Bill to declare Baja Arizona a ‘danger zone’ is killed

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Update to State of Maricopa declares Baja Arizona a 'danger zone'. Rep. Peggy Judd (R-Wilcox) sponsored HB 2586, to establish a "danger zone" where warnings about the border will be sounded North of the border, limited to just 62 miles from the border. "Although no specific lines have been identified, 62 miles would appear to take in some portions of the city of Tucson."

This fear mongering on border issues did not sit well with local border communities that rely on tourism and cross-border business traffic with Mexico.

Local leaders from across the border region swarmed the state capitol Monday and helped kill a bill that would have created the border warning system to alert people to dangers associated with the border. Facing mounting backlash, Judd kills border-warning bill – Nogales International:

[B]usiness and community leaders who showed up to opposed the bill at a stakeholder’s meeting Monday at the House of Representatives said it would unnecessarily hurt the region’s reputation and damage its already depressed economy.

“One of the things that we’re concerned about is we’re trying to have businesses locate in Nogales,” Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said at the meeting, adding that city leaders also don’t want existing industry to leave.

“We don’t want any message out there that we’re in the red zone,” he said. “At all.”

Garino was among more than 40 stakeholders who urged Judd to kill HB 2586, which would require the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to monitor and disseminate to the public, via social media and email, information considered to be a warning about “dangerous conditions” up to 62 miles north of the border with Mexico.

J.B. Manson, chair of the Greater Nogales and Santa Cruz County Port Authority, said that in addition to the fact that it would scare people away from the border communities, he opposed the bill because there were no meetings or public input from the leaders along the border.

* * *

Yvonne Delgadillo, executive director of Nogales Community Development, said issuing warnings about the border region in Arizona is unnecessary and dishonest. She said the bill would have stoked fears about the border region, even though the crime rate is actually lower on the border than in most places.

“Quite frankly, I think the reason a lot of us so strongly oppose this bill is because it does provide lies to the public,” she said. “If we’re only representing the negative things, which are probably not nearly what other communities have, then aren’t we lying to the public by misrepresenting the area?”

Citing these concerns and effective lobbying efforts, Judd killed the measure. By a show-of-hands vote, the group also convinced her to kill a “strike-everything” amendment that she had proposed to address some of the concerns with the original bill, including defining the 62-mile border region defection and making the warnings only available by email to those registered to receive them. That strike-everything bill would have gone to a full Senate vote Monday.

"Judd teared up a little at the end of the meeting, thanking the opponents of her bill for showing up and giving their input. She said she wouldn’t run for the office next year, adding that it was an honor to represent the area. The group gave a big round of applause after Judd agreed to kill HB 2586 and not bring it back up for the session."