As attorney Larry Hecker looked out across the dozens of people assembled for the county bond campaign kickoff at a downtown hotel, he spied three people in particular: Tucson Metro Chamber President & CEO Mike Varney, Southern Arizona Leadership Council President & CEO Ron Shoopman and tireless homeless advocate Brian Flagg.
Hecker asked all three: “Do you guys agree on this?”
After they said yes, Hecker smiled and asked, “Did you ever think that would happen?”
It was a moment that underscored a key point of the upcoming campaign to persuade Pima County voters to approve the bonds: There’s a broad coalition supporting the county’s effort to persuade voters to agree to support $815 million in bonds for road repair, economic-development projects, historic preservation, parks, open space and more.
The coalition was on display as environmental champion and bond committee member Carolyn Campbell—who arrived on bicycle despite the triple-digit temperatures—made the case for purchasing more open space, but also talked up the other proposals: “Neighborhoods deserve reinvestment. Affordable housing is a necessity. Job training and job creation are invaluable. And investment in community centers and parks is a basic piece of our community fabric. So I hope you’ll join me in voting yes for open space and yes on all seven of the propositions.”
Tom McGovern, the chair of Tucson Metro Chamber board of directors, said his organization “is most interested in one overriding issue, and that’s job, jobs, jobs. Economic development depends on new jobs and one of the reasons that we’re so keen on these bonds is the opportunity to create new employment to help drive our economic growth. This comprehensive bond investment strategy is really a grand opportunity for the residents of Pima County to invest in this community.”
Joseph Blair, the former UA basketball standout who now runs a charity that focuses on youth basketball camps designed to build character and encourage education, made the point as well.
“It’s all about collaboration and community,” Blair said. “There hasn’t been this kind of collaboration in a very, very long time and we have an opportunity today to be trendsetters in collaboration.”
And Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, a Republican who supports all seven bond questions, brought his dog Simon to the kickoff event and joked that the small hound was also supporting all seven questions because Pima County voters supported a bond to build a new animal-care facility last year.
“He pays his debts,” Carroll said. “Simon told the people that if they supported the animal-care package, that he’d come back and support their seven questions. He’s standing by his word.”
For all the warm feeling on a hot room on Monday afternoon, the county is going into the election at a time when people are still feeling uncertainty about the economy—and Hecker acknowledged that the bonds would be no slam dunk with the voters.
“This is going to be a tough election,” Hecker said. “It’s going to be a low voter-turnout election. It’s going to take the active support of the coalition that is here today.”
The opposition already has created a web site, pimabondfacts.com, that lays out various reasons to shoot down the bonds, mostly revolving around concerns about higher taxes.
Shaun McClusky, a former Tucson City Council candidate and frequent critic of county spending, said he was opposing all seven questions.
“If you look at what they do with the money they get, it’s horrific,” McClusky said. “(Pima County Administrator) Chuck Huckelberry should know that roads are the most important priority, not the 2 percent of the population that use the bicycle loop.”
Here’s a sketch of the individual bond questions:
• Prop 425 will provide $200 million in road improvements, including $160 million on road repair and pavement preservation.
• Prop 426 will provide roughly $93 million for libraries, job-training facilities and state land that is currently within the boundaries of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
• Prop 427 will provide more than $98 million for tourism promotion, including improvements for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Reid Park Zoo, Tucson Children’s Museum, Old Pima County courthouse and other cultural facilities.
• Prop 428 will provide $191 million for park improvements.
• Prop 429 will provide $105 million for hospitals and clinics, Sheriff Department facilities and food banks and neighborhood reinvestment.
• Prop 430 will provide $112 million for open space and historic preservation, such as repairs at San Xavier Mission.
Prop 431 will provide $17 million for flood-control projects.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2015.
Not another penny to Pima County! Pima County has the highest taxes in the State of Arizona and the 5th most impoverished City of it’s size in the United States! It is obvious that they need to cut taxes and deregulate lots of things to make them more business friendly. I would say that at least four of the five County Supervisors have been enriched by their corrupt ways!
He’ll no on bonds. This is organized insanity. Don’t be a sucker again. If the county can’t get it done with 1.2 billion…tough luck.
Yes folks, if you want roads without potholes you have to PAY for them. Especially since Maricopa county continues to steal our HURF funds.
The RTA funds were for net NEW projects (back when the economy seemed to be expanding forever). This is for repair.
I’m glad they broke out the bonds so we can pick and choose. Some of them I will be voting ‘no’ on.
Don’t give the thieving politicians more money. Vote No!
After reading each one, I will be voting no on many of them. As politicians love to do, they have sprinkled a few good projects into each bond issue, the rest of it being trash, in the hope that voters will ignore the bad and vote for the good.
We have already paid for our roads in Pima County. The BoS gives authority to Chuck Huckleberry to spend the money as he sees it as opposed to the way we vote the monies to be spent. There will be nothing new here. 2% of those who could use the “Loop” use it!!! THAT IS JUST 2% Chuck! That money could be spent on better things and you know it!.
Let’s start this election off by getting rid of ALL of the BoS except Ally Miller who is actually on a course to improve Pima County then force the Board’s hand to vote “NO” on renewing Chick’s contract as Count Administrator. Oh BTW, we don’t need a soccer complrx either to take money away from other much needed infrastructure when we couldn’t even keep pro baseball here.
Please FIRE the free loading 4 BoS members that are responsible for making Pima County the 5th poorest city in this nation and still the number one County in AZ with the most bond debt and the highest property taxes……for what????
VOTE NO ON THESE BONDS AND KNUCKLEHEADS WHO SAY THEIR DOGS MADE THEM DO IT!!
The Star reported this morning that the Supes voted for another property tax increase.
@Bslap, we already pay for roads. You need to educated yourself on the myth of HURF being taken by Maricopa County. You’ll fallen into the Huckelberry trap of believing that garbage. The state has swept very little HURF funding. The problem is that we’re still paying $19M a year for the 1997 road bond that still has a full 1/3rd of the projects not even started and the county has already spend hundreds of millions over what the tax payers voted for in that bond election. Bonding for roads is not a solution as the bond debt outlives the roads by many many years, leaving no money to maintain the roads.
I suggest you do some research of the failure of past road bonds to do anything before making a decision. Your comment suggests you are very misinformed.
Remember Rio Nuevo? The city and the county are run the same. Vote for these bond issues and watch your money disappear, again. Cronies, crooks and bad leaders, that’s southern Arizona and the results are always the same…lots of money spent and almost nothing accomplished.