🌵 "The Border is a Gift, Not a Burden": Hispanic Chamber CEO Challenges Dominant Narratives
Rob Elias reveals how Mexican tourism brings over $1 billion annually while border politics dominate national discourse
Based on the Morning Voice for 5/6/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, on KVOI-AM. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
Two important business leaders in Tucson talked on a radio show 🎙️ about how they're joining forces to make the area better for businesses. 🤝💼 They're worried about slow traffic 🚦, unfilled jobs 💼❌, and how the city makes decisions.
One leader, Rob Elias, highlighted how important our connection to Mexico is for our economy 🇲🇽💵, saying it brings over a billion dollars from tourists. 🌍💰 The other leader, Joe Snell, explained how two big business groups combined 🔗 to create one stronger group that can have more influence on decisions about roads 🚧, jobs, and the future of Southern Arizona. 🌅✨
🗝️ Takeaways
🔄 The Southern Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and newly formed Chamber of Southern Arizona represent a consolidation of business advocacy power in the region
🛣️ Business leaders criticize Tucson's "road diet" approach and reduced speed limits while pointing to Phoenix's success in attracting major tech investments like Waymo
🌐 Rob Elias emphasized the border as an economic asset, noting Mexican tourism alone brings over $1 billion annually to Southern Arizona
💰 The region faces thousands of unfilled high-tech, high-wage jobs despite recruitment efforts, highlighting workforce development challenges
🏢 Joe Snell expressed skepticism about the City of Tucson's exploration of purchasing Tucson Electric Power, preferring private control of utilities
🤝 The Chamber of Southern Arizona will focus on "issue advocacy" rather than candidate endorsements while mobilizing 1,500 small businesses for political influence
Chambers of Commerce, Road Diets, and Border Politics: The Hidden Power Struggles Shaping Southern Arizona's Future
In the shadow of the Santa Catalina Mountains, where the desert meets colonial ambition and indigenous resilience, Tucson's airwaves continue to reveal the competing visions for our region's future.
Tuesday's episode of "The Morning Voice" on KVOI 1030 offered a rare glimpse into the minds of those orchestrating Southern Arizona's economic destiny. This destiny too often prioritizes corporate interests over community well-being and ecological harmony.
The Usual Suspects: Growth Above All
Host Ted Maxwell and co-host Matt Neely began with their customary lament about the city's recent decisions to lower speed limits on major thoroughfares like Campbell Avenue and First Avenue. Their frustration was palpable as they mourned the death of Tucson's never-realized crosstown freeway and criticized what they described as the city's pattern of "road diets."
Ah yes, because nothing says "progress" like turning our desert community into another Phoenix-style concrete wasteland where cars reign supreme and pedestrians risk their lives crossing eight-lane speedways. Heaven forbid we create a city designed for human beings rather than automobiles.
Maxwell and Neely compared Tucson unfavorably to Phoenix, praising the northern metropolis for attracting a Waymo factory with 239,000 square feet and 1,000 jobs. The subtext was clear: Tucson's failure to embrace unrestrained development is holding us back, while Phoenix's sprawling asphalt paradise represents success.
Never mind that Phoenix is literally running out of water and has summer temperatures that regularly exceed 110 degrees. But sure, let's emulate that model of "success" while our aquifers continue to disappear.
Rob Elias: The Border as "Gift," Not "Burden"
The first guest, Rob Elias, President and CEO of the newly renamed Southern Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, brought a more nuanced perspective to the conversation. A Tucson native with roots in baseball (playing professionally for the Coastal Bend Aviators in Texas) and a University of Arizona education in political science, Elias spoke passionately about embracing the region's multicultural identity.
"We try to live at the intersection of commerce, culture, and community," Elias explained, articulating a vision that at least acknowledges our region's complexity. "With our indigenous roots, with our native, with our Hispanic roots, let's talk about that."
In a genuinely refreshing departure from the typical border narrative, Elias emphasized, "We need to consider the border as a gift, not as a burden. And our livelihood in Tucson, Tombstone, Benson, Bisbee, and everywhere in between depends on Mexico."
Consider for a moment how rarely we hear this truth spoken on local radio – the reality that our economically interconnected border region generates wealth and cultural richness, not just the "problems" that dominate conservative talking points.
Elias pointed to the upcoming Arizona-Sonora Economic Forum, which will feature both governors. This sold-out event will highlight cross-border cooperation rather than militarization. He cited that Mexican tourism alone brings the region over $1 billion annually.
"Don't just get on the road for the destination to be Phoenix," Elias advised visitors. "Stop off in Tombstone. Stop in Bisbee. Stop in Tucson. Stop in Douglas. And see some of the beauty that is in those regions."
When pressed about the challenges facing the community, Elias acknowledged homelessness and mental illness, but he resisted the simplistic notion that the government alone should solve these problems. "We're of the belief that not every job, not every problem is meant to be solved by the government," he noted.
A convenient posture that allows business interests to avoid meaningful taxation while simultaneously criticizing public sector efforts. The circular logic is breathtaking – we don't want to adequately fund social services, then we point to their inadequacy as proof government solutions don't work.
Joe Snell and the Merger of Economic Powers
The show's second guest, Joe Snell, represents the culmination of a significant power consolidation in the region – the merger of Sun Corridor Inc. and the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce into the new Chamber of Southern Arizona. This merger, completed in just seven months, creates a single entity with enhanced influence over regional economic policy.
"We went from meeting to dating to getting married in seven months," Snell joked, describing the unusually rapid merger process. He framed the consolidation as responding to business community demands for "better unification" to address economic development and policy issues.
Translation: Local business interests wanted a more powerful lobbying arm to counter progressive city policies and community-centered initiatives. When power speaks of "unification," it's usually about centralizing control, not democratizing it.
Snell did raise legitimate workforce challenges, including the thousands of unfilled high-tech jobs in the region, skills gaps requiring educational partnerships, and the prohibitive cost of childcare. "If we can be a community that can figure out a solution around helping our people with some affordability and out-of-the-box solutions with childcare, I think that's going to give us a leg up," he noted.
When asked about the chamber's advocacy approach, Snell insisted they would focus on issues rather than endorsing candidates. "We're not going to endorse candidates going forward. That's absolutely something we've laid out," he stated. We're going to be issue-focused."
Yet the issues they choose to focus on will inevitably benefit certain candidates and harm others. This "non-partisan" stance is the oldest trick in the corporate playbook – claiming neutrality while advocating for policies that maintain existing power structures.
Snell expressed strong support for regional transportation solutions and the RTA reauthorization but showed remarkable skepticism about the City of Tucson's exploration of purchasing Tucson Electric Power, suggesting the city lacks the financial capacity for such an acquisition.
Funny how business leaders always think government is capable of building and maintaining massive road networks, but somehow incapable of running utilities that generate actual revenue. The hypocrisy is as predictable as it is frustrating.
The Unasked Questions
What remained conspicuously absent throughout these conversations was any meaningful discussion of environmental sustainability, indigenous sovereignty, or economic justice. No mention of water scarcity in a desert region facing climate catastrophe. No acknowledgment of whose land we occupy. No questioning of whether endless growth on a finite planet makes any sense at all.
The show concluded with Maxwell and Neely doubling down on their skepticism of municipal utilities. They praised the private sector's handling of essential services while suggesting the government should stick to police, roads, and parks.
The colonial mindset persists: extract resources, develop land, maximize profit, and leave the consequences for future generations. Meanwhile, our aquifers continue to deplete, temperatures continue to rise, and inequality continues to widen.
A Different Vision Is Possible
Despite the narrow framing offered by these economic leaders, a more holistic vision for Southern Arizona remains possible – one that honors our indigenous heritage, embraces our borderland identity, and prioritizes sustainability over unbridled growth.
Imagine economic development that centers ecological wisdom rather than extraction. Imagine transportation systems designed for people rather than cars. Imagine border policies that recognize our shared humanity rather than imagined divisions.
This vision requires rejecting the false choices presented by chambers of commerce and development authorities. We need not choose between economic vitality and environmental health, sacrifice community well-being for corporate profit, or erase our cultural heritage to build our future.
The path forward demands that we elevate voices traditionally excluded from these conversations – indigenous leaders, environmental justice advocates, border community members, and working families. It requires recognizing that economic decisions are also moral decisions about what kind of society we want to create.
Join the Resistance, Build the Alternative
The Three Sonorans continues to bring you these critical analyses because we believe in a borderlands that works for all its people, not just wealthy interests. Your support through our Substack subscription helps maintain this independent voice at a time when corporate media increasingly dominates the conversation.
What vision do you have for Southern Arizona's future? How do we balance economic needs with environmental realities? What would a truly just and sustainable borderlands economy look like?
Share your thoughts in the comments below, and consider becoming a paid subscriber to keep these vital perspectives flowing. Together, we can resist the colonial economic mindset and build something beautiful and lasting in its place – an economy and society that honors the land, water, and all peoples of the borderlands.
Quotes
"The city council, what is the, for the last two or three years, what's the phrase that's come out of the city council, road diets, they have no appetite for doing any of this. They want to actually reduce lanes, reduce road capacity." - Matt Neely, criticizing Tucson's approach to transportation planning
"While the mayor and the future congresswoman for life, because that's the safest district in town, while they were out protesting jobs in the Santa Rita mountains from a copper mine that's been approved by the state... in Phoenix, Waymo, just in there, they're expanding in Arizona, 239,000 square foot factory in Mesa, so the Phoenix metro area, 1000 jobs, hundreds of jobs." - Matt Neely contrasting Tucson and Phoenix's economic development approaches
"We need to consider the border as a gift, not as a burden. And our livelihood in Tucson, in Tombstone, in Benson, in Bisbee, and everywhere in between, it depends on Mexico." - Rob Elias on the importance of cross-border relationships
"We went from meeting to dating to getting married in seven months. So it's been a pretty actually fast in terms of a merger." - Joe Snell describing the rapid consolidation of business organizations
"I would very, very much caution this community of going down a road like that... I just could not hardly fathom the reality that there's enough money to buy out the infrastructure that that TEP's invested." - Joe Snell expressing skepticism about Tucson's exploration of purchasing Tucson Electric Power
People Mentioned
Ted Maxwell - Host of Morning Voice, RTA board member who advocates for regional transportation solutions: "Every road doesn't need to serve everybody. Have some for folks who just want to get across town, have some for more local arterial and connector roads, have roads that are dedicated to bikes or pedestrians, but trying to fix every road for everybody never works."
Matt Neely - Co-host who criticized Tucson's "road diet" approach: "While they're, you know, knocking down speed limits and road diets and saying we don't want jobs in this room, we don't want good paying jobs in this region, in Phoenix...they're expanding in Arizona."
Rob Elias - President and CEO of Southern Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, former professional baseball player and U of A graduate: "Business is personal to us. So when people join our chamber, we're proud of that, and we don't take that lightly."
Joe Snell - President and CEO of the Chamber of Southern Arizona, who led the merger between Sun Corridor Inc. and Tucson Metro Chamber: "The demand far is outstripping the supply or at least the skill set supply at this point."
Regina Romero - Referenced indirectly as "the mayor" opposing mining development in Santa Rita mountains
Alfonso Durazo - Governor of Sonora, Mexico, scheduled to appear with Arizona Governor at the Arizona-Sonora Economic Forum
Katie Hobbs - Governor of Arizona, mentioned as co-presenter at the Arizona-Sonora Economic Forum
Sam Credio - Director of Transportation for City of Tucson, mentioned by Rob Elias regarding indirect left turns: "I have conversations with Sam Credio, the director of transportation city of Tucson, like, man, what are these things?"
Council member Cunningham - Mentioned as wanting to reinstate bus fares in Tucson
Leah Marquez Peterson - Former leader of the Hispanic Chamber mentioned by Rob Elias as having previously considered the name change to Southern Arizona Hispanic Chamber
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