Four term Councilman Democrat Steve Kozachik aka “Steve K” resigned today effective March 31. City of Tucson Newsnet article:
“Ward 6 Tucson City Council Member Steve Kozachik is stepping down from his duties to take a job with Pima County to manage the new Mosaic Quarter (MQ) sports complex being developed near the existing Kino Sports Complex. He made the announcement in his weekly newsletter today, March 11. His final day as a council member will be March 31, and the remaining members of the Mayor and Council will appoint someone to fill out the rest of his term, which ends December 2025. Kozachik began serving Ward 6 in 2009. You can read his full comments by following the link below.
“A Message from Steve K” newsletter“
Steve first ran as a Republican in 2009 and upset incumbent Democrat Nina Trasoff, 51.06% to 48.60%. Then he switched to the Democratic party and faced no opposition in Nov. 2013. In 2017 he defeated Mariano Rodriguez (R) and Mike Cease (G) in the General Election. Then in 2021 he had two Dem primary challengers, Miranda Schubert and Andres Portela III, and then defeated Independent Val Romero in the General. Romero is now serving on the TUSD School Board (no relation to Mayor Regina Romero).
From Steve K’s e-newsletter today (excerpts):
“Since beginning in this position in 2009 my team and I in the ward 6 office have spearheaded numerous important initiatives. The first was to stop what would have been a financial train wreck as the city was headed towards backstopping bonds for a planned $200M downtown hotel. Other cities who went down that path have lived to regret it. In our case we pivoted from swinging for the fences to hitting singles and doubles. Downtown development is thriving. (Come to Corbett’s downtown – Saturday, April 13th at noon – guitar, food, drinks and fun.) We worked with community members in getting the Tucson Greyhound Park shut down. We worked to reunite an Afghan refugee family. Our work on behalf of sex trafficking victims has already resulted in busting perps and saving victims. We’ve championed local gun control/safety measures, advocated for Genna Ayup (killed by her live-in and sorely let down by the judicial system,) the plastics program and our glass reuse program came out of this office, the Sunshine Mile Overlay was a significant transit oriented development effort, the recent rezonings at Campbell/6th and Capstone at Speedway and Euclid were years long projects. Add to that our work with the Tucson Wildlife Center and support for the Reid Park Zoo and Tucson Zoological Society, immigrants and Casa Alitas, preservation of the Benedictine, Sister Jose women’s shelter, advocating for strong COVID responses at the UA (an issue that cost me my 32 year-long job at the school – but was taking a stand as a matter of principle, a quality that appears lacking in the current leadership team on campus today,) taking the lead in getting a focus on PFAS contamination and getting the city involved in litigation that will soon yield a settlement that’ll be north of $50M from 3M and other product manufacturers, and a whole lot more. My staff and I have kept busy with important initiatives.
Most importantly though are the relationships we’ve built with the community. Whoever takes this position had better understand that constituent services is the number 1 responsibility of the job. We’re the first touch people have on civic issues. Being responsive and engaged is what you deserve, and what we’ve tried to provide. I know we’ve done it well. “
His Ward 6 Council farewell party is set for March 26, 5 to 7 p.m. at The Shanty bar on 4th Avenue.
The last time the Tucson Mayor & Council appointed a replacement for a resigning Councilmember was in March 2021, when former 3 term Councilwoman Karin Uhlich was chosen after 1 term Ward 3 Councilman Paul Durham resigned for health reasons. Then Democrat Kevin Dahl won that seat in Nov. 2021.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
” We’ve championed local gun control/safety measures, advocated for Genna Ayup (killed by her live-in and sorely let down by the judicial system,)…”
For all the time I have lived in Tucson Steve Kozachik is hands down the best of all the council members who have served.
Of all the good things he has done, advocating for Genna Ayup probably impressed me the most. The killing of Genna Ayup happened a couple of miles from where I live in Tucson. It’s a terrible and tragic story, the senseless killing of a young woman by her domestic partner and the inexplicable failures of the justice system.
Here’s the story as told by Steve K:
Kozachik: No justice for Genna in plea deal for her shooting death
Posted Oct 2, 2019
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/100219_kozachik_genna_op/kozachik-no-justice-genna-plea-deal-her-shooting-death/
BTW, the Genna’s killer got probation in 2022. No jail time.
Genna’s case seems to be a failure of the justice system AND a political failure by our legislature.
Genna’s Law should have been a no brainer, get drunk and shoot someone, even accidentally, and go to jail.
This guy claimed to be cleaning his gun, while drunk, with a child in the room, and it “accidentally” went off.
FFS. the rest of the story is bad enough, but there are so many things sad and wrong with just that sentence.
I had a buddy years ago who did a year in county for a drunken car wreck that killed my best friend.
But kill your child’s mom while drunk?
No time?
There are laws against drunk driving, but anti-drunk murder laws, though, those go too far?
My thoughts and if I prayed prayers would go to the witness, at the time, a two year old boy who saw his drunken father murder his mother.
And a quick web search of Arizona gun laws brings up… instructions on how to buy a gun even if you’re not allowed to buy a gun.
So much for responsible gun dealers.
What a loss for the City of Tucson and for all Tucsonans.
Steve K was a very hard worker, but many did not agree with his support of that proposed Reid Park Zoo expansion that would have taken Barnum Hill and smaller duck pond. His latest efforts with the plastic recycling by Byfusion into blocks will be remembered. It is a sudden departure, and his Chief of Staff informed me before it hit the news outlets. Overall, he was a strong advocate for our Ward 6.