On March 6, self employed Republican Mike Polak II filed his Statement of Organization with the Tucson City Clerk, with his intent to challenge one term Councilmember Richard Fimbres in Ward 5. He filed two amended statements thereafter.

Bio from Polak:

• The Boeing Company 1997 to 2012, Long Beach, CA & Tucson, AZ. Worked with Domestic and International Air lines companies. Supported Satellite launch operations and international transportation.
• McDonnell Douglas Long Beach, CA 1987 to 1994
• Northrop 1986 to 1987
• 8 years in the United States Marine Corp
• Graduated for Southern California Institute of Technology with B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
• Small business owner.

He currently is the owner of Desert Armory Gun Parts & Accessories, a small business selling gun equipment and participating in gun shows. He says that his top priorities in this campaign are:
• Bringing Jobs to Tucson
• Improving the infrastructure and services in Tucson
• Improve public safety

Mike Polak II

Polak’s campaign info: mikeforcouncil@gmail.com, phone 520-243-3511, 2004 E. Irvington St. #175, website: Facebook.com/Mike for City Council.

Fimbres defeated political newcomer Republican Shaun McClusky in 2009 to win his Ward 5 seat (53% to 46%). Democratic Councilman Steve Leal had retired after 5 terms serving Ward 5.

Ward 3, 5, and 6 are up for election this year. One term Councilmember Steve Kozachik is running for re-election in Ward 6, as is 2 term Councilmember Karin Uhlich. All three Councilmembers up for re-election are Democrats. Kozachik is running unopposed at this time, and Uhlich is being challenged again by Republican community activist Ben Buehler-Garcia who lost to her in 2009, in a 3 way race with Green candidate Mary DeCamp.

Dr. Henry “Hank” Oyama

Memorial services for Dr. Henry “Hank” Oyama were held today at St. Augustine’s Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Ave, with hundreds of people from the Tucson community in attendance. Dr. Oyama was 86 years old and passed away on March 20. He was born and raised here in Tucson, and at age 15 was innocently interned along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans in relocation camps in the western United States. Hank was sent to such a camp north of here in Poston, Arizona with his mother and sister. He was drafted into the U.S. Army after spending 15 months in that internment camp, and later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, from which he retired as Lt. Colonel.

After returning to Tucson he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Arizona in education, and taught at Pueblo High School for 18 years. Following that he was hired at Pima Community College as director of bilingual and international studies, later became Associate Dean of that program, and eventually retired from PCC in 1991 as Vice President Emeritus. He was bilingual in Spanish and was well know for his advocacy for Hispanic students in Tucson, and established the Hispanic Student Endowment Fund. In 2003 an elementary school in Tucson was named after him at 2700 S. La Cholla Blvd.

Today’s service started off with a welcome by Bishop Gerald Kicanas, who said that Hank was “proud of his roots” and “rejoiced in them here in Tucson.” He also said that Hank “taught by example.” Father Gonzalo Villegas said that Hank exemplified Pope Paul VI’s statement “If you want peace, work for justice.” Particularly touching were when “Amazing Grace” and “Ave Maria” were sung.

Beautiful eulogy delivered today by Ward 5 Councilman Richard Fimbres (also a pallbearer), who spoke of Hank as a “man of integrity, a role model for all”, and listed the many awards/honors that Hank received over his lifetime including Pan Asian Man of the Year in 2005. Hank’s only surviving daughter Mary Catherine Tate spoke of her dad as the person she “learned tenacity from” and that “love is a choice.” Hank was survived by his 2nd wife Laura Ann Toledo Oyama, four children, five stepchildren, fourteen grandchildren, six great grandchildren.

Attending today’s service were many notables:

Ruben Reyes for CD 3 Congressman Raul Grijalva
Former State Senator Victor Soltero
LD 3 State Rep. Macario Saldate (pallbearer)
Pima County District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll, District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias
Tucson City Councilmembers Richard Fimbres, Karin Uhlich, Regina Romero, former Councilman Steve Leal
TUSD governing board members Adelita Grijalva, Mark Stegeman, Kristel Foster, Cam Juarez
Sunnyside board member Eva Dong Carrillo
former TUSD Superintendents Roger Pfeuffer, Stan Paz

In 1959 he and his Caucasian college sweetheart Mary Ann Jordan challenged Arizona’s anti-miscegenation law which prohibited a Caucasian person from marrying someone Asian American. The actual statute stated: “The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay or Hindu is null and void.” Hank and Mary Ann became plaintiffs in the ACLU of Arizona’s first case, to challenge this law, which was stuck down by Pima County Superior Court Judge Herbert Krucker, but then appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Before that court could rule, the Arizona legislature repealed that law, so Hank and Mary Ann’s case was dismissed as moot.

I (an ACLU state board member for five years) attended the ACLU of Arizona’s 50th anniversary dinner on March 20, 2009 where the attorneys for that case were honored, as well as Hank. His wife Mary Ann had passed on by then, but Hank said that she should have been there that night, because she had a harder time with the verbal abuse she endured by being a white person married to a non-white person back then. For Hank and Mary Ann, love was indeed a choice, and they had to fight to remain together and get married.

He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arizona for this civil rights challenge.

More about Hank in

Arizona Daily Star: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/tucson-education-civil-rights-advocate-hank-oyama-dies/article_fa0197ee-9185-11e2-b1b5-0019bb2963f4.html

Rum Romanism Rebellion (by former State Rep. Tom Prezelski): http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net/2013/03/21/dr-henry-hank-oyama-1926-2013/

Rest in peace civil libertarian and “father of bilingual education” Henry “Hank” Oyama.

Three Tucson City Councilmembers are up for re-election this year, in Ward 3, 5, and 6. Two are scheduled to speak at Democrats of Greater Tucson (DGT) this month, with the third in March.

February 18: Steve Kozachik, Councilmember, Ward 6 – Tucson City Council -Tucson’s newest Democratic Councilmember will discuss, “Tucson’s Gun Buy-Back — The Plan, The Event, What’s Next?”

February 25: Richard Fimbres, Councilmember, Ward 5 – Tucson City Council – “Oh the Changes I’ve Seen In the Tucson City Council”

March 25: Karin Uhlich, Councilmember, Ward 3 – Tucson City Council – “Tucson’s Future”

Democrats of Greater Tucson hosts weekly speakers at their Monday luncheon meetings at Dragon’s View restaurant, 400 N. Bonita Avenue, west of I-10, south of St. Mary’s Road, at high noon. Website: http://tucsondemocrats.org/

Both Kozachik and Fimbres were elected in 2009, winning over their challengers. Then-Republican Kozachik defeated Democratic incumbent Ward 6 Councilmember Nina Trasoff, who had served one term. Democrat Fimbres faced off with Republican political newcomer Shaun McClusky, who later tried to run for Mayor of Tucson in 2011. Fimbres’ wife Mary is a Council aide for Ward 2 Councilmember Paul Cunningham and she also worked for former five term Ward 5 Councilmember Steve Leal, who retired in 2009.

Kozachik changed his registration to a Democrat on January 14, 2013, and prior to that was the sole Republican on the Tucson City Council. This is his first appearance at DGT. I reported the breaking news when he announced his change in political parties (click here).

Uhlich is a two term Councilmember, as she first defeated Republican incumbent Ward 3 Councilmember Kathleen Dunbar for that seat in 2005, then in 2009 defeated two political newcomer challengers Republican Ben Buehler-Garcia, and Green Mary DeCamp. (DeCamp ran for Mayor two years later and defeated fellow Green activist Dave Croteau in their Mayoral primary, but lost in the General to Democrat Jonathan Rothschild.)

I heard on the John C. Scott radio talk show that Buehler-Garcia may be considering a rematch with Uhlich. No other contenders have been mentioned to date, but stay tuned.

2/25/13 UPDATES: Republican Ben Buehler-Garcia has filed papers to run in the Ward 3 Council race. Click here for post about Buehler-Garcia’s candidacy.

Councilman Fimbres’ campaign kick off is on March 9, 11 a.m. at El Pueblo Senior Center, 101 W. Irvington Rd.

Ward 3 Councilmember Karin Uhlich

Ward 5 Councilmember Richard Fimbres

Ward 6 Councilmember Steve Kozachik