Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014.
Part time she has been sitting as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter.
She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).
From Richard Fimbres’s FB page: “Residents of Tucson and Pima County came together to mark “One City, One County, One Community.”
This event was held at Tucson’s City Hall, first floor conference room, and was organized by Ward 5 Councilmember Richard Fimbres.
Members of the religious community from various faiths along with members of the business community, elected officials and citizens came together today to support the message “One City, One County, One Community.” They included:
Bishop Gerald Kicanas –Catholic Diocese of Tucson
Pastor Grady Scott – Grace Temple
Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias
Rabbi Samuel Cohon – Temple Emanu-El
Karen Uhlich – Council Member Ward 3
Chairman Edward Manuel – Tohono O’odham Nation
Paul Cunningham – Council Member Ward 2
Chairman Robert Valencia – Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Lynn Hourani – Islamic Center of Tucson, Board of Directors
Randy Reynolds – Community Renewal
Pastor Dr. Andrew Ross, Northminster Presbyterian Church
Paul Parisi – 4Tucson, Government Domain Director
David Drum – 4Tucson, Church Domain Director
Dan Porzio – 4Tucson, Environment Domain Director
Sheriff Mark Napier – Pima County Sheriff
Lee Lambert – Chancellor-Pima Community College
Clarence Boykin
Doris Snowden – NAACP
Daniel Wegener – The Baha’is Community
Fred Yamashita – PALF
Retired Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom
“Why we are here today is that constituents have called my office expressing their concerns about the recent events with our nation facing the challenges of hate, intolerance and the efforts to divide people playing on fears and prejudice,” said Ward 5 Councilmember Richard Fimbres. “We are here to affirm our community, as one who comes together and works for the common good.
“But I have always said that when our community has a challenge at hand, we do not scapegoat or point fingers, we roll up our sleeves and work to meet the challenge we are facing. One City, One County, One Community reaffirms that our community can come together, roll up our sleeves and work to meet any challenge.”