A Message from Steve K...03/06/2023

The online sex trafficking forum will take place both tomorrow and on Wednesday. Since its online there aren’t any restrictions on how many people can join in. And it's free. We’ll be following these presentations with some in-person training/educational meetings in which there will be caps on participation. What’s coming this week will lay the groundwork for those later meetings. 

There are two realities guiding these forums. One is that we do not have a robust local law enforcement focus on trafficking. The second is that there is robust sex trafficking activity happening all over Tucson. We’re trying to bridge the gap. 

Dominique Roe Sepowitz is the statewide authority on trafficking. In these forums she’ll share data, talk about who is most vulnerable, and share information on what actions place people at greater risk. If you’ve got young people who are involved with social media in your home then you might want to sign into one of these online presentations.  

Please use this link to get registered. The training is free – the information is invaluable. 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-trafficking-101-identifying-youth-in-our-community-tickets-558113601807

The 60 Minute story ties in well with many of the real-life stories I share in the newsletter. I’m currently working with a woman and her 25-year-old daughter trying to get them out of harm's way in Pakistan. They fled Afghanistan and are still being hunted by Taliban. And I’ve shared photos of bombed schools in Kabul. There’s so much that we take for granted – and we should. Nobody should have to fear for their life over getting an education in their homeland. 

Over the weekend the national news had a story about young girls in Iran who are getting sick inside their schools. There’s some sort of respiratory agent causing severe reactions which result in having to vacate the schools. Of course, the Iranian government denies any involvement, but it’s not happening in boys' schools, and it all began shortly after the government edict that girls are not to be in school beyond primary grades. 

On Wednesday of this week please join us downtown for the rally in support of Afghan and Iranian women. Many of the people taking part in the march are those you’ve helped get established here in Tucson after the botched evacuation from Afghanistan. They’ve left family and friends behind, but most are still in touch and those who are here the horrible stories of threats and worse. Here’s the flyer giving information on the rally: 

It’s not just women who are suffering systemic abuses under Taliban. I’m in touch with one guy who did make it out, but his sons didn’t. He’s here in Tucson. The sons fled to Kazakhstan, were injured and are now hospitalized. My local contact has been trying to get permission to fly and be by his son’s side. In this case, through the help of a local attorney we were able to get him permission to travel. But the Kazak government is demanding a ‘letter of invitation’ from someone on the ground over there. One guy in Iran offered to write the letter – for $1,500. And the same level of extortion is happening within the medical care process. All of the families who have relocated to Tucson and who are in contact with family back home hear this kind of thing every day.  

It’s not breaking news – so we’re unaware. 

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 coats 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. 

And on a similar note, Ramadan is coming starting Wednesday, March 22nd and ending on Thursday, April 20th. There are several groups collecting donations to purchase culturally appropriate food for our local Muslim community so they have it during their religious celebration.  

During Ramadan devout adult Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. For the month they practice acts of charity while giving an added spiritual focus to their lives. This food drive is to assist those who are struggling financially so they will have food during Ramadan. This flyer has the details for donating. The groups listed are many of those we’ve been working with during the Afghan refugee support effort. 

Last week I jumped on a Zoom with ByFusion and representatives from Republic Services. A few weeks ago, I shared in the newsletter the copy of an Op/Ed I wrote for the Star. I also shared it with the CEO of Republic. He’s quartered up in Phoenix. Our offices made contact and we arranged last week's meeting. 

In his response to one of my emails, Jon Vander Ark, Republic CEO said this: 

Our Polymer Center will open later this year in Las Vegas.  That will source plastics from our recycling center across the west coast, allowing true circularity in plastics recycling for the first time.  The polymer center will source plastics from the Tucson MRF which is a huge win for your residents.  They get to be part of something that plastics manufacturers and consumer packaged goods companies believe is a breakthrough innovation in the US. 

This won’t cover all types of plastics.  Finding beneficial reuse for hard-to-recycle plastics is an important opportunity.  From my limited research, I believe ByFusion tackles this problem. 

We appreciate the acknowledgement that even the largest commercial waste hauler doesn’t have a solution for the plastics we’re using in the ByFusion program. And the Polymer Center is the same one I wrote about in a prior newsletter. They’re reusing what they get at the material recycle center, not what we’re taking for the blocks. 

For the past 2 weeks I’ve been sharing drafts of a Service Agreement with the city manager, environmental services and the city attorney’s office. Sadly, legal stuff takes too long. But we’re close to having it done. Once we get it through the M&C approval process and ByFusion signs on it’ll be all systems ‘go’ for getting them set up in Tucson. Lots of other cities are watching how we do this. It’ll be a relief to get it done, and to be able to announce new drop off sites around town. 

Also last week I met with ByFusion and representatives from Mission Garden. The Garden folks are going to use ByBlocks to construct mural walls near one of their walking trails. My office team and I are looking forward to moving that project along as quickly as possible. As with any vertical structure we need to run it through some wind-load calcs to be sure the walls will be properly reinforced so they’re structurally sound. 

For the 5th week in a row, you have dropped off more than 2 tons of plastic in the past week. In fact, if the guy receiving our Saturday drop had sent me the ticket, we’d have had over 3 tons recorded. In this case it was a 2.81-ton week, making our total for the program 56.02 tons. At least two things are clear; we’re not hurting for disposed-of plastic, and this community supports the program.  

I’ve alerted ByFusion that this may be available to us. I’ll be trying to track down someone in that company who could divert their ‘waste’ to our productive use. And it’s not just the figurine. Look at the packaging material. This one example makes the point yet again that we are managing plastic poorly. And we are offering a good option with the Tucson program. 

Right now, in the state legislature there are two bills, both sponsored by an east side Tucson state representative, aimed at changing how we elect city council members. If this sounds familiar it’s because this is a well-worn path. I guess this newly elected lady hasn’t been paying attention. 

Here’s civics 101 for this topic – we have 6 wards in Tucson. A person is selected by his/her party to run to represent their ward by a ward-only vote. Then when the general election comes everyone in the city can vote on the nominee. The system reflects how we govern. That is, there are some issues we deal with that really are ward-specific. Things such as handling zoning projects, responding to concerns with city service delivery, and other similar constituent calls. My team does an excellent job at being responsive to those issues. However, the M&C vote regularly on issues that affect everybody in the city. Water security, our current conversations regarding the RTA, the M&C will vote to approve (or not) the city plastics program I’m spearheading, our budget – and more. So, our current Charter driven election process mirrors how we govern. 

The state is considering two bills; one (SCR1027) is to simply change our voting to ward only in the general election. The bill would also make it illegal to do ‘ranked voting.’  It targets us directly because we’re the only city in the state with our hybrid voting system. The other bill (SCR1023) would do away with our Charter entirely.  

If approved by the state legislature both of these bills would constitute a change in the state constitution. That means they’d go to the voters – statewide – in November. Neither would go through the governor’s office so a veto would not be possible. 

We hear all the time from various legislators that the place for decisions by government is the level of government closest to the people. And yet in the case of these two bills the state is very hypocritically ignoring the will of the Tucson voters.  

Here’s KOLD’s Bud Foster’s piece on the issue: 

https://www.kold.com/2023/03/04/state-lawmakers-target-tucson-election-process-again/

There is a local group that has formed once again to try to change our voting process. Luis Gonzalez Sr, Ted Downing and Dru Heaton have filed for a local election that would do away with our hybrid voting system. Here’s the cover page of their citizen initiative. They’re proposing a change to Section 9 of the Tucson City Charter: 

In order to get onto this November’s ballot, they need to gather 14,286 valid signatures by July 6th. The Tucson voters have voted against doing away with ward-only general elections in the past. Other than time I’m not sure what this group feels has changed since the last time this failed at the ballot box. 

So, stay tuned – both the state and this local group may once more ask for a vote in favor of ward-only elections in Tucson. 

TROT clients include veterans experiencing PTSD, autistic kids, people with MD or MS, limb amputees, seniors with age-related challenges and a bunch more. The clients work both on and off from the horses to gain skills and confidence. You can see all of what they do at the TROT website at www.trotarizona.org.  

On Saturday, March 11th (this weekend) from 4pm until 8pm TROT invites the public out to their place to see what they do, and to get involved with the program financially – or by volunteering to help programmatically. They’re located at 8920 E. Woodland. Check them out – I think you’ll be touched by their work. 

Traveler is a national online publication that highlights places and things to visit. Last year they conducted their 35th annual Readers’ Choice Awards asking readers to rank the 10 most friendly cities to visit. They asked things such as whether a local person helped out with directions, how easy the city is to navigate, did the reader get ‘good vibes’ from the people they were around, and that sort of thing. Take a bow, Tucson – we ranked #6 nationally as a friendly place to visit. 

Here’s the Traveler’s listing of their readers’ Top 10: 

10 Cincinnati 

9 Chicago 

8 Nashville 

7 Key West 

6 Tucson 

5 Santa Fe 

4 Honolulu 

3 Alexandria, VA 

2 Charleston, South Carolina 

1 Savannah, Georgia 

Coming on March 18th is the annual event hosted by the folks at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum honoring the people who brought the train to Tucson, and their descendants. The train first arrived here in 1880. This 143rd anniversary will include music, speakers, food, and most importantly a re-enactment of the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad to Tucson.  

The music starts at 9:30am and the event kicks off at 10am. It’s free and family fun. It’d be great to see you there. 

Ward 6 Community Room Art 

Since our Ward 6 community rooms have begun to be used again – sort of post-COVID, although that’s a misnomer – we've resumed hanging art from community members. I’ve got my mom’s work up in our entryway, and along the west wall, but the rest of the building is open for new contributions.  

Our first artist was Ken Levy. He has had his work up in the W6 space pre-COVID. His was up for about 5 weeks and now we’re happy to host Jeanine Colini's art. Jeanine did a little self-promotion, inviting people to come and enjoy her pieces. Here’s one of her social media posts – and we appreciate the promotion of the glass/plastic/cardboard recycle work we’re doing from the ward 6 council office. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpQ4-oQgqc7/?igshid=NzAzN2Q1NTE%3D

We rotate ‘shows’ out about every 5-6 weeks. Sometimes artists host an opening here, and sometimes they just hang the work and let word circulate organically. These are not where you can sell the art at our place, but you are certainly allowed to add your contact information with the pieces and let people contact to you with questions. Feel free to reach out to us at ward6@tucsonaz.gov if you’ve got some art you’d like to show.  

Plan Tucson is our general plan that describes in broad terms how citizens would like to see the city develop over the next 20 years. We are required by the state to have a Plan in place, and to update it periodically. Ours will be back on the ballot for voter approval in November, 2025. 

Plan Tucson covers an array of topics. Those include things such as water security, transportation, parks, public safety, housing and lots more. Before we put this back on the ballot there’s a significant outreach effort taking place. We want and need your input. 

The outreach meetings are a combination of in-person and virtual. You’re asked to register – you can do that with this link: 

registering to attend a Community Workshop. 

The next several public meetings on Plan Tucson are listed here.  

• Wed. March 8, 9-11am, Zoom - Virtual  
• Tues. March 14, 5:30 – 7:30pm, Donna Liggins Center  
• Sat. March 18, 10am – 12pm, Udall Park, Ramada #6  
• Wed. March 22, 7 – 8pm, Zoom - Virtual  
• Thurs. March 30, 5:30 – 7:30pm, El Pueblo Center (Spanish Workshop) 
• Sat. April 8, 10am – 12pm, Lincoln Park, Ramada #1  

If none of those are convenient you can still share your thoughts through this online survey: 

https://bit.ly/PlanTucsonPhase1Survey 

And use this link to get a background on what Plan Tucson is about, and why your input is valuable to us. 

Mayor and City Council Salary Survey 

Your time is running out to offer your input to the citizen commission that’s putting a ballot item together for this November related to M&C salaries.  

It’s important to make a few things clear about this commission and the M&C role in its recommendations. First, the commission is formed per our Charter. The city manager names members and for a 2-month period every 2 years the commission takes public input and makes a determination about what goes to the ballot. The city council will vote to place their recommendation on the ballot, but we do not have the authority to alter what they recommend. Our role is purely ministerial – we ‘call the election’, while they decide what goes on the ballot. 

It's also important to note that if a salary increase is adopted by the voters, it will not go into effect until 2025. So, this mayor and city council are not ‘voting themselves a raise.’ 

Use this link to get your input to the commission. They will have their ‘recommendation’ finalized by March 15th and we expect to see it on our March 21st agenda for approval. 

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/home/announcement/citizens%E2%80%99-commission-public-service-and-compensation-ccpsc  

I opened with an invitation for you to take part in a sex trafficking forum. The target of trafficking is largely our youth. The average age at which someone begins being trafficked is around 13 years old. 

The Pima County Youth One Stop Center also targets kids around that age. In this case though it's for taking part in a Family Resource Fair. The fair will include information about education, youth employment, vaccines, family resources and lots more. Everybody is invited – it’s free. The fair will take place this Saturday, March 11th from 10am until 1pm. The Youth Employment One Stop Center is located at 320 N. Commerce Park Loop. This flyer has all of the information about what you’ll see at the event.

Here’s another youth-oriented event that speaks well of who we are as a community. Our friends at the Children’s Museum are co-hosting “All Abilities Day” on Saturday, March 18th. It’ll run from 10am until 2pm in Armory Park, directly across the street from the museum. 

This event will include activities such as adaptive sports, art performed by artists who have a disability, and several sensory activities featured by the Children’s Museum. I love the header in the flyer: “All abilities. Limitless possibilities!” 

Whether or not you know someone who’s disabled, this event is an important educational opportunity for all of us. Even if 4 hours is tough to carve out, sometime invested at this event will be time well spent. We at the ward 6 office are grateful to all of the groups sponsoring this event. 

Many of the home tours that are so popular in ward 6 went on hiatus during COVID. They’re making a comeback now that things are slowly returning to a new normal. Sam Hughes neighbors are a part of that comeback. 

Sam Hughes is a one square mile neighborhood located immediately adjacent to and east of the UA. It’s Tucson’s largest historic neighborhood. The tour will be self-guided and will take place on Sunday, March 26th from 11am until 4pm. There’s no particular starting location or ‘route’ you need to follow. However, the organizers will provide maps to help navigate the trek through the neighborhood. 

This year’s event will show off 11 residences, gardens, three new foodie stops where you’ll get complimentary samples. And there’ll be music and art in Himmel Park. You can get ticket information at this link: samhughes.org   

While the new Reid Park Zoo construction is in progress there’ll be some changes in parking, both around the zoo and at the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center. The new parking lot that’s being constructed is a part of the revised zoo expansion project. Throughout construction all ADA access will be respected. The work will place certain parking areas out of commission until this fall. 

The shaded area on this map shows where the construction is taking place. 

Once the work is done there’ll be an increase in the number of spaces provided, plus about 100 new trees will be planted around the immediate area. And throughout the construction access on Lakeshore Lane (just west of the zoo) will remain open.