A Message from Steve K...02/21/2023

Landscape ‘Maintenance’ 

Broken record alert – you've seen far too many of these images over the years. Literally over the years. 

The work was done by city crews. There’s no reason to name names – there is internal conversation happening that will cover that part. Behind each of the stumps you can see white paint on the sidewalk. The work order was to trim roots if necessary in order to relieve the heaving of the sidewalk. Sidewalk maintenance in front of a person’s house is the homeowner responsibility. The homeowner in this case fully understood that and was working in good faith with the city to get the job done. Somewhere in the ‘trim some roots if necessary’ work order this is how that was implemented in the field. 

Out of a sense of frustration that this has continued to happen over the years, we finally hired an in-house arborist/landscape maintenance overseer. Clearly that resource was left out of the loop on this job. The city will be replacing the two stumps with 4 new trees. And nobody is trying to justify the mistake.  

I open with this item as a way to send a message to city workers who may have similar work orders, and to contractors of ours who may be doing the same. Somebody had to pull up on this location, look at the two fully mature trees and make a conscious decision to destroy them. If that’s you in the future, please think first. 

Last week I shared a link to a donation site in support of the rescue/survival effort going on in Turkey. I mentioned that their earthquake and on-going clean up work would be old news in a few days. While that has indeed happened, every minute of every day the people who suffered the losses continue to struggle to live. Over the weekend they had yet another quake in Turkey. The needs continue to mount up. 

Kay-Ann McKenzie is an American who just happened to be working in Turkey when the first earthquake hit. She’s connected with people in Vail and it’s through that connection that we’ve been able to stay in touch with Kay and share her effort at helping. Please use this link to help however you can. The money will be used for food, clothing and other essentials. 

https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8RqI4ifhDL?fbclid=IwAR3lFc5Y55hQnZrmPrZ-DdSVCavFMYMTH7zIM4bH4Ri8LWpyUNpWlyf2aq0   

Also last week I shared about the upcoming rally that’ll be held outside the federal building in Tucson on March 8th. That day is International Women’s Day and in Tucson one way it’ll be commemorated is with this rally in support of women living in Afghanistan and in Iran. In each of those countries women are not allowed to get an education, they’re subject to personal physical attacks, they may not participate in the governing process and they may not earn wages equal to those of men. The rally is intended to demonstrate to our federal representatives that these are basic and fundamental issues of civil rights. Breaking the cycle of discrimination in those countries has got to be embedded in our geo-political work. 

The event will include speakers who will share their own personal stories. Last week I included a letter a contact of mine who is hiding from Taliban received. She advocates for women’s rights over there. The letter included a threat to behead her if she didn’t stop. I’ve gotten her in touch with one of our congressional representatives’ office. If they get bogged down in our ‘protocols’ then the woman and her daughter don’t have a prayer of getting out. If we can work collaboratively and creatively together, we might be able to secure another win like we did with Ahmad and his family reunification.  

Here’s another plea for help from a woman hiding from Taliban. I’ve deleted the reference to her employer, but she works in positions funded by the US Department of State. We seem to have abandoned her now that we’ve pulled out of the country. 

Finally, we continue to be grateful to all of you who donate to our local refugee community. The needs continue to be clean/new underclothes, hygiene products, warm clothing and kids’ toys/adult reading material or puzzles. You can bring the things to the ward office before 1pm, M-F or by mail to 3202 E. 1st Street, 85716. The folks from Casa Alitas are by here regularly collecting what you donate so I know they’re extremely thankful for your generosity. 

Thanks to Lt. Ericka Stropka for doing the lift in pulling these links together. The city has a variety of resources that you can access yourself in order to request services. The issue can be graffiti, homeless camps, trespassing, code complaints and more. We’re happy to assist from the ward office but you can also do some self-help by clicking on these links. 

If you’ve been the victim of a crime where there is no immediate threat, you can file your report using this link: On-Line Crime Reporting:

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/apps/crime-reporting/  

In order to initiate the homeless protocol and get the city team out to offer services and relocate camps, use this link: Homeless Encampments:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/10b590ae4b7e423ca9c02912996620a8 

If you own a business and want TPD to have a No Trespass letter on file, use this link. The value in this is that when the police see someone on your property after hours they can act on the strength of this letter and not have to take time tracking you down to see if the trespasser is there with your approval – or not. Trespass Letter for your Business:

https://docs.tucsonaz.gov/Forms/TPD-Trespass-Letter-Of-Consent  

Code violations can include anything from junk motor vehicles to excessive weeds, furniture and other debris left in the right of way, and other quality of life items. Use this link to file a complaint with our code team: On-Line Code Enforcement Reporting:

https://docs.tucsonaz.gov/Forms/EGSD-Code-Enforcement-Violation-Report  

And you know what graffiti is. To begin the abatement process use this link. Graffiti on private property is the property owner’s responsibility to clean up. If its on public property the government entity who owns the building is responsible. Use this link to file a graffiti item: Graffiti Removal App:

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/es/graffiti 

Most importantly, if what you’re concerned about is an emergency call 911. And if you’re suffering personal challenges that may make you a danger to yourself, call 988 – the 24-hour suicide prevention hotline. 

TPD prioritizes calls based on severity and how imminent the danger situation is. A dispatcher at the 911 center enters a priority designation into the call for service that’s sent out based on the information given by the caller. This list gives the priority level and the conditions that attach to each:  

LEVEL 1: EMERGENCY RESPONSE – An incident posing an immediate threat to life where the threat is present and on-going; and/or an incident posing an immediate threat to life involving the actual use or threatened use of a weapon. (Shooting, Stabbing)  

LEVEL 2: CRITICAL RESPONSE – An incident involving a situation of imminent danger to life or a high potential for a threat to life to develop or escalate. This incident must be in progress or have occurred within the past five (5) minutes. (An example is a Non-violent DV call)  

LEVEL 3: URGENT RESPONSE – Crimes against persons or significant property crimes where a rapid response is needed and the incident is in progress, has occurred within the past five (5) minutes or is about to escalate to a more serious situation.  

LEVEL 4: GENERAL RESPONSE – Other crimes or matters requiring police response, generally occurring more than 10-minutes prior to dispatch.  

There are lower-level calls that do not require a quick police response. We get some frustration emails and phone calls about ‘the cop didn’t show up for 4 hours.’ The reason is their screen was full of priority 1-4 level calls. They respond based on that, not the order in which the calls to 911 were made. 

A couple of months ago we hosted a zoom with the 911 director and some representatives from TPD. They went through these protocols. They get thousands of calls each week so having this priority system is necessary in order to protect the public most efficiently. 

Two weeks ago, I had an op/ed run in the Star about our plastics program, and more specifically about how Republic Services has stiff-armed us each time I’ve reached out asking them to partner. For them it’s a marketable commodity and by us inviting you to bring us your plastic Republic simply views that as impacting their bottom line. The context of that concern is wrapped in the reality that Republic is one of the largest and richest international corporations that exists. Your bubble wrap going into our roll-off is somehow a threat to that. 

In response to my piece the local GM for Republic wrote a letter to the editor that the Star printed. I’ll share it in its entirety here. The highlighted parts are my adds to the piece: 

They really need to get beyond using slogans to justify their reluctance to meet and have a productive conversation about what we’re doing. The repetitive use of the word ‘circularity’ doesn’t advance what we’re doing with you and ByFusion. It’s simply an effort to try to make them appear committed to climate action. Here are a few facts about that new “Polymer Center.” 

Right now, Republic makes money from the 1’s and 2’s - plastic water bottles and the more opaque colored bottles. That’s what they want in the blue bin. Non-recyclable plastic like what we’re inviting you to bring to the rolloff is contamination. They charge us (the taxpayers) over $330K annually to pull that stuff off the conveyor line and send it to the dump. That’s the ‘circularity’ they’re engaged with. 

Their new Polymer Center will be focused on PET and HDPE plastic – the same as they are now. They’re explicitly not pivoting and asking for single use plastic bags, car bumpers and clam shells from restaurant take-out food. What they’re doing is using what they’re already taking in a different way. 

I’m happy for Mr. Simms and their evident upcoming facility where they’ll probably make the PET and HDPE into flakes for other uses. They really should not feel threatened that what we’re doing is going to cause them to run out of that material. The debris is everywhere you look. I’ve reached out to the Republic CEO and invited him to have a conversation with us and ByFusion about a partnership. That ball’s in their court – we're moving forward with our program. 

A couple of weeks ago I included all of the testing data ByFusion has done to ensure it’s compatible with all of our building codes. The ByBlocks are solid so their ability to negate air leakage is an important economic and environmental feature. There are local code inspection companies who test for building air leakage and that sort of thing. It’d be great to get even MAGA-Maggie from AZ Duct Testing on board in support of the project since that’s basically what they’re in business to do. She sent a crude and juvenile email suggesting my head isn’t where it should be when it comes to this program – and guns...But if they’re not interested, we’ll muddle through without them and their rather feckless arguments about this whole program being some left-wing initiative.  

In the alternative, the Jewish Community Center will host a plastic drop-off event on Sunday, March 19th from 10am until 11am. They’ll have trucks on site where you can drop your plastic. The Congregation M’kor Hayim and the JCC folks will deliver all of what’s collected to the Ward 6 office to be included in the program. We might even get some of the shrink wrap new duct work comes in as we expand our partnerships to include those who currently haven’t understood the value. 

Some neighborhood-scale small projects are now being constructed. The process is not complicated, but there are some steps you need to follow in order to get it right. I’m working with ByFusion on the DIY kits they spoke about a few months ago. In the meantime, here’s a image of the new mailbox my bride and I put together over the weekend. 

That’s about 220 pounds of plastic diverted from the landfill. I know many of you have asked about getting some of the blocks. If you’re a material supplier who’d like to have some pallets of these blocks to sell, get ahold of me and we can talk about making that happen. I bought the materials you don’t see that are holding the thing together at a local Ace Hardware. We built the thing in an hour. 

The community has now provided 50.74 tons of plastic. That’s 100,000 pounds of plastic that would otherwise have hit the landfill, side of the road or the ocean. Thank you for continuing to take part, and to spread the word. When the pilot started, we were getting just under a ton of plastic weekly. Now that’s over 2 tons every week.  

Last week I had people from Cleveland, Ohio stops in to ask about the program. They’ll be ambassadors when their winter visit ends. We’re happy to send the message of this program back home with them.  

Last week I requested an update on the city’s application to the federal department of transportation to allow us to set local standards for the transport of hazardous chemicals. The request was specific to the Becton Dickinson (BD) proposal to build a facility out by DM in which they’d use up to 450,000 pounds of Ethylene Oxide annually. That’s a toxic and highly flammable chemical. The military doesn’t want it located next to their runway, and I’ve been very vocal in opposition to allowing them to transport the material through our city, either over the road or by rail. 

My request last week was based on an Ohio train derailment that caused the evacuation of schools and homes, and concern over pollution of the local water supply. As a result of that derailment residents are reporting respiratory problems and thousands of fish have died in nearby streams. But last Tuesday we had our own HAZMAT alert. It was caused by a semi-truck rollover in which nitric acid was spilled causing people living in the area to shelter in place or evacuate. Here are just a few of the alerts that came through via varying sources last Tuesday afternoon. 

The nitric acid is red so the reference to the diesel fuel fire was inaccurate – it was worse than that. The incident continued into the following day. Here’s the impact it had on schools, concerns over water security and travel through the area: 

• Vail schools made the decision, in coordination with the Unified Command, to close all schools for the day – this should help relieve some of the traffic congestion in the area. 
• Chief Anderson was in conversation with Tucson Water (John Kmiec) regarding concerns of community members about ground water contamination – TW assured that nitric acid will be neutralized by soil and soil remediation process. No expectation of any ground water impacts. 
• Chief Anderson advised that a State Hazmat civilian contractor is on site, as referenced in the above update, to handle continuing removal and remediation efforts.  TFD Hazmat remains on site in support. 
• TFD Hazmat has been conduction air sampling in affected neighborhoods throughout the event and has been communicating with neighbors who fear exposure. 
• Pima County Health department, in coordination with State Poison Control and Unified Command, is releasing this health information for community members who are concerned about exposure.  City will amplify reach of this info across all social media channels. 

Here’s a little background on nitric acid. 

What happens if you touch nitric acid? 

In contact with the eyes, the liquid produces severe burns which may result in permanent damage and visual impairment. On the skin, the liquid or concentrated vapor produces immediate, severe and penetrating burns; concentrated solutions cause deep ulcers and stain the skin a bright yellow or yellowish- brown color. 

How lethal is nitric acid? 

In severe cases, the ingestion of a high dose of nitric acid may be fatal [2, 4]. Dermal exposure to nitric acid can result in severe burns, blisters and permanent scarring depending upon the concentration of the acid and the duration of exposure. 

If that had been Ethylene Oxide the plume would not have been contained before it reached the outside air intake on peoples’ AC or cooler units. People on the street or otherwise outdoors would have been ingesting the fumes. TFD met with me during the time I was objecting to the BD proposal to convince me that they’d be closely monitoring the facility itself to be sure minor leaks were contained. Nobody says they can respond effectively to a catastrophic release during transit. 

Our economic development partners at Sun Corridor were highly critical of my opposition to the BD plant. Some of their members may have been involved in the evacuation from the Tech Park facilities last week. This should be a not-so-gentle message that hazardous chemical releases are for real, they’re not easily controllable, and facilities that operate using toxic and flammable chemicals do not belong under aircraft carrying live weapons. Or travelling on our interstate’s I’d add. 

At the time I raised the questions about BD and their transport of Ethylene Oxide through city streets I asked the city to petition the federal government and get approval to establish our own ‘safe route’ for bringing EO to the Becton Dickinson site. I’m not sure there is such a route, but first we need approval to even explore that. I hope to get a final word on that process in the coming week. 

In Arkabutla, Mississippi there were 6 people murdered in a killing spree that involved multiple locations. The killer was apprehended by police. At Michigan State University there were 4 people killed and 5 others wounded in a campus shooting. The killer is one of the 4 dead. Some of the wounded have life-threatening injuries so the causality count could increase. In response to the lax response the UA took to the multiple threats faculty and staff received before a killer eventually acted and took the life of Tom Meixner, UA president Robbins said we should ‘hold (him) accountable.’ Ok – ABOR gave him a contract extension in response. 

Also, in response the Arizona state senate has 3 bills making their way through the legislature, each one easing access to weapons. Senate Bill 1109 amends the definition of a ‘prohibited weapon,’ deleting silencers from being included. So in Arizona you may soon be able to buy silencers for your weapon like the one shown in the picture. That assures the middle of the night shootings won’t bother people who are sleeping nearby any longer. 

Senate Bill 1331  says that if you’re a parent with a carry permit, you will soon be able to carry that gun onto the grounds of the school where your kid is enrolled. The so-called ‘gun free zones’ on school campus’ will become a thing of the past. And Senate Bill 1428 goes after our local requirement that anyone using our facilities must conduct background checks on every gun sold during their event. The bill actually prevents us from banning gun shows – we don’t - but since we adopted the background check rule none have asked to use the TCC for a gun show. This is an effort to go after our background check requirement so the TCC becomes a more attractive venue for gun shows once again. 

In 2018 right after 17 students were killed and 17 others wounded at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting young people marched all across the country in support of stronger gun control legislation. I participated in a related event on the UA mall. Sadly, in the 5 years since then the number of youth I see at gun control rally’s has significantly diminished. If you’re old enough to relate to this graphic, share it as a learning exercise with a young person – both teaching the woes of vinyl, and the need to continue the fight for strong gun measures.  

Tucson Rodeo 

I’m sharing the link the Tucson Rodeo issued promoting their own event, not because I support what they’re doing, but because it demonstrates that the board has lied multiple times about when and if they use electric prods on the animals. I’ve shared correspondence with you in previous newsletters where they say they only shock the animals for the safety of the animal or the participant. The parade organizers say they have ‘zero tolerance’ for acts of animal abuse. And yet in their own promotional video it shows examples of where both of those claims are lies.  

Look at the guy’s hand where I’ve circled the prod in red. You can find him in the link called “Bucked Up: Day two of Tucson Rodeo.” He’s jersey number 401 in the video and it’s first up on the clip so be watching. In the second bull on the clip a guy in a chocolate colored shirt shocks the bull as it leaves the chute. 

Here’s the link to the promotional: https://www.tucsonrodeo.com/ 

The board and the parade organizers say they don’t condone this activity. Based on their own promotional video that’s simply not the truth. If you attend the rodeo, you’re subsidizing this abuse of the animals. It’s nice they’re celebrating their 98th anniversary. This ain’t the wild wild west of nearly 100 years ago. Lots has changed. So should this behavior. 

Coming on Saturday the Ready, Set, Rec program will celebrate its 2-year birthday. We began this program during the height of COVID, encouraging people to find safe ways to get outdoors and interact with other people. It has been a success both during and since the diminution of COVID infections. 

Come to Himmel Park between 10am and 1m on the 25th. There will be family activities, fitness stations, miniature golf, disc golf and lots more. And there will be food trucks and music. We at the ward 6 office are grateful to the RSR team for their ongoing work out in the community sharing this fun and health-building work. We hope to see you on the 25th.  

Plan Tucson is our city general plan. We are required by state law to update it every 10 years. Our goal is to conduct public outreach and get this to the general election ballot in 2025. 

A general plan is a visioning document. It contains topics on growth, talking about how and where we want to grow. So far, we’ve received over 200 survey submissions and have over 1,000 comments offered by people who have attended our outreach events. More of those are coming and it’d be great if we could get your input during one of them. 

Given space limitations, and the need to provide materials for participants, we need you to register for these events in advance. Please use the Plan Tucson website to do that –  https://www.plantucson.org/plan-with-us. 

Here are the dates/times/locations for the upcoming outreach events. 

One more area we’d like to get your input is the citizen commission that’s right now talking about what to place on our next general election ballot related to M&C salaries. They meet every Thursday at 5:30pm in the M&C chambers. They must have a recommendation to us by March 12th, so please try to get to one of their meetings ahead of that so they can consider your thoughts. 

City Council members are paid $24,000 per year. The mayor is paid $42,000 annually. Those salaries are adopted through a vote of the people. Any increases have failed at the ballot box every time since 1999. Last year the voters narrowly rejected a mayoral increase to $54,000 and a city council member increase to $36,000.  When the commission recommendation comes to M&C, we cannot alter what they suggest. Our job is simply to call the election and let the voters decide. If you’ve got thoughts, please let the commission hear it – or email our city clerk at suzanne.mesich@tucsonaz.gov and she’ll get your input to the commission members. 

For the past 5 years the status of the SE corner of Speedway and Euclid has been the topic of several development plans. When the city adopted the Main Gate Overlay (MGO) back in 2012 the purpose was to add density to the area right off from campus, put student housing adjacent to the streetcar line, and hopefully to draw mini-dorm activity out from neighborhoods. Two out of 3 is ok – there are still student housing issues affecting neighborhoods that surround the UA campus. 

At the time we adopted the MGO we made a commitment to keep the western-most boundary on Euclid as the ‘buffer’ between the mass of student towers and the West University neighbors across the street. There’s now a proposed student housing project asking for us to rezone and increase some of the heights allowed on that buffer area. 

Capstone Development Partners is located in Birmingham, Alabama. They’ve got student housing properties at colleges and universities all over the country. They now want to build one on the SE corner of Speedway and Euclid. At each meeting we’ve had I’ve reminded them that we will be honoring the ‘buffer.’ 

On the east side of Euclid where they want to build there are 5 historic single-story bungalows. Until now they have served as the buffer. Capstone has proposed those houses be moved onto a site in West University so they continue as contributing historic structures within that historic zone. That opens up the street face for the Capstone project. I’ve told them that there will be no approval of the moving of the houses until there’s apparent agreement on the rest of the project. 

This is a rendering of what they’re right now proposing. The view is looking SE, from the NW corner of Speedway/Euclid. 

What I’ve circled in red are some 2 story townhomes I suggested they add to their project. These would be marketed as workforce or senior housing. The student housing is stepped back behind the townhomes. 

I’ve also suggested to Capstone that the massing that appears on the Speedway/Euclid corner is excessive. In addition to the buffering at Euclid, the massing on that corner matters because there’s also a conversation happening about the development of the NW corner of that intersection. What happens on the Capstone site could set a precedent for what happens kitty-corner across the street. They’ve heard it multiple times – we'll see if the project design evolves further. 

This will eventually be a rezoning that goes to the zoning examiner with a public hearing, and then to the M&C with a public hearing. Ahead of that the developer has to conduct a noticed neighborhood meeting at which neighborhoods within a mile of the site are invited. Ahead of that though I’ve suggested they get on the agenda for the Campus Community Relations Committee agenda. They are on that for the first CCRC meeting in March. 

In addition, I’ve suggested they hold an open house at which they can show their design ideas and get community input. I’ll be hosting that open house at the Ward 6 office at 6pm on Monday, February 27th. This will be the precursor to the start of the more formal process to follow. Please carve out some time to join in the presentation. There will be various stations set up where Capstone representatives can show you the renderings and get your thoughts. Student housing in that general vicinity has been a challenge. Capstone knows the lay of the land and the history of what has happened at other student housing towers just a couple of blocks to the east. 

If you’d like to check out Capstone their website is www.capdevpartners.com.  

Statewide there were 67 COVID fatalities last week and 11 in Pima County.  

You can check the Pima County health site if you want to see where to test or to get a vaccination:

https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?pageId=527452  

Please do not come to the office if you have any symptoms – COVID or otherwise. Call and reschedule. And if your group is using the ward office, we strongly encourage you to require participants in your meeting to wear a mask. My casual observation is that some groups are requiring it, others are rolling the dice. Respiratory diseases are spread in part through airborne transmission. While not 100% effective, masks do help in reducing spread.  

Here’s the statewide COVID count map by county. Maricopa County has now surpassed 1.5 million COVID cases since March, 2020.