Date: 02/26/2024
Topics in This Issue:
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Friends of Big Bear Valley
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Music
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Immigration and Street Releases
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UA/Board of Regents
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Plastic
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Pima Animal Care Trap-Neuter-Return Event
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Social Security Scams
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Pima Community College Futures Conference
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Easter at the Zoo
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City Budget Town Hall
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Tree Climbing Contest
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City Parks Job Fair
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Ready, Set, Rec
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Duffy Neighborhood Flea Market
Friends of Big Bear Valley
Ongoing thanks and full credit to the Friends of Big Bear Valley for sharing the live eagle cam. Late last week they had snow – you can see mom got dusted during the flurry. But she stayed on task and kept the eggs warm.
Another shift change happening:
...with a view of the eggs before one of the pair fly’s off:
And here she is getting more twigs and branches to tuck in beside her to keep the eggs warm. If you had to build a nest using only your mouth, this is what it’d look like.
From the comments on the live chat it appears the eaglets are expected to begin hatching around February 29th. That process can take a few days. Then after about 10 more weeks the eaglets will begin their fledging – flying away from the nest. They can hang around for another month before heading off and starting a life of their own.
Music
And this reminder/invitation to support the new Corbett’s down off ‘The Avenue.’ Stop by Saturday, March 9th at noon and/or Saturday, April 13th at noon. I’m taking some of the Saturday lunch sets. Lots of activities happening in the venue – food, pickleball, cornhole, and lots of TV’s if you want to keep up with sports that are happening. And music. I’m hoping the weather will be slightly warmer so I don’t have to be bookended by heaters. Corbett’s is located at 340 N. 6th Ave.
It was great seeing a sellout crowd on Sunday for the Tucson Wildlife Center gala. Offering the music during their silent auction/gathering time was fun. And of course we at the ward 6 office love the work Lisa and her team do for the regional critters. If you’d like to become more familiar with them you can check at:
https://tucsonwildlife.com/
I’m still working with Tohono Chul on other dates.
Immigration and Street Releases
Last week both the city and county had conversations about the looming loss of federal funds that the county has been relying on to manage the housing and logistics of the legally processed asylum seekers (migrants) we’ve been seeing for the past decade. The county role really escalated when we lost use of the Benedictine. As the number of migrants has steadily increased, so have the costs. The county is spending roughly $1M per week on managing this work, largely in cooperation with Catholic Community Services (CCS.) During each of the city/county meetings held last week both governing bodies agreed that we’re not in a position to come out of pocket and fund the work when/if the federal government walks away from their obligations. That could happen as soon as the end of March. If the number of migrants doesn’t decline significantly by then we could well see hundreds of people dropped on city streets every day. It began to happen in San Diego over the weekend. There’s no reason to believe the numbers are going to decline.
In fact, the end of March is Easter week. Historically our experience has been that around the holidays we see a surge in numbers. So the imperfect storm could be that as our funding expires, our numbers will escalate. If this was a hurricane in the southeast FEMA would be on site with housing and logistical resources. But this isn’t an act of God. It’s the failure of congress. FEMA so far has not indicated they’ll be players in helping to solve this looming humanitarian condition.
Here’s what we’re facing. Even if we identify a location for Border Patrol (CBP) to drop migrants, there’ll still be a need to staff, feed, house and transport the group to whatever transit function they’re using to get to next of kin. There are logical locations – it's the money that’s in short supply. A big thank you to Abraham for his very generous donation to CCS. More on donations below.
One member of the Board of Supervisors said they should never have taken the first dollar from the feds. If they had not then either of two things would have resulted; either the county and city would have been spending millions of our own dollars to manage this federal immigration issue, or there would certainly have been thousands of people being dropped on our streets without any clue as to how to get to their next destination. And remember, that would have been taking place throughout COVID. The federal money to fund the federal problem is an absolute necessity.
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And one city council member who has clearly not been involved in this issue said that the numbers we’re seeing ‘fluctuate - some days we get a lot and other days we don’t see any new arrivals.’ The fact is we haven’t seen a day with nobody arriving in 5 years, at best. The low end of the daily average is about 700 new people showing up. And they’re coming from all over the world. Both of these guys need to get educated on what’s really happening before offering up advice.
And to be clear, people do not put their lives at risk and travel thousands of miles because they want a change of scenery. The people CBP is processing at the border are legally processed asylum seekers. When they arrive at a county facility they are here legally, pending the outcome of their asylum claim. The fact that the adjudication of the claim can take years is also an example of failure at the federal level. But we have a system in place, and the people arriving at Casa Alitas are placed in our custody by CBP as a part of that process.
Right now, there are several actions being taken. One is that I’m in touch with some of the CCS staff trying to work out contingency plans. At the same time, I’m being careful to stay connected with county staff so work is coordinated. In addition Mike Ortega, Jan Lesher and both the mayor and chair of the Board of Supervisors are working together to message the governor and our federal delegation to make it clear that we cannot – and should not – fund this work from local dollars. They all know that – the problem is this has become an ideological battle and the migrants involved are being used as political pawns. On the ground we’re working for humanitarian solutions. On the political level they’re working to impress their respective constituencies.
We will continue to be a donation drop site. The clothing, kids toys, lotions and sunscreens, shampoos and toothpaste – all still needed in large amounts. If you’d prefer to let CCS make their own buys depending on the needs of the day you can either bring gift cards (Walmart/Costco) or checks made out to Catholic Community Services. Please do NOT bring cash to the ward 6 office. We’re not set up for that.
We’re open M-F from 9am until 1pm. Thank you for your faithfulness in helping with this cause. Sadly, it’s not going to get solved as long as there are political motives driving the narrative in D.C. If we start to see families dropped on the street in Tucson (or anywhere in Southern Arizona) the people who will own that result are supposed to be representing us in D.C. We’ll do what we can to work through the local logistics – and thank you for your help with that – and we’ll do what we can to move the necessary political needles that are right now preventing real solutions from being implemented.
UA/Board of Regents
There were a few changes made in the UA financial mismanagement issue last week. One that has been obvious to everybody who has paid any attention to this was finally conceded by John Arnold, the interim CFO in his presentation to Board of Regents (ABOR.) He said ‘in retrospect’ the UA should have understood ‘a little bit better’ the financial downward trajectory they were on long before it was announced late last fall. And shortly after that ground-breaking revelation ABOR approved a $5M annual contract for the basketball coach and a $1.2M annual contract for the new athletics director. Both are 5-year deals. For you French history majors this quote seems apt: “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” - the more things change, the more they stay the same. (Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.)
Another new development came out of the California court of appeals. Ashford University (now the UA global campus) had been fined about $22M for misleading students about programs and outcomes. The 4th Appellate District court knocked off about $900K in the violations only because they said they occurred outside of the statute of limitations. But Ashford is still on the hook for $21M in fines. The UA doesn’t feel they should own that penalty despite the fact that they took on all of Ashfords assets and liabilities. Another court will decide that. The unethical history Ashford brought to the table is only one of the reasons multiple staff and faculty at the UA urged Robbins to not get in bed with them. That ship has now sailed and the financial implications – including the possible return of up to $72M in student loans – are still being sorted out. The same guy who said the UA should have ‘understood a little bit better’ the financial mess is the same guy who said Ashford has been nothing but a positive financial addition to the UA.
ABOR presented their new report on financial progress to the governor last week. Here’s a tweet from Governor Hobbs’ account:
The University of Arizona's financial crisis is rooted in a lack of accountability, transparency & leadership. We must take action to restore the public’s trust.
One part of the new report affirms that UA officials knew Ashford was both financially and ethically a risky proposition. And yet they rushed ahead and bought it anyway. Hobbs’ response was that those concerns ‘appear to have been brushed aside by UA leadership during the acquisition.’ There’ll be more justifying statements coming from Robbins team in the days ahead, I’m sure.
The faculty senate also met last week. The first 90 minutes of their meeting was a data-driven dive into the finances and expressions of concern about the approach that group sees the Robbins team seemingly embracing. Gary Rhodes is a professor who I actually had as an instructor years ago when I was working on my Higher Education Management masters degree. He’s still there and is now leading the faculty response to what they see Robbins doing. He and I have a bit in common – we both call BS when we see it. Here’s an example from Gary’s presentation that’s related to the purchase of Ashford.
When the UA purchased Ashford, it came with $265M in operating expenses. One of the criticisms ABOR has laid at the UA’s feet is their days’ cash on hand is headed to about 70 – the ABOR policy is to have 140 days cash on hand. With the acquisition of another $265M in operating expenses that 140 should have increased. The interim CFO says Ashford’s purchase resulted in a $47M windfall to the UA. Rhodes points out that in order to stay even with the ABOR ‘cash on hand’ policy they should have brought in over $100M. The CFO says the UA global campus is budgeted to see a $3M surplus next year. Here’s Rhodes’ response – I wish I had thought of it:
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The General Faculty Finance Review Committee that Rhodes is heading is focused in part on rightsizing the UA global campus (Ashford.) They want to see administrative staff reduced by 30%, the elimination of overlapping programs and academic staff Ashford brought over to the UA with them, and a reduction in the Ashford operating budget by nearly $40M. All of that was made clear during the faculty senate meeting.
There’s a group formed from within the general faculty called the Committee of 11 (C11.) It’s comprised of 10 members from the general faculty and the faculty chair. They had invited Robbins to attend the meeting and be prepared to answer some of their questions. He failed to appear, so they issued the questions and are hoping to see a response. Here’s what they want from Robbins. Much of it is related to the state legislature’s bill I had in last weeks newsletter, that’s attempting to ban ‘shared governance.’ The C11 wants to know where Robbins stands on the bill since he has at least given lip service to the concept of sharing policy making authority.
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Following the Rhodes/C11 presentations the faculty senate meeting took a turn that changed focus from the UA leadership over to ABOR, and to Fred Duval, the ABOR chair. The faculty senate chair wanted to dig into whether or not Duval had a conflict of interest due to his involvement on the board of an investment group that lists the UA as a significant client. One claim appeared to be that Duval had tried to hide the relationship because any reference to the affiliation had been ‘taken down’ from his social media page. In fact, if you do a quick google search the connection quickly and clearly comes up. Duval took exception to the ‘poor research’ done by the chair and concluded “I frankly now doubt the accuracy and credibility of any one (my emphasis) of the many accusations that are being made against the UA and Robbins.” And Duval retained an attorney who issued a ‘cease and desist’ order to stop the faculty senate chair from that line of questioning. Don’t look for the exchange on the UA site – it has now been removed.
Even some of the members of the faculty senate tried to redirect the discussion to the finances and UA leadership. I agree. Anyone paying attention knows there are some ABOR members who are shilling for Robbins. That’s not the issue. The issue is getting the right leadership in the saddle in Old Main. I’ve been clear in stating that I do not believe that’s Robbins. For Duval to claim he now doubts the accuracy of ‘any one’ of the accusations being made is simply a crock. Even the interim CFO admitted to ABOR that they should have been aware of the impending financial mess. It’s too bad this has now shifted to a ‘lawyer-up’ episode and not one focused on the task of getting solid leadership on campus. The Rhodes presentation was where the focus should be.
There were also challenges raised related to the centralization of the I.T. units from across campus. That’s bringing roughly 600 I.T. workers from across campus into a central I.T. unit that has about 300 staff. The claims were made that the move could put significant grant funded work at risk, it’s unclear what if anything is anticipated being saved by the move, what costs will be created by consolidating I.T. and what are the metrics the UA will use to determine later on if the move was a success. So far none of that is known – all that is known is the mantra of centralization seems to be carrying the day.
From the Rhodes presentation it was made clear that 8 operating units (including athletics) make up 90% of the overall UA deficit. Here’s the concluding frame from his presentation – the question mark is where the focus of this should be. It appears the governor will have to step more aggressively towards the UA mess since ABOR is now at odds with the UA faculty representatives.
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Plastic
Last week was our first double digit tonnage collection week since the ‘pilot’ program started in August, 2022. Your donations topped 13 tons last week. Well over half of that came from the ward 6 donation site. It’s great to see the program so widely accepted and embraced by the community.
Beginning on Thursday, March 7th the San Xavier Kiwanis Club will be at our collection site from 9am until 1pm. They’ll be there offering people assistance in the drop-off process. Sort of a drive up/stay in your car/others will toss your material process. We’re grateful to Kiwanis for their participation. Whatever it takes to make things easier and your trip to the bin less of a burden. While they’re on site they’ll have a table where you can make a donation to their club if you’d like to. The funds will go to support their Student of the Month program that’s being offered at Catalina High School, Tucson High School, Cholla and Pueblo High Schools. They’ll be on site each Thursday through March doing this service work.
And a big thanks to Dora and Jose who staffed our table at the Saturday Peace Fair held over in Armory Park. It’s great to have these opportunities to continue spreading the word about this program. And it’s great to have staffers who are willing to carve out some of their weekend time helping out.
In addition to all of the local and regional interest in the plastics program last week I was contacted by a guy from the Guam Solid Waste division. They want to know how our program is progressing, and asked for information about projects we’ve completed using the blocks. Guam is no different than any other jurisdiction – they've got plastic they don’t know what to do with. In fact, ByFusion has already been in touch with the Governor of Guam, their Lieutenant Governor and some of their cabinet members about the landfill diversion work we’re teaming up to support. What we’re doing in Tucson is going to be replicated – or others will cherry-pick parts of what we’re doing – all over the world. As the saying goes, ‘there’s no planet B.’ Here’s a very partial map showing the Guam folks where ByFusion has already been successful in partnering. Note Tucson and our multiple projects.
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Here’s a close up of one of the projects on that list. It’s another example of the direction we’re headed as this project becomes fully implemented.
In Phoenix last week another plastics-focused program was started. It’s much more restrictive than our partnership with ByFusion since the Phoenix ‘recycling factory’ can only use plastic #’s 2 and 5. Those are toys and some food packaging. That model is going to require a significant amount of sorting, and unless they self-monitor what’s being donated, they’re going to be buried in plastic they simply can’t use. That will cost them money to landfill. Phoenix can learn from us once we’re up and running.
Keep your donations coming. We love being #1.
Pima Animal Care Trap-Neuter-Return Event
Our friends out at PACC are hosting a free spay and neuter event. It will actually take place over the March 8th, 9th, 10th weekend. It’s specifically for ‘community cats’ - cats who are wandering your neighborhood without a home. Anybody in the community is welcome to take part in this important event.
If you see a stray the easiest way to determine whether it has been fixed is to look and see if it has a ‘tipped ear.’ That’s where a veterinarian goes in and surgically removes a portion of the tip of the cat’s ear – it signifies the animal has been spayed or neutered. This program is not for those animals.
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In order to participate please bring the cat to the event in a secure cat carrier or trap. Anybody bringing the cat in is also responsible for returning the cat back to the neighborhood in which is was found. To be eligible kittens must weigh at least 1.5 pounds and must have a caretaker who’ll monitor them for a while after surgery.
If you need to borrow a humane cat trap or carrier you should contact PACC’s community cat program by emailing communitycats@pima.gov. It’s estimated that community cats produce up to 80% of the kittens that are born every year. Many don’t survive until adulthood. The TNR is the most humane and effective tool we’ve got to control the cat baby boom that happens in communities throughout the country. And with the weather warming shelters are bracing for a large influx of orphaned cats. PACC is already beginning to see pregnant cats being dropped at their facility.
Each cat attending the event will need its own appointment – no multiple cats under one booking please. Here’s what your cat will receive during the exam:
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A brief exam by licensed veterinarian
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FVRCP (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia) vaccines
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Rabies vaccines
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Parasite treatment as needed
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Minor medical care as needed
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Microchip implantation
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An eartip (humanely conducted under anesthesia)
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Female cats will also receive a green tattoo next to spay site (humanely conducted under anesthesia)
During the fall ‘Snip n’ Tip’ event PACC spayed or neutered over 600 cats. It’d be great if they could exceed that number during the March event.
Social Security Scams
Thursday, March 7th is National Scam Alert Day. It’s a day set aside by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide broad education on scams that they’re seeing, and to give practical advice on how to avoid becoming a victim. The information doesn’t need to wait another 2 weeks to be shared.
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It’s called National Slam the Scam Day. The goal is to help protect family members from getting bilked by predators. Some of them pose as government workers whose only real intent is to steal personal information and drain a savings account. A part of being vigilant is also to give easy tools you can use to report scam attempts. Those reports should go to the Social Security Office of the Inspector General. Please use this link to report scam attempts. |
Click here to report a scam
If you’d like to get more information on what steps you or loved ones can take to protect your accounts please browse over this link: www.ssa.gov/scam
This flyer is one you can clip out and hang in a prominent place in the home of people you feel may benefit from having these tips ready at hand. And watch for information related to the March 7th Slam Scam day coming from the SSA.
Pima Community College Futures Conference
As many of you know Pima College is working through a change of leadership. Former Chancellor Lee Lambert left for a new assignment in California. Now the governing board, along with Interim Chancellor Dolores Duran-Cerda is hosting an event in which they want to hear from residents and the business community about how PCC can fit more solidly into their priorities.
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One primary goal is to secure a reaffirmation of PCC’s accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. Community engagement and refocusing priorities will be one of the keys to achieving that.
Pima Community College’s Chief Strategy Officer Nic Richmond will moderate the community event. Here’s a rough agenda for the Futures Conference:
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PCC's strategic priorities for 2024-2026
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Identification of priorities regarding enrollment, retention, equity and social justice
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Assessment of the Centers of Excellence in Automotive Technology, Aviation Technology and Cybersecurity/IT
What they hear from attendees will help to frame Pima’s future direction. The event will be held at the Hilton DoubleTree at Reid Park on Friday, March 8th from 9am until around noon. You can attend either in person or on line. Please use this link to get registered.
There will be an early breakfast time from 8am until the program begins at 9am.
Easter at the Zoo
Easter weekend is coming on March 30th and 31st . The zoo folks are hosting their annual Easter Extravaganzoo – open to all, regardless of your faith tradition.
The event starts on both days at 7:30am and will run until around 10am. It’ll include an Easter egg hunt that’ll take you through a variety of portions of the zoo, breakfast and likely a visit from the Easter Bunny. One of my grandsons says the Easter Bunny is just a person dressed up in a costume. I know better – and we’ll prove that at the zoo.
Bring your Easter basket or bucket for the egg gathering part of the fun. You’re kids will turn in the eggs they find in exchange for a treat bag. And of course there’ll be special prizes for kids who find the golden eggs.
City Budget Town Hall
The city is working through our budget process – we'll have a final proposed budget in front of us late spring. Well ahead of that we want to hear your priorities – ideas as to where you’d like to see us invest our dollars. Actually they’re your dollars. How do you want us to invest them into the community.
Representatives from our budget office will be at the Ward 6 Office on Thursday, February 29th to share a presentation on our budget status, and importantly to gather your input. The meeting will begin at 5:30 in our community room. Please carve out time to come and get this important information, and be ready to share your thoughts on the direction of our spending. We appreciate city staff making the time to come out and meet with the community. As we’ve seen in the past, it’d be great to show our budget team a full and engaged house on the 29th.
Tree Climbing Contest
Remember when you were younger and every tree got the once-over as a possible ‘good tree to climb?’ On Friday, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th from 10am until 4pm the city, in partnership with Tucson Clean and Beautiful is hosting our annual Tree Festival & Climbing Championship at Reid Park. You won’t see this during the event:
Arizona Arborists will take part in the climbing competition on both days, simulating the challenges they face during their daily work. On Saturday there’ll be tables with exhibits, food trucks and family activities – on the ground. This flyer has the information on the event.
City Parks Job Fair
It’s time for the city parks leadership to begin staffing up for our summer programs. There will be a summer jobs fair held on Friday, March 15th all day at the Parks administration building located at 900 S. Randolph Way. The fair will be your first opportunity to get signed up as an instructor/lifeguard/or other summer temp worker for Parks. The event begins at 9am.
This flyer has all of the information on the event. Each of the job opportunities has its own eligibility requirements so coming to this event and learning where you can fit in is important. It’d be great to see you there, and to get our programs fully staffed.
Ready, Set, Rec
And with Parks on the mind, here’s the March Ready, Set, Rec van schedule for ward 6. I encourage this each month when I share these schedules – if you haven’t taken the time to visit the van when it’s in your park, you should. With or without kids there’s something you’ll find fun, and that will add a level of health to your day.
Duffy Neighborhood Flea Market
Our friends in Duffy are not really selling fleas. But they are hosting a neighborhood-wide flea market. They’re inviting neighbors from all over to come and browse through the goodies the Duffy folks will have for sale.
The event is coming on Saturday, March 16th from 8am until 1pm. It’ll be held in the parking lot at Christ Methodist Church – located at 655 N. Craycroft. This is about the time of year when many of our ward 6 neighborhoods start to do these community-building events. Please join our friends in Duffy – get to know them and share about what your own neighborhood is planning. These are fun ways to find some ‘stuff’ that you just must have, and ways to exchange inter-neighborhood tidbits of information.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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