Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

Tucson police found 39-year-old Julio Alonso Carreon slain in a
South Side driveway early Friday morning, spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco
said. Homicide detectives are investigating.

Tucson Police Department was responding to reports of gunshots when
they found Carreon in the 1400 block of East Ganley Terrace Drive, near
South Park Avenue and East Bilby Road, Pacheco said.

Carreon was found lying the the dirt driveway of a home minutes after police received the reports, about 2:20 a.m., he said.

Pacheco said Carreon appeared to have sustained gunshot wounds, and the home he was lying near was not his own.

A man, a woman and a child were inside the home but unharmed,
Pacheco said. Police are trying to establish the relationship between
Carreon and the home’s occupants.

The shooting does not appear to be random nor gang-related, he said,
though no motive had been established as of 7:30 a.m. Friday morning.

At that time, police were in the process of getting a search warrant
for the home and canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses.

Two vehicles were reported leaving the home after shots were fired, Pacheco said, though descriptions were conflicting.

Police had not identified a suspect as of 7:30 a.m.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

City Council budget talks derailed Tuesday amid allegations of a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Law.

In proposing a plan to cut spending to nonprofit groups and other jurisdictions that could save the city $1 million, Councilwoman Nina Trasoff described meeting with her colleagues “in twos or in threes.”

The descriptions raised questions for at least one council member who was not included, as three of his colleagues were. A meeting of four council members represents a quorum and makes public notice necessary under the law.

After listening to Trasoff’s explanation of her proposal and how she came to it, Councilman Steve Leal said: “That’s really a violation of the Open Meetings Law. That violates transparency.”

He said he was rebuked in the 1990s for similar action.

Trasoff said later that she met separately with council members Regina Romero, Karin Uhlich and Shirley Scott “to get their input on some of the things I was thinking.”

She said what she proposed integrated her colleagues’ suggestions, so she felt that she could not alone take credit for the savings plan.

“But it doesn’t represent an agreement,” she said. “And we didn’t vote. I’m not even sure that my colleagues would vote for it.”

Trasoff denied that her meetings were inappropriate.

“There was no rotation (of speaking with other council members),” she said. “There was no collusion.”

At least one legal expert said Trasoff’s chain of meetings was an example of “polling the public body” and a violation of the law.

“If she’s meeting with them separately and trying to achieve consensus, it’s a violation,” said Dan Barr, a lawyer who specializes in media law with Perkins Coie Brown and Bain in Phoenix. “Why is she meeting with a quorum if not to achieve a level of consensus?”

Barr said that if a court was to find that there was a violation, it would nullify legal action related to the illegal discussion.

In this case, that means the city budget and its most politically sensitive bits.

Trasoff said her motivation in identifying the savings was to avoid instituting a tax on residential rental properties, a proposal hundreds of Tucsonans have protested at public hearings.

Protesters have highlighted the city’s $12.7 million allocation to so-called “outside agencies” such as Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Tucson Pima Arts Council as a place to cut spending and thus avoid the $17.4 million in proposed tax increases in a $1.3 billion budget.

That funding, however, has historically gone to organizations that function as key sources of political support and to groups that officials view as complementary to their policy aims.

Before the acrimony broke out, City Manager Mike Letcher tried to make clear what those policy aims are in the context of the budget.

“One of the things we need to explore is ultimately, what kind of community do we want in the future?” he said. “. . . $68 million (in expected sales tax revenue) is gone, and that’s serious.”

Marie Nemerguth, assistant to the city manager, said that under the proposed budget, residents can expect stable public safety staffing and a cut of 8.6 percent to the allocation to outside agencies from the year before.

She described how the city has eliminated 400 positions, cut department budgets by more than 7 percent and public safety allocations by 2.5 percent, as well as forcing employees to take what amounts to a 2 percent pay cut and benefits cutback.

Trasoff portrays her proposal as a way to face the issue head-on.

She suggests funding two job training programs that began under Pima County Interfaith Council, a group with substantial political clout, for six months and then requiring JobPath and School Plus Jobs to submit to a competitive process.

She recommends cuts to the amounts Letcher recommended the council give to Tucson Gem and Mineral Society and other groups but adding funding to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson Children’s Museum, Tucson Museum of Art and the Critical Path Institute.

“It’s just a concept,” she said, after running through the changes.

Scott and Romero backed Trasoff up, at least about the appropriateness of the meetings.

Scott bristled at Leal’s suggestion that the talks were out of line, pointing out that she sometimes has lunch with him.

Romero said she thought Leal took the meetings out of context.

“I have to have the opportunity to speak to my colleagues, of course without breaking the law,” she said. “I really appreciate (Trasoff) wanting to build some consensus in the group.”

Romero also said she disagreed with the central point of Trasoff’s plan – deciding which outside agency gets what – preferring instead “an across-the-board, depoliticized cut” based on this fiscal year’s allocations.

Uhlich, who listened to the meeting by phone, didn’t enter the debate and focused on her proposal: to increase the utility tax by 2 percent instead of 1 percent to replace the rental tax.

After the study session, City Attorney Mike Rankin said, “There was no violation of the Open Meetings Law today.”

As to whether Trasoff’s string of meetings constituted a violation, he said, “From what I heard today, no comment.”

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

For Republican Judith Gomez, running for the Ward 5 seat on the City Council is about telling the truth.

“That’s the foundation of my life,” the 27-year-old mother of three said. “That’s what I teach my sons. Sometimes it’s going to be hard, but it’s about integrity.”

On the matter of truth-telling, she wants to start with the city budget, with how the city ought to manage its cash as a family does: necessities first.

“The council says they put public safety first, but I think when you study the way that they’re disbursing the money, it’s not true,” said Gomez, the wife of a Pima County Sheriff’s Department sergeant.

She says public safety is at the top of her priority list. She thinks the budget proposed for the fiscal year that begins July 1 diverts money from the city’s necessities, which she lists as public safety, smooth roads and economic development.

“They’re sending money to things that are less important than public safety,” Gomez said.

Among the recipients of money Gomez would prefer went to the Tucson Police Department are Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities and the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Honesty and family are undercurrents when Gomez speaks about seeking the council seat for Ward 5, roughly the area south of 22nd Street. Democrat Steve Leal has held the seat for 20 years but chose not to run for re-election.

Gomez describes her decision to decline admission to college as a quest for a greater challenge.

“I grew up in a broken home,” she said. “The challenge I decided to take up was to have a family and the security of a family and to have that family be healthy.”

She became a bookkeeper, a guardian of financial accountability, she says, emphasizing that she’s quick to learn.

“Just because I don’t maybe have the same things behind me that other people have, I can do this. I can learn,” she said.

Gomez hopes the Legislature won’t obliterate the funding for downtown redevelopment, but she advocates an overhaul.

“We need to build something that will bring revenue to Tucson,” she said. “Rio Nuevo was supposed to bring (progress) to Tucson, not decay, not delay.”

She says she’s opposed to a tax increase and thinks the current City Council is ducking its responsibilities by laying too much blame on the national economy.

As a solution, she offers an ear. She pledges to listen closely to Ward 5′s residents.

The other part of her solution is compromise. “You can’t find solutions by being rigid,” she said.

Shaun McClusky of the GOP is also seeking the Ward 5 seat, as is Democrat Richard Fimbres. The primary will be held in September.

Citizen Staff Writer
IN BRIEF

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

The Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission will honor locals who’ve advanced the cause of historic preservation at a ceremony May 31.

Past winners include people involved with the Southern Pacific Depot, the El Presidio project and the Fort Lowell Historic District.

This year’s awards will be given from 3 to 5 p.m. at San Pedro Chapel, 5230 E. Fort Lowell Road.

Entry is free.

For more information, call 791-4213.

Citizen Staff Writer
TRASH WARS

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson officials estimate a transfer station opened in November by garbage giant Waste Management will siphon 100,000 tons of trash and $3 million in revenue from the city over the next year.

The lost revenue, in combination with plummeting prices for recyclables and high prices for gas, mean the 5-year-old and much scorned city garbage fee is set to go up. Landfill fees have already seen increases.

Environmental Services Department Director Andrew Quigley has asked the City Council to raise the trash fee to $14.50 per month beginning July 1.

A City Council vote on the proposed 3.6-percent increase is set to follow a public hearing June 2.

That day, the council also is slated to tentatively approve a $1.3 billion budget that, as of Friday, included $12.4 million in new or increased taxes and millions more in raised fees. The same day, the council will weigh whether to raise bus fares.

With a budget that relies heavily on sales tax receipts, the city has been struggling to pay its daily bills.

The Environmental Services Department is in similar shape, also having to contend with volatile gas and recyclables prices and relying on sources of funding that are on the decline, most notably private haulers’ landfill fees.

While the public landfill business appears on a downhill slide, Waste Management is reporting increased landfill profits.

The company stated in its first quarter earnings statement that its landfill revenues rose 3.1 percent from the same year before even as its overall earnings dropped more than 16 percent amid a recession.

Waste Management operates the largest network of landfills in the country, with 277 sites accepting more than 116 million tons of waste per year, according to its Web site.

Two of those sites are in the Tucson area, and both have represented challenges to the local governments operating nearby dumps.

A transfer station at 5200 W. Ina Road contributed to Pima County raising landfill fees last year and second-guessing the timing of the closure of its Northwest Side landfill at Tangerine Road.

The opening of Rincon Transfer Station at 5890 S. Mann Ave. in November is causing consternation among city officials because private haulers who once dropped waste at the city’s Los Reales Landfill have begun using the Waste Management facility.

Quigley estimates the shift will mean 20 percent less trash – 100,000 tons – entering the city’s Los Reales landfill next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Waste Management Arizona spokeswoman Melissa Quillard would not say how much trash the Mann Avenue transfer station accepts. She said publicizing the information could give competitors an advantage.

But Quigley is certain a large proportion of the trash that had been going to Los Reales is now headed for ultimate disposal at Waste Management’s Maricopa and Pinal county dumps.

In a bid to recoup some of the financial losses that follow from the diverted trash, Quigley has offered cut rates to haulers that promise to deliver a set amount of waste.

He hasn’t received any responses yet, though he said haulers expressed interest when he first came up with the deal.

“Right now, we’re just waiting,” he said.

Councilwoman Nina Trasoff praised Quigley for his attempt to extend a deal to the haulers.

“I think that the money he’s going to recoup that way is a very creative approach,” she said.

Regardless of how successful the contract program is in luring haulers back to Los Reales, Environmental Services will almost definitely need other revenue to stay in the black.

That leaves the City Council with an unpopular political decision and one that brushes up against campaign promises made by at least two council members.

Both Trasoff and Councilwoman Karin Uhlich campaigned against the $14 a month trash fee four years ago, saying it was too expensive and implemented inappropriately.

They said when the fee was imposed the year before – 2004 – public comment opportunities were lacking and the waiver program for low-income city residents was inadequate.

Now they’re faced with upping the price.

“(Raising the trash fee) will never make me happy,” Trasoff said. “But it’s been demonstrated that there’s a real need and the money is used for garbage services. I can live with it so long as I know that we have a meaningful waiver program in effect.”

Uhlich takes a similar stance, though she puts the proposed increase in the context of a plan to attach fees to indexes.

“I think there seems to be support on the council to apply indexes across all city fees so that we avoid the large adjustments, which are historically more the norm,” she said.

The reason for indexing, Uhlich said, is that increases will be predictable and therefore easier to incorporate into budgets.

So that applying an index wouldn’t simply mean prices increase gradually but without any relationship to cost trends, Uhlich suggests using indexes that apply directly to the fee at hand.

A fuel index, for example, could be applied to a garbage fee because fuel is one of the primary costs in collecting trash, she said.

Councilman Rodney Glassman, like Trasoff, is not entirely opposed to indexing, though he is wary of applying indexes across the board.

“It’s important when looking at the question of indexing to consider other factors such as the economy and the actual cost of providing the services,” he said. “I support indexing as part of a pricing model but not something that can be relied upon as the sole indicator of price adjustment.”

He advocates giving department directors more leeway in setting fees and running departments more like businesses.

He also thinks the trash fee increase is a better alternative to letting garbage services suffer because there’s not enough money to pay for them.

“It’s unrealistic to think that the department can continue to provide services without adjusting their rates over time,” he said.

Councilwoman Regina Romero also seems to accept the fee increase but is less enthusiastic about using an index.

“It seems that the fees are accumulating,” she said. “At the same time, I see the budget holes.”

TRASH AT A GLANCE

Los Reales Landfill, 5300 E. Los Reales Road

Hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Residential rates: $10 for a covered load weighing less than a ton; $30 per ton for heavier, covered loads; uncovered loads cost $5 more

Commercial rates: $30 per ton for covered loads; $5 more for uncovered loads

Waste Management’s Rincon Transfer Station, 5890 S. Mann Ave.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to noon Saturday

Residential rates: $38 per ton plus $14 per load for loads weighing less than 500 pounds

Commercial rates: $38 per ton plus about $5 in variable fees

Source: City of Tucson and Waste Management

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Shaun McClusky describes representing the South Side on the City Council as his “sole ambition.”

“I’m not using this as a steppingstone,” he said, hinting that some members of the council intend to move on.

McClusky, 37, a Republican, said he is running for the Ward 5 council seat now held by Democrat Steve Leal, who is not seeking re-election, in part because he feels like public safety has been given an unwarranted back seat in city government.

“The most basic function of government is public security and public safety, and they haven’t provided that,” he said of the current, Democrat-dominated council.

McClusky is a former Davis-Monthan airman now working as a Realtor and property manager for Rincon Ventures, a company he helped found in 2007.

McClusky backs the citizen’s initiative being funded by the Tucson Association of Realtors that – if it makes it onto November ballots and passes – would increase the number of police officers and firefighters.

He also wants to make sure that money allocated to police is not diverted.

McClusky is especially concerned that funds intended for public safety are distributed instead to what city officials call “outside agencies” – nonprofits and other groups that provide services complementing those provided by the city, for example, crisis services.

He worries those groups look for handouts too quickly, an idea anathema to his small-businessman identity, he said.

He said easing restrictions on businesses and increasing economic development measures are high on his priority list.

McClusky is critical of the budget proposal the council is currently considering not only because he said he thinks more money should go to police and fire, but also because he’s against tax increases. As a property manager, he’s dead set against the proposed rental tax.

Calling himself a problem solver instead of a politician, McClusky promotes “an economically sensible approach.” He cites investing in geothermal energy for long-term savings and reducing city services to primary obligations, such as public safety, as examples of that.

He pledges to embody that sensibility by rejecting the vehicle and gas payments that are a council perk.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

After two weeks of public hearings and negotiations about Tucson’s proposed budget, City Manager Mike Letcher has submitted revisions.

Letcher’s plan softens what hundreds of residents told the City Council was the most onerous part of the $1.3 billion proposed budget – a tax on landlords who own three or more residential rental properties in Arizona.

Several council members have hinted they’re opposed to the tax, which hundreds protested at recent public hearings. It is one of several proposed taxes and fee increases in Letcher’s budget that are expected to raise $17.4 million. The money could help balance a budget facing large shortfalls because of steep declines in sales tax collections.

Letcher now suggests a 1 percent tax on rental properties, instead of the 2 percent he initially proposed. The change would mean about $5 million in new revenue.

To help compensate for receiving about $5 million less in new revenues than estimated in his first proposal, Letcher suggested eliminating a $2 million payment to the city’s Housing Trust Fund that was intended to cushion the financial blow to renters. The trust fund provides down payment and rental assistance, among other services.

He also recommends increasing Parks & Recreation Department fees to bring in another $200,000. No details were provided on which fees would be affected. Letcher’s earlier proposal had left the fees untouched.

Cuts in payments to nonprofits and other governments considered “outside agencies” were also proposed as a way to balance the books.

Letcher suggested a $1 million cut in distributions to nonprofits and other groups from the current fiscal year, bringing the total to be divvied up to $11.7 million. Those groups got nearly $15 million from the city last fiscal year.

Letcher wrote in the letter delivered with his proposed budget that the council would have to decide how to allocate the “outside agencies” pool.

It’s a decision council members dread because the groups that have historically received the money have been strong sources of political support.

Ideas on how to enact the cuts range from making a strong statement of priorities with the money to using the list of last year’s recipients and slashing evenly across the board.

Letcher also looked to raise bus fares to make up some financial ground.

An increase in bus fares – the issue that prompted hundreds to speak out at council meetings last year – would be used to offset about $1.8 million of a proposed $32 million contribution from the city’s general fund to its mass transit fund. No fare increase was included in the city manager’s earlier proposal.

The council is considering raising regular fares to $1.25 from $1 and day passes to $3 from $2. Economy fares would not be affected.

Under an agreement with the Regional Transportation Authority, the city must contribute $32 million to the transit system next fiscal year as “maintenance of effort,” Transportation Director Jim Glock said.

That bus fares would be part of the city’s general fund payment would not be a violation of the agreement, Glock said, noting that service levels would be maintained.

Councilwoman Karin Uhlich rallied opposition to a fare increase last summer. She has said she would prefer a fare increase be pumped back into the transit system.

Under that scenario, federal grants that are now used for maintenance could also help pay for new buses, said Roy Cuaron, transportation finance director.

The council is scheduled to discuss the changes during a study session Tuesday.

Also set for Tuesday is a public hearing on how the city plans to spend its $2.5 million federal stimulus allocation aimed to preventing homelessness.

The proposed expenditures include short-term rental assistance, moving costs and data collection.

IF YOU GO

• What: Tucson City Council meeting

• When: Study session begins at 2 p.m., regular session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday

• Where: Council Chambers, 255 W. Alameda St.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Police Officer Larry Lopez had read 18 e-mails before he opened one instructing him not to turn on his computer: A computer virus was spreading through the department.

That was almost two weeks ago. Tuesday, Lopez was allowed to boot up for the first time since then. He generally uses a computer daily.

About 200 Tucson Police Department computers were affected by the virus, but all were taken out of service and checked out, said Ann Strine, the city’s chief information officer.

About 25 computers are still down, undergoing a slow reconstruction, Strine said.

Patrol car laptops and communications systems weren’t affected because they are on separate networks, she said.

But for days, at least some officers were unable to write reports, input evidence or access records. It left many officers wondering how they did their job before computers became commonplace.

“We did more by cell phone,” Lopez said of the past two weeks. “You had to think of things to do that don’t involve computers.”

Officer Mike Gurr responded to questions about what he did by gesturing pulling his hair out.

Newly installed police Chief Roberto ViIlaseñor had a more positive spin on the episode.

He said it represented a healthy reality check, a test of bureaucratic reorganization and an indicator of social change.

“Two years ago, officers would complain about typing up their reports,” he said. “In a way, (officers’ dismay at losing computer access) is a measure of success.”

The influx of information technology experts into TPD also demonstrated the benefit of the recent consolidation of city department IT sections, Villaseñor said.

Having so many computers out of service at one time tested how TPD would function if there were a more serious emergency, he said.

“We’ve got to be flexible,” he said. “I think it was a good exercise.”

Strine anticipated no lingering problems from the virus and said no files were permanently lost. Officers were notified of the virus by phone and through messengers, as well as through e-mail, she said.

Lopez said he was glad to be able to just log back on.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson could be a major international transportation hub, but if the city’s serious about that, there should be one person in charge, the region’s economic development group said in a recent report.

Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, or TREO, advocates the hiring of an inland port director and creating a new organization whose mission would be to advance “Puerto Nuevo.”

The director’s salary would be paid by business contributions, said Sarah Smallhouse, who headed the advisory committee that helped write the report. “Think of it sort of like a trade association,” she said.

The idea – in the works since 2005 – is to use Tucson’s logistically convenient geography to its economic advantage.

The city sits at the intersection of east-west and north-south interstates I-10 and I-19 and a similar convergence of rail lines.

About 72,000 of the city’s jobs are already in the transportation sector, the report states.

But to be a major player, TREO says, the city needs to look at improvements related to to trucking, air freight and ocean access.

Key components of TREO’s plan involve building an I-10 bypass, setting up a larger rail yard near Marana and improving infrastructure connecting Tucson to the seaport of Guaymas, Mexico.

The report also recommends the development of food processing plants because of the tons of Mexican agricultural products shipped daily through the city.

Most of the related development is anticipated along Valencia Road.

Smallhouse said the project is realistic despite the recession and should be the domain of business owners, not government.

A paid director could coordinate the work of a volunteer board, she said, characterizing the port as likely more “virtual” or “promotional” than “bricks and mortar.”

That was music to the ears of the City Council, in the midst of a budget process that will undoubtedly involve millions of dollars in both spending cuts and new taxes.

“I think this is really wonderful,” Councilman Steve Leal said. “There could be all kinds of jobs in this.”

Laura Shaw, TREO’s vice president of corporate and community affairs, said the process of hiring an inland port director had not yet begun.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Roberto Villaseñor was formally appointed Tucson’s police chief at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

The vote was unanimous and followed by a standing ovation and a string of hugs and handshakes.

“He’s the guy for the job,” said Officer Larry Lopez, president of the Tucson Police Officers Association, the police union. “I have no reservations at all.”

Each member of the council praised Villaseñor and the process that made him chief.

The vote concluded the second search since former Chief Richard Miranda retired last year to become assistant city manager.

The first search – a nationwide recruitment – ended after a seven-hour closed council discussion that revealed no consensus pick. The council then opened the position only to candidates from within the Tucson Police Department.

Villaseñor, 50, was selected over eight other local candidates, including two finalists in the earlier, nationwide search – Assistant Chief John Leavitt and Capt. Brett Klein.

“It’s just clear that we have an outstanding police department,” Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said of the pick.

“I’m very pleased with the process that brought about this nomination,” Councilman Rodney Glassman said.

Villaseñor said Tuesday that watching the initial recruitment process made him wish he had applied in the first round.

“Sitting back in the audience I realized I had made a mistake (in not applying),” he said. “I was thinking, ‘I want that, I want that. My work up until now has prepared me for it.’ ”

When the search was re-opened, Villaseñor applied, though he still had reservations about having to move into the city limits to comply with a recent council ordinance. He now lives in unincorporated Pima County.

But when his 11-year-old son agreed to switch schools in exchange for a cell phone, the decision was made.

“That’s a fair trade,” VIllaseñor said. “I’d always encouraged him to pursue his dreams, and he turned it around on me.”

Villaseñor said he doesn’t anticipate making major strategic or organizational changes, but he will be making appointments to fill his assistant chief spot and the position of deputy chief when Interim Chief Kermit Miller retires in June.

Among his top priorities are being creative with how money is spent to accommodate budget cuts and harnessing volunteer power.

The 29-year department veteran will officially take over the 1,100-officer force Wednesday, with a swearing-in ceremony slated for Friday.

Villaseñor will be paid a yearly salary of $160,000, according to the ordinance the council approved Tuesday.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

The City Council voted Tuesday to approve a $1.75 million settlement with the family of an 8-year-old boy electrocuted at a city ballfield last summer.

City Attorney Mike Rankin said the deal was reached during an April 24 mediation session attended by the family of DeShun Glover, city officials and representatives of the city’s former primary electrical maintenance contractor, Fluoresco Lighting and Signs, 5505 S. Nogales Highway.

Rankin said the family also reached a settlement with Fluoresco but the terms of that deal were confidential.

DeShun was electrocuted July 25 while at a youth baseball game with his family at Reid Park Annex fields, city officials said at the time.

When it began raining, he remained standing next to a pole while others ran for cover. Then he suddenly collapsed.

Family members ran to him but were driven back by electrical shocks. He was finally separated from the current by his father.

An exposed wire in one of the park’s electrical “pullboxes,” also known as junction boxes, caused the electrical current that killed DeShun, according to a report the city commissioned from George J. Hogge, principal engineer of Engineering Forensics Experts LLC.

The report blamed Fluoresco for improper equipment installation. “The failure of the Fluoresco workmen to eliminate that hazard was clearly well below the minimum standard of care for a professional tradesman,” Hogge wrote.

Fluoresco has not received work orders from the city since July, said John Sefton, deputy director of the city’s Parks & Recreation Department. Secondary contractors have been used instead, he said.

Sefton said electrical maintenance contracts will be opened for bid in June.

The City Council also directed city staffers Tuesday to contact the Glover family to offer to find a way to memorialize DeShun.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson may see higher bus fares after all.

Almost a year after rejecting a fare increase proposed by the Transportation Department, the City Council voted Tuesday to have an ordinance created that would raise regular fares to $1.25 from $1.

The vote on the ordinance will occur after a public hearing scheduled for June 2, City Attorney Mike Rankin said.

The council voted unanimously to have Rankin draw up the ordinance, although Councilman Steve Leal took pains to ensure that he was not voting to raise rates.

“There’s parts of this that I do not support,” he said.

Leal later explained that among his concerns was the availability of economy passes at places along bus routes.

Tuesday’s motion was put forward by Councilwoman Nina Trasoff and seconded by Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, who spearheaded opposition to the increase last summer based on questions about data supporting it.

The new proposal advanced the recommendations of the citizens’ committee that was created after the proposal last summer was voted down.

The group advised raising regular rates to $1.25, increasing day passes to $3 from $2 and raising express passes to $1.50 from $1. The group did not recommend an increase for the economy fare but supported more long-term planning.

Transportation Director Jim Glock told the council that not raising fares last summer under a slightly different schedule caused a $2 million loss to the mass transit fund for the fiscal year that ends June 30. He was responding to a question from Councilman Rodney Glassman, who supported the increase last year.

The talk of fee increases widened divisions among council members about how to keep the city in the black.

Leal is a vocal supporter of regular fee discussions in the council. Others including Uhlich advocate considering an index system that would increment