Mailbag

If Prop 200 Passes, Tucson’s Budget Will Be Screwed

While I agree with the writers who want Michael Goodman run out of
town (“Welcome to Goodmanville,” Sept. 3), I’d like to see Jim Click,
the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association and the Tucson
Association of Realtors kicked out with him. They really deserve it for
Proposition 200, the “Public Safety First” Initiative, an idea that
sounds good in theory—until you look at the numbers involved, and
what it would do to Tucson’s budget in the next five years.

It is unfunded, and supporters state that its funding would come
from the general fund, which is exactly the problem: Can you say
massive property-tax increases? Can you say goodbye to the zoo, KIDCO,
Parks and Recreation, and other institutions which receive funding from
the city? This is what will happen if Prop 200 passes.

John M. Jensen

Why Spend on Police When We Could Fight Poverty?

Thanks to Jim Nintzel for the clarity on Prop 200 and why I am not
voting for it (“Police Action,” Currents, and “A Rational Ratio?” and
“Growing Opposition,” The Skinny, Sept. 24). If we had $51 million a
year to spend, I would rather use it to reduce poverty and get Tucson
some good-paying jobs. Then we wouldn’t need 2.4 police per 1,000
residents—maybe not even 1.9 police per 1,000 residents.

Poverty breeds crime. I get it.

Polly A. Connelly

Poison Is Bad; Younger Generations’ Openness Is Good

Poison is poison; thanks to Randy Serraglio for stating the obvious
(Sept. 3). When a population participates in self-deception for as long
as ours has (farming, driving, throwing away), we can’t have enough
choices in perspective.

I take heart in the generation born in the 1980s. They seem to
possess fewer ingrained prejudices against the Earth and each other, a
more honest understanding of their individual selves, and ingenuity to
overcome artificial constraints to free and open communication (often
by simply ignoring those constraints).

The bad habits of our nation may not be perpetuated, but we are on
the bridge, folks. Find a message, and help it get across.

Tuesday McCormick

And Now, a Treatise on How to Judge Tacos

John Schuster recently called my attention to DJ Randy Williams (aka
R Dub), the so-called Taco Inspector (“R Dub Taco Stunt Doesn’t Sit
Well With Border Patrol,” Media Watch, Sept. 3). Given my love of
tacos, I read Media Watch with great interest and even visited
Williams’ Web site, thetacoreview.com, to find out the
parameters he uses to judge tacos.

I was greatly disappointed with Williams’ ratings and his overall
criteria for selecting good tacos. While I don’t wish to polarize this
discussion into Mexican-versus-U.S. taco-eating habits, Tucson
Weekly readers should be aware of some information.

The art of taco-eating has traveled south to north from Mexico and
has greatly deteriorated in the United States, partly because of the
high cost of supplying the high-quality ingredients essential for a
good taco. For example, avocado, a basic and relatively inexpensive
ingredient for tacos in Mexico, greatly increases the price of tacos in
the United States. Because of this, tacos in the United States suffer a
most violent decline at the hands of unsavory, watered-down guacamole.
Curiously, Williams does not even consider guacamole an essential part
of a taco.

In addition, there is the issue of tortillas. While it is true that
tacos can be ordered either in corn or flour tortillas, any decent
taco-eater knows that a true taco is wrapped in a small corn tortilla.
To my dismay, Williams judges most of his tacos based on the notion
that flour tortillas make the taco. This doesn’t even deal with the
issue of handmade versus ready-packed tortillas, the latter the
favorite in most taco shops in the United States.

Finally, there is the issue of what Williams calls a “condiment
bar,” the area where one can choose a variety of sauces and other
ingredients, such as onion and cilantro, to enhance the flavor of a
taco. For Williams, the sign of a good taco shop rests in the size of
its condiment bar.

This seems utterly preposterous. A good taco should automatically
come with the ingredients the patron wishes. In any good taqueria,
patrons tell the taquero (taco preparer) what to include in the savory
dish: “sin cebolla (without onion),” “con todo (include everything,
typically salsa, guacamole, cilantro and onion; the use of cabbage
reflects the regional varieties of tacos in Mexico—in this case,
Sonora—and should be considered an aberration of taco culture)”
or “con poca salsa (just a little bit of salsa—not pico de gallo,
by the way, a favorite of Williams’).” All these variations can be
heard regularly at any taco shop in Mexico. That way, when your taco
arrives, it is nice, warm and ready for any final touches you wish to
add, such as a few drops of lime or a sprinkling of salt.

Now that he has a SENTRI card, Williams should spend more time in
Mexico to really learn the art of taco-making before presuming to
instruct us in its subtleties.

Alex Hidalgo

This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.