Pima County ran another batch of 11,511 ballots today, leaving just about 500 provisional ballots left to count, according to Pima County spokeswoman Rhonda Bodfield. Those last votes should go through the machines tomorrow.
And with so few ballots left to count, we can safely say that the city of Tucson’s road-bond package has passed.
As of today’s count, Prop 409 is passing by a mere 936 votes. That’s 72,333 in favor and 71,397 opposed.
It doesn’t get much close than that.
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild tells The Range via email: “I want to thank the people of Tucson for voting to fix our roads. Mr. Miranda and I intend to assure that the trust and confidence that has been given us proves to be well placed. This is a good first step towards repairing and rebuilding our city.”
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2012.
This is the biggest stack of bullshit fraud since Rio Nuevo and the biggest piece of electoral fraud since Huckleberry and the RTA.
tell us what you really think fred
Suckers are born every minute, and when they grow up they move to Tucson.
BS its a scam
We could have waited, but every year we wait, the roads get worse, and every year without fixing, the more expensive they are to fix. Think of it like putting off an oil change so that you can save money, and wondering why you’re being charged so much when you need a new engine.
Yes, there will probably be some screwups, but really — do you expect the City to spontaneously stop being prone to that in the next year? Two years?
This is a jackass as that damn stupid trolley that has been shoved down out throats. The trolley to nowhere. Four million dollars in substities just the first year! Just what home owners need, fund the bullshit and get nothing for it again. I have a great idea, other cities, icluding Phoenix, have a renters tax, lets tax the renters so they can pay thier share (notice I didnt say fair, because this is not fair) to fix roads, education and pay for projects nobody wants so the government can waist thier money equally.
Haha! Glad to see some wingnut tears in the comments. REALLY glad to see some funding for our messed up roads!
patriq, yours is a textbook example of a comment with a few somewhat reasonable ideas made irrelevant by excessive spittle.
conservative independent, A sucker is born every minute, you’re right. Cause if You actually believe whay you’re saying is true, you’re vindicated.
Can something be done about the graffiti problem now?
Good job voters, you just voted in a raise for city officials, and will continue to drive on SHIT!
It was never a problem with lack of funds, purely the misappropriation of funds. The City council continues to vote themselves raises (wouldn’t it be nice if we could all do that) and waist money on really stupid things like snake bridges, trollys and renovation projects. We have to quit putting the responsibilities on our backs and start making people responsible for the jobs they are paid to do.
The conservatives scream no new taxes even as our roads crumble underneath us, caused mainly by the fact that the gas tax in Arizona is a pittance and Jan Brewer’s private-prison buddies have skimmed vast portions of what tax revenue remains for their own purposes to the detriment of schools and roads. We want better roads? Then we have to pay for them. Ain’t nobody else to do it but us. Waiting for the state to pay will have us all driving on gravel.
Good intentions don’t pave roads and nobody seems to realize that the road that takes a civilization to hell is a poorly paved one. (Actually, it looks like just enough people did realize) Looking forward to my new suspension lasting 50k further than before.
There was already money in the city coffers to repair the roads. Some was stolen, some was allocated to other projects (choo choo train), etc. This tax does not fully get applied to road repair. Some of it does, but the rest will be mis-allocated and spent as the council sees fit. They claim that it will result in road repairs for the next five years, but you will be paying for it over the next 20 years. No wonder there are so many payday loan businesses in this town.
Regardless of one’s political persuasion, when fewer than a thousand votes out of nearly 150k cast determines a major decision like this something is wrong with our political system. The founders warned of the “tyranny of the majority” and we’re seeing that in more and more of our elections. 50 per cent plus 1 is not a meaningful “majority.”
Hahaha! So awesome. So, some Americans now believe that when voters prevail (apparently the ones they disagree with) it proves something is “wrong” with our system? LMFAO!! And I hate to tell you, but 50 percent plus 1 IS a majority. Period. By definition. It’s called “math.”
I don’t have a dog in this fight, BP. But, no. 50 per cent plus 1 is not a valid majority (statistically speaking) because it is within the margin of error. Besides, I don’t know why anyone would object to instituting mandatory margins of victory greater than a simple majority. 50 per cent plus 1 is not the will of the people. It’s the will of 1 person. That’s not hard to understand, either.
good job rip. isnt this the same type of issue that the last pima vote fraud court case was based on? the terry goddard cover up?
Tx Spook. The most recent suit was different because it named specific existing state laws being violated. The case over prospective relief stems from the obvious cover-up of the RTA election and states provisions in the U.S. and State constitutions as cause for the courts to intervene. Pima County Superior Court Judge Kyle Bryson ruled in defiance of the appellate courts, which already stated that the courts had jurisdiction to provide prospective relief in rigged elections. This act simply delays the process as it goes back to the appellate courts.
Before any court orders affecting election procedures are issued, the hearing needs to complete the fundamental tasks ignored by Attorney General Terry Goddard. The court must allow for the actual audit of the ballots and a forensic examination of the ballots. In fact, if the audit and forensic exam do not turn up evidence of foul play, the court does not have sufficient cause to issue orders for prospective relief. That outcome would end the case.
So why is Pima County the primary obstacle to this investigation?
All local outlets including the Weekly fail to articulate this inescapably simple resolution that Pima County avoids. Everyone endowed with basic cognitive skills are left with the uncomfortable realization that Pima County has been caught cheating and they are staving off the inevitable with taxpayer’s dollars.
Another prime example of the misinformed/misled ignorant voters of Pima Co.
Yes, the roads in Tucson are really bad. Sure hope this $$ is used to fix them. Until recently I’ve lived in Portland, OR. That city has good roads and an extensive light rail network. Getting around without a car has been facilitated with trains since the 1970’s when the light rail was begun. Get over the wild west cowboy mind set that keeps Old Pueblo’s denizens in love with those polluting autos!
I think we can find common cause here. If we use bullshit and hot air to fund public works projects instead of money, it would be good for both the environment and our pocketbooks, and conservative anti-tax zealots would be the biggest contributors to this new energy source.