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Date: 11/21/2022
Topics in This Issue:
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Goodwill Thanksgiving Youth Meal
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Refugee Needs
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Plastic Blocks
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Reid Park Holiday Craft Fair
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Holiday at the Transportation Museum
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RTA Update
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Sol y Luna
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Monarch Update
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Fentanyl Meeting
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Tom Gehrels on Stage
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22nd Street Bridge Revitalization
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Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)
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COVID
Goodwill Thanksgiving Youth Meal
Please pass along to anyone you know – ages 12-24 years – who is in need of a meal on Thanksgiving Day that Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona is hosting a free meal giveaway. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 23rd from 2pm until 5pm at their Metro Youth Center on 4th Ave. It’s located at 300 N. 4th Ave. These will be to-go meals, not a sit-down event.
We at the ward 6 office are grateful to the Goodwill team for all they do throughout the community. This effort is one example among many. For more information about the meal please contact Myleigha at mtruitt@goodwilltucson.org.
Refugee Needs
In August 2019, Tim Steller wrote a piece about a Trump tweet in which he was warning about terrorists in our midst. Here’s the tweet:
“Somali refugees arrested in Tucson on way to Egypt. They were in touch with an agent posing as a terrorist. One of them stated, “The best wake up call is Islamic State to get victory or another 9/11.” Get smart people! #MAGA #KAG @foxandfriends”
What he was referring to was a report issued by FBI agent Michael Mutari citing undercover agents posing as a terrorist and engaging with two Somali’s here in Tucson. Based on comments they made to the agent they were arrested.
In the recent past I’ve been made aware that FBI agents are approaching members of our migrant and refugee community and offering cash if they’ll ‘come to work as an agent.’ Preying on the most vulnerable population in our community – people who are 9 times out of 10 will need and accept the money just to be able to make rent or buy food. Cash under the table would immediately make them subject to various tax evasion implications which in turn places them in a compromised position with respect to doing the will of the agency. None of our refugee or asylum-seeking population can risk being deported for violation of US laws, and yet our own FBI is making offers that effectively place them in that risk.
I have spoken with several representatives of resettlement groups and others letting them know this is going on, and to advise any refugee who’s here to avoid anything remotely resembling that sort of interaction with anybody – law enforcement or otherwise. If you know any resettled families, please put them on notice as well.
Thank you to the many of you who continue bringing blankets, hygiene items, and kids’ toys. It’s all being passed along to needy families. It’s great to see the spirit of Tucson in action each time one of you arrives at the ward office with a donation.
This week there’s an addition to the hygiene list – towels. New or used, but if they’re used, please wash them. And of course, we still need the hygiene items I’ve been listing:
New and unopened underwear (men’s and women’s and children’s,) new socks, and personal hygiene products. That’s shampoo, sunscreen, lotion, toothpaste, feminine products, soap – that sort of thing. New children’s toys.
NO CLOTHING PLEASE. Just the items listed. We’re located at 3202 E. 1st Street – across Speedway from the Loft. Our office is open until 1pm every weekday. We appreciate the responsiveness of the community.
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We’ll be working through the Tucson Muslim Alliance to get the blankets distributed. This effort will continue through the end of the year to be sure we’re doing our part to help our new residents stay warm as the temperatures begin to drop. |
Reuters ran an article recently that described the refugee resettlement challenges families in Germany are facing. They’re much the same as here. Too few resources to process the requests for refugee and/or asylum status. More than 6,000 Afghans are stranded in Afghanistan waiting for the German government to assist with an evacuation. You remember this image of where we piled people into transport planes. Evidently, the world has stepped aside and is largely leaving those left behind to the pleasure of Taliban.
Here’s a quote from the Reuters article:
Bünger called the situation a "disaster," telling Spiegel that the government had criminally failed to fetch endangered people from Afghanistan in time.
She also reproached the new government for not bringing at least those people to safety who had been told they could come to Germany.
The pullout of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan in 2021 was widely perceived as chaotic, with evacuations of Afghans seen as being in danger from the incoming Taliban rulers taking place with a general lack of preparation.
Many in Germany and elsewhere have since been concerned about the fates of those people who had aided foreign forces, whom the Taliban likely view as traitors.
tj/nm (Reuters, dpa)
Last week I received more contact from a woman stuck in Afghanistan. I’ve removed her name, but here’s the plea:
Greetings,
Thanks, I am very happy to received your nice email.
SIV program is too long process and still toooooo slow but here they kill people 24 hours especially during nights and announced commands against women.
Right now Afghanistan is like prison and women are prisoners.
Please be our voice in America.
Regards,
This from a contact of mine who is helping get people out:
Oh tragic indeed. I talked to my folks at the Pentagon about 2 weeks ago and they indicated that US evacuation flights for approved SIV applicants are now months delayed. (There was an uptick in flights throughout October, but they essentially stopped - or were severely curtailed on/around 29 Oct -- as Qatar, the destination/ processing country started back-pedaling on accepting more refugees w/ the FIFA/ World Cup distractions.)
The information that any flights had been happening was news to me – and to the many people, I’m still in touch with who have family stranded in Afghanistan.
These are the stories of the people you’re helping with your donations. The one’s here continue to live the trauma of lost family members. And our FBI approaching them with cash if they’ll work undercover leaves a very bad taste. Thank you for your part in welcoming the families – Afghans, Ukrainians, Venezuelans, and all others who come here to start a new life.
And of course, the Community Food Bank collection box at our front entry is being filled and emptied pretty regularly. Especially as we approach the holidays the CFB is stretched thin in terms of what they are being called on to provide in support of the community. Your donations are an important part of meeting the growing needs.
All non-perishable foods are in need – particularly those you’ll think of around Thanksgiving. We recognize that making trips to the ward office with things for all of these groups is an added chore in your day. Having interacted with families represented by each of those for whom we’re gathering items I can say that the gratitude expressed makes that extra effort worth it.
Thank you to all of you who are helping meet these ongoing needs in the community.
Plastic Blocks
Word is getting out around the state about the Tucson pilot project. Last week, former state legislator Sarah Liguori tweeted out this message. I’ve also had a guy drive down from Phoenix asking how we can do the project up in Tempe.
Sarah and I had a lengthy conversation about the project. Her initial interest was an effort to gather campaign signs in bulk and getting them to us. As we spoke though the conversation naturally evolved into how this could and should be a statewide effort. We’ll get there, but first we need to figure out our own local logistics. That can and will serve as a model for taking this show on the road. Sarah will be coming down for our December 3rd tree ‘planting’ event when we build the ByTree in front of the office. I’ll also join her in inviting other state legislators so they can see it, hear about the program and take the idea back to the state for possible legislative action.
The reason word is getting out is that people generally understand that we’re burying ourselves in trash. This graphic shows that the weight of all living things is exceeded by the weight of all non-biomass materials ‘we’ have produced. I know it’s hard to see, but if you’d like to read the full article check this link:
https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-accumulation-of-human-made-mass-on-earth/
It’s worth noting that plastic is at the bottom of the trash heap in terms of weight. But as we’ve seen by how quickly the roll-off fills up, by mass plastic takes up quite a bit of space. It’s also not of any particular productive use if it’s a non-recyclable plastic. That’s why we want it from you. And the community has been extremely responsive, as you’ll see in the update I have below.
This graphic shows our current program status – over 25 tons now, and still with a month+ to go.
Our holiday tree party is coming on Saturday, December 3rd. We’ll begin around 10am and the tree should be completed by early afternoon. The UA Compost Cats will also be joining us out in front of the ward office throughout the event. They’ll have free bags of the compost they’ve been producing in partnership with the city. Come by and grab some. ByFusion will have samples of some of their merchandise. Good timing for holiday gifts. Mostly though we’ll join forces with any of you who’d like to take part and put up our tree. The process will show you just how easy the ByBlocks are to work with. We regularly get people asking about different projects they’d like to use them with. This hands-on activity will be a helpful demonstration. I’ll be sending out an invitation to several people from the state legislature and some local electeds so they can stop by and join the community vision.
Reid Park Holiday Craft Fair
COVID really played Grinch with lots of holiday activities. The Craft Fair in Reid Park was one of those. It’s back though and will include food trucks, all the arts and crafts you’ve come to know, and music will be a part of the activities as well.
This is a 2-day event being held the weekend after Thanksgiving. They’ll have artisans and craft workers from all over the region selling their holiday wares. They expect over 140 of them representing areas throughout the southwest. And there will be a variety of food truck options. I’d love to see you stop by around the noon hour on Saturday. They’ve invited me to play some guitar and share some music. If you know the tunes, come and sing along.
The event will be held in the open area just over the hill from the amphitheater. It’ll run from 9am until 4pm on both days. They’ll have tables for you to sit and take a break while munching the food truck goodies and sharing in some songs. Hundreds of people attend this event, so it’ll be great to have it back in full swing like it was pre-COVID.
Holiday at the Transportation Museum
It’s not too early to start plotting out your various holiday family excursions. The craft fair is one – and the Holiday Express at the transportation museum is another you can consider.
Coming on Saturday, December 17th from 10am until 3pm you’ll have the chance to take the kids for their first encounter with Santa this year. In addition, there’ll be holiday music, arts and crafts, live-action displays and holiday treats to munch on. As with all events offered by the folks at the transportation museum, this is a totally family-friendly outing. And it’s free. The museum is located downtown at 414 N. Toole. This flyer has all of the information about the event.
RTA Update
In our recent RTA agenda items, I’ve raised issues of procedure and specifically stifling the input of our citizen representatives on the various RTA committees. One such committee is the Citizens Accountability for Regional Transportation (CART) committee. They’re involved with reviewing budgets, project costs and assuring the RTA plan is carried out. In the most recent CART meeting, a perfect example of the executive director of the RTA shutting down the input of a volunteer citizen representative took place within the first minute of the meeting. Watch this video and you can see the frustration many of us have with how communications are being truncated by the director. You’ll see all you need to know in the first 3 minutes of the link. Before watching though please understand that in Robert’s Rules it is typical that a motion is made, it receives a second and then there’s discussion on the motion. You’ll see how that was handled by the RTA director:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtrLL4ds5Y
We cannot continue in a ‘partnership’ where our representatives’ attempts to participate are shut down through improper application of procedural rules.
Aside from the process, there are still financial challenges with the RTA. This chart shows the projected budget deficit the RTA is facing. Note though that even the $21M shortfall fails to include 4 roadway projects that have been pushed to RTA Next. For the City of Tucson, the project costs being deferred is roughly $120M. The $21M shortfall is only based on what’s left on the current RTA table. And that discussion is continuing.
The conversations we’re having are centered on how to fund our remaining projects, what elements other than roadways should be in RTA Next, how much each of those ‘categorical’ elements are going to be funded for, and then an assessment of how realistic the whole idea is. I stated at our last M&C meeting that if what we have before us was on the ballot, I would not support it.
This table shows what is right now being proposed for RTA Next. You can see in the top line they’re projecting about $1.1B for new roadway projects, and an additional $300M for the projects they’re assuming will not be finished and will need to move into the Next plan. As I noted, some of those are ours.
In addition to the CART committee, we have a citizen advisory committee (CAC) whose role is to advise on what the Next plan has included. They have not been afforded the opportunity to weigh in on any changes or additions to the categorical pieces of the Next package. It’s another example of truncated communication, taking the time and energy of citizen volunteers and making some of them wonder why they’re bothering at all.
As for the funding assumptions though, the assumed $2.3B over the next 20 years is very similar to what the first RTA assumed for revenues. What they failed to take into account in their planning was a recession – and a pandemic. This graph shows what happened to RTA revenues when COVID hit. It’s the section I’ve circled in red.
It’s clear that the pandemic had a significant impact on RTA revenues. So did the recession.
And so is the mix of how people are spending their disposable dollars. Even the RTA is aware that spending patterns are changing. I pulled this graphic from one of their recent PowerPoint presentations:
Purchase of services does not yield a tax benefit to the RTA. So, the more of our incomes that goes to health care spending reduces the amount left for consumption of goods. That will affect RTA revenues going forward.
Despite that, the RTA is projecting an upward trend in revenues from now until 2050. Here’s their own graph. It is used to validate the revenue needs they’re tying to the new plan elements.
They concede there’s the possibility of economic downturns, but this is representative of what they expect to receive, thereby funding both the unfinished and the new projects. I stated at two recent council meetings that they’re going to run out of money again, so if we sign onto this, we’d better get our projects front-loaded.
At our last M&C meeting, I said that when we put Prop 411 on the ballot we intentionally left ½ cent on the table – the ½ cent we’re now paying the RTA. Our decision is whether to continue to split that ½ cent on a regional plan, or to take our own Complete Streets plan just to city voters and use all of it for our own projects. That whole discussion is centered on whether or not the City of Tucson continues to support RTA Next. It’s a big deal regionally and I’ve seen quotes from some of the RTA members that they assume our involvement. I’d suggest that’s not quite as certain as the sun coming up.
We will have another RTA agenda item on our December 6th study session. In it, we’ll talk about projects we want to see on Next, what should be included in the categorical pieces of the Next plan, and generally how we view the RTA process for public engagement. The next RTA meeting will be two days following ours. All of this needs to come to a conclusion soon because we all need to decide our roles in Next, and how we as a city wants to fund our own 20-year transportation and mobility plans.
Sol y Luna
Last week I met with the new owner of Sol y Luna. He flew in from the east coast and I introduced him to several of the Islamic Center board members. Eliott (the owner) sat with us for over an hour reviewing the history of the property. He made a series of commitments. I left encouraged, but also shared with him that we’ve heard it all before. The proof will be in the execution.
When Eliott first visited the property after the purchase was finalized, he and some of his staff were sitting in the inner courtyard talking about plans. As irony would have it some students from up above took the opportunity to toss some debris over their balcony, barely missing Eliott and his team. With that fresh in mind, it wasn’t hard to convince him that balconies and student towers are not a good idea. He has committed to screening in the balconies so objects cannot be thrown overboard. I’ve been asking for that for 7 years. It’ll be nice to see that finally take place.
Eliott also toured the site with the ICT board, looking at their parking area that has been the subject of nearly weekly incidents of bottles and other objects being thrown from the balconies. The screening will help. They were also talking about some sort of shade cover for the parking area. And they looked at the ICT video system with the commitment to upgrade it and/or add a new system from the Sol y Luna ownership. Eliott showed me his laptop screen that contained multiple lines of items they’ve got planned for repairs and upgrades. He also showed me a screen that contained comments from parents. The first one was all he needs to act on - “Make it safe.”
Also over the weekend, I received another email from a Sol parent. It contained these photos of water leaking through electrical fixtures, flooding the rooms below.
I have shared these with Eliott. His Regional Manager is out until after Thanksgiving. Seeing the responsiveness on this issue will be a good sign of what we should come to expect. I’m hopeful.
Once they begin signing new leases the Vespers Holdings group plans on rebranding Sol y Luna. Getting a new name will help to extinguish some of the bad karma tied to the name. Fixing chillers, boilers, stopping the flooding, keeping water out of electric fixtures, screening in balconies, and installing a good video system to hold students accountable will be the real test though.
Monarch Update
Ann in our office is the proud mama of several Monarchs. They’re starting to ‘hatch’ from their crystallizes. Here’s the process as she has tracked it in her backyard. Pretty cool stuff.
She lives in ward 2, but we’re claiming the new butterflies as ward 6 constituents since she’s in our office.
Fentanyl Meeting
Ward 6 is grateful to the TPD leadership team, the counter-narcotics unit, and Pima County Public Health for carving out time to come and share information last Wednesday about fentanyl and its effects on the community, and on individuals. The 90-minute meeting included a handful of residents in the community room plus 45 online. Hybrid seems to be the way of the world – and fentanyl addiction seems to be the drug of choice in the country right now.
This is fentanyl. On the street, you’ll hear people talking about doing some blues. It looks like over the counter allergy medicine. Each of those pills can kill the user. In minutes. Even if Narcan is administered, if the overdose was significant enough the effects of fentanyl can last longer than the effects of the Narcan – and the user can re-OD even after having his/her life saved during that same high. It’s bad stuff. Please educate yourself and your kids.
Here’s a link to the zoom meeting we hosted.
Fentanyl Meeting
No passcode is required but the link has 30 days expiration date. You can watch and/or download before December 22nd. Make sure to hit the PLAY button to watch the meeting. If you need the video after it is expired, feel free to reach out to our office.
We have some Narcan kits here in the ward office if you know of people who should have it handy. And we’ve got some posters that the Pima County Health Department provided as informational tools – come and grab one of those as well. The message from the meeting is clear – the issue of drug addiction is complex, there is no single solution, and treating the symptom (overdosing) is not curing the problem.
If your group would like an informational presentation by the counter narcotics team, you can reach out to them through Lt. Alisa Cunningham at alisa.cunningham@tucsonaz.gov. And here are some additional resources if you’d like to do some further homework on narcotics, fentanyl, and services that are available for addressing the issues surrounding the problem.
Services and Information:
Finally, the city has what’s known as a ‘deflection’ policy. That is if TPD comes across somebody using drugs they have the discretion to offer treatment services and not arrest the person and incarcerate them. This is an AZPM 7-minute segment that ran a while back showing the process in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ4Rk0Oywss
Drug use and abuse is a highly complex issues. We’re trying to use all the tools available to help people pull their lives together – and to hold them accountable as well.
Tom Gehrels on Stage
Here’s a human-interest item that may be of interest. Tom Gehrels was a professor of planetary sciences at the UA for 50 years. Family members of his are presenting readings from a play that focuses on his life. Tom had a very interesting history both before and since his arrival in the U.S.
Tom was born in the Netherlands in 1925. That placed him and his family in a vulnerable position at the start of WWII. Tom served in the Dutch Resistance, had to flee to England but was sent back by parachute to organize special operations that committed sabotage against Nazi forces. After the war, he studied physics and astronomy at the University of Leiden. He eventually landed at the UA and worked under Gerard Kuiper – the guy the planetary lab is named after.
The readings will take place at the Special Collections Library on Monday, December 5th at 6pm. Use this link to get directions to the library, parking information, and a more full description of the readings.
https://libcal.library.arizona.edu/event/9845073
22nd Street Bridge Revitalization
Public meetings related to the renovation of the 22nd St bridge have been ongoing for the past few weeks. There are 2 more in-person meetings scheduled. These meetings are led by transportation department staff. In them, they talk about the overall project scope and will review anticipated construction impacts.
The plan is to widen the bridge to a 6-lane divided roadway. That will configure it, so it matches the existing lane configurations on each end of the project. In addition, the bridge has structural issues. It’s well past time to replace it with a new, structurally sound bridge that addresses the capacity issues the current one can’t meet.
The upcoming meetings will be on Tuesday, December 6th from 11:30am until 12:30pm at the 1st Assembly of God church – 1749 E. Broadway., and then on Thursday, December 8th from 5:30pm until 6:30pm at the Quincie Douglas Center multi-purpose room. That’s located at 1575 E. 36th St. You can use this link to get more information about the project.
https://dtmprojects.tucsonaz.gov/pages/22nd-street-bridge.
Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)
 Literacy Connects is promoting an important opportunity for community members to save money on internet services. The federal funds that are available came from the bipartisan Infrastructure Act congress adopted last session.
So much of what we do now is online. Everything from job applications to seeking housing assistance and educational items. This ACP is a $14.5B program that provides discounts on monthly internet service. So far over 15 million households have enrolled, but there are still funds available. Check out the flyer shown below for information on how to check into the program.
COVID
The COVID count increased significantly in both Pima County and statewide last week. This graphic shows how our attitudes have gotten complacent about protective measures.
The Palo Verde neighborhood held their monthly meeting at the ward 6 office last week. I give them high marks – about 25 people were in attendance and every single one of them was wearing a mask.
If you have a meeting scheduled in the ward office and you’re experiencing any symptoms, please call and reschedule. And we are recommending that groups using our facility self-regulate and ask attendees to wear a mask. We have them available all the time on the table by our office entryway.
Over 300 people are still dying daily in the US due to COVID – over 27,000 are hospitalized daily and we have no idea how many people are going to suffer long-COVID symptoms. Or what those symptoms will be. I saw a good quote from a public health official; ‘We shouldn’t be acting like it’s 2020, but we also shouldn’t be acting like it’s 2019.’ COVID is still real, it’s still taking lives and now that it’s coupled with several other respiratory diseases the fall and winter months are setting up to be bad from a public health standpoint.
Last week was the worst week for new COVID cases we’ve had in months. Here’s the update to the COVID table I’ve been keeping. The fall surge appears to be happening right on schedule.
The virus is still taking peoples’ lives. In Arizona there were 34 COVID fatalities last week. A dozen of those took place in Pima County. There’s a lot of letting our guard down that’s way premature.
Here’s the national flu infection map. Things are getting bad throughout the country. Arizona saw a significant increase in flu infections last week.
Get your flu vaccine. Get your COVID vaccine. Mask up. Socially distance. Stay home if you have any symptoms.
Here’s the statewide COVID count map by county. Pima County is headed for 300,000 cases. That’s roughly 1/3 of our population.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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