ Right. They have over 13,000 members of the Foreign Service, 11,000 civil service employees, and 45,000 locally employed staff at more than 270 diplomatic locations around the world. Among that 70,000-odd workers, some level of communication with local people whose family members – or those they’re advocating for – would be a nice touch. Instead, they’re largely unreachable, unaccountable, and unresponsive.
Judge Ahmad’s wife and daughter are still waiting for the Turkish government to extend their legal stay. At present, they’re in Turkey illegally, and any travel they do within Turkey is subject to bribery and other forms of abuse. We’re talking about a 27-year-old unaccompanied mom and her 2-year-old daughter. They are also subject to deportation back to Afghanistan. In the lone email from State that I’ve received in the past 3 weeks, I was told, “they are in a safe place.” That is simply not true. People are dying – that's not safe.
The UNHCR is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I’ve had several exchanges with them on this case as well. Last week they offered to try to get the Turkish government to help extending Ahmad’s wife’s permit to stay temporarily in Turkey. While I appreciate their help, that’s not the goal. Here’s an email I sent back to them. I will share whatever response I get when it arrives.
I appreciate your attempts to join me in the family reunification of Mr. Ahmad Naeem Wakili with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. The wife and daughter continue to be stuck in Turkey after having had to flee Afghanistan under threat by Taliban. As you know, Mr. Wakili was a judge who worked at Bagram Air Base in support of the U.S. efforts to establish a secure and stable government in Afghanistan. In the process, Judge Wakili was responsible for the imprisonment of hundreds of Talibs. With the U.S. exit from that country, all of those prisoners are now free. They have issued direct threats to the wife and have murdered family friends, and relatives. The lives of a young mother and her 2-year-old daughter are in imminent danger.
I have been in touch with multiple agencies in an effort to secure the reunification of this family. Those agencies include USCIS, 2 congressional offices, one senator and his staff, the State Department, the City of Tucson lobby team housed in D.C., IRAP, and private individuals who are on the ground in both Turkey and in Afghanistan. In addition, you have offered the assistance of UNHCR. With all of that, the sole example of having moved the needle is my assurance by State that Ahmad's wife and daughter are now on a "Family Reunification" list with 155 other families, each of whom had to flee Afghanistan due to the collapse of their government.
My request is you make direct contact with Mr. Dan Ricchetti in the Department of State and, using the weight of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, advocate for the immediate reunification of all 155 families that make up the list I am told exists. Mr. Ricchetti's email address is XXXXXXXXX. The Turkish border with Afghanistan is insecure. Taliban are in Turkey. All of the families who had to depart Afghanistan are in danger of being murdered. The reality is that every single day Taliban are pulling people from their homes with no trace, young girls are being sold into forced marriage in order to have money to feed remaining family members, people are literally stuck inside their homes due to the danger of simply walking the street to go to market, people are without fuel to heat their homes - people are dying.
While I appreciate your offer to lobby the Turkish government to extend Ahmad's family's stay permit, the fact is they are not safe in Turkey. None of the families on that reunification list are safe. They need to be reunited. I request UNHCR get directly involved in advocacy with the U.S. Department of State and get these families back united and out of danger.
Thanks for your help. Please feel free to share this with whomever is appropriate. Every day more people are tortured and murdered. If the 155 families are not a priority for Turkey, then they certainly won't miss them if we remove them.
Here at the ward office, we’re seeing some wonderful responses to the pleas for donations. The sewing machines are great. Huge thanks to Joyce for the sewing machine and surger. We’ll be sure someone who has the skill set ends up with that machine. And thanks to Jean at Sister Jose for the sewing machines and tables. They’ll all end up in a good place. We’ve learned that many of the Afghan refugees were working in textile factories back home, so they’re very proficient and eager to get their hands on something they can use for craftwork. The kid’s toys are great too. Toys for Tots made another visit, for which we’re grateful. We still need laptops and cooking pots and pans. Thank you for your support of this very vulnerable group. There will be an Arizona Republic story coming, KJZZ is running stories, and Arizona Illustrated is also helping to keep this issue in front of the D.C. decision-makers. We now have about 500 refugees in Tucson. The number is still growing, and the vast majority of them are still in hotels. We’re open from 9-12 Monday through Friday for donations.
Omicron Surge
As the COVID infections continue to decrease, the debate over mask mandates continues to increase. As you can see from the map, the country is clearly divided over whether or not to insist on mask-wearing. Regardless of whether or not the politics in an area support mandates, public health experts simply say that while Omicron continues in the large numbers that it is, wearing a mask is a rational preventative measure.
 Before I get to the data, I’ll give a couple of reflections on the ongoing debate over vaccinations for kids. Being balanced in reporting, I’ll give both ‘sides.’ Full disclosure – yes, we vaccinated our little girl throughout her childhood, so I guess that exposes a pro-vaccine bias.
First, this from Gordon:
 Yes, please do your own research. And this added thought on vaccinating kids:
 I’ll get to the new-infection data below, but we’re also seeing a slow down in the number of adults who are getting their boosters. In fact, the U.S. lags plenty of other countries in getting fully vaccinated. You’ll see in these next two graphs that we’re lagging other nations in boosters and the effect that’s having on fatalities.
 With all the chatter about how good it is that the new case trend is headed in the right direction, as a result of our lagging vaccination rates, our fatality rates are ahead of many of the same countries that are outpacing us in vaccinations.
 Vaccines are still the best way to stop the spread. Here’s a list of the Pima County mobile vaccination sites. In order to speed up the service, pre-register using this link: here
 Oh, Deer
Early in COVID, we hosted a phone bank during which we took calls from the public about the new disease that was gripping the nation. I remember one of the calls I got was a guy asking if COVID could be spread to and from his pets. I checked with the doc on-site and relayed that no, that was not a concern.
Last week I ran across an article that reported COVID was being widely found in white-tailed deer in Iowa. It was prevalent in youngsters and large bucks. It was found in a game preserve in one corner of the state as well as with free-ranging deer across Iowa. They found it in 60% of the deer sampled in December 2020.
 Now the challenge is to find how it’s being transmitted. In we humans, there are receptors the virus attaches to. Many mammals have versions of those receptors that are similar to ours. That’s being looked at as one possible connection. But whatever it is, it’s happening. Up to 40% of the blood tests in animals tested in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania have come up positive for coronavirus. Speculation includes deer sniffing before they eat, foraging in areas where feces are present, polluted water, half-eaten discarded fruit. The experts don’t know.
Why is this a concern? Aside from not wanting Bambi to feel sick, there’s the possibility of new variants developing over time as the virus evolves in a new host. We don’t know how deer are getting COVID, but if new variants evolve, they can transmit back out into the environment. Apologies to the guy I told that his dog can’t catch or transmit it. Now we know, and we continue to learn.
Flu Season
Things continue to improve on the flu infection map. A few weeks ago, the trend was in a bad direction. Now, most of the country is in the minimal risk category. Here at the Ward 6 office, we require masks for visitors. It’s not just a COVID protocol. Cold and flu season is in full swing. We’ve had staff out with both. Thank you for observing that when you visit us. And good work on keeping our flu infection rates in check.
 Becton Dickinson
Last week I asked for a study session update on the proposed Becton Dickinson facility. That’s the business that wants to open out by the DM runway that will sterilize medical equipment. Great goal. Bad location given that the process involves use of the highly toxic and highly flammable substance Ethylene Oxide (EO.)
The county is looking at its ability to manage the facility and the public’s exposure to EO. They will eventually issue an air quality permit that limits the amount of the gas the plant will be allowed to emit. That level is set by the EPA. We know the EPA is in the process of making their exposure levels more stringent. The county is looking for ways to tie their permit to those new, more protective standards.
While the small, daily releases of EO are of some concern, my greater concern is and has been our inability to manage a catastrophic release. Becton plans on using up to 450,000 pounds of EO on an annual basis. Even if we limit how much they can store on-site at a given time, the smaller that number is means the greater the number of trips across town they’ll have to make transporting to the facility. Just-in-time delivery means lots of opportunities for accidents in traffic adjacent to residential areas.
Tucson Fire will not have the ability to notify the public before they’re ingesting the gas in case of a large release. Tucson Fire will not have the ability to contain a chemical cloud of the stuff. Tucson Firefighters cannot work for extended periods of time in hazmat suits when it’s the middle of July. And Tucson police become the ‘blue canaries’ trying to control traffic around a large release, working without hazmat protection. Demonstrating a plan to address those and other concerns should not be the responsibility of either the city or the county. If Becton Dickinson wants to open up shop here, developing a workable risk assessment plan is their responsibility.
With that in mind, I offered this motion last week:
That the city send a letter to BD stating that unless and until they can provide a risk assessment demonstrating that TFD has the capacity to control a catastrophic event, they are not welcome in this city. Also, to have staff petition the USDOT to allow us to impose local regulations for the release of Ethylene Oxide
The motion passed unanimously. Standards for the use and storage of EO are set at the federal level. It’s my belief local voices have a place in how those standards are allowed to impact our community. I will share with you any response we get from Becton.
Homeless Approaches
I opened my comments during the study session item on homelessness by stating that whatever we’re doing now, while extensive and well-intentioned, is not working for a significant number of the homeless population. Even the term ‘homeless’ cannot describe the various causes and needs of people caught in that condition. There’s drug addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, loss of a home due to catastrophic illness, single mom’s living in a car while working 2 jobs, youth, PTSD veterans – there is no single modality that touches those needs. So our approaches must include multiple options.
Due to COVID, we did not do a ‘point in time’ count this year. This graph shows how the homeless trend has gone over the past few years. Everyone involved with the issue knows these numbers are an undercount. How do you find all of the homeless population to include in an accurate count?
 This graph demonstrates the difficulty in capturing the right numbers. Here the ‘homeless’ are broken down between those in shelters and those on the street. You can easily see the first graph doesn’t paint the true picture. Likely this second one doesn’t either, but it gets us closer to the real need.
 The city is purchasing some hotel space. Soon we’ll have another 155 beds available in those units. Assuming the 854 ‘unsheltered’ is a real number, those beds are already spoken for many times over. Add to that the reality that many of those who are unsheltered will not qualify for many of the housing options non-profits and HUD programs offer. Many don’t allow pets or partners. Many require you to be clean on a breathalyzer test. And due to legal issues, we, of course, cannot compel someone to be sheltered unless the court allows it under an order that recognizes that person is a danger to themself or others. The issue is much more complex than reflected in the calls we get asking us to ‘move an encampment from the wash by our house.’
One model that is being used in some local shelters is called the Safe Parking program. When a shelter has an enclosed ‘campus’ perimeter, they are allowing people to sleep in their cars in that safe space overnight. That gives safe access to restrooms. It’s, of course, not a solution, but that word won’t apply to any particular modality. But for those using the parking model, it keeps them safe during the night.
Some faith groups have opened their doors for limited numbers of people to sleep and use their facilities. But even with those beds added in, the number of people who are simply without an option remains high.
An idea that I asked the M&C to consider is called a sanctioned encampment. Let’s be real – people are camping in alleys and washes right now. That condition does not allow service providers such as La Frontera to reach them with detox, mental health services, or safety measures. The controlled and sanctioned encampment will allow for that to happen.
One sanctioned encampment approach involves some small structure – a pallet house or tiny house. Each would have some electrical, and there would be nearby restroom facilities available. They’re not cheap to set up and not cheap to operate. But I’ve been in touch with some shelter and service providers and have been told there is State Department of Housing money that might be reachable to help set something like this up. One mandatory piece is having a service provider involved, so the people who stay at the shelter are getting involved in the various treatments they need.
 A less intensive approach is setting aside space for tents. We would still have to include some porta-johns and had washing opportunities, but these would pull people in out of the washes and desert open space and into a controlled place where services can be offered. Each of these sanctioned encampments would also necessarily involve a TPD or other law enforcement component. That’s to assure people are safe and criminal activity isn’t taking place.
 Since the study session, I’ve spoken to some representatives of local non-profits as well as the head of our TPD homeless outreach team. We’re exploring options. I know our housing staff isn’t thrilled with the sanctioned encampment ideas, but if done right, they might make a dent in what we see in alleys, might help some people pull their lives back together, will reduce TPD and code enforcement costs, and might reduce some of the opportunistic burglaries we see coming from people who need drug money. The sanctioned encampments won’t solve it all, but they can give some limited number of people a chance to get on their feet. What we’re doing now is not getting that done.
DanceSequences at Valley of the Moon
I’ve shared DanceSequences in the past – it’s a group encouraging expression through movement. They're now partnering with our friends at Valley of the Moon on what’s being billed as dancing with butterflies. It’s not a real butterfly but will involve you walking through the Valley of the Moon facility with dancers spread out in different locations. You both watch, and if you are so inclined, you take part in the dance with the DanceSequences team. So call it an interactive performance/show.
Valley of the Moon is a fun experience on its own. Adding this creative dance experience will make this an even more enjoyable time. The flyer has all of the information you’ll need in order to take part.
 League of Women Voters
On the footsteps of Racial Healing Day on January 18th, the League of Women Voters is hosting a virtual forum in which speakers will address the topic Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation. The speakers will speak from the perspective of how racial healing has impacted their own communities. It’s a message that’s important, especially in these divided times.
Use this link to learn more about each of the speakers and to get registered for the forum. It’s free and promises to be informative.
LWV Greater Tucson TRHT Educational Program
Parks Department Reopening
Even before the Omicron numbers began to fall, we were getting the occasional email asking when parks programs would be reopening. To their credit, our parks leadership has taken a cautious approach. Now that we’re seeing good progress on the COVID front, we’re also in a position to begin the slow ramp-up to reopening some of our park's facilities.
Starting March 1st non-meal sites will resume their extended hours of operation, and all memberships will be re-activated. Activities for seniors will resume with small group sizes – examples include ballroom dance, and PCOA Healthy Living will have a 20 person maximum participation. That 20 person cap will also apply to gym activities.
On April 1st, the onsite congregate senior meal programs will resume. As of now, those sites will continue to have limited hours of operation. But it’ll be good to start getting people back into the same space again.
For now, these areas of our parks facilities will remain closed:
- Game Rooms
- Lobby areas
- Shower Facilities
- Gymnasiums
- no group rentals involving over 20 people, such as league or tournaments
- drop in pickup games
- Field trips
- Indoor special events involving more than 20 people
- Potlucks
- Sundays closed
We’re getting there – together. And as long as the current COVID trend continues, some of the areas now closed will also soon be available.
COVID Case Counts
Last week we nearly reached the same level of new COVID cases in Pima County that we had the week of December 27th. This is the lowest we’ve seen all year. But remember, this is for a week. It’s still higher than we were experiencing in the entire months of the early part of last fall. That’s important to keep in perspective. With that, here’s the weekly update.
Week of 12/27 - 4,229 new cases
Week of January 2nd - 10,433 new cases
Week of 1/10 - 15,472 new cases
Week of 1/17 - 18,308 new cases
Week of 1/24 - 13,735 new cases
Week of 1/31 - 8,634 new cases
Week of 2/6 - 4,749 new cases
The medical experts point to the vaccination levels as perhaps being a barrier to seeing a new resurgence. That, however, comes with these cautions; the effects of the vaccinations wanes over time, a relatively high percentage of our population has chosen to remain unvaccinated, and the virus continues to evolve into new variations of the original COVID19, Delta and Omicron. “Learning to live with it” may well become the new normal none of us anticipated nearly 2 years ago.
Harvard Global Health Institute
There is a more slight improvement in the national risk level map issued by the Harvard health team. For perspective, I sometimes include a two-week look back. Here’s what was in last week’s newsletter:
 Compared to the current map. The middle of the country and the upper east coast are showing signs of improving. Arizona is still entirely in the high-risk category, but our trend is very good, too.
 Last week our 7 day average of new cases per 100,000 population in Pima County was 126. The daily new case count averaged 1,321. Here’s the current comparison. It’s the first time in months that we’ve had a daily average dip below 100 per 100,000 people. If that continues, we’ll soon see the risk level reduce to orange.
 Here’s my usual closing – the current Arizona COVID count by county. You can find all of this data at www.azdhs.gov.
 Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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