Economic Development
From Rhonda Bodfield - AZ Star -A group formed to oust the president of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce circulated survey results to the chamber’s board last week, showing 21 percent of respondents said being a member helped their business.
The survey, which went out to the chamber’s 1,500 members, received roughly 140 responses.
Among the findings:
• 75 percent said the chamber didn’t promote their business;
• 23 percent felt the membership fee was a good value;
• 57 percent felt the chamber did not have strong political influence in local government; and
• 27 percent rated the Tucson business climate as good or fair.
Eric Ruden, owner of Essential Pest Management, is the founder of the Tucson First Coalition, which was formed to demand new leadership at the chamber.
He said packets were mailed Tuesday to the executive committee and the board of directors. The group is asking the board for a face-to-face meeting in the next two weeks to air grievances about President Jack Camper and the business climate in general.
Camper countered that the group should have done more to work out its grievances before its splashy public opposition campaign. “It’s a shame they decided to attack the chamber and its leadership before asking for an audience with our board of directors,” Camper said. “We’re just going to continue to run our chamber. We think we’re doing well and we’re continuing on.”
Ruden said he was a chamber member for two years until he gave up his membership in December. Other members of the opposition group’s steering committee are Christine Glanz of Computers, Etc.; Jesse Lugo of Lugo Enterprises; Keith Cooper of AlphaGraphics; former City Council candidate Shaun McClusky of Rincon Ventures; and Gene Hildreth of Allen & Young.
“You join the chamber because you feel you might have networking opportunities, establish contacts and help grow your business,” Ruden said. “But it’s a waste of time. The feedback I’ve got is you don’t get anything out of it.”
He said Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City have more active chambers with more political involvement. Tucson’s chamber, he said, seems more focused on social networking. And while his group lauds the charitable activities conducted by the chamber, it says those should be secondary to fulfilling the needs of the business community.
Ruden said the effort has already produced some results, with the chamber taking a “more active interest” in tackling the city’s sign code regulations, and the board now meeting more often. “That’s starting to show more involvement by the board, so even if we don’t get everything we want, at least they’re doing some of the things we want,” he said.
Camper said his organization has been working on the sign code for a year. “It’s just disingenuous, what they’re doing. They just say whatever they want,” he said.
Chamber board members reached for comment had not yet received the information packets.
Sundt Construction’s Ray Bargull, a member of the executive committee, said he couldn’t comment on the substance, “but in general, I think we’re interested in hearing any information that would help us do a better job.”
Richard Underwood, of AAA Landscape and a member of the board of directors, said he’d be willing to sit down with the group as well. “The first salvo from those guys was a good thing because it made us look at what we’re doing,” he said. “You can always learn from criticism. So yeah, I’m glad they’ve done the survey and I welcome seeing the results. I’m not going to reject it out of hand.”
Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 573-4243 or rbodfield@azstarnet.
Tucson’s modern streetcar - now we get to the pesky details
WAKE UP, TUCSON: Does it make sense?
By Joe Higgins, Inside Tucson Business, or Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, February 26, 2010
We can hear it now, “Why do those Wake Up guys have to bang on the streetcar?” Don’t they have anything better to do than bum us out about this “high point” in Tucson’s economic development soap opera?
Does light rail make sense when Tucson lacks a crosstown freeway, our streets are so bad Joe almost lost his car in a pothole, and freight trains routinely botch up rush hour traffic along the east side of Interstate 10?
Spending $144 million — $38 million per mile — to build rail tracks on roads that nearly empty Sun Tran buses now travel makes complete sense to us — in fantasyland! Print this story
Our electeds love to work with the broad brushstroke. That’s good for campaign pamphlets, but the pesky details about this modern streetcar/light rail worry us.
It’ll spur private investment
Portland, Ore., is the land of light rail. They’ve been modernizing their light rail system since 1986. After 10 years, Portland’s then-City Commissioner Charles Hales noted the many vacant sites along its light rail system and said, “It’s a myth to think the market will take care of development along transit corridors.”
Ten years and a career change later, in 2006 Hales, now a development consultant to HDR Engineering, the company that helped sell Tucson on light rail, was quoted saying “The $55 million streetcar line has sparked more than $1.5 billion (and growing) in new development.”
What the ex-commissioner, now light rail promoter, failed to mention is to-date, Portland’s governmental subsidies have exceeded $1.5 billion.
It’ll spur housing
Is light rail really the impetus to finally get student housing built downtown? For the last decade, the University of Arizona has suffered from a housing shortage and downtown needed the development.
Downtown has the Ronstadt Transit Center and lots of Sun Tran buses to take students to campus.
The lack of student housing downtown has more to do with developers not wanting to get tangled up in the city’s and Rio Nuevo’s insider deals, development services, payoffs for pet projects, bureaucracy, and more.
Having a streetcar without major reform in the downtown redevelopment process leaves us in the same swamp of stagnation.
Ongoing expenses
Once the light rail is built it’s going to take money to keep it running. Fares are planned to be somewhere between $1 and $2 per ride. The actual cost will be something else.
The scariest example comes from Beaverton, Ore., where the TriMet system has an average cost of $33 per rider but collects just $1.15 per person in fares. (read about Oregons experience HERE)
Construction isn’t cheap
The “Happy Gilmore” check in federal stimulus money our esteemed electeds now hold represents $63 million of a total $144 million project. Tucson Transportation Director Jim Glock was quoted saying it will more than likely come in under budget. God bless him in his optimism.
Call us skeptical, but after a 50 percent cost overrun on the $46 million Fourth Avenue Underpass and the $820,000 that was spent on a 15-minute movie about Rio Nuevo, our confidence in the cost projection is a little low.
The Federal Transit Administration studied 21 rail projects and found they had an average 40 percent cost overrun on construction. That’s only an extra $56 million in Tucson’s case. Maybe the mayor can find that amount under the cushions of his couch. (Read the US Dept of Transportation report HERE)
Why not celebrate?
Lastly, we’ve heard: “How can you guys knock Tucson winning a $63 million federal grant, who would be against something so wonderful?” Our simple response is these tax dollars are your tax dollars. The working family in Oakland, Calif., the single mom in Lincoln, Neb., and the cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., are all contributing to a city in Arizona that’s getting $63 million of their hard-earned tax dollars. For what? To build a four-mile rail system that will shuttle college students to and from school.
Other’s excitement and Tucson’s excitement over winning the money may not match up.
We hope we are wrong regarding Tucson’s venture into the world of light rail. We hope ridership is through the roof and businesses spring up along the route. We hope the project comes in under budget. We hope light rail is the spark downtown needs to get going.
Our history, research and past experience with projects run by the City of Tucson just isn’t encouraging.
Contact Joe Higgins at joe@joehigginsinc.com or Chris DeSimone at provenpartners@comcast.net. They’re the hosts of “Wake Up Tucson,” which airs 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Check out their blog at www.TucsonChoices.com.
Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business
More about light rail from Antiplanner.com.
Why Tucson’s elected officials put business on the back burner
WAKE UP TUCSON: Time to restore balance
By Joe Higgins, Inside Tucson Business, or Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Saturday, February 13, 2010
We have many callers to our “Wake Up Tucson” radio show who ask the same question: Why are business owners treated like second-class citizens in Tucson and Pima County? One big reason is that the environmental lobby and the neighborhood associations have done an end-run around the business community.
It’s time for the business community to meet the competition for your local elected officals’ interest. They are kicking your butt.
Environmental lobby
The environmental lobby is extremely successful in our region. There are dozens of groups loosely assembled but they come together like a laser light focus to achieve their goal. Their mission is to stop humans from encroaching on habitat and slow or stop growth from coming to the Sonoran Desert.
Their techniques are multi-pronged and in most cases, very effective. Some of the tools of their trade include:
• The Endangered Species Act, which uses the federal court system to block growth.
• The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, adopted in the late 1990s that laid the path for future growth, land use planning and wildlife corridors.
• Political influence exerted on county elected officials and bureaucrats. Taxpayers have spent over $200 million buying ranches around the county. Uber-environmentalists sit on the Pima County Bond Committee, for gosh sake. With only 16 percent of the land in Pima County in private hands and 10 percent already built, the idea of affordable housing that matches our region’s wages will soon be gone.
• Federal rules regarding dust control, navigable water ways, 404 bridge crossing permits, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineer studies.
• The joint water–wastewater study, which has been in planning for 20 months, is the latest battleground. The blue ribbon panel (Blue Ribbon Panels: Where good ideas go to die…) is looking to merge Tucson Water and Pima County Wastewater Management. In the Phase II report, we see lots of talk about sustainability and stopping growth but little discussion on diversifying our industries. The county has been using its wastewater authority to control growth for years. Give those bureaucrats Tucson Water and things will look even worse.
NIMBY associations
If the goal of the environmental lobby is to stop sprawl and preserve the desert, then city folk need to allow for denser populations, vertical growth, tear down and rebuilds, and infill of vacant lots. When a business man or woman tries to venture into the Tucson city limits to open, develop or grow a business, they run into an entirely new set of problems:
• A land use code that has such restrictive parking, set backs, landscape requirements and now rainwater harvesting, that less and less of their property is actually usable.
• A system that allows one or two rogue neighbors to wield tremendous political influence. A small minority faction can delay your business opening until you’re out of money or completely discouraged to the point that you wonder why you chose Tucson in the first place.
• City council members and offices that realize taking care of neighborhoods above all else has been the path to getting re-elected. When elected officials’ actions are constantly in deference to what these vocal minorities want, the message to city staff is pretty clear: Take care of the neighbors and put the business owner on the back burner.
The business community is trapped between enviros in the county and neighborhood associations in the city. What are we to do as a group? As we’ve said before, the electeds need to fear us at election time — 97 percent of all electeds want one thing in life: to be re-elected. They know the dysfunctional business community does little to help them or their opponents get elected. They will continue to govern in favor of the groups that they perceive will get them votes.
Environmental groups and NIMBY neighborhood associations are united and passionate about their issues. Who speaks on behalf of the Tucson business community with passion and on a consistent basis?
Each month, we ask that question during our many presentations to business groups. We haven’t received an answer yet.
Contact Joe Higgins at joe@joehigginsinc.com or Chris DeSimone at provenpartners@comcast.net. They’re the hosts of “Wake Up Tucson,” which airs 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Check out their blog at www.TucsonChoices.com.
Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business
We live in the desert, water is a precious commodity. In the west, if you control the water you control EVERYTHING.
Water and Wastewater is the issue of the future for southern Arizona. The two biggest bureaucracies in our region, Tucson and Pima County control the water supply and wastewater processes for the entire region. For the past 20 months a group of citizens (primarily from the environmental side of our community) have been assembled to learn, talk and plan for the future of ALL of southern Arizona.
A note that breaks down the core concern of the report from Chris Sheafe:
The problem some of us see with the report is that the report resolution directed staff to proceed on the basis of the report which would codify the allocation of 25% (10,000 Acre Feet) of our Effluent into an Environmental Effluent Pool which would be limited to environmental projects only at no cost to the projects. The report makes this allocation absent any review of the long term economic sustainability impacts for such an allocation because no economic analysis of its impacts has been made. Staff was directed to proceed with implementation of the conclusions of the report. The idea is that economic analysis would be deferred until the next phase of the report is completed after the allocation decision has been set in stone.
It turns out the 10,000 acre feet is the result of a meeting between four individuals ten years ago without any basis for justification for that amount of water being taken off the table for other uses and without any form of economic impact analysis or any evidence confirming that amount of water is required to satisfy the goal of gaining a Section 10 permit for Pima County in order to satisfy the ESA (Endangered Species Act) requirements for only the listed species.
In the long run the economic health of the region is dependent upon a healthy environment and a healthy economy. Water is needed for both. To pre-allocate a large amount of water to one use is ill advised and sends the wrong message to the world about Tucson’s future water supply and or its ability to meet demands from future economic opportunities. This is the most serious and the latest threat to our ongoing battle to save the precious water available to the region and preserve while preserving as many options for the future that are possible. It removes the burden upon environmental uses to justify their need based upon their individual merit, removes any economic analysis for individual projects and removes many options for the greater Tucson metropolitan community.
A GUEST OPINIONfrom The Tucson Weekly about the Water/Wastewater study from member of the citizen advisory panel:
The Tucson City Council needs to support these recommendations to ensure our area’s water future
by Jim Barry, Chris Brooks and Bonnie Poulos
This past December, a volunteer citizens’ committee, in conjunction with a large, multi-disciplinary array of city and county staff members, wrapped up a 20-month study of the water and wastewater resources of the city and county; the goal was to “develop a common understanding of the basic facts and critical factors related to planning for a sustainable water future.”…….
…….This is an important study for the Tucson region because of what it proposes for growth policies. In the past, we have largely reacted to growth as it occurred. As proposed in the Phase II report, proper planning for growth can protect our existing water supplies, limit the need for costly new water supplies and protect the environment…………..We also must allocate water for the environment. Historically, the environment has been viewed more as a supplier of water than a user. But as we have seen nearly all riparian ecosystems in the Tucson basin altered or eliminated by our ever-increasing thirst, the environment has inevitably been sacrificed at the altar of growth. Viewing this as an either-or issue has caused us to miss opportunities to accommodate both the environment and the economy for the overall good of the community. The Phase II report outlines a series of policy changes that can promote allocation of water necessary for the environment without compromising our ability to support continued growth. Our overall quality of life depends on changes like this…..
Who are the CITIZENS in charge of our water future?
Chair Jim Barry- Barry is a retired Pima County director who once ran the transportation department under Huckelberry. Barry is the go to guy on major Pima County efforts and has a proven record of doing the bidding for current administrator, Chuck Huckelberry. Barry is the uncle of Board of Supervisors odd man out, Ray Carol. From the Tucson Weekly, 2004
Barry, a 20-year county executive who also has lobbied state and federal governments and served in the county transportation department, has about a half-year to kick around or get kicked around by his nephew and fellow Chicago native, Republican Supervisor Sugar Ray Carroll (Tucson Weekly)
Marcelino C. Flores served as the Pasqua Yaqui Tribe jurisdictional representative at the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) Governments, Environmetal Planning Advisory Committee for five years. He is quoted in a PAG report on the role of solar in our region. Flores is a transportation and land planning professional for the tribe.
Christopher Brooks - Hydrologist. Brooks is a arid desert water specialist. He blogs at Watering The Desert. He covers desert issues and the City of Tucson’s rain water harvesting effort.
Bruce Gungle, a 24 year Tucson resident with a professional background in atmospheric science including lightening strike analysis and rain fall. Gungle serves on the Pima County planning commission which worked recently to implement the SWIP which would implement put to a $30k per house impact fee for developments on the western edge of Tucson city limits.
Vince’s position as water resources coordinator for Diamond Ventures, Inc. includes working with the company’s development and wet utility divisions on water planning and policy issues. He was appointed to the Citizens Water Advisory Committee by Ward 4 Council Member Shirley Scott and sits on both Conservation & Education and Finance Subcommittees. Vince’s involvement as a member of the West University Neighborhood Association includes volunteer support of the Community Food Bank and assistance with neighborhood planning efforts. His professional affiliations include Urban Land Institute and American Planning Association. Vince is a native Tucsonan whose family has lived in the region for over 100 years.
Bob Cook - Author and contributor to Sustainable Tucson. Cook As a sustainability advocate, he served on the City of Tucson’s Cost of Growth Task Force; contributed to the early development of Civano-Tucson’s Solar Village as past-chair of the Tucson-Pima Metropolitan Energy Commission; promoted multi-modal transportation and transitoriented development as Treasurer of the 2003 Citizens Transportation
Initiative ballot measure; co-founded Sustainable Tucson in 2006, a community-building and advocacy
organization promoting regional sustainability; and currently serves on the Pima County Planning & Zoning Commission, Bob co- authored two books in 1975 on environmental planning and renewable energy development; graduated with distinction in economics from the University of Arizona.
He has been involved in neighborhood and environmental issues for the last 13 years. Rob helped found several local neighborhood and environmental organizations and served onthe boards of several local non-profit organizations. He remains active in the Sierra Club, Center for Environmental Connections, Environmental Justice Action Group and theGem and Jewelry Arts Academy.
Rob has also served on several policy-making committees dealing with neighborhood issues, open space and the environment. Some of these are the Tumamoc Area Plan Update Committee; Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission Subcommittee on Environmental Ordinances; Pima County Open Space Acquisition Review Committee; and Steering Committee for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. He was also on the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment for eight years.
Tina Lee - Tina has been appointed to various commissions Water commissions in the City of Tucson from Ward 3 and Ward 2. As an environmental consultant, she specialized in resolving regulatory compliance issues under the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program for public and private sector clients.
Joseph Maher, Jr. holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arizona and established his own architectural business in 1983. His credentials reflect a comprehensive diversity of master planning, site and building analysis and feasibility studies along with the diverse and exciting concepts of creating user friendly, functionally cost as well as energy efficiently designed sustainable architecture of all types including Solar & Environmental Homes and additions.
Bonnie Poulos, a research scientist at the UofA studying shrimp farming. Paulos has weighed in on numerous Tucson and Pima County issues relating to planning, billboard lights and much more. Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission; 2002 to present
Neighborhood Infill Coalition; 2002 to present
Campus Farm Neighborhood Association; 1983 to present
Aravaipa Canyon Ecosystem Management Plan Citizen Advisory Committee, 2006
Cost of Growth Task Force for COT General Plan; Sept. 2000 to January 2001
City of Tucson (COT) Planning Commission; 1998-2001
Tucson Regional Transportation Coalition; 1993-1995
Pima County Comprehensive Plan Citizen Advisory Committee for the
Southeast-Rincon area; 1991-1992
COT Storm Water Management Study Citizen Advisory Committee; 1988-1994
COT Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee; 1986-1992
North side Area Plan Citizen Advisory Committee; 1986-1987
Pima County Deputy Registrar; 1984-1992
Mark R. Stratton the director or Metro Water which operates in the north west portion of Pima County as an independent water district. In digging in a bit looks like the regional water story started to take shape back in 2005. Councilwoman Scott stumbled across documents that showed that Tucson Water’s director Dave Modeer (now the head of the states CAP) was going from water department to water department to test the waters on a regional water supplier. Pima County waste water wasn’t mentioned in the original discussions.
Utah is hovering at just over 4% unemployment. It seems the economic crisis skipped over their state and landed in Nevada, Arizona and California. How did they do it? Here’s a hint; it took leadership and years of planning. Utah leaders embarked on a multi year project, Envision Utah. The Southern Arizona Leadership Council brought in organizers of the Envision Utah program about a year ago. A crowd of about 500 heard how Utah navigated through the wide variety of interests to come out with a comprehensive plan that would set their state on the path to prosperity for the next generations.
A project mirrored after “The Envision Utah” is well underway here in Tucson. The local effort, coined “Imagine Greater Tucson”, is lead by local land use attorney Keri Silvyan. I was in the audience and impressed with the concepts and the plan Utah embarked on. What Utah did, and what Silvyn is mirroring locally, is Utah leaders called together a large number of stake holders from varied backgrounds to build relationships and discuss their common future. T
The Envision Utah process put business, politicos and community activists together, discussed each groups particular needs and then used computer models to show what would happen over 20 years if certain paths were taken by the community. For example, if the community wants more open space then the land values would increase, dense population and infill would have to occur and mass public transportation would be required. If the community wanted more growth related industries (housing and sprawl) then the cost of supporting the infrastructure and finding water would have a cost to the entire community.
What’s important is that if Arizona as a state or Pima County as a region starts moving towards a Utah model, their must be voices from all sides being heard and respected. In southern Arizona the environmental voice is organized and focused and the business voice is unorganized and somewhat scattered.
What Happens If That Happens?
Environmentalists ability to influence our community is well documented. We are right in the middle of one of the largest movements in our history to combine water and waste water delivery. In the desert, the people that control water have the power. A large part of the comprehensive water plan included riparian re-establishment of the Santa Cruz. The plan calls for a whopping 25% of reclaimed waste water being sent to the Santa Cruz for creating a river that hasn’t flowed in a generation. The committee that has worked on the process for the past 20 months isn’t exactly ‘fair and balanced’. The business community had one seat on the board and isn’t happy with the results. This debate is the classic growth, no growth debate Tucson has been waging for 60 years. The no growthers are winning and that might not be that bad.
From this weekends Arizona Republic:
Faced with high population growth in the 1990s, Utah civic leaders became concerned about how to accommodate so many new residents without disrupting the state’s high quality of life.
Traditionally, elected officials would have taken the lead to manage growth. But residents of the libertarian-leaning state resisted that kind of top-down control.
So reformers in Utah instead started from the bottom up, building a grass-roots movement that led to the voluntary adoption of measures that observers say improved the state’s economy and helped it weather the current recession.
Compare that approach to Arizona’s, where reform organizers have so far limited public involvement to surveys and a few public forums.
To align the visions of elected leaders with the people they serve, Arizona may have to become more like Utah.
The Utah model
Although managing growth, not government reform, was the Utah initiative’s goal, the process did lead to change in how elected leaders work. In fact, the approach has become a model for problem-solving throughout the U.S. and even in some foreign countries.
Envision Utah was created in 1997, and together with state government, it developed tools to help communities plan. It educated the public on how to accommodate growth through higher-density zoning, the expanded use of mass transit and other strategies.
That education led residents to support proposals they might have once rejected.
The key to reform efforts that work, organizers said, is a bottom-up approach that makes citizens champions of the process. The core of Envision Utah’s model is to ask residents to reflect on their values and hopes for the future and then translate their thinking into action through interactive workshops. In its early days, Envision Utah would hold 50 public meetings for each step of the process.
Large-scale public participation is a catalyst for action, participants say. Tom Jensen, an architect from Logan, Utah, says political candidates in his region now compete with one another over who better supports the vision developed by residents for the Cache Valley.
“This has a greater chance to be implemented because it’s a grass-roots vision,” said Jensen, who also has an office in Tempe. “It gives political leaders cover.”
One example: Grass-roots support led elected officials in nine different communities around the Great Salt Lake to adopt a plan limiting development on the lakeshore.
While focused on growth issues, Envision Utah also has used its model of public engagement to create disaster-preparedness plans for the state and address issues related to higher education.
“We think that this is a process that can be used to address a number of issues in a community,” said Alan Matheson, a Tempe native and attorney who now serves as Envision Utah’s executive director.
Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, said the state’s reputation for collaboration has helped officials lure businesses.
“Envision Utah has been a great tool for us in communicating to companies that this is a community that works together,” Edwards said. “We kind of take it for granted. They say, ‘Trust us, this is not the way it happens in other states.’ ”
While no group can take sole credit for a state’s economy, lately Utah has had plenty for Arizonans to envy. The state’s unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, compared with 9.1 percent in Arizona.
The key to success, Matheson said, is not only involving the public from the beginning but also keeping it involved until the end. Persistence, he said, also is critical.
“We’ve all seen examples of good plans that sit on the shelf,” Matheson said. “But nothing happens in the public realm without public support. The way you get public support is by giving people ownership in that plan.”
Arizona’s effort
In Arizona, would-be reformers have made some efforts to involve the public.
The Arizona We Want, an initiative of the Center for the Future of Arizona, aims to take the results of the October Gallup poll and translate Arizonans’ goals into concrete steps to achieve them. The extensive poll of 3,606 Arizonans was designed to produce “actionable insights” into residents’ thinking. Using questions tested in dozens of other communities, Gallup found Arizonans are highly engaged in civic life compared with residents in other states.
Despite that engagement, polls regularly find dissatisfaction with elected leaders.
“The endgame is still the endgame: to get citizens and leaders working on the same things, to start pulling together on the things that we need to do,” said Pat Beaty, director of the initiative and a senior fellow at the Center for the Future of Arizona, the group led by former ASU President Coor.
Beaty said the institute needs to move beyond abstract goals to engage citizens about issues affecting their communities.
“You can talk about the Arizona we want,” Beaty said. “But it has to become embedded in the Flagstaff we want, the Yuma we want, the school we want.”
Coor has toured the state for the past three months, meeting with elected officials and civic leaders and soliciting their ideas and support. And the center plans to send questionnaires to candidates for elected office so citizens can see where they stand on those topics.
O’Connor House Project participants have taken their ideas for reform straight to the Legislature. A spinoff group, Government for Arizona’s 2nd Century, is working with lawmakers to support bills that will ask voters to create a lieutenant governor’s position, eliminate term limits and end taxpayer funding of candidates.
To date, the group’s efforts at public involvement have been limited to an invitation-only town-hall meeting for business and civic leaders. The approach has raised questions about how the group will develop the support necessary to succeed.
The bills cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and are scheduled to be heard in the Rules Committee this week.
Michael Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals and chairman of the government-reform effort, said the time is ripe for change. “We have a unique chance to improve the way our government works,” he said. “When you look at any public-opinion poll, a lot of people are looking for government to work better.”
Organizers acknowledge reform in Arizona has had a spotty history. Many efforts lose steam before any real change is accomplished. Still, the state’s current crisis has brought a rare opportunity for real change.
“I see this groundswell starting to build,” said Sue Clark-Johnson, executive director of the Morrison Institute of Public Policy at Arizona State University and the former chairman and CEO of The Arizona Republic. “In the decades I’ve lived here, I have seldom seen such a compassion and a caring and a concern for the future of this state.”
But concern alone won’t be enough to reform state government.
“You can’t just do a vision and walk away,” said Brenda Scheer, dean of the University of Utah’s College of Architecture and Planning and an Envision Utah board member. “People have to own it, and they have to be champions of it.”
The names have been changed (sort of) to protect the innocent - or in this case guilty. Read the soap opera story we all know too well, by x4mr - HERE. Bravo!
Top 10 Reasons To Come to Tucson
Ten – You can feel the sun on your toes in February! Sandals, shorts and sunglasses - pick up free sunscreen at the Visitor’s Center!
Nine – Golf! There are ____ golf courses in the Tucson valley – play them all! – get a free Mulligan from me!
Eight – The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum! The views, the animals, the gift shop and the incredibly good restaurants. The javalinas are waiting to greet you!
Seven – Hiking! All grades of trails for every level of walker. Hike through a saguaro cactus forest and stop once in a while to look at our gorgeous mountains!
Six – Margaritas and Mariachis! Countless Tucson restaurants have live music and a wide variety of margaritas (the lime counts as a fruit for a balanced diet!).
Five - Resorts and spas! You deserve to be pampered, while enjoying the warm sun and stunning desert and mountain views. Oh, don’t gawk at the celebrities – down deep inside they ARE shy! A winter tan and a white strapless dress – priceless!!!
Four – Gardens, humming birds, food and gifts! Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, the Arizona Inn and the Desert Museum give a wide overview of nature and attracts humming birds galore – their restaurants serve delicious food and the gift shops sell gorgeous jewelry and other gifts.
Three – The smell of tamales, creosote after a rain and flour tortillas being made next to your table while you eat (take a dozen home with you!). There are people who weep when they remember the smell of creosote bushes after a rain – you never forget it! It is as unique as the smell of green corn tamales cooking at Lerua’s or the smell of flour tortillas cooking at Teresita’s Mosaic restaurant.
Two – History! Tucson is the only city in America that has been continuously inhabited and cultivated for over 4,000 years. Wander through history museums, the Pima Air Museum or take a historic walk downtown. Walk in the footsteps of the past, bask in the beauty of the present.
One – The people! The Native people are still here, it was then New Spain, then Mexico, then a Territory and finally a state on February 14, 1912. We come from every state in the nation and almost every country on earth and chose to live here. We cannot wait to share our city with others.
Someone is building a hotel and convention center in our region and it’s not near downtown Tucson. The Pasqua Yaqui tribe is building a hotel and convention center west of downtown Tucson. Private money building private projects is a novel concept. Unless and until Tucson government starts getting out of the way we’ll never see a downtown revitalization.
The best quote from the article:
Larry Hecker, a local attorney and member of Downtown Tucson Partnership’s board, said the Sol Casinos project announced Friday can only increase the viability of Tucson as a convention destination.
“I think the more people who identify Tucson as a destination for these kind of things - a destination for conventions and for large group meetings - the better everyone does,” Hecker said. “It just enhances Tucson’s image in the marketplace as a desirable place for conventions and group meetings.”
At the same time, the revitalization of the Tucson Convention Center is progressing “fairly aggressively,” Hecker said.
Kimberly Schmitz, director of communications and public relations for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, also welcomed Sol Casinos’ plans.
“The Pascua Yaqui have created some really great products for our destination,” Schmitz said. “An additional 215 rooms to Southern Arizona’s offering are always welcome, and we will definitely look forward to promoting this and the convention center as part of our product.”
After years of court wranglings it looks like the Goldwater Institute shot a big canon across the bow of to cities and towns that chose to use tax dollars to entice business into their jurisdictions. As you look at this decision ask yourself if it’s OK for your government to pick winners in the market place? Ask if you have enough faith in our political system to allow elected officials to hand over $100m of your tax dollars to a private firm? Can you think of any potential tax hand overs going on here in Tucson?
Read the article HERE from the Arizona Republic:
A deal that could give nearly $100 million in tax incentives to the Phoenix retail-and-housing development CityNorth can proceed, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday - even though the deal “quite likely” violated the state Constitution.
Though the court allowed the deal, its ruling laid out strict new provisions on tax incentives. Those rules could have a deep impact on future tax-incentive deals, which cities have long used to attract new commercial development and the accompanying sales-tax revenues.
There are implication here in southern Arizona as well.
Here are existing agreements the town of Oro Valley has with developers.
• Oro Valley Marketplace: Vestar Development Co. in Phoenix gets 45 percent - up to $23.2 million - of sales taxes generated at the shopping center.
• Oracle Crossings: B.P. Oracle Crossings Investors LLC gets 46 percent of sales taxes - up to $6.5 million - of sales taxes generated at the shopping center.
• Steam Pump Village: Evergreen-Steam Pump LLC gets 40 percent of sales taxes.
• Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort gets a rebate of one-third of the town’s 6 percent bed tax.
• The town also has an agreement with Cañada del Oro Partners, whose projects remain undeveloped. Details were not available.
Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer contributed to this story.
The state wide impact will be felt. From the Explorer:
Turken v. Gordon has been pursued in the court system by The Goldwater Institute. In prepared remarks Monday, Goldwater litigation director Clint Bolick said the court’s decision “vindicates a core protection of taxpayer rights in our state constitution. The days of rampant corporate welfare in Arizona are coming to an end.”
“The ruling should stop schemes that government concocts to subsidize developers based on grandiose promises that often fail to materialize,” Bolick said. “Although we’re disappointed that the Court allowed the CityNorth deal to stand for now, that development has proved to be such a disaster that it’s doubtful taxpayer money will ever change hands. CityNorth will stand as a monument to government folly.”
