Political reporter Christopher Conover at AZ Public Media had a good report (see above link) about the recent AZ Supreme Court ruling in favor of the City of Tucson’s city-wide, partisan elections (the only city left in the state with this system). In 2009 then – LD 30 State Senator Jonathan Paton (R) pushed through legislation which the Governor signed, to stop this practice, which has been in place via Tucson’s City Charter (and duly voted upon by the City voters). The City of Tucson appealed that legislation. It was a matter of local control by a City vs. whether the State Legislature could overrule the choice by City voters.

Consequently, with this ruling that 2009 law will not go into effect after all, and the next City election in Nov. 2013 will remain partisan (Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, etc.) and the Councilmembers will run city-wide, though they have to live in their respective wards.

One argument against city-wide elections is the case of when a Councilmember can be elected by a majority of the voters of the City of Tucson, but lose in his/her own respective ward. But the argument for city-wide elections is that the 6 Councilmembers vote on issues affecting the entire City of Tucson.

Who’s up for election in 2013: Ward 3 Councilmember Karin Uhlich (D), Ward 5 Councilmember Richard Fimbres (D), and Ward 6 Councilmember Steve Kozachik (R).
Karin was first elected in 2005, and both Richard and Steve were elected in 2009.

Counclmember Steve Kozachik

This Wednesday April 4, the invited guest speaker will be Ward 6 Republican Councilmember Steve Kozachik, who was elected in Nov. 2009, upsetting incumbent Democratic Councilmember Nina Trasoff. The email notice from Drinking Liberally states:

Steve has been busy butting heads with his own party over the recent spate of state bills aimed squarely at Tucson and Pima County, and over the Rio Nuevo board appointed to ‘fix’ our TIF district.

Drop by The Shanty (NE corner of E. 9th St. and 4th Avenue) after 6 p.m. to hear “The Koz” speak on these City of Tucson issues, and to answer questions.

More info on Councilmember Kozachik (click here).

Other Republicans who have been invited to speak at Drinking Liberally in the past (as far as I remember) have been LD 30 State Senator Frank Antenori, former LD 30 Senator Jonathan Paton and House Rep. Marian McClure, and District 4 Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll.

The other City Councilmembers currently serving are Ward 3 Karin Uhlich (D), Ward 5 Richard Fimbres (D), and Ward 6 Steve Kozachik (R). They are up for re-election in two years.

The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Tucson Convention Center (TCC) in the North meeting rooms. Thereafter the Pima County Democratic Party is hosting an inauguration luncheon at the TCC Ballroom, also at 260 S. Church Ave. Details for tickets below to this “Moving Tucson Forward” luncheon.

Additional invited guests: former Mayors Tom Volgy and George Miller.

Master of Ceremonies: Elliot Glicksman

Special Live Performance by Calexico and friends!

Congratulations again to the winners of the City’s 2011 General Election.

“In 1999 voters approved the creation of the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District (District). The District is both a municipal stadium district and a special taxing district. The voters authorized the District to receive an incremental portion of State-shared funds derived from transaction privilege taxes (i.e. sales tax called TIF Funds) collected from within the District boundaries within the City of Tucson city limits. The District is a State municipal district with the powers, privileges and immunities granted to governmental, municipal corporations for District purposes: a planned multi-faceted development project, including cultural and recreational amenities and improvements, unique historic re-creations, mixed-use developments, etc. The District was reorganized by the Arizona State Legislature in the fall of 2009 and the board re-appointed in March 2010. Expenditure of the TIF Funds collected is now disbursed and managed by the reconstituted Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District Board of Directors who as of 2010 are appointed by the State’s Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

From: http://rionuevo-tucson.org/

For more info on Rio Nuevo also see this City of Tucson webpage, with financial reports: http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/rionuevo

This 10 year (1999 to 2009) project has received a lot of attention recently due to conflicts between the City of Tucson Council and the new Rio Nuevo board, re-constituted by the State Legislature in March, 2010. Citizens have been asking about who were the Councilmembers (Democrats, Republicans, one Independent) during these 10 years, and beyond. Here’s the list of who was serving (as far as I remember):

Mayor: Robert Walkup (R), 1999 to present (not running for re-election 2011)
Ward 1: Jose Ibarra (D), 1999 to 2007; Regina Romero (D), 2007 to present (up for re-election 2011)
Ward 2: Carol West (D, I), 1999 to 2007; Rodney Glassman (D), 2007 to 2010; Paul Cunningham (D), appointed 2010 to present (up for election 2011)
Ward 3: Jerry Anderson (D), 1999 to 2001; Kathleen Dunbar (R), 2001 to 2005; Karin Uhlich (D), 2005 to present
Ward 4: Shirley Scott (D), 1999 to present (up for re-election 2011)
Ward 5: Steve Leal (D), 1999 to 2009; Richard Fimbres (D), 2009 to present
Ward 6: Fred Ronstadt (R), 1999 to 2005; Nina Trasoff (D), 2005 to 2009; Steve Kozachik (R), 2009 to present

(Some of these Councilmembers were serving before Rio Nuevo began, but I only list the starting point as 1999 when Rio Nuevo was created).

Those who were serving as elected officials during entire Rio Nuevo project: Mayor Bob Walkup, Councilmembers Steve Leal and Shirley Scott.

Those who came on the Council after late 2009: Councilmembers Richard Fimbres, Steve Kozachik, and Paul Cunningham.

And who were the Tucson City Managers during this time: Luis Gutierrez (1999), James Keene (2000 to 2005), and Mike Hein (2005 to 2009). Gutierrez is retired, Keene is now City Manager of Palo Alto, California, and Hein is Director of Pima County Emergency Management & Homeland Security.

Last November, 2010 I reported on the citizen outrage after an audit on Rio Nuevo was released about $230 million allegedly mismanaged:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/11/29/citizens-express-outrage-over-rio-nuevo-mismanagement/

Stay tuned as the City Council and the new Rio Nuevo board have recently agreed to mediate their differences.

If you’re curious (or passionate) about how Government works, attend any or all of these upcoming seminars at the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission:

“A Four-Part, 2011 Fall Seminar Series on How Local, State, and National elected officials get things done.”

How Government Works!

OCTOBER 13: City Government, with Councilman Steve Kozachik (Republican – Ward 6, City of Tucson)

OCTOBER 20: County Government, with Supervisor Sharon Bronson (Democrat – District 3, Pima County Board of Supervisors)

OCTOBER 27: State Government, with State Senator Linda Lopez (Democrat – LD 29 AZ State Senate)

NOVEMBER 10: U.S. Government, With Ruben Reyes, District Director, Office of Congressman Raul Grijalva (Democrat – Congressional District 7). Reyes is also husband to Democratic Ward 2 City of Tucson Councilwoman Regina Romero.

All four seminars begin at 7 p.m. on Thursdays at the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission building, 240 N. Court Avenue, in downtown Tucson (SE corner of Council St., west of Church Avenue.) Please register in advance – see flyer below.

Website for Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission.

A $10.00 tax-deductible donation is suggested. Ask about scholarships.
For further information call 520 622-0905.
Made possible with support from the Kaimas Foundation.

Expand your knowledge of how to participate in government by getting to know some of your elected officials and learning how ordinances and laws are created, interpreted, and administered.

His first guests were three Republicans — Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, facing a historic recall with over 18,000 signatures submitted by the Recall Pearce campaign, then District 4 Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll and Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik–the latter two were interviewed about the County and City budgets. They were followed by General John Wickham on Libya. Listen to the interviews (click here).

On June 2 Buckmaster interviewed Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup (who is in his 3rd term and not running for re-election), Congresswoman “Gabby” Giffords’ staffer Mark Kimble (former Associate Editor of the Tucson Citizen), RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes, and lastly legal advisor Donald Loose, Esq. about the new medical marijuana laws. Listen to these interviews (click here).

And if you want to hear previous interviews when Bill Buckmaster was on KJLL radio, log onto www.buckmastershow.com. If you miss any of his upcoming interviews on KVOI, log onto the same website.

To call in to this radio talk show, the phone # is 520-790-2040.

Registered voters in City of Tucson (as of April, 2011)

Democrats 99,877

Republicans 56,232

Independents/others 69,735

Libertarians 2135

Greens 857

Total registered voters right now in City of Tucson are 228,836 (all six wards)
which gives the Democrats almost a 2:1 edge over the Republicans, but there are almost 70,000 Independent voters who could vote either way in the primary.

But according to Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez and UA Asst. Prof. of Communications Kate Kenski, Independents have a low voter turnout, probably because they don’t choose to vote at all or belong to an organized party.

Back in the last City of Tucson election of 2009, with Wards 3, 5 and 6 up for election, 33.5% of the total registered voters (221,316) voted. So 74,168 votes were cast city wide.

Karin Uhlilch (D) received 33,782 votes, Richard Fimbres (D) 37,749 votes and Steve Kozachik (R) 36,451 votes to prevail over their opponents. Uhlich won by only 175 votes over Republican Ben Bueller-Garcia, although the Green Party candidate Mary DeCamp received 4429 votes, which may have taken votes from the Democrat. In 2005 Uhlich had defeated Republican one term Ward 3 incumbent Kathleen Dunbar, in an upset.

Fimbres won by 4573 votes over Shaun McClusky (now running for Mayor) and Kozachik won in an upset by 1756 votes (defeating one term Democratic incumbent Nina Trasoff). Trasoff herself had upset 2 term Ward 6 incumbent Republican Fred Ronstadt in 2005.

How did Steve Kozachik, a Republican win in a predominantly Democratic city?

And with the Democratic voter edge in this city, how did Republican Robert Walkup win 3 terms? He defeated 1) two term Councilwoman Democrat Molly McKasson, then 2) former Democratic Mayor/Councilman Tom Volgy, and lastly 3) Green Party candidate Dave Croteau (no Democrat even ran for Mayor in 2007). See my previous blog “Will Mayor Walkup run again? (click here).

The Mayor’s seat is up for election this year, with Republican Bob Walkup not running for his 4th term. 6 men are currently seeking that position (3 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 Green), with nomination petitions/signatures due on June 1st. None of the candidates have served on the City Council, the usual testing ground for qualification to be a Mayor.

Council Wards 1, 2 and 4 are also up for election this year.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Regina Romero (D) has a Democratic opponent (Joe Flores), and almost had a Republican challenger (political newcomer Janet Gallup who filed last week but told me via email that she is withdrawing this week “for several personal reasons that were unforeseen”).
Regina has served for one term and is the incumbent. (In 2007 she defeated Democrat Ken Green in the Primary, then Green Party candidate Beryl Baker in the General.)

Appointed (May, 2010) Ward 2 Councilman Paul Cunningham (D) has a Republican opponent (political newcomer Jennifer Rawson). 4 term Ward 4 Councilwoman Shirley Scott (D) is being challenged by political newcomer Republican Tyler Vogt. Can either Rawson or Vogt upset the incumbent Councilmembers– like Kozachik did in 2009?

It seems that both Republicans and Democrats have served in Wards 3 and 6, with predominantly only Democratic Councilmembers in Ward 1, 2, 4, and 5 (except for one Democrat who turned into an Independent in Ward 2). And Tucson has had long term serving Republican Mayors (Lew Murphy and Bob Walkup).

So maybe it’s personality over partisan party affiliation that determines the winners in the City elections. What do you readers think?

The AZ Court of Appeals ruled recently for the City of Tucson in a challenge to a recent state law that would have mandated Ward only, nonpartisan elections instead of the current partisan, city-wide elections (though the Councilmembers have to live in the Ward they run from). This decision may be appealed to the AZ Supreme Court.

5/13/11 UPDATE: 6 men still running for Mayor (2 Democrats, as 1 dropped out last week, 2 Republicans, 1 Green (one dropped out, replaced by another Green), and an Independent).
Here’s the current list: Jonathan Rothschild (D), Marshall Home (D), Shaun McClusky (R), Ron Asta (R), Dave Croteau (G), Pat Darcy (I). But the list keeps changing…

Most of those who spoke tonight:
1. James Kelley (“The Cholla Jumps” blogger)
2. Mikki Niemi
3. Bud Foster, KOLD 13 reporter
4. Ally Miller, Pima County Tea Party Patriot organizer
5. Steve Kozachik (Ward 6 Councilmember)
6. Michael Tony
7. William Beard
8. Sherese Steffens, Pima County Tea Party Patriot organizer
9. Lillian Lopez Grant, neighborhood activist
10. Barney Brenner, candidate for District 3 Pima County Supervisor in 2008
11. Dick Bayse, Pima Assn. of Taxpayers
12. John Kromko, Pima Assn. of Taxpayers
13. Joe Sweeney, recent Republican candidate for CD 7 U. S. House
14. Ken Scoville, historian

Several speakers called for an investigation by the F.B.I. of any criminal behavior, and a state investigation by Attorney General-elect Tom Horne. The Pima County Tea Party has called for such a criminal investigation today (click here). Some speakers did emphasize the need to move forward in developing downtown, despite this negative report.

For Arizona Daily Star reporter Rob O’Dell’s original article on this audit (click here). In yesterday’s Star article O’Dell wrote:

The audit found that the city’s Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment district was beset by mismanagement and a lack of financial oversight and internal controls that left a majority of its projects incomplete after more than $230 million was spent.

The audit, conducted by Crowe Horwath of Los Angeles for the state auditor general, said much of Rio Nuevo’s money was spent on planning or projects that stalled.

Unfortunately what was revealed tonight was that the recent audit released at the end of October was only a “financial analysis” and not a full audit (financial statement, performance, or forensic). And the Rio Nuevo Board heard tonight from Crowe Horwath representatives that a full forensic audit may cost in the neighborhood of $1 million, since it would span several years.

The Pima County Tea Party Patriots will be holding a protest rally about this “Rio Nuevo Waste” prior to the Tucson City Council meeting on Tuesday December 7, 4:30 p.m. at Mayor/Council chambers, 255 W. Alameda.

Pima Association of Taxpayers is holding a meeting on “Rio Deceivo” at the Woods Library on December 16, 3455 N. 1st Avenue, 6 to 8 p.m.

The Rio Nuevo board has to prepare a “response” in 10-12 days based on tonight’s public hearing for the legislature.

For more: read O’Dell’s article in the Star about this public hearing attended by about 80 people: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3a598e2d-e572-5eae-93a6-39b4f3c6d969.html

November, 2007 General election:
Mayor Walkup (R) 45,543 71.20%
Dave Croteau (G) 17,962 28.08%

November, 2003 General election:
Mayor Walkup (R) 38,364 49.51%
Tom Volgy (D) 36,990 47.73 % (former Mayor)
Kimberly Swanson (L) 2,071 2.67%

November, 1999 General election:
Robert Walkup (R) 46,258 53.68%
Molly McKasson (D) 33,999 39.45% (former Ward 6 Councilwoman)
Ed Kahn (L) 4,834 5.61%

Will Mayor Walkup run again? He faced token opposition in November 2007 from Green Party candidate Dave Croteau (since no Democrat ran). But Mayor Walkup had a close race in November 2003 with Democratic former Tucson Mayor Tom Volgy, winning by only 1,374 votes, 1.78 percentage point spread. Total votes cast in that race were 77,492. I called & sent an email to the Mayor’s office about whether he will run for re-election, but no reply yet.

Over in Ward 2 I heard from former candidate Republican Lori Oien that she is not thinking of challenging newly appointed Democrat Councilmember Paul Cunningham. He was appointed on May 4, 2010 .

And Republican Mike Jenkins is likely to take on Democrat Councilmember Shirley Scott again in Ward 4, though he lost to her by 24.66 percentage points seven years ago in Nov. 2003. In November 2007 Republican Dan Spahr lost to Shirley by a large margin as well (32.36 percentage points), and he told me recently at Oktoberfest that he won’t run again.

But then Shirley may opt out of a 5th term and run for Mayor instead. I spoke to her recently and she said she is “keeping her options open”, especially since the City of Tucson lawsuit about non-partisan/ward only elections has not been resolved. Incidentally, there has never been a woman Mayor in the City of Tucson.

Other Mayoral hopefuls may be Tucson attorney Jonathan Rothschild and 2 term Ward 3 Councilmember Karin Uhlich, whose aide Miguel Ortega (former Chief of Staff) just lost his bid for TUSD Governing Board. And first term Ward 6 Councilmember Steve Kozachik‘s name is being circulated on the Republican side, especially after his strong leadership role against the proposed Rio Nuevo hotel downtown.

Councilmembers in Ward 1, 2, 4 and the Mayor are up for re-election in 2011.

CITY OF TUCSON WARD 1 20,829/ 5,699/ 370/ 121/ 11,391/ 38,410
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 2 17,311/ 17,000/ 375/ 87/ 13,385/ 48,158
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 3 14,073/ 6,189/ 381/ 218/ 9,976/ 30,837
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 4 15,452/ 15,950/ 337/ 66/ 14,036/ 45,841
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 5 15,563/ 3,948/ 298/ 78/ 9,508/ 29,395
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 6 18,066/ 8,038/ 444/ 296/ 10,934/ 37,778

(Latest Ward registered voter totals, from Pima County Recorder’s Office in columns: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green, Others, total registered voters in last column.) Note that in Wards 2 and 4 the Democrat and Republican voter #s are about the same now, unlike Ward 1, which is heavily Democrat.

Stay tuned. Applicants for these elected offices can now take out nomination papers as early as November 24, so we’ll know more after that date.

UPDATE 11/16/10: Republican Ron Asta considering a run for Mayor (click here).

Mayor Bob Walkup

2/22/11 UPDATE: Mayor Walkup will not seek re-election to a 4th term:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2011/02/22/mayor-walkup-to-announce-he-will-not-run-for-re-election-in-his-state-of-the-city-address-today/

(9/10/10 UPDATE: “The change would bump pay to $61,280 for council members and to $76,600 for the mayor”, according to the the Arizona Daily Star news reporter, see link in comment # 3 below).

Link to City Clerk website is: http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/clerks/campaignfinancereport_2010

The two political committees are:

1. “Protect Local Control, No on 401″

Chair: Tom Prezelski, former LD 29 State House legislator, planner for Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Treasurer: Jim Hannley, investment advisor, Chair of LD 27 for Pima County Democratic Party
info@NoOn401.org
(Additional committee info: Secretary- Angie Quiroz; Spokesperson- Steve Leal, former Ward 5 Councilmember; Communications – Luke Knipe, former blogsite owner/political blogger of “Poco Bravo”)

2. “Tucson Charter Change Coalition (TC3), For Prop. 401″

Chair & Spokesperson: Lisa Lovallo, Vice President & System Manager for Southern Arizona, Cox Communications
Treasurer: David Cohen, CPA at BeachFleischman PC
campaign@tucsoncharterchange.org, 520-798-0900
(Communications – Ann Brown, Senior Media Relations Specialist for Caliber Group, formerly Editorial Page Editor at the Arizona Daily Star)

The vote to place Proposition 401 on the General Election ballot passed by a close 4-3 vote of the Tucson Mayor/City Council on July 7, 2010 (with Councilmembers Cunningham, Kozachik & Scott, and Mayor Walkup voting yes, and Councilmembers Fimbres, Romero, and Uhlich voting no.

Text of 401: “Proposed amendment to the Tucson Charter referred by Mayor and Council relating to providing the Mayor with equal voting authority as the members of the Council; designating specified officers of the City as employees outside of the classified, civil service; providing that the salary of the Mayor be 100%, and the salary of the Councilmembers 80%, of the salary of the Pima County Board of Supervisors; and eliminating staggered elections of the Mayor and Councilmembers beginning in 2013.”

Here’s info in support of Proposition 401 from the TC3 For Prop. 401 political committee’s Communications person Ann Brown:

What the charter changes in Prop 401 will do–

* Equality for the Mayor
Prop 401 gives the mayor the same authority as other council members.

The mayor would have the same voting rights as council members and count toward a quorum. Currently, there are issues on which the mayor may not vote, and only council members count toward a quorum.

* Accountability for department heads
Prop 401 eliminates civil service protection for department heads and their deputies and makes them more accountable to voters and citizens.
· Department heads and their deputies will be accountable to the city managers.
· Lets city department heads be fired for poor performance directly by the city manager.
· Strengthens the city manager’s accountability, making it easier for the mayor and council to fire him or her for inadequate performance.

* Full-time Mayor and Council
Prop 401 aligns the salaries of the mayor and council to those of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
· Makes the positions full-time, thereby giving an incentive for candidates who need a livable wage to run for office.
· Increases the pool of highly qualified candidates to run for mayor or council offices.
· Salary increase does not go into effect until after the 2011 city council election.
· Does not increase taxes. Full-time salaries will be funded by cost-savings in other Prop 401 changes.

* Elections every four years
Prop 401 eliminates staggered terms; the mayor and council will be elected together every four years.
· Cuts election costs. Savings are estimated at $1.6 million per eliminated election cycle.
· Eliminates half of the city council going into re-election campaign mode every two years.
· Allows the mayor and council to better focus on their responsibilities to voters and citizens.”

However, The NO on Prop. 401 Communications person Luke Knipe responded that their committee does not oppose provision 1 about Mayoral parity/equality, nor provision 4 about holding city council elections every four years. But under provision 2 (department heads), they say that “It just makes it easier for the city’s unelected manager to fire most of them.” Their biggest disagreement is with provision 3, the huge increase in the Mayor/Councilmembers’ salaries, “without any funding source whatsoever.”

Stay tuned for these committees’ websites and to hear more from these 2 political committees about whether to vote for or against Proposition 401 on November 2nd.

logo

Councilman Kozachik is hosting a town hall on September 16, 6:30 p.m. to discuss this Proposition 401, as well as Proposition 400 (proposed sale tax increase) at his Council office, 3202 E. 1st St. (SE corner of Anderson Blvd., south of Speedway, east of Country Club).