If you haven’t voted early in the upcoming May 17 special election, and plan to do so on Tuesday, here’s the preview of todays’s Zona Politics show with a debate on Prop. 123 between Jason Freed and Morgan Abraham. Freed is in favor of the Proposition, as President of Tucson Education Assn. and Morgan is the Chair of No on Prop. 123 campaign and the President of the Pima County Young Working Democrats. Host Jim Nintzel on Zona Politics is the Senior Writer of the Tucson Weekly.
Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel airs at 8 a.m. Sunday on the CW Tucson, Channel 8 on Cox and Comcast and Channel 58 on Dish, DirecTV and broadcast. You can hear the show on KXCI, 91.3 FM, at 5 p.m. Sundays or watch it online at zonapolitics.com.
Proposition 123 is the education funding amendment, and is supposed to put $3.5 billion in K-12 schools in Arizona.
Over these past weeks, Tucson Weekly senior writer Jim Nintzel, host of Zona Politics (TV show on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m.) interviewed all the candidates running for election in the Tucson City Council races. Here’s a recap of the debates, in case you don’t know whom to vote for:
Ward 1 on Sunday Sept. 13: incumbent, 2 term Democrat Regina Romero vs.
Republican challenger Bill Hunt:
They did NOT endorse either candidate in Ward 1: Democratic Councilmember Regina Romero seeking her 3rd term, or Republican challenger Bill Hunt (political newcomer)
Ward 2: the Metro endorsed current 1 term Democratic Councilmember Paul Cunningham, over his Republican challenger Kelly Lawton (political newcomer)
Our Tucson daily newspaper Arizona Daily Star has endorsed community activist Betts Putnam-Hidalgo (who ran unsuccessfully for a TUSD seat in 2012) and political newcomer Jen Darland in the upcoming Tucson Unified School District Governing Board non-partisan race for 2 candidates.
Jen Darland is running for the first time after years of involvement at her children’s school and co-founding the advocacy group Arizona Education Network.
She participated in two state efforts to increase education funding, including the successful Proposition 100 in 2010, which provided a temporary 1-cent sales tax for public education and other services.
The Star says this about Betts:
Putnam-Hidalgo ran for the board two years ago, as did three other 2014 candidates. Despite her loss, she still kept up her regular attendance at board meetings. She’s also been actively involved in school site councils, served as a community representative and taught English as a second language to parents.
She speaks with enthusiasm of participating in parent leadership training through Voices for Education as a starting point for her advocacy. She describes herself as a “bulldog” when it comes the education.
Betts is a community activist and P/T teacher (“parent, volunteer and advocate for public schools”), and Darland calls herself a “volunteer parent education advocate” at TUSD. Both candidates have children attending TUSD schools.
Blog for Arizona authors and contributors (most of us, anyway)
TheTucson Weekly has been sponsoring its Best of Tucson contest since 1987. This year–for the first time ever– the contest not only gives you six ways to vote for the best pizza in town, but it also allows you to vote for the Best Blog in Tucson. With the Arizona Daily Star’s dramatic reduction in staff a few years ago and consequent reduction in original content, the final death of the Tucson Citizen, and the recent sale of the Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business, news from blogs is increasingly important in the Tucson media market.
We here at Blog for Arizona hope you will vote for us as the Best Blog– before the April 30, 2014 deadline. Why vote for us?
Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Blog for Arizona as Best Blog
10. Blog for Arizona is a statewide political blog that is not afraid to step on the toes of the rich and powerful.
9. Blog for Arizona has a searchable calendar, with political and community events from around the state.
8. Blog for Arizona is not the mouthpiece for any political party or candidate. Yes, we grouse about Republicans and Tea Partiers more than Democrats or Progressives, but just ask the Blue Dogs, and they’ll tell you that we’re not easy on them either. We care about integrity, and we’re not beyond holding anyone’s feet to the fire.
7. Blog for Arizona has 11 seasoned bloggers and several contributors– including three women. This blog has more than one voice. Yes, Blog for Arizona has a decidedly progressive tone, but we don’t always agree with each other– which is a good thing because that gives you– the reader– more information upon which to make wise decisions.
6. Blog for Arizona has new content throughout the day– every day. With so many authors, BfAZ publishes as many as 10 new stories per day.
