🔥 Systemic Inequity Unmasked: The Contradictions in County Leadership

Rex Scott's mixed messages about community progress and systemic contradictions in local politics.

Three Sonorans

Jan 18, 2025

🙊 Notable quotes from the show

Brian Kidd on Airport Challenges:

"We're always in the shadow of Phoenix, seemingly, and we want to see if we can break that string."
- Context: Discussing Tucson International Airport's struggle for recognition and economic independence

Rex Scott on County Budget Constraints:

"Because of the supermajority requirement for any revenue measure, they really have... only taken one of two courses, either cutting spending at the state level or shifting costs to local governments."
- Context: Explaining the systemic financial limitations imposed by state constitutional requirements

Bill Buckmaster on Extreme Cold:

"So many people, including yours truly, lost a lot of the flowering plants... experiencing the coldest spell, coldest January since the year 2000."
- Context: Highlighting the environmental impacts of climate change on local vegetation

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

In a recent 📻 radio show, Bill Buckmaster talked to local experts about Tucson’s freezing ❄️ weather and its impact on plants 🌱, the airport's efforts ✈️ to attract more travelers in a competitive market, and left listeners questioning 🤔 the fairness of county leadership decisions. Rex Scott's announcement of a large salary increase 💰 for an administrator raised alarms 🚨 about jobs and services that might be cut, pointing to a gap 🕳️ between government rhetoric 📢 and the struggles of working families 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 in the community.

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🗝️ Takeaways

🥶 Tucson faces its coldest January in decades, threatening local plants.
✈️ Tucson International Airport ranks in the top 10 for the fewest delays and is competing against Phoenix.
💰 Rex Scott’s justification for a $100,000 raise for Jan Lesher raises eyebrows amid potential job cuts for county employees.
⚖️ "Right-sizing" is criticized as administrative doublespeak for cuts and job losses.
🌍 The discussion highlights broader themes of climate change, economic disparities, and political contradictions.

Turbulence and Truths: A Deep Dive into Tucson's Local Landscape

On a frigid January morning in 2025, Bill Buckmaster's radio show once again proved why it remains the pulse of Southern Arizona's political and cultural heartbeat.

Broadcasting from the Bustos Media Center, Buckmaster hosted two powerhouse guests who pulled back the curtain on our local realities:

Brian Kidd, the strategic mastermind behind Tucson International Airport's marketing
Rex Scott is the newly minted chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

A class in local governance, aviation politics, and the delicate dance of community survival in an increasingly complex world unfolded.

🌡️ Freezing Foundations: When Nature Bites Back

Buckmaster didn't waste time diving into the elephant in the room—or rather, the arctic blast freezing Tucson's botanical dreams. This January marks the coldest spell since the turn of the millennium, with temperatures so low they're murdering plants faster than capitalist urban development destroys green spaces.

"So many people, including yours truly, lost a lot of the flowering plants," Buckmaster lamented, a subtle reminder of climate's unforgiving hand.

The cold isn't just a meteorological inconvenience; it's a stark metaphor for the fragility of our local ecosystems, crushed under the weight of changing climatic conditions.

✈️ Turbulent Skies: Tucson's Airport Navigates Systemic Challenges

Brian Kidd emerged as the unsung hero battling the aviation industrial complex, fighting to keep Tucson International Airport (TUS) relevant in a market dominated by Phoenix's gravitational pull. With a mix of strategic marketing and pure determination, Kidd shared insights that were part economic survival guide, part geographic resistance.

Key revelations included:

Holiday travel saw approximately 259,000 passengers
TUS ranked in the top 10 for the fewest airport delays
Ongoing efforts to attract international carriers from Canada and Mexico
Frontier Airlines returning with limited Denver service

"We're always in the shadow of Phoenix, and we want to see if we can break that string," Kidd declared, echoing the resilience of a community perpetually underestimated.

The airport's struggle mirrors broader systemic challenges: how do smaller markets survive when larger economic engines threaten to consume them whole?

🏛️ Political Pulses: Rex Scott's Progressive Posturing and Problematic Practices

Rex Scott arrived not just as a county supervisor but as a self-proclaimed beacon of progressive potential. His discussion traversed critical terrain – from state budgetary constraints to the complex landscape of local governance.

Noteworthy political highlights:

Critique of legislative cost-shifting practices
Emphasis on affordable housing and childcare
A nuanced approach to addressing homelessness
Advocacy for federal immigration support

Yet, beneath the veneer of social consciousness lies a troubling contradiction that exposes the systemic hypocrisy plaguing Pima County's governance.

Let's dissect the political theater:

The Jan Lesher Raise: A Tone-Deaf Tale of Bureaucratic Brilliance

In a move that reeks of administrative tone-deafness, Scott proudly proclaimed the justification for Jan Lesher's substantial pay bump. With libraries potentially shuttering and thousands of county employees facing economic uncertainty, the board decided to shower their top administrator with a whopping $100,000 raise and three months of paid time off.

"Jan Lesher had taken a salary that was significantly less than Mr. Huckleberry's when she became the county administrator," Scott explained, as if this financial martyrdom somehow justifies her current windfall.

The rationale? Comparing her salary to other local administrators—a classic capitalist shell game of competitive compensation that does nothing to address the fundamental inequities faced by working-class county employees.

While Scott waxes poetic about Lesher's extraordinary talents—her experience under Governor Napolitano, her work in Homeland Security under Obama, the one that deported more immigrants than all other administrations combined—the brutal reality on the ground tells a different story.

County employees are facing:

Potential job cuts under the euphemistic guise of "right-sizing" (as used by one deputy administrator)
Increased health premiums
Zero cost-of-living adjustments
Mounting uncertainty about their professional futures

Systemic Contradictions: The County's Cruel Calculus

Scott's progressive rhetoric rings hollow when confronted with the lived experiences of county workers. The board's decision to lavish a six-figure raise on its top administrator while potentially cutting jobs and services reveals the performative nature of local governance.

"We felt that it was fair," Scott claimed, a statement so devoid of self-awareness it would be comical if it weren't so devastating.

The term "right-sizing" emerges as a particularly Orwellian piece of bureaucratic doublespeak—a sanitized method of describing institutional violence against working-class employees. It's a corporate euphemism that masks the human cost of administrative "efficiency."

Beyond the Soundbites: Challenging the Narrative

While Scott discussed critical issues like homelessness, the jail population, and state budgetary constraints, these internal contradictions undermined his ability to effect meaningful change.

"We need to look at who really needs to be in jail," Scott boldly stated, challenging the prison-industrial complex.

Yet, one might ask: Who really needs a $100,000 raise in a county struggling with fundamental economic inequities?

The irony is palpable: A supposedly progressive administration perpetuates the systemic inequalities it claims to challenge. This is a masterclass in performative politics—addressing societal issues while simultaneously reinforcing the structures that create them.

Political Pulses: A Critical Reading

What emerges is not a vision of progressive governance but a stark illustration of how institutional power protects its own, even as it claims to serve the broader community. Scott's narrative represents not a departure from punitive systemic practices but a refined, more palatable version of the same bureaucratic game.

In the grand theater of local politics, the county's actions speak louder than any carefully crafted press release or radio show soundbite. And right now, those actions are screaming a message of systemic indifference.

Pima County: Where "right-sizing" is just another word for wrong.

🌍 Intersectional Insights: Reading Between the Lines

What emerged from this broadcast was more than just local chatter. It was a microcosm of resistance – against climate indifference, economic marginalization, and bureaucratic inertia. Buckmaster's show remains a critical platform where systemic critique meets local storytelling.

In a world that feels more divided, these discussions highlight that genuine progress occurs not through grand speeches but through the complex, often uneasy conversations happening in our own communities.

Stay radical, Tucson.

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Voices of Power: Quotes that Reveal the Underbelly of Local Governance

Notable Personalities Mentioned

Political Figures

Rex Scott
- Current Chairman of Pima County Board of Supervisors
- First Vice President of County Supervisors Association
- Quotes:
  - "We need to look at who really needs to be in jail"
  - "We want to look at communities around the country that have had more success in getting people to accept services and shelter"
Jan Lesher
- Pima County Administrator
- Background:
  - Worked under Governor Napolitano
  - Helped establish the Homeland Security Department
  - Recently received a significant pay raise
- About her: Described as having "extraordinary talent" by Rex Scott
Tom Horne
- Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Mentioned as an upcoming guest on the next show

Airport and Local Governance

Brian Kidd
- Deputy Chief of Strategic Marketing at Tucson International Airport
- Key insight: Working to attract international carriers and maintain airport relevance
- Notable quote about airport challenges:
  - "We're doing our best to publicize it. Nothing's taken for granted."

Historical References

Charles Lindbergh
- Mentioned as having landed in Tucson in early aviation days
- Symbolic of the city's aviation history
Governor Napolitano
- Former Arizona Governor
- Mentioned as Jan Lesher's previous employer
- Became the first Homeland Security Secretary

Mentioned but Less Detailed

Matt (Caller asking airport security questions)
Tom Horne (Upcoming radio show guest)
Tom Fairbanks (Show co-host)
Adelida Grijalva (County Supervisor taking over regional transportation role)