A Message from Steve K...03/04/2024

• Friends of Big Bear Valley

• 2024 Silver Spike Railroad Jubilee

• Immigration and Street Releases

• Tucson Water Safety Testing

• UA/Board of Regents

• TEP Midtown Reliability Project 

• Plastic

• Old Tucson – Nick C. Hall

• Pima County Flu/RSV/COVID   

And this guy almost landed on top of the camera when he came in for his turn on the nest. 

The ceremony will include a display of the original 1880 silver spike, the 4th U.S. Cavalry band, crafts, family fun and a Proclamation. It’s all family friendly – stop by and enjoy the event. 

Immigration and Street Releases 

https://www.kold.com/2024/02/29/san-diego-tucson-gets-look-what-may-happen-when-migrant-funding-runs-out/   

And Paul Ingram from the Tucson Sentinel wrote a good piece on how we got here, and what we might be seeing in the days to come: 

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/022724_migrant_funding/as-pima-county-runs-out-funds-sheltering-migrants-whats-next/  

Crying ‘open borders’ is lazy political rhetoric. The issues surrounding this problem are complex. They include broken political systems in developing countries all over the world, severe poverty and violence in developing countries, our own immigration system that leaves people in this country for years pending the adjudication of their immigration and/or asylum claims, too few enforcement agents on the border and too few judges adjudicating the cases, and now a failure to fund the local efforts we’ve been engaged with while managing the logistics that are the fallout from this failed federal policy mix. Both parties have a foot in the fault poo on this issue.  

When/if the funding runs out neither the city nor the county is in a position to pull the million dollars per week from our general funds that it has been costing to do the on-the-ground logistics for the migrants. We will still have the Casa Alitas shelter in operation under the management of Catholic Community Services (CCS.) They’ll keep running the place – with a capacity of around 150 people per day – after the funding runs out. They will rely on private donations of both moneys, and the provisions you’ve been bringing to the ward 6 office in support of this effort. Those needs continue to be lotions, hygiene products, warm clothing, gloves, ball caps, kids' toys, sunscreen, and backpacks. We’re open M-F from 9am until 1pm. We appreciate the heart of Tucsonans willing to step towards these needs.   

And we look forward to seeing some positive action on this from the congress in D.C., but keep in mind this border crisis is a choice congress has made through a multi-year long neglect of legislating solutions. All we’re trying to do at the local level is manage the logistics of the mess they’ve created. 

So that all speaks to our supply challenges and the need for conservation measures. Tucson Water offers rebates on several fixtures and systems that you can buy to help us conserve water – both inside the house and out in your yard. Please use this link to see all that’s available: 

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Water/Conservation   

With a stressed supply we have simply got to assure that our groundwater supply is not tainted with PFAS or other pollutants. We have been ‘banking’ roughly 44,000-acre feet of water pretty much each year for as long as I’ve been on the city council. Right now, we have about a 6-year supply of water stored for the day we can no longer rely on the Colorado. Tucson Water is doing a great job of testing for all sorts of toxins so that we can treat for what they find. You can see in this pie chart that nearly half of all the testing TW does is simply to be sure our water quality is safe. 

But note that I’ve also highlighted 1,4 Dioxane, Lead, and Trichloroethene (TCE.) We’ve built multimillion dollar treatment plants to treat for 1,4 and TCE. And the Get the Lead Out program Tucson Water has in place is effective in assuring people aren’t exposed to that pollutant. We at the ward 6 office are so supportive of TW’s good work on behalf of the water quality in this community.  

When we do test, we do the water sample analyses at an in-house lab. That saves both moneys, and importantly it saves time. When the DOD tests for PFAS out by the base it takes them 4-6 weeks to get the results back. Tucson Water gets our results in about 48 hours. We know what’s in the water in real time. The Department of Defense knows over a month later. 

I’ll open this week’s section on the on-going UA financial mess with this quote about crisis management. It’s something Robbins and some of the ABOR team might have considered when they announced the current financial crisis they’re trying to corral. 

What is the first rule of crisis management? 

Irrespective of the type of damage that has been caused, the first rule of crisis management is to put out the fire, rather than fuel it.  

Each week they seem to toss another bucket of gas onto the fire. In the past week Robbins/ABOR also chose to open another front in the battle. And yes, it has become an unfortunate battle between the UA administration, faculty/senate, student groups, the community and now the governor. And by the way – picking a fight with the governor is not a real smart strategy to managing a fiscal crisis. She can veto any financial allocation coming her way from the Arizona State Legislature. It remains to be seen what authority she has and will exert when it comes to making changes in administration. Here’s a snippet I pulled from Inside Higher Education on Friday – we're national news among colleges and universities, for all the wrong reasons. 

Last week Governor Hobbs issued yet another scathing letter directed at Robbins and ABOR. This followed the faculty senate meeting and ABOR chair Duval’s ‘lawyering up’ in response to questions being asked about whether or not he had a conflict of interest based on some of his professional relationships. During the faculty senate meeting another ABOR member who is aligned with Robbins advocated for him to set up a new faculty advisory group – which in fact he is now in the process of doing. Here are some portions of the Hobbs letter to UA ‘leadership’ and ABOR.  

“It is crystal clear that the handling of the University of Arizona crisis is heading in the wrong direction. New facts have come to light that once again show the Arizona Board of Regents failed in their oversight role and highlight a university leadership that was clueless as to their own finances. In the past days, instead of addressing their failure of leadership, ABOR has told conflicting stories to me, the press, and the public about the purchase of Ashford University. And while I have not been given the facts and therefore cannot comment about the veracity of recent statements from faculty regarding ABOR board members potential conflicts of interest, I do know one thing: ABOR members attacking faculty, even going so far as threatening a lawsuit, is not leadership.” 

Governor Hobbs has now become what I noted above, opening a new front in the ongoing battle. She included giving conflicting stories to the press – and she’s right. Here’s more from her letter -  

“I cannot be more clear: because of Chair Duval and the Board’s actions, university employees are going to lose their jobs. Attacking faculty is not, and never will be, the answer.

“Instead of taking any accountability and guiding with a steady hand, ABOR is circling the wagons and announcing they are litigating personal grudges during Board meetings. In the February 22nd meeting, an ABOR member openly called for President Robbins to overthrow the faculty's governing body. This behavior is appalling and unacceptable. Chair DuVal and members of the Board of Regents appear more concerned with saving face than fixing the problems they created. It’s time for them to come down from their ivory tower and realize this is hurting Arizonans and the university.” 

Here is her full statement: Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement Monday    

So, what does Robbins do in response? He ignores the content of the governor’s letter and begins to form his own hand-picked advisory council. The Hobbs letter went out on February 26th.  Here’s that Robbins sent out the next day:  

“To further increase input, guidance, and consultation from and with a wider group of important campus stakeholders, I am pleased to announce the formation of the University Advisory Council. As a proponent and strong supporter of shared governance and community feedback, I look forward to expanding our ability to gather valuable perspectives from more voices across the University of Arizona.  

My office is finalizing the University Advisory Council charter, and I am working with the deans and other leaders to identify inaugural council members. Membership details will be announced in the coming weeks, and we plan to have our first meeting in March.”  

Some are wondering why set up a new council when he has ignored the input from many of the members serving on existing advisory groups, faculty, staff and the community. Clearly hand-picking your advisors is one way of assuring group think. And announcing it the day after the governor noted that she was ‘appalled’ by the threat to dismantle the existing faculty senate advisory group was pretty gutsy – in her face, one might say. The words hubris and imperious come to mind.  

ABOR chair Duval’s response was to step down from the chairmanship of ABOR – but to remain on the board. Similarly, ABOR member John Arnold announced a temporary leave from the board so he can continue in his role of ‘interim CFO’ - his way of acknowledging the perceived conflict the governor had pointed out in her first blistering letter. Quick note – the allegations of Duval having a conflict of interest were said to be a function of his being a voting member of ABOR, not that he was the chair. And in Arnold’s case, taking a temporary leave from the board doesn’t seem to materially change his longer-term relationship with that body – it's unclear how the leave addresses the governor’s concern over him wearing dual hats. If these two guys had really wanted to be responsive to Hobbs’ concerns, both would simply have resigned from ABOR. And Robbins still has that off-ramp to consider.  

Throughout the public unraveling of Robbins’ administration’s credibility, they’ve pointed to identifying priorities as being one way of resurrecting the failed financial management planning. One area that’s currently under further review as a priority appears to be the UA’s climate action plan. Their media relations person last week announced that they’re “reassessing how to approach final steps in the development of the university’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan to ensure it best supports the university’s Financial Action Plan.” Last fall there were 6 working groups who along with 2 teams of technical advisors presented nearly 100 recommendations to the Robbins team related to decarbonization. You can see the full list here:  nearly 100 recommendations . Now some of the people who were involved with presenting that list are joining the many others who see the backtracking as a loss of credibility. Comments such as “We are the only public university in Arizona that doesn’t have a climate action plan. It shows a lack of responsibility and accountability. “(Samantha Gonsalves-Wetherell – UA student.) And Nadira Mitchell (a Navajo student at the UA) made this point in a Grist article: “ 

“If sports funding isn’t cut and the climate action plan is,” she said, “that kind of shows what the university’s priorities are.” 

Otter Press has an article on crisis management. Here’s a list of their Top 10 guidelines in managing and/or preventing a crisis:  

I’ve circled the Vine substation in red. That’s the only one of the 3 proposed connection points that brings any controversy. To reach that location they will either have to build on one of our ‘gateway’ corridors or come straight through a residential neighborhood – or both. According to an existing city ordinance building on a gateway means they will have to install the lines underground. TEP is challenging that city ordinance in court right now.  

As the map of possible routes continues to be refined, I will share them with you. TEP is hosting another public open house on Thursday, March 28th beginning at 6pm. It’ll be held at the Doubletree on Alvernon, across from Reid Park.  

If you’d like more information on the project, you can go to their website at www.tep.com/midtown. There you’ll find an interactive map. I clicked on many of the streets shown on the map to see how their project status is being described. On each one of them this description came up: 

At many of the speaking engagements I go to addressing the plastics program someone asks if they should continue tossing the water bottles and other food containers into the blue bin. The short answer is that it’s up to you – if you separate out the 1’s and 2’s (food and beverage containers) and use the blue bin it helps the city offset some of our costs of operating this program. And it’ll help minimize the size of the pile of plastic that’s accumulating while the ByFusion plant is being designed and built. So all of that’s good. And if you don’t want to self-separate and instead choose to toss it into the orange bins at our office (or other drop sites around town) then the material will end up as blocks. The short message is that if it’s plastic, we’ll take it. You can help us both financially and logistically though if you’d use the blue bins for the water bottle types of products. The design/construction is taking longer than we’d like it to, so slowing the flow a bit would be helpful.  

Denise from Sam Hughes shared an article from The Week Morning Report – an online news source. The story was about how they’re reusing plastic in Cambodia. In Phnom Penh they’ve established some micro-businesses whose task it is to collect plastic debris and turn it into bristles for brooms. The warehouse they’re using turns about 5,000 bottles into brooms every day. They've done about 40 tons of bottles so far. Good for them for the creativity. Southeast Asia is the international dumping ground for plastic waste now that China isn’t taking it any longer. Seeing a productive use for the stuff is nice. 

From there the city will pick up the waste and turn it into a high-end composting material. We’ll have a truck load of the compost dropped at the ward 6 recycle area on Saturday, March 23rd. Please feel free to come by and get some for your lawn or garden.  

So far there are roughly 500 people signed up for the FoodCycle program. Of the 6 drop off locations we are proud to announce that ward 6 Highland Vista is by far leading the pack in terms of the amount collected.  

Keep it coming – and sign up to get involved if you haven’t already. Food waste amounts to about a third of the material we see at the landfill. Diverting it will have a significant impact on CO2 emissions, and the life of our landfill. The next informational session is coming on Saturday, March 9th at 9am. It’ll be held at the El Pueblo Activity Center – 101 W. Irvington, building 9. Take the class and then head over to Corbett’s at noon for some fun and music. You can use this link to sign up for the informational class:  Sign Up Link 

A short while back local free-lancer David Leighton contacted me and asked if I knew who Nick C. Hall was. I did not – I do now, and we’re getting ready to honor him.  

Nick C. Hall was born in Tarkio, Missouri in 1882. He and his family bounced around until 1934 when he was hired to manage the Santa Rita Hotel in downtown Tucson. Hall saw the potential for Tucson and the surrounding area to become a hotbed for the film industry. If you read this newsletter much you know I’m passionate about reinvigorating that industry in Pima County. Because of Hall’s work the lobby of the Santa Rita Hotel was soon filled with movie people. 

In 1938 MGM showed up and engaged Hall in finding about 900 locals to work as extras in the movie Let Freedom Ring. He opened a casting office next door to the hotel. The film premiered at the Fox later that year. Hall was instrumental in facilitating multiple other films in the Tucson area. Many of them were westerns. The following year Arizona Governor R.T. Jones proclaimed Nick C. Hall as the honorary mayor of Old Tucson – he's still the only mayor the movie set has ever had. Hall got busy working with others to build what is now the Old Tucson movie set. It would not have existed without his efforts.  

With the help of County Administrator Lesher and Visit Tucson CEO Felipe Garcia, David and I were able to connect with some of the current operators out at Old Tucson. We presented them with the idea of naming a building out there for Nick. They immediately agreed and took the idea one step further. At their suggestion there will soon be a museum exhibit out at Old Tucson honoring his work. 

I’ll close with a quick update on how Pima County is doing with respect to the flu, RSV and COVID. It’s some good news, some not so great news, and a reminder that vaccines are still available.  

So far this flu season Pima County has seen a 129% increase over the 5-season rolling average. Of the 2,859 confirmed cases of the flu, it’s people in the 19–49-year age group that are most affected. That’s much different than the age group most impacted by RSV. With that respiratory disease Pima County has seen a 97% increase – 930 confirmed cases. It’s little kids who make up over a third of all cases – ages 1-4. Talk to your doctor and see if getting vaccinated for either of these makes sense for you given your age, health condition and the fact that we’re into March now and perhaps – hopefully – at the tail end of the season.  

Vaccinations for COVID are evidently not a thing for most people any longer. The strains we’re seeing are not as deadly as they were in 2020 and 2021. And there’s some built-up immunity as a result of vaccines and people having suffered through COVID infections. Still, I found the data in this chart a bit surprising – there's not an age grouping with close to 25% vaccinated status until you get to people older than 60. And at the bottom of the age ranges it’s all single figure vaccination status. 

In December the CDC issued a notice saying there was an “urgent need to increase immunization coverage” for all 3 of these diseases. Each of them can still be very serious, with your individual vulnerability increasing or decreasing depending on age and health factors. Your doctor is still the best person to check with on whether you should get vaccinated.   

Thanks to the Pima County health folks for continuing to monitor these data for our region.