Tucson Council Meeting 8/27/24: ๐บ๏ธ Tucson's Secret Redistricting Recipe: A Pinch of Change, A Dash of Controversy
๐ธ The Price of Progress: Tucson's Tax Tango ๐ All Aboard the Money Train: RTA Next's Funding Follies ๐ฟ High Times on Speedway: Marijuana Dispensary Gets Green Light
๐ฝ Keepinโ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
๐ง๐พโ๐พ๐ฆ๐พ
๐ Hey kids! The Tucson city leaders had a big meeting ๐๏ธ where they talked about lots of important stuff. They're thinking about asking people to pay a little more money ๐ฐ when they buy things to help pay for things like police ๐ฎ, firefighters ๐, and fixing roads ๐ฃ๏ธ. They also talked about changing some rules ๐ about where people can live ๐ก and build houses. Some people came to share their worries ๐ about homeless people ๐ถโโ๏ธ and other problems in the city. The leaders listened ๐ and promised to look into these issues. They also voted โ on some new rules and projects ๐๏ธ for the city.
๐๏ธ Takeaways
๐ฐ Tucson considers half-cent sales tax increase to fund essential services amid state revenue cuts
๐ RTA Next plan negotiations continue, focusing on equitable fund distribution and project prioritization
๐๏ธ Council approves several zoning changes, including marijuana dispensary and residential developments
๐ณ๏ธ Redistricting advisory committee formed, but no significant ward changes are expected in the current cycle
๐ก Public voices concerns over homelessness, public safety, and potential impacts of redistricting on communities
๐ฎ Proposed tax increase aims to fund expanded police, fire, and community safety programs
๐ณ Environmental and community development projects included in the proposed spending plan
๐ค Voices from the Streets: Tucson's Call to Audience Unmasks City's Underbelly
๐ Homeless in the Old Pueblo: A Tale of Two Tucsons
First up, we had Sarah Linares, a concerned mama bear whose cub attends daycare at the Children's Center near 22nd and Swan. Linares painted a picture grimmer than a borderlands corrido:
"Homeless individuals are jumping over the fence into the daycare where the children play. They are leaving needles and other drug paraphernalia behind... I was told to wait outside not to drop off and wait because a homeless man was there and was refusing to leave the area."
Now, let's be real, Raza. This isn't just about homeless folks "causing trouble." This is about a system that's failed our most vulnerableโboth the unhoused and our chamacos. Instead of criminalizing poverty, how about we address the root causes? Affordable housing, mental health services, addiction treatmentโyou know, the stuff that actually helps people get back on their feet.
๐ท When Maintenance Turns Medical: City Workers' SOS
Ben Lucero, president of AFSCME Local 905, came with a different kind of emergency. He's sounding the alarm on city housing maintenance workers being forced to play doctor:
"The city's Housing and Community Development Department has been mandating housing maintenance technicians to perform Wellness checks and city-owned Facilities checks that should be handled by trained emergency medical personnel."
Aquรญ estรก el problema, compas: Our city workers aren't trained for this. It's dangerous for them and for the people they're checking on. This is what happens when we underfund essential services and try to cut corners. It's like trying to fix a car engine with a spatula - it just doesn't work!
โก Power to the People: The ACC Election Education Crusade
Scott Hancock came with a different kind of energy - literally. He's on a mission to get Tucsonans tuned into the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) elections:
"We have an election in danger of being forgotten in that National uproar... the Arizona Corporation Commission elections which might be more directly impactful to arizonians than any other."
Hancock's right on the money, folks. While we're all caught up in the national telenovela, these ACC elections could make or break our energy future. We're talking about the power to fight climate change, lower energy bills, and maybe even kick TEP to the curb. ยกSรญ se puede!
๐ณ๏ธ Redistricting Ruckus: Barrios on the Brink?
Now, here's where things get spicier than your abuela's salsa. The council quietly passed a change to the redistricting code that's got some of us raising our eyebrows higher than a lowrider on hydraulics. They added this little gem to the rules:
"Maintain established and recognizable ward boundaries with a minimum of disruption, except as may be necessary to achieve the other factors and objectives as listed in this section."
Margaret McKenna, one of our barrio defenders, wasn't having it:
"This redistrict [that the city attempted in 2022 and may try again] is going to separate all our barrios that are historically there, and it just doesn't make sense to us because even from what I've read, the redistricting would cut my neighborhood Barrio Hollywood also, split it up into two barrios and that's not what we want."
Let me break it down for you, familia: This little change could be the trojan horse they use to carve up our barrios like a piรฑata at a quinceaรฑera. We've seen this movie before in 2022 when they tried to move El Rio out of Ward 1. They say it's about "rough proportionality," but we know it's about diluting our power. No pasarรกn!
๐๏ธ Barrio Battlegrounds: Tucson's Redistricting Ruckus
The recent Tucson City Council meeting has set off alarm bells in our beloved barrios, mi gente. Under the guise of procedural housekeeping, our city leaders have slyly amended Tucson Code Section 10A-44(b)(1)(B), opening a Pandora's box of potential redistricting shenanigans. The change? A seemingly innocuous addition that could have far-reaching consequences for our community's unity and political power.
Previously, the code mandated maintaining "established and recognizable ward boundaries with a minimum of disruption." Now, they've tacked on a caveat: "except as may be necessary to achieve the other factors and objectives as listed in this section." This, mis amigos, is bureaucrat-speak for "We'll redraw the lines however we damn well please."
Let's not forget the ghost of redistricting past. Back in 2022, there was a push to move El Rio - the corazรณn of Tucson's Chicano soul - from Ward 1 to Ward 3. We fought back then, and we won. But like a cucaracha that just won't die, the idea seems to be scurrying back into the light.
Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz, in a move that's got more spins than a drunken ballet dancer, talked about the importance of creating more "minority-majority" wards. Sounds noble, ยฟno? But let's cut through the bull - the 2022 proposal would have done exactly that by moving El Rio to Ward 3. Coincidence? I think not. It's like they're trying to serve us the same old menudo, just in a fancier bowl.
City Attorney Rankin clarified:
"Honorable mayor members of the council, everyone in the audience, the item on tonight's agenda is to comply with the charter and code requirements that under which in any potential redistricting year in 2024 is a potential redistricting year under our Charter Provisions that the mayor and Council appoint the redistricting committee to meet and talk about it however as pointed out in the mayor and council communication that was included in the agenda materials given the low percentage of population deviation among the wards currently um there will be no redistricting required in this cycle, and the map that we have is the current map of the words that's correct"
This statement indicates that while they were voting to appoint a redistricting committee as required by law, no actual redistricting is expected in this cycle due to minimal population changes between wards.
Attorney Rankin was not completely honest, however, as the city council was also voting to amend the city code to change the way redistricting will occur in the future to โavoidโ what happened in 2022. If Rankin had told the whole truth, that part of the consent agenda could have been separated for further discussion. Instead, the council, perhaps unknowingly, voted to change the redistricting process for the future, hence the community involvement during this call to the audience.
Make no mistake, mi gente. This isn't about fair representation. It's about divide and conquer. It's about splitting our power, diluting our voice, and making it easier for the powers that be to push through their agenda without our unified resistance.
So what do we do? We stay vigilant. We show up to every meeting, we flood their inboxes, we make our voices heard. Because united, we're a force to be reckoned with. But divided? We're just pawns in their political chess game.
Remember, our barrios aren't just neighborhoods. They're living, breathing testaments to our history, our struggles, and our triumphs. Splitting them up isn't just redrawing lines on a map - it's erasing our heritage, one boundary at a time.
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