🗳️ Third Time's the Charm? Janet Wittenbraker Makes Another Run for Office on Morning Voice | MORNING VOICE
Local restaurant owner prioritizes gambling facility over addressing Tucson's housing and homelessness crises
Based on the Morning Voice for 5/14/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, on KVOI-AM. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
This radio show called "Morning Voice" 📻 is hosted by a man who owns several restaurants 🍽️ in Tucson. On the show, he talked about having to fire a worker who took $10 💸 from another employee. He also interviewed a woman 🗣️ running for City Council who thinks the government spends too much money 💰. They both complained about homeless people 🏕️, bus services 🚌, and were sad 😢 about a horse racing track 🏇 closing. They didn't talk much about why people might be homeless 🏠❓ or need free bus rides 🚍. The show mostly focuses on what business owners want, not what regular people in Tucson might need.
🗝️ Takeaways
🍽️ Grant Krueger, owner of multiple upscale Tucson restaurants, hosts "Morning Voice" where he frames issues from a wealthy business owner's perspective
💼 Krueger compared firing a server for stealing $10 to Pete Rose's baseball gambling ban, revealing how punishment systems impact working class people differently than the wealthy
🚍 The host criticized free public transportation for "only" increasing ridership by 23%, comparing essential transit services to a hypothetical "free whiskey day" promotion
🏠 Homelessness was discussed primarily as a nuisance to businesses rather than a humanitarian crisis requiring comprehensive solutions
🗳️ Republican candidate Janet Wittenbraker used the platform to promote her Ward 3 City Council campaign after previous unsuccessful runs for mayor and county supervisor
🐎 Significant airtime was devoted to lamenting the closure of Rillito Racetrack without acknowledging ethical concerns about horse racing or more pressing community needs
📻 The show amplifies conservative perspectives while excluding voices of Indigenous people, the working poor, unhoused individuals, and other marginalized communities
Unmasking the Monologue: The Affluent Agenda Behind Morning Voice's Mainstream Messaging
In the dance of democracy, where words waltz with power, talk radio remains the realm where conservative choreography continues unchallenged in Tucson's media landscape. This week's episode of "Morning Voice" on May 14th, hosted by Grant Krueger—restaurant mogul, self-proclaimed business expert, and voice of establishment interests—offers a revealing peek into the priorities and perspectives that dominate our local airwaves.
As the dusty Sonoran morning broke over Tucson, KVOI's Morning Voice broadcast waves of privilege into unsuspecting cars and kitchens across the city. While most Tucsonans were worrying about making rent or affording healthcare, Krueger was fretting over the moral implications of firing a restaurant worker for stealing ten dollars.
The Host with the Most (Privilege)
Grant Krueger, a Detroit native who moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona, has built his empire as owner of Union Public House, Reforma Modern Mexican Mezcal + Tequila, and Proof Artisanal Pizza and Pasta, all located in St. Philip's Plaza. He's operated several restaurants in Tucson and Pima County for over 15 years and presents himself as the voice of small business, though his concerns reflect a decidedly privileged perspective.
Yes, because nothing says "small business" quite like a multi-restaurant empire in one of Tucson's most upscale locations...
Krueger's show kicked off with a meditation on "mortal sins" in baseball, comparing Pete Rose's gambling controversy to an employee stealing from coworkers at his restaurant. The parallel reveals more than intended: like Major League Baseball's selective rule enforcement, our society's punishment system falls hardest on the working class while corporate theft goes unpunished or receives wrist-slap penalties.
"In my world, regardless of how great you are on the field, even if Suzy is the Pete Rose of servers over here in our establishment, she's sort of committed a mortal sin," Krueger declared with the gravity of someone who's never had to choose between paying rent and buying groceries. "I'm going to have to walk into that restaurant in just the next couple of hours and terminate one of my most favorite employees that I've had over the last few years."
The irony of a wealthy restaurant owner waxing philosophical about "mortal sins" while presumably paying his employees the bare minimum required by law goes completely unremarked. His agonizing about firing a beloved server named "Suzy" for stealing $10—right before graduation weekend when he needs her most—presents as moral leadership rather than what it truly represents: the stark power imbalance between employer and employee in our economic system.
Let's shed a tear for the business owner's tough decision while ignoring what economic desperation might drive someone to risk their livelihood for ten dollars...
Krueger never once considers what circumstances might have led to this theft. Was "Suzy" struggling to make ends meet on server wages? Did she have unexpected medical expenses in America's broken healthcare system? These questions remain unasked and unanswered, buried beneath Krueger's self-congratulatory moral certainty.
The Republican Candidate Chorus
The show's second hour featured Janet J.L. Wittenbraker, Republican candidate for Tucson City Council Ward 3. Wittenbraker, who previously lost bids for mayor of Tucson in 2023 and for the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2024, has now set her sights on the City Council. She previously worked as an executive assistant for the Tucson City Manager's Office from 2013-15 and currently specializes in overseeing intellectual property contracts.
Wittenbraker described her political journey: "I marched myself down to the Pima County GOP, and I said, Who's your candidate for mayor? I have the resources. I have the time. I want to support a candidate. Well, they didn't have a candidate. And I thought, well, if not me, who?"
If not you, perhaps someone with actual grassroots community connections and public service experience? Just a thought...
Her campaign message echoes the standard conservative talking points about crime, roads, and homelessness—issues that deserve attention, but framed without acknowledging their root causes in systemic inequality and historical disinvestment in public services. She positions herself as a fiscal conservative without addressing how budget cuts disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
"We need to build up our community and give people real opportunities for success," Wittenbraker claimed, without offering a single concrete policy that would accomplish this lofty goal.
During the interview, Wittenbraker expressed her belief that the government has gotten "really, very big" and is "providing services that are not mandated by state statute." This rhetoric masks the reality that many "non-mandated" services address crucial community needs that the private sector has failed to solve, particularly for those without Krueger's economic advantages.
"What is happening to you in the unincorporated areas? You just got taxed by the city of Tucson. They're going to increase your water rate," Wittenbraker complained, speaking directly to county residents. "Yay, because they failed to pass 414. And rather than taking a hard look at their budget and deciding what is the absolute needs, they've decided they'll make up a new tax."
Because providing clean water to all residents is apparently a luxury service, not a basic human need...
What Wittenbraker conveniently ignores is that infrastructure costs money, and decades of artificially suppressed rates have left critical water systems in desperate need of upgrades. The "tax" she decries is actually an investment in ensuring continued access to safe drinking water—something that should be a universal right, not a privilege determined by zip code.
The Settler's Soliloquy on Social Services
Throughout the show, both host and guest reinforced narratives that demonstrate a profound disconnect from the lived experiences of many Tucsonans. When discussing public transportation, Krueger bemoaned that making SunTran free only increased ridership by 23%, as if this modest gain somehow proves public services aren't worth investing in.
"I can't imagine in my restaurants, if I was charging, right, and my sales were X. And if suddenly there was, let's call it like free whiskey day, like my sales would be 5X or not sales, but my consumption, let's say, would be 5X or 10x in some capacity," he mused, casually comparing essential transportation that many rely on to get to work and school with recreational consumption of alcohol.
Because public transit access for low-income workers is exactly like "free whiskey day" at an upscale restaurant. Perfect analogy, no notes...
The conversation about the unhoused population revealed similarly troubling perspectives. Krueger lamented the homeless individuals at bus stops and suggested that services to address homelessness aren't worthwhile. His framing of people experiencing homelessness as primarily a nuisance to business owners rather than fellow humans facing a housing crisis speaks volumes about the show's priorities.
"I've had a homeless man on fentanyl at the corner of River & Campbell at that bus stop right in front of the Cambridge Business Center now for about two months," Krueger complained, reducing a human being struggling with addiction to nothing more than an eyesore.
No mention was made of Tucson's affordable housing crisis, the lack of mental health resources, or the predatory pharmaceutical industry that flooded our communities with opioids. Instead, the unhoused are presented as problems to be removed rather than neighbors to be helped.
The Silenced Symphony
What's perhaps most telling about "Morning Voice" is what's missing: the voices of Indigenous people whose land we occupy, of the working poor who staff Krueger's restaurants, of the unhoused individuals discussed as problems rather than people, of the bus riders whose transportation needs are dismissed.
The show represents a settler-colonial perspective where business interests trump human needs, where property takes precedence over people, and where systems of oppression remain unexamined and unchallenged.
When Krueger and Wittenbraker discuss the city budget, they focus exclusively on what they see as wasteful spending, never acknowledging the historical underinvestment in communities of color or the colonial extraction of resources that created the vast inequalities we see today.
"You have a mayor and council who have essentially doubled their budget over four years from a billion four to $2.3 billion. And yet still can't afford the basic needs," Wittenbraker claimed, conveniently ignoring how inflation, population growth, and long-deferred infrastructure repairs necessitate budget increases.
As if city budgets exist in a vacuum, completely disconnected from national economic trends, supply chain issues, and the aftermath of a global pandemic...
Racing Against Reality at Rillito
Krueger's lament over the Rillito Racetrack's uncertain future rounds out the show's disconnected worldview. While horse racing's decline nationally reflects changing attitudes toward animal welfare and gambling accessibility, Krueger frames it as a tragic loss of "cultural heritage" without acknowledging the legitimate ethical concerns that have led to the industry's contraction.
"This is absolutely the highest of the high season for Tucson and our culinary delightful restaurants over here that make up America's best Mexican food," Krueger boasted, before pivoting to his concern over the future of horse racing in the city.
"The Rillito Downs was the birthplace of quarter horse racing in the United States," he explained, his voice tinged with nostalgia. "For those that don't know, quarter horses is sort of the horse drag racing. That's the straight line, like the big powerful muscle cars of horses."
The nostalgia for this "cultural melting pot" ignores that these spaces were historically built on systems of exclusion and exploitation. His regret over the lack of "amplified live music" and restrictive lease terms at the facility reveals more concern for profit potential than preservation of meaningful cultural spaces.
Yes, because what Tucson really needs more than affordable housing, healthcare, or living wages is... checks notes... horse drag racing?
Not once does Krueger consider the ethical implications of horse racing or acknowledge the growing concerns about animal welfare that have contributed to the sport's decline. Instead, he reduces the complex issue to a simple matter of lease terms and bureaucratic obstacles, focusing entirely on the business angle while ignoring the moral questions at the heart of the debate.
The Capitalist Crescendo
"Morning Voice" represents the voice of capital in Tucson—a voice that speaks of community while promoting privatization, bemoans homelessness while treating it as an eyesore rather than a humanitarian crisis, and celebrates "cultural melting pots" while advocating policies that deepen inequality.
As Krueger wraps up his show with announcements about restaurant openings and closings in Tucson, the underlying message becomes clear: the health of businesses, particularly those catering to the wealthy, is the primary measure of our community's well-being.
When Wittenbraker proclaims, "If you elect me, I will demonstrate that and I'll be the example from the next candidates coming up," she offers no vision of a more equitable Tucson, no plan to address the systemic issues facing our most vulnerable residents, just a vague promise of "fiscal responsibility" that historically translates to cutting services for those who need them most.
As we listen to these amplified voices of privilege, we must remember those who remain unheard in our community, and work to create media spaces where their experiences and perspectives can truly be voiced.
A Path Forward
Despite the discouraging narrative promoted on "Morning Voice," Tucson has a rich history of community organizing and progressive action. From the immigrant rights movement to environmental justice campaigns, from labor organizing to mutual aid networks, our city is full of people working toward a more just and equitable future.
By supporting alternative media platforms, engaging with local politics beyond electoral campaigns, and building solidarity across communities, we can challenge the status quo and create a Tucson that works for everyone—not just business owners and the politically connected.
The true voice of Tucson isn't found on conservative talk radio. It's in neighborhood association meetings, in community gardens, in mutual aid distributions, and in the countless conversations happening every day among people who envision a better future for our desert home.
Questions to Ponder
Who benefits from framing public services like free bus transportation as "wasteful" when they provide critical infrastructure for those without wealth or privilege?
How do shows like "Morning Voice" shape public perception of issues like homelessness, crime, and public spending in ways that direct blame toward individuals rather than examining systemic causes?
What voices are missing from mainstream Tucson media, and how might our understanding of local issues change if those voices were amplified?
How can we create community-owned media that represents the diverse experiences and needs of all Tucsonans, not just the business and political elite?
Support Independent Media
If you value this kind of critical analysis of local media and politics, please consider supporting Three Sonorans. Our independent journalism relies on reader support to continue shining a light on the perspectives and issues that mainstream outlets like "Morning Voice" ignore or misrepresent.
By subscribing to our Substack, sharing our articles, or contributing what you can, you help ensure that alternative voices and viewpoints remain part of Tucson's media landscape. Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable conversation about our city's future.
Comment below with your thoughts on how we can create media platforms that better represent the diverse voices and needs of our community. Have you noticed similar patterns in other local media? What stories do you think aren't being told in Tucson? Your perspective matters, and this space is for building community dialogue.
In solidarity, The Three Sonorans
Quotes
"In my world, regardless of how great you are on the field, even if Suzy is the Pete Rose of servers over here in our establishment, she's sort of committed a mortal sin." - Grant Krueger discussing his decision to fire an employee for stealing $10
"I can't imagine in my restaurants, if I was charging, right, and my sales were X. And if suddenly there was, let's call it like free whiskey day, like my sales would be five acts or not sales, but my consumption, let's say, would be 5x or 10x in some capacity." - Krueger comparing free public transportation to giving away free alcohol
"I've had a homeless man on fentanyl at the corner of River in Campbell at that bus stop right in front of the Cambridge Business Center now for about two months." - Krueger describing a homeless person as a nuisance rather than a human in crisis
"People sometimes want things that feel good and right, but they do not understand that that's not a function of their government. And we need to distinguish between what a society function is and what a governmental function is." - Janet Wittenbraker, suggesting government shouldn't address certain social issues
"You have a mayor and council who have essentially doubled their budget over four years from a billion four to $2.3 billion. And yet still can't afford the basic needs." - Wittenbraker criticizing city budget increases without context of inflation or growth
People Mentioned
Grant Krueger - Host of Morning Voice, owner of Union Public House, Reforma, and Proof Artisanal Pizza in St. Philip's Plaza: "I'm going to have to walk into that restaurant in just the next couple of hours and terminate one of my most favorite employees that I've had over the last few years."
Janet Wittenbraker - Republican candidate for Tucson City Council Ward 3, former mayoral and county supervisor candidate: "I marched myself down to the Pima County GOP, and I said, who's your candidate for mayor? I have the resources. I have the time... Well, they didn't have a candidate. And I thought, well, if not me, who?"
Pete Rose - Former baseball player mentioned by Krueger as an analogy for committing a "mortal sin" in baseball (gambling)
Governor Hobbs - Mentioned for vetoing 48 bills in 48 hours, described by Krueger as "the Pete Rose of vetoes in the state of Arizona"
Regina Romero - Current Mayor of Tucson, briefly mentioned by Wittenbraker as part of her criticism of city governance
Charles Heller - Caller who asked Wittenbraker about the Constitution's stated purpose of government
Paul - Caller who asked about how a new Indian casino would affect city tax revenue
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
Wow! On the radio, Grant Krueger publically accused one his employees of theft. He even gave her name.
If he really has an employee by that name, she should sue him for every penny he's got. Unless, he's got video to back up his accusation, how's he going to prove she's a thief? And how's he going to justify publicly destroying her reputation? What's moral about destroying someone's reputation over $10?
Of course, he may have made the whole story up.