Pima County

Your government budget

Something to ponder when you hear about public employee pensions and the state or local government budget.

By Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, August 13th, 2010

Read a newspaper, turn on the TV news or listen to the radio and you start hearing the same buzz words over and over from local power brokers and politicians. They’ve been using them so long, you can’t help but notice they don’t add up.

At the suggestion of listeners to our radio show, we’ve put together our Wake Up, Tucson dictionary of definitions to these common buzzwords and phrases.

• Transparency or accountability.
Implied meaning: As stewards of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, governments constantly strive to expose insider or backroom deals and honestly report the financial impacts of decisions.   Print this storyEmail this storyPost a CommentShareThis
 
Real meaning: We will do fancy multimedia presentations with beautiful photos of things like folklorico dancers, but never actually show you anything important. We hire consultants to justify decisions we already know we are going to make. Pima County government has an additional meaning: If you are a county employee and your name appears in the news media, clean out your desk.

• The half-cent additional city sales tax is for cops and fire.
Implied meaning: The tax on the Nov. 2 ballot will go to funding necessary basic city services.

Real meaning: We will throw the money at fire and cops; meanwhile we’ll continue using city money to subsidize $5 yoga classes and Sun Tran services. If the new tax were really for cops and fire, why would Councilwoman Regina Romero have told Sun Tran’s striking Teamsters to “wait until the new sales tax is passed” when the city has more money in the kitty.

• Public-private partnership.
Implied meaning: A symbiotic relationship between a government and private businesses that will bear mutually beneficial economic fruit.

Real meaning: The business model is so bad that no private business would dream of sinking its own money into it. (Think downtown Tucson convention hotel.)

• Think outside the box.
Implied meaning: We are a cutting-edge organization constantly looking outside the norms of the typical boring way of thinking.

Real meaning: We can’t come up with an original thought and besides, any idea that does come up never gets implemented so we have to say something like this to make it look like we might actually do something some day.

• Blue ribbon panel.
Implied meaning: We have gathered the area’s brightest stakeholders to solicit ideas, debate them and present the resulting solutions in a clear, concise manner.

Real meaning: The place where good ideas go to die.

• Regionalism.
Implied meaning: A broad-based and inclusive partnership of municipalities working together to achieve a common goal by realizing the economies of scale and complimenting each of the other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Real meaning: A super government put into place by Pima County with the City of Tucson supposedly an equal. The goal is that once total control of water and wastewater is complete, the “region” can start to be turned back to the way it was in the 1940s. Meanwhile, the battle rages on the outskirts where the real region’s last hopes for progress lie in the the municipalities of Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita. (Bring up the “Star Wars” theme music.)

• Small business day (as proclaimed by the Tucson city council leading up to the November 2009 election).
Implied meaning:  The attitude of the city and it’s bureaucratic red tape is improving so much, it’s a snap to open a business in Tucson. Things are “shovel-ready” and ready to go.

Real meaning: The city needs revenue so it has come up with a bunch of new fees to nickel-and-dime you when you try to open a small business. As an example, how about the city’s new $5,000 non-refundable application fee for temporary revocable easement review? In Oro Valley,a full Development Review Board review is $350.

• It’s for the children.
Implied meaning: The increased taxes and fees government is proposing on businesses will go to programs that will benefit the most vulnerable members of our society.

Real meaning: The extra money will go to politicians’ pet projects to increase reliance on government by the most vulnerable in our society, thus helping to reassure politicians’ re-election.

There are others we can’t fit in this column, such as “the four-mile $160 million modern streetcar will spur development;” “we have to build a downtown convention center hotel to save the annual gem shows;” “the $200 million spent so far by Rio Nuevo on downtown redevelopment sets the stage for private investment;” “spending $46 million on a $31 million downtown underpass is a great deal;” “I support copper mining but I’m concerned about how much water Rosemont Copper will use;” “the orange griffen and Scott Avenue is the heartbeat of downtown Tucson;” and “Huntsville, Ala., has nothing on Tucson.”

There are more buzzwords out there and we’d like to hear them. Send us your suggestions at the e-mail address below.

Consider it an educational as well as fun exercise. This stuff would be funny if it weren’t so painfully true.

Contact Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone at wakeuptucson@gmail.com. They host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Their blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

In business parlance, Tucson means ‘can’t do’

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW

By Hugh Holub
 
Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, August 6th, 2010

Raytheon Missile Systems’ decision to pass up Tucson as the site for a new production plant is a familiar story.

Among the issues causing Tucson to lose out to Huntsville, Ala., were encroachment at Raytheon’s main site south of Tucson International Airport, lack of infrastructure and the incentives that were offered in Alabama.Tucson lost an opportunity that would have created 300 jobs paying an average of $60,000 per year.
 
Interestingly, this project never even got to the stage where Tucsonans were whining “not in my back yard” about the Raytheon’s expansion.

In the past, Tucsonans have blocked many new job-creating facilities because companies attempted to locate these projects on the north or west sides of Tucson. Remember Motorola and General Instruments?

Obviously there is expansion land opportunities south of the Hughes Access Road for more industrial development without a lot of neighborhood associations screaming “no way.”

But the word “infrastructure” raises a red flag to me.

What were the infrastructure needs for this facility? Water? Tucson is busy kicking lands out of its water utility service area and getting a major main extension to serve a new facility may have been problematic and costly to the company. We don’t know.

Wastewater capacity is also an issue for a lot of new projects. The Town of Sahuarita got into the wastewater business because Pima County demanded that the master planned community of Rancho Sahuarita include a giant new sewer line through the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s reservation, with the effluent from Sahuarita ending up on the north side of Tucson.

Was there a problem getting a sewer line or a satellite wastewater treatment facility for the proposed new Raytheon facility?

Then there are questions about electric energy capacity. There is lots of opposition to Tucson Electric Power building new substations and electric transmission lines in the area south of the airport that would serve the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine.

People want electricity in Tucson, but not power lines. Did that play a role in the infrastructure issue?

From first-hand experience back in the 1990s, I learned why Tucson is so often the bridesmaid but never the bride when it comes to industrial development and job creation.

The Howard Hughes Estate had 12,000 acres of land for sale in Pima County in an all or nothing transaction. Hughes Helicopters, which at the time was owned by McDonnell Douglas, approached the people running the estate to ask if it would sell a square mile of its land next to the airport for a proposed Apache Helicopter plant that would employ 500 workers. The estate said of course, since that kind of project would have made the rest of the estates’ holdings in the region more valuable.

Hughes Helicopters then met with city and airport officials about infrastructure needs and access to the airport.

The responses they got were: “Oh, that’s a problem.”  “No way can you have access to the runways.” “We don’t have the water lines.” “We don’t have the wastewater capacity.” And on and on.

Hughes Helicopters went to Mesa where the company was greeted with “When do you want to open?” Mesa city officials tasked  its staff to solve any problems. Mesa got the 500 jobs and the company, now named MD Helicopters, continues to have a healthy payroll.

Tucson has a great track record for making lists of problems. But Tucson has a poor track record in getting its act together among jurisdictions and interests to solve those problems.

Tucson comes across as a “can’t do” community.

The number one thing Tucson can do to make new industrial development possible is to round up all the entities and interests whose approvals and cooperation are needed, put an industrial development czar in charge of the gaggle of players who can take names and kick butt to get things done, and be the sole contact point with a new industry trying to locate here.

The last thing any new company wants to do is figure out how to deal with 216 different agencies and departments and negotiate with each separately.

The next time a company wants to build a new plant in the Tucson region, they need to hear “When do you want to open?” Then take the list of the things that need to get done and solve them.

Contact Hugh Holub, an attorney who works in real estate development, public utility, water and environmental law, at HughHolub@msn.com.

Holub represented the Hughes Estate in the Hughes Helicopters matter.

In an Aug 5, 2010 RTA article in the Az Daily Star we are treated to the inner workings of the leadership of the City of Tucson and the RTA. Do the personal animosities of the City Council determine the future of the RTA? According to the quotes in the article the City Council members don’t like the RTA board designated negotiator so will by-pass talking to him. They want to negotiate directly with the RTA board. This continues the pattern of the Tucson City Council not following the rules they themselves have often voted. In any elected office there is a need to delegate some tasks. In the case of the City Council it would seem the tasks may be delegated but there is no authority or accountability built in.

Councilwomen Regina Romero and Karin Uhlich frequently made a point of saying they want to negotiate    with the RTA board of directors - made up of officials from all the local governments - and not with Hayes.

“I find it troubling that we as the mayor and council are negotiating with an unelected appointed director of the RTA,” Romero said, speaking about Hayes. “It should be before the RTA board.”

The RTA board authorized Hayes to negotiate with the city, just as the council empowered Letcher and City Attorney Mike Rankin to negotiate.

Here’s the complete article. You decide.

By Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, July 30th, 2010

A couple columns back, we talked about business groups and organizations that are having a positive impact on our region. A subsequent letter to the editor asked why we had neglected to mention our economic development organization Tucson Regional Economic Opporunties (TREO).

As it turns out, some economic developments in our region which gives us an opportunity to circle back around to the “Where’s TREO?” question.

First some background on TREO. It was founded out of the ashes of the Greater Tucson Economic Council (GTEC), which had started with grand plans but ended up focusing on landing call centers because the local workforce matched the industry. TREO was started in 2005 with a “super group” of employees including some from the economic developments staffs of the City of Tucson and Pima County. Its major funding came from those two government entities and Mayor Bob Walkup and County Supervisor Sharon Bronson were seated on the board to watch over the local tax dollars. Print this story
 
Fast-forward five years later. Raytheon Missile Systems announced two weeks ago it was passing over Tucson for an expansion and putting 300 new, high-paying jobs in Huntsville, Ala. Tucson was one of three cities on the short-list but didn’t get the nod.

Apparently Alabama offered workforce training incentives, construction/rent incentives and they put together a package that was a better fit for the expansion.

The real story here is that the decision by Raytheon is a tipping point in our region’s future. What does Hunstville have that Tucson doesn’t? A large military base? A major university?

The seeds of Huntsville’s winning this effort were planted 20 or more years ago with a vision and leaders in the government and business sector that set the table for success. Tucson never took the time to plant those seeds. Instead our seeds were planted in environmental policies and bolstering neighborhood associations.

The team that Hunstville put together kicked our fannies! As reported in Inside Tucson Business, “Brian Hilson, president of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce which is also the area’s economic development organization, said with every project that comes their way, a team is put together comprised of state and local leaders to meet with a company and learn their needs. “That team usually includes the governor, staff within the Alabama development office, chamber of commerce, city and county representatives, the mayor and the chair of our county commission and others on a need-to-know basis,” he said. “In the company’s eyes, they see us working and speaking as one team. That’s the only way we know to approach it.””

Contrast that with Tucson’s effort. Mayor Walkup, a former Raytheon executive and still a TREO board member, said he left the Raytheon negotiations to TREO. He also said he wasn’t made aware of the search when it started 18 months ago, saying he relied on Raytheon senior executives to tell TREO and for TREO to tell him.

Do you see the problem with Tucson’s approach compared to Huntsville’s? Do you see why Tucson continues to lose out on  opportunities? Do you see how vulnerable the Tucson region is when there are sharp teams like Alabama’s looking to poach our businesses?

Where is Tucson’s “team?”

• Our Pima County Board of Supervisors is firmly against copper mines but what are they doing to create jobs?

• Our Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has no involvement in economic development.

• Our governor and legislature push for increasing the sales tax, legalizing sparklers, allowing guns to be carried everywhere and SB 1070 but can’t muster enough support to pass a jobs bill (SB 2050) or find a way to get the state off its boom-or-bust cycles.

• Our economic development organization TREO is stuck between a rock and a hard place. In order to make Tucson more attractive, it needs to have hard conversations with some of the very people at government entities who write the checks to support it.

Losing Raytheon’s expansion should be a wake-up call to this region. It’s time for TREO to stop talking and start doing. To TREO’s credit, the solution may include getting off governments’ payrolls and going to the private sector to fund economic development. But it was forced to do so because government funding is getting harder to come by.

There is a saying among cattle ranchers that fits TREO’s current predicament: “Big Hat, No Cattle.”

Contact Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone at wakeuptucson@gmail.com. They host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Their blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business

Another story about the fraud/reality of our local leadership in the Star. I’m reminded of the lyrics of an old song. When will they ever learn?

When will Tucsonans ever learn?

By Rob O’Dell and Andrea Kelly Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Sunday, July 18, 2010 12:40 am

The 4-year-old Regional Transportation Authority is facing a long-term funding crisis that could wipe out more than 25 percent of the road and transit projects voters were promised.

More than $600 million in road projects are in jeopardy because of current and projected cost overruns, missing local match money, bond interest and because most of the road projects were not fully funded when they were pitched to voters in 2006, an Arizona Daily Star analysis found.

A proposal to have the RTA take over the Sun Tran bus system — which was never presented to voters — could cost the RTA millions more.

As a result, residents could lose as much as a quarter of all projects promised to voters in the 20-year, $2 billion plan funded by a countywide half-cent sales tax. That $2 billion was to be matched with another $400 million from local jurisdictions, meaning a total $2.4 billion was needed to complete the plan.

But the RTA is poised to fall far short of the $2.4 billion promised to voters because:

• The 2006 ballot underfunded the 35 road projects by a total of $250 million, meaning projects faced a shortfall before they ever got started. A cost estimate done by an RTA consultant before the election showed the projects would actually cost $250 million more than what voters were told in the campaign to get them to approve the plan in May 2006.

• New estimates done by the local governments show projects starting in the first and second phases of the plan are expected to cost an additional $125 million more than even the original higher estimates that voters never saw.

• About $115 million in local match money is not available, leaving projects on such major streets as Houghton Road and East Broadway critically short on funding. The vast majority of the local match shortfall is from Pima County, which was counting on using bonds it hasn’t been able to sell due to budget problems and a decline in impact fees because of slowed building.

• Because of a short-term funding shortage, the RTA needs to bond against its future sales tax collections to bring in $100 million quickly to pay for promised road projects and the four-mile modern streetcar to connect downtown and the University of Arizona. Interest on those unanticipated bonds will cost the RTA an additional $57 million that wasn’t planned for.

• The RTA could saddle itself with an additional $72 million by taking over Sun Tran and Sun Van from Tucson. Although jurisdictions would pay the RTA for running a regional system, there’s still a $4.5 million annual funding gap that needs to be made up. The RTA says it can do this with federal grants and by operating more efficiently.

The estimated $600 million funding hole in the plan assumes to RTA will make good on its aggressive sales tax collection targets that call for it to take in twice as much in sales tax in 2026 as it does today.

The RTA has already begun to fill these holes with approximately $44 million in state and federal transportation money designated for the region. This isn’t new money, however. It is money that was already coming here, which is now diverted from other promised non-RTA projects.

For example, Tucson is taking $15 million earmarked to pave roads to instead pay to build the Cushing Street Bridge over the Santa Cruz River for the modern streetcar.

RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes and Transportation Director Jim DeGrood acknowledge the potential funding shortfalls and say they’re very concerned about it. And they said they have plans to fix it, although those plans have no specifics.

“All these problems you guys are very accurately pointing out, it’s our responsibility to analyze,” Hayes said of the Star’s analysis.

Hayes said the RTA will creatively work with jurisdictions to solve problems and lower costs, will split projects into multiple phases to spread out payments and seek other funding sources to help out.

While affirming the funding shortage, the pair reject the notion the RTA could actually run short of money. “We’re not ready to capitulate,” Hayes said.

The RTA’s main battle plan is to attack what it believes are unjustified overruns in soft costs, like planning, by the jurisdictions — which is why they said they put the projects on hold for review in June. Hayes and DeGrood said they don’t accept the jurisdictions’ cost estimates or that the ballot was underfunded.

“We don’t accept the premise,” Hayes said. “We don’t buy that.”

Here’s a deeper look at each of the issues facing the RTA:

UNDERFUNDED FROM START

The RTA hired a contractor to estimate project costs for all of the proposed transportation projects in October 2005, while creating the plan that was later put to voters. Those estimates were $250 million more than they showed on the May 2006 ballot.

Hayes said the local governments agreed at the time they should — and could — deliver projects at less than those estimates, so the numbers that appeared on the ballot were reduced based on their word. In reality, many projects have cost more, not less.

RTA officials insist projects were not underfunded on the ballot, saying they should not cost as much as the 2005 study indicated, even as projects are coming in at that higher cost.

RTA opponent John Kromko said he knew the ballot measure was underfunded but didn’t realize it was by $250 million. He said government officials keep making promises they can’t keep because there’s no downside — they’re never held accountable for it.

“I can’t believe people keep voting for these things,” Kromko said. “It’s not polite to say ‘I told you so.’ But I’m tempted.”

OVERBUDGET NOW

Cost concerns are surfacing as projects in the first four years of the plan experience unexpected cost inflation even in the midst of falling construction costs.

Updated cost estimates show another $125 million is necessary to get the projects done, and estimates are not available for projects more than five years out.

The cost overruns the RTA is trying to contain come almost exclusively from the planning and design, or “soft” phases of the projects, even while construction bids are coming in below budget, DeGrood said. Some have had amenities added that were not included in the RTA plan.

“We are not willing to accept these cost estimates at this time, and we have already identified projects we intend to challenge the cost estimates on,” DeGrood said.

The pre-construction work usually requires about 15 percent of the total project budget, but lately has been eating 25 to 40 percent, and in one case as much as 70 percent of the initial budget, DeGrood said.

“We have allowed the jurisdictions to use their own policies and, quite frankly, we think that’s what’s gotten us to here,” Hayes said.

The RTA will consider changing its policies to limit or control the spending, DeGrood said, without giving specifics.

He singled out Tucson and Pima County as chief offenders of high soft costs and said the RTA can’t allow them to “blithely” move forward without any attempt to rein in costs.

“We have to change the paradigm and build to the budget,” DeGrood said.

SHOULDERING TRANSIT

RTA officials have been contemplating taking over the transit systems for more than 18 months. An analysis of the operating cost of each system and the scheduled payments each local government would make to the RTA leaves a hole of $4.5 million each year.

Over the rest of the 20-year plan, another $72 million would be necessary to fully fund the services, and that’s only if there’s no increase in the cost of running the system over 16 years.

The RTA says it will fill that gap by making the systems operate more efficiently under one management, and getting federal grants.

If that doesn’t work, the RTA could turn to the $533 million designated for transit funding in the RTA plan, which leads some to question whether it would be honoring the spirit of what voters approved. Hayes said the RTA has the legal authority to do it and it wouldn’t violate the voter-approved project list, which he called the RTA’s “bible.”

“They weren’t asked,” Hayes said of voters approving the transfer. “In my mind it’s a different part of the equation,” Hayes said.

Kromko disagreed strongly, contending, “That’s not what we voted on. If they had put that on there, a lot less people would have voted yes. There is no doubt about that,” he said.

LOCAL FUNDS SHORT

Much of the local funding shortfalls can be traced to the local economy. Pima County is relying on impact fees generated by new construction to fund several road projects. As construction slowed, so did impact fees, a critical way to fund the gap for projects.

Simultaneously, state budget woes have reduced the amount of state transportation taxes coming to the county, which will prevent the sale of bonds county voters have already approved, and delay funding.

The RTA says it will not give projects more money or let governments to move forward with projects they can’t fund, but DeGrood said he thinks the local money will come through in the end.

“We have to document the local match or it doesn’t go” to construction, Hayes said.

To make up for the increased budgets and lack of funding, many governments may have to shift funds from their budgets, raid regional sources, or put political pressure on the RTA to give them more money.

SHORT ON MONEY

The hole in the RTA’s budget is forcing local governments to dip into their state and federal funding for the metro area to boost the RTA projects, instead of other road work outside the voter-approved plan.

Marana Mayor Ed Honea cautioned against moving money from other sources to make up for the shortfalls, because it is scheduled for use on something else and because it could jeopardize future state and federal money.

“You have to be pretty careful there because you’re supposed to use the money for what you get it for. If you start putting money for other projects you could really end up in a jam. You could end up losing federal funding,” he said.

Governments will either have to choose between not doing their RTA projects until they have money or taking money from another project, “and I just don’t think we should do that,” Honea said.

Pima County Supervisor Ramón Valadez said he was concerned about the cost overruns, and said at its current pace the RTA will not finish all the projects promised to voters.

He said the RTA needs to limit the new projects it brings on that aren’t in the voter-approved plan, and try to get hold of soft costs. “We need to bring to bear all the resources we have at the RTA in order to keep our promise,” Valadez said.

Mike Hayes, a vocal opponent of the plan during the 2006 campaign, said the only remarkable aspect of the RTA’s financial problems is how quickly they hit.

“None of this surprises me. We always thought that this was a house of cards,” he said.

“I guess I expected that we would be much further into it before it would be as apparent as it has become.”

Contact reporter Rob O’Dell at 573-4346 or rodell@azstarnet.com. Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at 807-7790 or akelly@azstarnet.com

And they wonder why there is so little faith in politicians and government…

What enviros say when they donate know we’re listening
BUSINESS INK

By Roger Yohem, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, July 9th, 2010
There’s a really simple explanation for Tucson’s anti-business environment. Government leaders and city staff members — Pima County officials, too — are in lockstep with the NIMBYs, no-growthers and environmentalists.

An example was an enviro-rally in May put on by the Save the Scenic Santa Ritas group. There were almost enough elected officials there to make it a quorum. In fact, Pima County Supervisors Ray Carroll and Richard Elias presided over the awards presentations.

As a special interest group, enviros put Mother Earth before people. That point hit home after listening to a tape of the event, which was more like a “roast” of the proposed Rosemont Copper mine. It’s stunning to hear what enviros say when they think there are no “outsiders” around.

Upset with the proposed mine, speakers pushed an agenda that includes a boycott of businesses and events that accept advertising, sponsorships or financial support from Rosemont Copper.

That includes the University of Arizona’s public television and radio outlets, the Meet Me at Maynards weekly walk and run and the El Tour de Tucson bicycle event in November.

For your consideration, here are some excerpts taken from the tape of the event:

“Rosemont Copper has been trying to buy events by the community by sponsorship and endorsing different events. Things like the 24-hour mountain bike race in Pinal County, Meet Me at Maynards, El Tour de Tucson. So one of the things we have decided to do, in addition to boycotting these events, is to hit them in the pocketbooks. We need to boycott those events but also support the people and events that are refusing to take Rosemont money,” said Carolyn Campbell of the  Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection.

Points to ponder: The Mayor and Council are so obsessed with Maynards Market they gave them free rent in the city-owned Historic Depot until May 2011. The city is desperate for Maynards to be a downtown success story. Yet, city council staff members turned out to support boycotting this business that has a $250,000 taxpayer subsidy.

El Tour de Tucson raises funds for charities including Tu Nidito, Water For People, and research into leukemia, lymphoma, and juvenile diabetes. In 2009, the event raised $1.8 million.

It’s an elite national event. About 9,000 cyclists participate, stay in hotels, dine in restaurants, hit the malls, and contribute an annual economic impact of $70 million to this region, according to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Yet, city employees turned out to support boycotting the event that helps pay their salaries, not to mention the recipient charities that help sick and dying children, and terminally ill people.

“The real truth about the newspapers and all the media, is they’re making payroll and a great deal of money from full-page ads from Rosemont Copper and that’s disappointing to me. They’re not banning those ads. To me, they should take stock in their community a little better and quit selling out to these pricks,” said County Supervisor Ray Carroll.

Points to ponder: Trying to pressure media to reject Rosemont’s advertising is a blatant attempt at censorship. They don’t want Rosemont’s side of the story heard.

“We are prepared to stand together with you to the end until we are victorious,” said County Supervisor Richard Elias.

Points to ponder: Here’s another politician promoting a boycott that will only hurt businesses. In this case, we have the added issue of a county official backing a boycott of revenue-producing events in the city.

“For self-preservation, do it with pressure endlessly applied, and that’s exactly how we plan to do it,” said Roger Featherstone, Southwest representative for Earthworks.

Points to ponder: Although Southern Arizona is blessed with rich mineral resources, it is cursed with a political environment that is anti-mining. U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairs the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and wants to ban new mines on public land in Pima County.

Ultimately, the eco-activists say they want to buy out the mine site with a combination of federal grants, county taxpayer money, and hoped-for private funding.

“That’s our long-term goal. I hope this will happen in the next few years, I don’t want to fight this battle again,” said Gayle Hartmann, president of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. “Investors will lose interest if copper prices go down, so we have to be happy when copper prices go down.”

Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254. His Business Ink appears biweekly and weighs in on local political, social and business issues.

Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business

By Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, June 4th, 2010

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ve figured out we are not professional journalists. If you listen to our radio program, you’ll quickly realize we aren’t radio pros either. We are a couple of small business guys who can no longer sit and watch as the region we love squanders its potential. The lack of vision and leadership is hurting the future for our families.

We, along with many of you, have come to the conclusion that Tucson is on a one-way trip to being the Detroit of the desert. Suburban areas are flourishing while the city core stagnates and rots.

Don’t blame us. We had nothing to do with Tucson’s overdependence on the growth industry. We didn’t chase away our youth for lack of opportunity. We had nothing to do with Motorola leaving. Or the movie industry going to New Mexico. Or IBM relocating. We haven’t been a part of downtown redevelopment but, like you, we watched as Albuquerque and El Paso actually did things in their downtowns while Tucson planned and planned. Print this story

 
The last few years in Tucson have been like watching a car wreck happen in slow motion. You know it’s going to be messy but you’re not sure how bad it will end up.

Tucson is what it is. This economic recession has ripped the bandage off a problem and the open wound has been exposed.  You have the same three choices as we do: move away, sit back and coast or work to fix it.

For our part, we’re in the “fix-it” mode.

So far we, individually or as a team, have sat on commissions, worked on task forces and served on nonprofit boards. We’ve risen to management in organizations, we’ve created hundreds of jobs and opened or developed dozens of locations for small businesses. We’ve run for public office, campaigned for candidates, spoken to government officials, bureaucrats, neighbors, environmentalists and other movers and shakers.

We’ve found a whole bunch of people who feel the same way as we do. We’ve also found a few people who wish we’d get in line with their ideas. And we’ve even run into a few who are downright obstructionists.

Now is the time and this is a call to do one of three things: lead, follow or get out of the way.

There are groups out there right now thinking, planning and organizing how to chart a new course for this region. We are encouraged by the work of the up-and-coming leaders at the Pima County Republican and Democratic parties. We are energized by the work of the religious community and their efforts to organize politically. We know of business groups that are looking to improve the development process, create more jobs and improve relationships with Mexico. Private capitalists, not governments, are talking about how to leverage Tucson’s economic assets.

We need the business community to plug in. If you have already made your fortune in Southern Arizona, give a little of your time and experience to help the next generation. If your business isn’t there yet, reach out for  help; there are many options.

Republican or Democrat, neighborhood or business, old or young, we all need to get away from the single-issue loudmouths who dominate the political debate. No more political doublespeak and elected officials who worry more about their next re-election than what’s best for the long-term of the region. We have had our fill of groups that are supposed to represent us but have become too comfortable. We believe education of our children is the single most important opportunity for Tucson to become a healthy community but are frustrated with throwing money into a black hole. We respect our role as environmental stewards but we also need jobs.

Most importantly, we need those with the power to tax and regulate to understand we can’t take much more. Pushing down one more tax, one more form, one more fee may not seem like a big deal to a government official but it’s getting to the point where it’s not worth the risk, sleepless nights and always being the last one paid.

We are down in the trenches trying to fix this mess now. We need like-minded folks to join us. That’s the only way anything is going to get done.

Contact Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone at wakeuptucson@gmail.com. They host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Their blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business

Making the golden egg shine: Maximizing the tourism dollar
WAKE UP, TUCSON: A plan for measurable results

By Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, April 23rd, 2010
With the decline of the construction industry in Pima County, tourism is again the economic engine that makes our world go. Tourism is an industry most people in the region can appreciate and respect. Environmental open space goals and policies that restrict growth fit perfectly into the tourism industry. Tourism brings in visitors with wallets full of new cash.

Southern Arizona isn’t a manufacturing mecca. We don’t have high-tech, clean industries so tourism is one of the few industries that helps fill governments’ tax coffers.

The organization charged with maximizing tourism’s economic impact is the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB). The agency is funded by formulas coming from hotel bed taxes that are paid by tourists to government entities: the City of Tucson, Pima County and, to a lesser degree, Oro Valley and Marana. The more tourists, the more bed taxes, and the more bed taxes, the more the MTCVB can promote.

The $9 million dollar question is, how is the Tucson region doing compared to its peers?

We go back to the question we posed two weeks ago: How would someone from a cold-weather city compare Scottsdale, Sante Fe or Tucson? It’s all perception. Did they watch the Accenture Match Play Championship?  Did a neighbor tell them about some terrific place for Mexican food? Did they read an article? Did they see an advertisement on a cold day deep in winter that showed people having fun in the sun in Tucson?

When we talk to local elected officials about the effectiveness of the MTCVB, we see a lot of blank stares. It’s not their fault, they are not tourism experts. At the same time, these elected officials are the stewards of millions of dollars, going to the MTCVB.

Do the elected officials know the questions to ask? Do they understand the role of destination marketing versus lead generation? Is the MTCVB lean and mean and doing a bang-up job? Are there measurable results that show tax dollars delivering results? How does Tucson rate against other communities?

Is anyone even asking these questions?

The MTCVB should be put on a contract of two to three years, maximum, during which time a third party is hired to gather information and develop comparison and measurement data. A good start would be to develop a ratio based on current bed tax collections and the amount of money spent in tourism promotion, along with the resulting changes, either up or down, from bed taxes.

Nothing works in a vacuum so it’s important to see how Tucson stacks up against other southwestern destinations. How much does Scottsdale collect in bed taxes? How much is spent on actual marketing, versus overhead or other tactics. What’s the trend in bed tax collections?

What we suspect will be found is that destinations that market their unique attributes in key markets see increases.

Seems pretty basic, but how much of it is benefitting the Tucson region?

The process will take time, but it’s an investment in one of Tucson’s only economic bright spots. If the MTCVB trends favorably in that two-to-three-year time frame, then a renewal would be in order. Maybe even with cash bonuses for the staff. If the trend is negative, then governments should considering issuing an RFP for tourism promotion.

The MTCVB’s board is made of business people who are all under some form of an accountability system. It should be no different for their organization.

We understand and appreciate the hard work of the frontline people at the MTCVB. And, for as important as tourism is to  this region, we all need to be assured their work is getting the maximum out of taxpayers’ dollars.

The family in Minneapolis or Toledo planning a vacation needs to have top-of-mind awareness of Tucson.

And Tucson’s No. 1 industry needs to be producing all that it can.

Contact Joe Higgins at joe@joehigginsinc.com or Chris DeSimone at provenpartners@comcast.net. They host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Their blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business

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