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For some who drop by the Ward 3 Office occasionally, you may have met Arnie's dog, Sol. During last week's staff meeting, Sol proposed that the Office staff's pets should swap places with their owners and let the pets handle Ward 3 operations today. Admittingly, it is one of the best ideas to come out of any staff meeting.
 Kevin Dog the newest face on the Tucson City Council.
Naturally, Sol is the most familiar with Ward 3, so he will be Council Member Kevin Dog. Council Member Dahl's dog Bella was upset not to be selected as top dog and has decided she will be spending most of her time taking naps in the rainwater harvesting garden. Scuba will be making sure all the dogs stay alert and aren't sleeping on the job.
 Harper hard at work solving Ward 3 constituent issues.
Harper will be handling constituent services. Due to the lack of thumbs, emails might be slower today, but she is trying out bark-to-text to speed things along. Hydra and Mona have scheduled a meeting with the Fire Department to discuss changing the mascot to a cat instead of a dalmatian.
 Scuba and Mona eager to get started handling worker productivity.
As for policy work, I hear Belle, Buddy, Rosie, Red, and Ringo are trying to mandate that each pet in City limits have at least 4 treats per day and all meetings be replaced by simultaneous napping. If you need anything today, just remember: it’s all paws on deck!
 Bella our newest policy wonk.
I continue to work on a single policy aimed at reclaiming our public spaces, reducing vehicle fatalities, reducing pollution and increasing our most valuable resource: community. This ordinance would remove personal vehicles on public roads and streets in a phased approach over the next three years. Golf carts for Fire and Health workers would be allowed and we will continue to upgrade our bus fleet and expand the street car.
While the personal vehicle has become wildly popular over the last handful of decades, I believe bringing choice back for Tucsonans on how to travel about town is imperative. We look forward to seeing horses, donkeys, burros, and ponies return to our City streets and allow for more bicyclists and walkers to take up space. To facilitate this process we will be rolling out a Cars for Ponies Program, allowing vehicle owners to trade in their cars for a choice of pack animal. We ask that ponies and donkeys be reserved for new riders due to limited quantities.
 The newest additions to City of Tucson fleet. 100% better for the environment than any electric vehicles.
We expect push back from community members that feel the ordinance does not give people enough time to restructure their lives around a new way of moving around. While we understand that transitions are challenging we believe in our communities ability to prioritize our collective well being and take on this challenge with gusto. We fear the pace at which some community members feel comfortable with change is not in line with the impact Tucsonans want to see. I believe this ordinance will provide immediate benefits helping to ease the strongest skeptics.
 Left: Chief of Staff Katie Bolger, Council Aide Marlene Avelino, Council Member Kevin Dahl, Communications Manager Arnie Bermudez, and in foreground Mike Edmonds.
Savings from City fleet reductions and roads maintenance will fully fund this transition, including monthly stipend for animal feed and insurance costs. Additionally, job creation is set to be off the charts, bringing back traditional jobs in line with our environmental and community goals. Animal husbandry, veterinarians, street poop clean up crews, braiding and ribbon tying, not to mention the fun stuff we usually only get during Rodeo Week like prancing and cute outfits.
We welcome input at this time and look forward to community conversations. Yee haw.
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