Tucson

public education

Tucsonans Take to the Streets to Protest Ducey/GOP Budget

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public education
Approximately 100 Tucsonans rallied against massive cuts to education proposed by Governor Doug Ducey and the #AZGOP.

More than 1000 people rallied at the Arizona Capitol to protest cuts to education on Thursday. The Phoenix rally spawned a similar protest in Tucson, where 100 people protested millions of dollars in cuts to K-12 education, $104 million in cuts to universities, and elimination of funding for Pima Community College and other community colleges in Pinal and Maricopa County.

Tucson education rally
Governor Ducey had proposed increasing prison beds and funding, while cutting education. Protesters took issue with that short-sighted idea.

ICYMI, Governor Doug Ducey and Republicans in the Arizona Legislature cooked up a terrible budget deal in secret, announced it on Wednesday, and tried to ram it through both houses before the public knew what hit them (literally). Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and the blogs– Arizonans quickly organized against Ducey’s budget plan.

You’ll remember that Ducey and the Legislature are facing a budget deficit of nearly half a billion dollars this year and over $1 billion next year, AND, thanks to Tooth Fairy Math, they believe that that can balance the budget, give millions of dollars in corporate tax cuts, and do nothing to raise revenue (to pay down the deficit or to make the tax cuts seem less ridiculous affordable.)

Parents, teachers, school board members, public education supporters, and students from 5 to 25 years old showed up in force in the two cities to tell the governor that balancing the state budget– yet again— on the backs of students and families is unacceptable. At this time, Ducey doesn’t have the votes in either chamber of the Legislature to pass his budget. Images from the Tucson rally after the jump.

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Occupy Tucson

Tucson: It’s Time to Stop Ignoring the Homeless & Help Them (video)

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Occupy Tucson
Public Lands protest on the sidewalk in downtown Tucson during Occupy Tucson. (There is a person in that pile.)

For decades, Tucson has waffled between ignoring the homeless living on our streets and under bridges to over-policing them.

When I moved here in 1981, the politically correct term for Tucson’s homeless was “transient”.

The attitude was: They’re not ‘homeless’, and they’re not ‘bums’. They’re just passing through… transient. Ignore them, and they’ll go away.

Transients were seen by the populace and the local government as another inconvenient byproduct of warm winter weather. They’re like snowbirds and college students but without money, but our capitalistic society has no use for people without money.

By labeling the homeless “transients”, Tucson was able to turn a blind eye toward them. Over the years, Tucson tried to make itself more inhospitable by passing laws prohibiting aggressive panhandling and ending street corner sales of newspapers. Really… we just wanted them to go away, so we wouldn’t have to feel guilty about inaction. With the rise of Safe Park homeless encampment downtown, I fear another round of over-policing is coming, since the city is appealing a court order protecting Safe Park as a free speech protest. For the back story and ideas for the future, keep reading.

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Feral Cats to Broadway Widening: Sh*t’s Going Down at City Council Meeting

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Hundreds of citizens attended a meeting this summer to review plans to widen Broadway Blvd.
Hundreds of citizens attended a meeting this summer to review plans to widen Broadway Blvd.

Two hot button issues will be voted on Thursday, Oct. 9, at the Tucson City Council meeting and study session: widening Broadway Blvd. and approving the feral cat spay/neuter policy, adopted by the county.

If you read the Arizona Daily Star, you’d think the big issue of the day is the City Council’s dithering on spending $200,000 to do a catch, spay/neuter, and return-to-the-wild program to control the feral cat population. The Star devoted ~25 column inches in today’s paper to feral cats, including hubris from Republican-turned-Blue-Dog-Dem City Councilman Steve Kozachik repeating his, “we’ll kill the cats” threat aimed at Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. The paper focused of the city-county tiff of who told what to whom when instead of on whether or not the new program works in city’s where it’s been tested. (Here’s a great story about how well this type of program has worked elsewhere and more information regarding Tucson and Albuquerque programs.)

What you didn’t read about in the Star was the Broadway widening controversy. Prime real estate in the newspaper was devoted a $200,000 spay and neuter program, but there was no coverage on wasting millions to widen a road that doesn’t need to be widened. What’s wrong with this picture? No one will make any money on the cat program; it’s just the right thing to do. But buying up and destroying 19 structures, including some historic buildings, to widen a road based up plans drawn up decades ago– city’s power base wants to side that deal through without further mention because contractors, developers, speculators, and road-widening addicts will make a bundle on that!

In a nutshell, the Broadway Citizens Task Force has proposed a six-lane plan for Broadway Blvd., and the Council will vote on that tonight. The Broadway Coalition, Sustainable Tucson, the Tucson Bus Riders Union, and others who favor sustainable living are against the six-lane plan for multiple reasons. (I don’t see the rationale for widening Broadway when current traffic and future projects don’t warrant it, and when no good rationale is being given to do it. Also, citizens and area businesses are fighting hard against the widening and the destruction of historic buildings.) Tucson’s power players have an addiction to widening roads, and it doesn’t matter how destructive it is to families, businesses, the city budget, or Tucson’s historic sense of place. Broadway will be discussed at 1:30 p.m. study session and the 5 p.m. meeting. Details and links from both groups after the jump.

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Coronet Cafe

Winos’ Guide to the Tucson Beer District

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Coronet Cafe
The Coronet, a delightful new addition to 4th Ave.

Tucson has many new bars and restaurants along the modern street car route, but unfortunately, many of them are dedicated to beer. I hate beer. I don’t care how trendy beer is these days. I still hate it. There I said it.

Both Zocalo and the Tucson Weekly recently published feature stories about “famous” Tucson bartenders who make fancy mixed drinks. Also not my thing.

What about my people? The wine drinkers. Where should we go for a decent pour at an affordable price in the downtown area? As a public service and in honor of the modern street car’s debut later this week, I have compiled a totally non-scientific review of 41 bars and restaurants along or near the modern street car route– from wine drinker’s point of view. Check out the rankings and photos after the jump.

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4 Lanes? 6 Lanes? 100 Ft? How Wide Should Broadway Blvd Be?

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Steve Kozachik and Richard Elias
City Councilman Steve Kozachik (L) and County Supervisor Richard Elias (R) at Broadway widening public forum in April 2012.

Back in 2006, Pima County voters approved the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and a 20-year plan to improve or create roads, bridges, bike paths, bus pullouts, and more. Hundreds of projects have been completed in the past eight years, but one project– widening Broadway Blvd between Euclid and Country Club– has been stalled for two years. The RTA plan calls for spending $71 million to buy property, destroy 100 buildings (some historic), and widen Broadway to eight  lanes (150 feet). The crux of the problem is that the RTA project was based upon 1987 growth projects for Tucson, and Tucson didn’t grow that way. In April 2012, Councilman Steve Kozachik called on the RTA and Pima County to rethink the scope and hosted a well-attended community forum. The Broadway Coalition– a hard-working group of citizens– has been meeting, planning, and gathering input since Koz’s forum. The widening has become a political hot potato. Some in the government say that the eight-lane original plan must be followed– even though the 1987 growth projections don’t jive with reality. Others says that Broadway should be four lanes or six lanes or 100 feet wide, and that eight lanes are not necessary. Preservationists are fighting for historically important architecture that is slated for demolition– most notably Broadway Village, designed by Josais Joesler, Tucson’s most influential architect. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry has threatened to pull the funds if Tucson doesn’t “fully implement” the RTA plan (in stark contrast to the 2012 quote in this story.) Fast forward another public forum on Thursday June 12, 2014. You should go if you have an opinion! Meeting details, photos, and opinions after the jump.

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