Nearly 400 people packed into the El Rio Neighborhood Center to hear the Mayor and Council Candidate Forum on Gentrification and Affordable Housing on Saturday, June 22.
This was an all-Democrat forum because of the hotly-contested Democratic primary elections coming up in August 2019. Attendees included mayoral candidates Councilwoman Regina Romero, former State Senator Steve Farley, and political newcomer, developer Randi Dorman and Ward 1 City Council candidates former Romero aide Lane Santa Cruz, former aide for Congressman Raul Grijalva and former Legislative candidate Sami Hamed, former Chief of Staff for City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich and former TUSD school board candidate Miguel Ortega, and political newcomer Rob Elias– no relation to Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias.
Many thanks to election integrity guru and videographer John Brakey for videotaping the entire event. The four City Council candidates answered audience questions first, followed by the three mayoral candidates.
Many strategies are being considered to tackle the multiple aspects of Arizona’s housing problems including homelessness, evictions, gentrification, and availability of affordable housing and low-income housing.
Watch the videos and find out…
- Who supports tax breaks for developers…
- Who supports Rio Nuevo and wants more Rio Nuevos (ie, more tax increment financing districts)…
- Who mentioned low wages as an aspect of the affordable housing issue…
- Who supports the Sanctuary City initiative, which will be on the ballot in November…
- Who has golfed at El Rio Golf Course but is not familiar with the history of the city golf course…
- And more.
Also, check out Larry Bodine’s article about this forum: 400 Jam Forum on Tucson Westside Gentrification Crisis.
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