Tucson City Council appoints Karin Uhlich to vacant Ward 6 Council seat

I first reported on this when our Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik suddenly stepped down in March:

Read Tucson Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik resigns, effective March 31, 2024 now from Blog for Arizona for Politics from a Liberal Viewpoint

Then I reported on the 12 applicants who applied for the appointment to this seat: https://blogforarizona.net/whos-applied-for-vacant-tucson-ward-6-council-seat/

Then a LWVGT “candidate” forum was held for these applicants at All Soul’s Lutheran Church, 1200 N. Campbell Ave. on April 23. I was unable to attend this forum in person due to a previous commitment at UA. One applicant Nina Trasoff (former Ward 6 Councilwoman) withdrew at the end of that forum.

At their regular board meeting on April 25 the Tucson City Council outlined the process to narrow their selections down to 4. They were each to rank five applicants and send them to the Tucson City Clerk by April 29, 5:30 p.m. On April 30 their top scores were collated by Tucson City Clerk, & they chose their top four, to be interviewed later on May 6 at a special meeting.

Names of top 4 (alphabetical order):

1. Pam Powers, former 3 term then-LD 9 House Rep., blogger here at B4AZ
2. Ted Prezelski, current Ward 2 Council communications aide
3. Vince Rabago, former deputy attorney general & past Chair of Pima County Dem Party
4. Karin Uhlich, former 3 term Ward 3 Councilmember, also appointed to same seat in 2021 after resignation of Councilman Paul Durham

In their online voting prior to April 30, the Council’s spreadsheet indicates these point tallies: Uhlich (25), Prezelski (22), Rabago (15) and Powers (8), indicating which way the Council was heading. Most points anyone could have received was 30.

At that special meeting on May 6 the Tucson City Council listened to 5 minute presentations by the top 4 applicants, and Mayor Romero asked them to answer 3 additional questions, as to whether they would run for the Ward 6 office in 2025, how to address affordable housing & unsheltered homelessness, and the upcoming budget deficit due to the newAZ flat income tax.

Then they appointed former 3 term Ward 3 Councilmember Karin Uhlich to this seat. She had also previously been chosen to fulfill the remaining 10 months of 2021 term of Ward 3 Councilman Paul Durham, when he resigned due to health reasons.

Motion to appoint Karin was made by Ward 4 Councilmember Nikki Lee, 2nd by Lane Santa Cruz, vote was 6-0.

Obviously, Karin seems to be the most qualitied having served almost 13 years on the Council, and will serve till the General Election of 2025 determines the next elected W6 Councilmember. She had said in her application that she would not run for the seat. She is now the only LGBTQ + person on the Council.