Former Public Servants Urge NO Vote on RTA Next

By:

• Former Tucson City Councilman Jerry Anderson
• Gayle Hartmann, president of the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association and an environmental activist against the Rosemont Mine
• Robin Hiller, former Voices for Education Executive Director 
• Molly McKasson, former Tucson Council member
• Bonnie Poulos, Assistant Staff Scientist at the University of Arizona EEB Dept.
• Bruce Wheeler, former Arizona House Democratic Assistant Minority Leader, District 10
• David Yetman, former Pima County Board of Supervisors Member

If you care about Tucson’s future, you will want to vote No on RTA Next: Props 418 and 419. Exclamation! Full stop!

If you want safer streets, repaired potholes, better bus service, economic stability, and more livable neighborhoods, we urge you to look at how little RTA-1 — the first Regional Transportation Authority plan — has done to improve our city these past 20 years, and how much of your money they’ve lavished, instead, on areas far outside Tucson city limits.

Who are we to urge you to vote No? We are a group of Tucsonans who have loved and served our city for decades — on the Tucson City Council, the Board of Supervisors, numerous City and County boards and commissions, as well as neighborhood associations. We know from experience that Tucson can, and must, do better.

A rip-off for Tucson residents

All of us are deeply concerned that the RTA Next special election coming up on March 10 is a rip-off for Tucson residents. It is a guarantee of massive sprawl that will lower the quality of life in our city.

Why do we feel so strongly? Because the RTA has a 20-year history of either not completing projects — 5 of the 7 unfinished RTA-1 projects are in the city — or never even starting promised city projects. Since 2006, the RTA has done little to make our streets safer, to increase the viability of our businesses and neighborhoods, or to improve deteriorating infrastructure. These are the issues your elected officials and neighborhood leaders used to demand their Transportation Department pay attention to before the RTA stepped in.

Why isn’t this kind of planning happening? Because right from the start, RTA-1 prioritized the widening of roads in outlying areas. And to add insult to injury, city residents have been the main funders of this sprawl.

That’s right. Tucsonans contribute upwards to 65% of the current RTA revenues. It’s estimated that RTA Next will get two-thirds of its funding from city residents, and there’s no reason to believe that their record of undone, unfinished city projects will be any different this time around.

Why is this happening? Because the City of Tucson has one vote on the RTA Board — the same as Sahuarita, Marana, and all the other jurisdictions. We are not fairly represented. It makes no sense for our taxes to continue to improve the infrastructure of outlying communities at the expense of our own.

Reckless direction

We can’t afford to keep going in this reckless direction. Transportation planning is integral to all other city planning. If we want a sustainable, thriving community, we must take back that planning. Say no to RTA Next.

The PAC supporting the RTA Next props has raised $645,000 and counting. The PAC opposing the propositions, called Tucson Deserves Better, doesn’t expect to raise more than $10,000, but it’s led by retired City of Tucson Transportation Department experts, not by folks who benefit from suburban development.

They know exactly what went wrong with RTA-1, and they know how to fix it.

They know that we can’t afford to subsidize Marana’s growth without hollowing out our own.

They know that if we subsidize widening roads in Vail, we will not have the funds to fill our own potholes and make our own streets safer for all modes of transportation.

We applaud the new Ward 6 Council member, Miranda Schubert, who has come out against RTA Next and in favor of a safer Tucson in the future. We are disappointed there have not been more Tucson town halls to let people know how critical this March 10th election is for our community. But there’s still time.

Spread the word to other Tucsonans: Don’t vote against yourself.

Vote Against RTA Next. Vote no on Prop 418 and Prop 419. Because Tucson deserves better.