Plastic Blocks
On Friday we sent our first full roll-off over to Tank’s Green Stuff to begin the baling process. We’ll need several more of these loads before we can start putting baled plastic onto pallets and send them to ByFusion, but it was a cool milestone to get Tank’s the first one. It was also the continuation of the learning process. These are photos of what some people tossed into the bin.
You cannot use the ”Plastic Only” bin for aluminum cans. That is contamination and cannot be used in this project. Do not toss cans in with your plastic.
I mentioned this in last week’s newsletter – the frame and motor in this fan are all metal. It is contamination and will not be used in the project. Do not put metal of any sort into the ”Plastic Only” bin.
That egg container is styrofoam. No styrofoam in the bin. It is also contamination and will not be used in the project.
Adding contaminants to the bin means someone downstream in this process will have to sort through and pull it all out. That brings a cost. The city is paying Republic Services over $360K annually to do that. If it becomes an issue in this program, we’ll simply have to cancel it. Adding some items inadvertently, or as with the egg carton maybe thinking it’s made of plastic is understandable. But nobody thinks aluminum cans and a box fan are plastic. Please self-police.
Our first trip to Tank’s yielded just under a half ton of plastic. That includes the contaminants though so it’s not a ‘net plastic’ figure. We’re going to need several more deliveries out to Tank’s before the baling starts. But the contamination rate has got to be improved upon if the project is going to continue past the pilot period.
Last week we did our drive-thru event – the give-away for Starter Kits. We had it scheduled for 9:30am until 12:30pm. By 11am we had gone through over 100 of the kits. I rummaged through our custodial closet supply and Ann had to run over to Walgreens to buy more plastic bags. We were very pleasantly surprised at the turnout, and extremely gratified that the community has bought into the program.
The picture here shows the Starter Kit – it has 10 bags and the informational flyers. I’ve ordered more and when they get here, we’ll do the event again. But you do not need to use our clear plastic bags – any garbage bag or the single use plastic bags you leave the grocery store with will work. The good part is that even the bag you put your plastics in will be used when we create the blocks.
In the 3 hour event, we handed out over 215 kits. That’s a great start! Reminder for those of you who came by and picked up a Starter Kit, please be sure to sign up using the link below:
https://www.byfusion.com/pilot-program/
Many thanks to those of you who have sort of adopted your street and are doing what Kristina did last week – loading up the car and doing a mass-delivery to the roll off.
Each week we get some more questions on what can and what cannot be tossed into the bin. Bubble wrap, yes. Plastic bottles that contained oils, yes (it’d be nice if you gave them a quick rinse) Plastic flowerpots, yes. CD’s, NO, but yes to the plastic CD holders. The clam shells your food goes home with you in from restaurants, yes. Rule of thumb – when in doubt, bring it.
As you know, we built this bench at San Gabriel Neighborhood (Santa Barbara and Irving) using the blocks. It was a success!
The city was supposed to start the 'block' trash enclosure out at the El Rio Community Center – it's slow going. In fact, Nadia and I cruised the El Rio grounds and didn’t come across any sign that the project has even begun.
One beauty of the blocks is the speed of construction. But in this case, the city is waiting on the city to issue a permit to build a trash enclosure on city property under a contract the city issued to enclose a dumpster that will be serviced by city personnel. I know many of you in the building industry are smiling in empathy right about now. We will keep pushing. Here’s the project schedule we were given some time back. My comment at the time was that it is excessively long. Seventy-four days. I forgot to factor in the time it takes to get a permit – visit the San Gabriel bench. It’s done.
Here’s the flyer showing what we can use. Many of you have written asking whether certain things can be used. We have them available if you need one.
Back to the contamination. When Tank’s gets enough plastic to begin the baling process, it will be a 5-person operation. They’ll take workers off from other jobs, have 4 of them load the baler – removing contamination from the line! - and another team member will run the forklift to move the bales off from the line. It’s a full day operation to get a full truck load. So please – the Plastic Only bin is for plastic only. We will not run this program if all we’re doing is shifting contaminants from the material recycle facility over to the plastic program.
Sustainable Tucson
This week’s Sustainable Tucson program is on waste incineration. I’m told that our Environmental Services folks are evaluating the feasibility of hosting a waste incinerator out at the landfill. The presentation at Sustainable Tucson will focus on costs – both financial and environmental – included in this approach. We already flare off methane gas, and the only facility I’m aware of that’s under consideration is one that would capture that gas and turn it into fuel for some of our vehicles.
The meeting will again take place by Zoom. It starts at 6pm on Tuesday, August 9th. You can find the link at the ST website at www.sustainabletucson.org. The speaker will be Mike Ewall, founder and director of Energy Justice Network. That’s a national group dedicated to fighting dirty energy production such as coal power plants. They toss incineration ‘of every sort’ into that mix. He has also spoken out against some medical waste facilities. I suspect he’d be on board with my objection to the proposed Becton Dickinson facility being developed out by DM, but that won’t be a part of this week’s presentation.
Ethylene Oxide (EtO)
Speaking of Becton Dickinson, last week the EPA issued some new information on EtO. That’s the chemical Becton Dickinson will use at their new facility if it gets built out by DM. EtO is a highly flammable and toxic chemical used in the sterilization of medical equipment. I am opposed to allowing the BD facility to be built because of the risk posed by both the storage and transportation of EtO in and through the city. The EPA affirms those concerns.
According the FDA the chemical is used to treat over 20 billion medical devices each year. The EPA is working on reducing EtO emissions while the FDA is working on finding alternative products. Until they do, we should not allow the BD plant to go into operation. It is known to cause a variety of cancers when breathed in over time. Both blood and breast cancers can result.
EPA conducted recent risk assessments for EtO and as a result they’re doing new outreach to communities that have the highest risk for exposure. Two of those are in Arizona; American Contract Systems in Chandler and Stryker Sustainability Solutions in Phoenix. But for medical facilities in particular, they are warning residents who live nearby in 13 states and Puerto Rico about the potential health risks. The EPA has also put 23 commercial sterilizers on notice that their operations are posing elevated risks for cancer to both workers and nearby residents.
There is no debate on how toxic and flammable the product is. Based on a motion I offered early in the year, we have asked the federal government to allow us to impose local regulatory conditions before BD is permitted and operating. We have not heard back yet. This week the EPA will conduct informational meetings on EtO that are open to the public. This webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 10th from 5pm until 6:30pm Tucson time. They can make captioning available, and if you go to www.eto@epa.gov they can set you up with a translation in a language other than English. Use this link to see the cities that are under scrutiny, and also to register for the webinar.
Pima County feels they have no authority to deny an air quality permit. DM does not want the facility built virtually under their flight path. I don’t want it anywhere around here. The EPA has concerns. We’ll see if we’ll be allowed a local voice. All too often that has been the toughest piece to achieve – on any number of important issues.
Center for Mediation and Facilitation
Supporting the Becton Dickinson facility is not something I’d go into mediation on – but our partners at the Center for Community Dialogue have worked with us on plenty of other big issues in the past. Many of you have taken part. Now they’re branching out on their own – apart from the Our Family Services operation – under the new name of Center for Mediation and Facilitation. You’re invited to be a part of their kick-off planning event.
The Center had been in operation for 43 years. In the past 12 of those I’ve partnered with them on forums involving funding for education, health care issues, and in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election we held a forum asking the question ‘where do we go from here?’ I don’t think any of us at the time envisioned January 6th would happen just a few short years later.
Our Family made the decision to eliminate the Center for Community Dialogue from their menu of services. In a touch of irony Our Family chose not to use the Center’s own mediation techniques to try to find a compromise that would allow the program to continue. So, they’re branching out on their own. You’ll recognize many of the names of the group that has banded together in an effort to continue the mediation and facilitation work the Center had been doing. Catherine Tornbom, Chris Medvescek, Dan Westerburg, Rita Pollak, Elizabeth Patton, Joanna Marroquin, Marlee Raible and Pila Martinez form the core of the new board. That group is meeting this Thursday, August 11th to introduce their plans, recruit volunteers and hear from the community how the newly formed Community Mediation and Facilitation center can play a continuing role.
The meeting will be held at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita. They’ll begin at 5pm, do some preliminaries, break into dialogue circles and end promptly at 7pm. It’d be great to see strong support for the work this group has been doing, and likely will continue to do. It’s about finding collaborative and civil ways to bridge differences – traits that are in short supply these days. Please contact Catherine Tornbom at catherine@centercfm.org for information on registering for the meeting.
911 Center
Last week Dora, Nadia and I took a trip out to the 911 center. I like to do that semi-regularly just because I find the work they do out there so interesting. The dispatchers and call-takers are truly our “first responders.” They’re the first touch on calls for assistance. We appreciate them all.
I ‘plugged in’ and listened in with call-taker Twila. She has been with 911 for about 10 years and has seen the transition of the center from the formerly cramped quarters to the newly remodeled facility. In the short time I was on her calls she addressed the needs of people calling to report 2 different incidents of people in distress from the heat, one lady reporting her husband had left the house with a gun threatening suicide, a dropped call from a school that turned out to be a mis-dial – but Twila reconnected with them just to be certain there wasn’t an emergency going on, and 2 car wrecks. That was in about 20 minutes. And that was just one call-taker. Dora and Nadia had similar experiences. The way Twila put it was ‘where else can I go and know that my day will be spent helping people who are in crisis.’ What a great heart. If that’s interesting to you, they’re hiring. You can apply through this link:
https://jobapscloud.com/tucson/ . The jobs are listed alphabetically – scroll down to these:
Last week I included an item in which I wrote about TPD and their frustration at the courts and how cases are not being prosecuted fully. Since writing that I’ve heard from people who are particularly concerned with domestic violence abusers being allowed to plea down incidents from Class 2 and Class 4 felonies to reduced charges that simply result in two things; their immediate release, and in the words of one of the victims who reached out to me “he is now just madder.” If there is any case that deserves a serious thought of protecting the victim, it has to be DV.
According to some of the experts in the DV field I’ve reached out to, they believe one of the causes of many early releases is the COVID-driven interest in reducing jail populations. But when that impacts DV perpetrators, the risk for immediate retaliation is high. I include this here because one of the issues our 911 call-takers deal with is some of the mental anguish (PTSD) from having to work with victims throughout their shift. Police and 911 all need to know their work will be supported throughout the criminal justice process.
Thanks to 911 Director Sharon and her entire team out at the center. We at the ward 6 office support the hard work they do.
Afghanistan
In the past week you likely heard of the drone-strike on al-Zawahri – a terrorist who was involved with masterminding the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. He was a bad guy who did bad things. No love lost here for the dude.
In the aftermath of the U.S. military taking him out, the people we’ve left behind in Kabul – and in Afghanistan generally – are under an increased threat of retaliation from Taliban. Since the missile attack on al-Zawahri, I received more emails from people who are jumping from house to house in Kabul trying to avoid being detected by Taliban. I’ve shared this with State, Homeland Security and the IRC. The only response has come from the IRC. As I learned throughout the 8-month ordeal getting the judge and his family reunited, the federal bureaucracy is largely inaccessible. Here is another example of what I’m hearing from people on the ground in Afghanistan, included as it was written to me.
Dears,
For sending the latest information of Afghanistan I want to write that life of the Afghans who has worked with Americans in Afghanistsn in the last two decades is getting harder and more danger.
As Taliban have made Afghanistan the safest place for Alqaeeda & other terrorist groups the US Air Force attacked on Alqaeeda chief Aiman al Zwaheri in Shairpur Kabul who was living in one kilo meter of presidant palace in the guest house of Taliban's interior minister Serajjulden Haqani this week . This attack aroused taliban's enemity against the Afghans who have worked with Americans.
- Taliban are searching the mobiles of people for finding emails and other informations to know the foreigner's realations.
- Taliban have started beating people with slashes for not going to mosques.
- Taliban have stoped the process of admitions of univerdities for all girls and boys.
- girls schools are still closed from one year uper the class six.
- women are baned to work in offices.
- Taliban capture and kill people who has worked with Americans and who has worked in Afghan special forces.
The satuation is getting worse day by day. Unfortunatly the SIV has not send any email to us for the last 100 days and there is no progress in our case.
This was a small letter of information I hope it reach to responsible people and help the process of our evacuation.
Thank you ,
His letter did reach responsible people in State and DHS. It’s just that nobody responds. There’s lots of chest-thumping over the drone strike, but this email shows the on-the-ground reality of what’s happening in the aftermath.
Parks & Connections Bond Oversight Commission
As a way of ensuring the bond money we’re gathering in support of the Proposition 407 projects is spent correctly, we’ve formed a bond oversight commission. They meet both in-person, and online to discuss with city staff the status of the projects that were on the ballot, the funding stream that’s gathering, and how the projects are being rolled out. The commission meets next week. I’m including this item for those of you who’d like to listen in on their meeting.
Prop 407 is anticipated to bring in about $225M in funds. Its focus is parks upgrades and connectivity elements. So, it’s sport fields, playgrounds, bike paths, ped and bike safety elements – those sorts of things. The commission will meet on Monday, August 15th from 5:30pm until 7pm. They meet in-person at the parks admin building – 900 S. Randolph Way. Or you can join by Zoom
If you’d like to address the commission by Zoom, please let Leticia Flores know by 10am on the 15th. You can reach her at info@tucsondelivers.info. Or call 520.885.9009. And if you attend in-person, just let the staffers on site know you’re going to want to speak to the commissioners. Here’s a link to the agenda material for the BOC.
Agenda: City of Tucson Boards and Commissions
Thrive on 29th Street
In a recent vote, the M&C voted 6-1 to begin a development process out on 29th Street. I was in the dissent because it was – and continues to be – my belief that the Grant/Alvernon area is better suited for, and far more prepared for something like this. But in the spirit of trying to make the 29th Street Thrive a success I’m sharing this job opportunity the city has posted.
The job is called Public Engagement Coordinator. You can find the job announcement here:
<title> Job Announcement: COM SVS/NGHBD RSCS PROJECT COORDINATOR - City of Tucson (jobapscloud.com)
The position is in our Housing and Community Development department. Give it a whirl if doing community outreach is of interest. The position announcement is open until August 18th.
TUSD Clothing Bank
Tucson Unified runs a clothing bank through which they help students in need. Local artist Marianne Bernsen is holding an event in her private studio specifically to benefit the Duffy School clothing bank.
Marianne crafts – among other items – earrings. Here are some examples of her work:
On Sunday, August 14th from 9am until 3pm, Marianne will be selling up to 200 pairs of earrings with 100% of the proceeds going to support the Duffy clothing bank. You can find her studio at 2941 E. Toledo Place (in the Sam Hughes neighborhood.) Please use the side entrance to access the studio.
The earrings will go for only $10 each. Students may access the clothing bank with no restrictions on income. They’re eligible for 5 tops, 3 bottoms and 1 pair of shoes. Siblings of students may also use the TUSD clothing banks. It’d be great if you could support Marianne and her generous effort. Hundreds of public-school students and their families will benefit.
You can reach Marianne at 971.5596. And if you’d like to learn more about the clothing bank program, use this link:
http://www.tusd1.org/Departments/Family-Community-Outreach/Family-Resource-Centers/Clothing-Bank
Teachers and Guns
On a little different education-related topic, my bride used to teach both elementary and middle school. I have a niece who teaches high school. I cannot for a second conceive of either of them pulling out a gun and using it on a student. And I’ve got other relatives and several friends who either teach or who work in school settings. I cannot for a second envision any of them pulling out a gun and using it on a student either. Yes, even in a mass shooting incident. That’s not what they signed up to do.
In the past 10 years we’ve lived through Newtown (28 killed,) Uvalde (21 killed,) Parkland (17 killed) and Santa Fe (10 killed.) Those are 4 of the most deadly 5 school shootings on record. In the aftermath of Uvalde several states have enacted laws allowing teachers and staff to carry weapons in the classroom.
School gunmen are very often teenagers who are suffering mental health/behavioral health issues. Sonali Rajan is an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She studies school gun violence. Her comment on these laws is they’re a “very reactive way to think about gun violence prevention.” Intercepting them beforehand and introducing the proper mental health systems, identifying children who may become threats, tighter (not looser) gun laws and mandates on safe storage are things she recommends. I agree.
In Florida, there are more than 1,300 school staff members working as ‘armed guardians’ in 45 different school districts. That’s more than ½ of the total number of school districts in the state. In Texas, just over 400 school districts allow designated people – including staff members – to be armed while in classrooms. That’s about 1/3 of all the districts in the state. In Ohio, they’ve passed a law that allows teachers to be armed in the classroom with only 24 hours of hands-on training in how to operate a weapon. Michael Weinman is the director of government affairs for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. His reaction to the law is “that is just outrageous.” I guess he’s concerned with sending his officers into an active shooter situation in a school and showing up only to find multiple shooters – not quite knowing who the ‘good guy with the gun’ really is.
Shooting in a controlled environment on a range is not the same as reacting in an active shooter situation. Even police who are fully trained to handle weapons, and who have gone through multiple shooter simulations find that their accuracy drops significantly when all the chips are on the table. And yet there are 29 states in which we’re now allowing people other than police or security officials to carry while on school grounds.
Shannon Watts is the founder of Mons Demand Action. We’ve got our own local chapter – a group I’m proud to have a long and close association with. Shannon’s comment about arming teachers is pretty much on target; “It’s on each of us to prevent this NRA dystopia and stop letting the gun lobby write our gun laws. We’re sacrificing our children at the altar of gun manufacturers’ profits.”
Or we can just continue down this road and make sure everyone has a piece of the action.
There’s an election going on. I’d give odds that before November we’ll have witnessed another tragic incident in which warning signs were evident and ignored. And lives will continue to be lost as a result.
Active Attacker Response Training
On a somewhat related note, TPD’s Emergency Management unit is hosting a community training class for active shooter incidents. The training will take place on Saturday, September 10th out at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind auditorium. It will run from 10am until noon.
TPD chief Kasmar will be the guest on Law Matters – a weekly radio show that airs on KVOI 1030 AM. That show will run from 8am until 9am, and the training forum follow afterwards.
All training attendees are welcome to come and listen in on the live recording of the radio show. Or just show up shortly before 10am and be ready to take part in the training. ASDB is located at 1200 W. Speedway. This is an immensely timely and important training opportunity. Bring your employees, school staff, or come as residents who have seen shootings take place in very public settings such as grocery stores, movie theaters and churches – and would like to hear from the experts on proper responses.
If you have questions about the training, please reach out to Sgt. Kinkade at jonathan.kinkade@tucsonaz.gov, or Sgt. Hill at david.hill@tucsonaz.gov.
You can use this link to pre-register for the event.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4da5a729a7fac70-active
EV Readiness
On July 12th the M&C held our public hearing portion of the Electric Vehicle readiness item. What’s being considered is mandating that various types of new construction have some combination of EV outlets/conduit/stations included during construction. The ratios of each of those components is under discussion.
Staff is engaging the public in two ways to gather more input from the community on this issue. The M&C have already voted to allow bars and restaurants to apply for individual parking plans – something I opposed due to its impact on neighborhoods surrounding the entertainment district. As has happened with some other items, M&C ignored the Ward 6 neighbors’ concerns and went ahead with the IPP measure. The public outreach related to EV will therefore not address that part of what had been a ‘parking-related’ item. All that’s left for consideration is EV.
One part of this outreach is to have interested parties take a short survey. Responses will be collected until the end of the day on Wednesday, August 10th. Stakeholders can fill out this short survey Staff will collect the responses and they’ll be a part of what’s discussed during a Zoom meeting scheduled for Friday, August 12th at 9am. You should register in advance for that meeting here: Register in advance for this meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We expect this item to be back in front of us for a final vote at our August 23rd regular session meeting.
COVID
I’ll open by sharing once again two ways you can get free self-test COVID kits for yourself. The feds are still offering them. You can use this link to get your free tests You’re allowed to order up to 16 free tests. And Pima County is still handing out free test kits. This week they’ll be available at these locations:
This link is from our partners at Pima County health. It gives easy to follow instructions on how to give a self test: https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=787398
The COVID numbers for new cases, hospitalizations and fatalities are still high. Vaccines continue to be available for free – as is also true of boosters. Here are the Pima County health sites for those:
The CDC defines ‘fully vaccinated’ as having received the first 2 doses of COVID vaccine. It does not count boosters. Even with that you can see only roughly 2/3 of Americans have gotten 2 shots, and fewer than that have in Arizona. We continue to lag behind the rest of the country – given last week’s primary election results, I suppose that shouldn’t come as any huge surprise.
While it may not be a surprise, it’s also not helpful in bringing down our infection rates. And it’s not helpful in possibly holding off the evolution of another new variant. Here’s the list of new cases I’ve been keeping since this new surge began.
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Week of
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Pima County
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Arizona
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April 24th
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260 new cases
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2,350 new cases
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May 1st
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510 new cases
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3,911 new cases
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May 8th
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776 new cases
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5,404 new cases
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May 15th
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1,090 new cases
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7,204 new cases
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May 22nd
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1,692 new cases
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11,498 new cases
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May 29th
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1,985 new cases
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13,042 new cases
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June 5th
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2,200 new cases
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14,677 new cases
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June 12th
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2,451 new cases
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16,334 new cases
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June 19th
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2,559 new cases
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15,373 new cases
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June 26th
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2,263 new cases
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16,514 new cases
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July 3rd
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2,210 new cases
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20,198 new cases
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July 10th
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1,880 new cases
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15,280 new cases
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July 17th
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2,251 new cases
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18,135 new cases
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July 24th
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2,764 new cases
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17,249 new cases
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July 31st
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2,152 new cases
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15,034 new cases
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The case counts came down somewhat since the previous week. Statewide they’ve come down 2 weeks in a row. Fatalities are still high at 74 for Arizona. If that’s your loved one, 1 is too high.
Here’s our state map dating back to the start of this in 2020. Soon Maricopa County will hit 1.4 million cases. Pima County is closing in on 300,000 cases. Nearly 31,000 Arizonans have lost their life due to COVID.
The Harvard Global Health Care risk level map shows continuing spreading of the virus, although some areas in the west have moved from red to orange. Forget about the green areas – they're simply showing jurisdictions that haven’t reported in the past week. Nobody in the country is green and good to go when it comes to COVID.
Yavapai County moved from red to orange. That’s good. In Pima County our case counts were nearing 400 daily cases per day last week. They dropped down – still very high risk, but a decrease since the last newsletter.
BA.5 continues to be the dominant strain of COVID in the country – and in our community. It is the most highly transmissible variant we’ve seen. Masking in public spaces is recommended by the health experts.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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