A sitting member of the city council in South Tucson included an unusual tactic in announcing a public rally in the ongoing effort to get the owner of two problematic properties to sell them off and get out of town: a protest at his house if he ignores the demand.
South Tucson’s Casa Maria Soup Kitchen is organizing an event that will provide an update on the civil suit that South Tucson brought against the owners of the 89-unit Sixth Avenue Suites, as well as the 120-unit Spanish Trail Suites. The suits allege that criminal activity at both properties have gone unchecked throughout last year.
“The South Tucson community is saying to the most notorious South Tucson slumlord, Brian Bowers . . . to sell these properties and get out of South Tucson,” the email says. “If he fails to leave the City of South Tucson by (May 25), a picket of his house in a gated community in the foothills will be organized.”
The rally is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, near the Sixth Avenue Suites, 3020 S. Sixth Ave.
The statement, sent via email to the Arizona Daily Star, is signed by Roxy Valenzuela. In addition to being a “community worker” for Casa Maria, Valenzuela has been on South Tucson’s council since 2022.
The rally is “Sponsored by Casa Maria” the email says. Brian Flagg, who took over the nonprofit located in South Tucson in 1985, as previously reported by the Star, is a colleague of Valenzuela on the council.
Like Valenzuela, Flagg was also elected in 2022.
Neither Valenzuela nor Casa Maria could be reached Wednesday for comment.
The city has “disavowed any connection,” to the event, says Jon Paladini, South Tucson’s city attorney.
“That event has no city involvement whatsoever, and councilmembers Flagg and Valenzuela are doing this in purely their personal-private capacity, and in no way, shape or form does this have any kind of official or even unofficial activity of the city,” Paladini told the Star on Wednesday. “As a councilmember, you still retain your First Amendment rights of expression and assembly.”
“The councilmembers themselves don’t have any say in the outcome of this case, on a technical-or-legal level because whether-or-not the requirements have been met (is) really going to be up to the police department and maybe some building officials, or the (city) manager and myself,” he said. “So, what they do, they’re doing on their own.”
In both lawsuits, Brian Bowers and Margeaux Bowers are named as the owners of the company that owns each apartment. The suits were filed under a state law that requires property owners to try to control crimes by residents and visitors on their properties, the Star has previously reported.
Brian Bowers “will be invited to attend and speak” at Thursday’s event, according to Casa Maria.
Bowers’ attorney, Carl Sammartino, could not be reached for comment this week by the Arizona Daily Star.
In March 2023, the nonprofit contacted Brian Bowers with interest in buying one of his properties, but “Casa Maria’s contemplated purchase price range was unrealistically low,” and Bowers declined to further discuss the offer, he said in a Pima County Superior Court filing.
Casa Maria has had a history of acquiring old properties to transform them into affordable housing. In March of 2023, it bought the El Camino Hotel for $850,000, and in October, it purchased the Arizona Motel for $3 million.
Last August, the Arizona Daily Star’s Tim Steller reported South Tucson was considering taking legal action against the Bowers. The municipality did eventually sue, attempting to force the properties to adopt safety measures, such as proper lighting and fencing, security, and closed-circuit footage that could be used with local law enforcement.
In October, city staff, Brian Bowers and his attorney met to provide crime statistics and to ask him to take steps to remediate the activity.
There were 918 service calls at Sixth Avenue Suites “related to various crimes,” averaging over 2.5 service calls per day in 2023, according to court documents. About one out of every six calls there resulted in a police report, court records say.
Regarding Spanish Trail Suites, 834 calls were made for police service in 2023, which still averages over two per day; 146 police reports were generated out of those 834 calls, court documents allege, or about 17%.
Both suits say that no action was taken from October until late-January, when the lawsuits were filed.
Brian Bowers, refuted the claim in a court filing.
“I already had a bid to install wrought-iron fencing (from July of 2023 for $46,266) ... I took action after the October meeting by securing another bid for (fencing) around the property in November of 2023 for approximately $48,000” Bowers said in the filing. “Finding those bids to be cost-prohibitive, I made arrangements to purchase wrought-iron fence panels for myself around (Jan. 16) for $16,000 for 99 posts, 99 panels, and attendant hardware.”
Bowers also said that he purchased new windows on Jan. 15. Three days later, he said, “I received through my lawyer the ‘information on how to abate the nuisance’ from the city.”
According to court filings dated Feb. 13, the parties agreed to a list of 17 obligations “in an effort to resolve this matter,” court records show. Much of what the city required initially was agreed upon during this meeting.
On April 16, Pima County Superior Court Judge Greg Sakall ordered a hearing on the progress made so far.
“We’re making arrangements with the city police department and the other city staff to do essentially site inspections for both properties early next week, basically no later than Wednesday, May 1,” Paladini told the Star. “And then they would assess whether or not all of the requirements have been completed (in the) proper way.”
If both parties can agree that all requirements have been met, then the lawsuits will likely be dismissed, Paladini said. If not, then another hearing will be scheduled, he said.
