The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Melissa Cordero
I served this country in uniform. I understand what it means to plan for the long term, protect your people, and act based on mission — not ideology. Today, that mission is clear: Tucson must vote yes on Propositions 418 and 419.
As a veteran and organizer with Veterans Power America and Common Defense, I have worked alongside communities across Southern Arizona and in rural Arizona that are too often excluded from regional decision-making. I center veterans, tribal nations, and Black and brown working-class families because I see how policy either expands opportunity or deepens inequity.
Transportation is not theoretical in these communities. It is the single mom trying to get to work. The young veteran relying on the bus to reach job training. The tribal elder navigating dangerous corridors to access healthcare. The construction worker depending on infrastructure jobs to support a family.
Propositions 418 and 419 are not perfect. But leadership is not about holding out for ideal conditions while families wait another generation for safety and investment. It is about delivering long-overdue improvements now — especially for the South and West sides that have endured decades of disinvestment.
Opponents argue these measures undermine climate progress and entrench car dependency. I share the urgency of climate action. I have fought for clean energy and environmental justice because veterans understand that climate instability is both a national security and community threat. In Arizona, transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Modernizing corridors with safer design, drainage improvements, transit reliability, and multimodal access is part of reducing long-term emissions and building resilience in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods.
Voting no does not reduce emissions. It delays safety upgrades, flood mitigation, and transit-supportive improvements while eliminating billions in regional investment and construction jobs that working families rely on.
Ward 1 and Ward 5 communities — particularly south of 22nd Street — are waiting on projects that address flooding, unsafe crossings, disconnected corridors, and unreliable transit. Improvements to 22nd Street, Drexel Road, Irvington, Mission, and La Cholla include sidewalks, bike access, drainage upgrades, and grade-separated crossings that improve safety and emergency response times. These are basic infrastructure needs, not luxuries.
It is easy to take an idealistic position when you already live in a well-connected neighborhood. Too often, those opposing these measures reflect the priorities of their voter base rather than the communities most impacted by unsafe roads and limited access. Veterans returning home to working-class neighborhoods, tribal members in outlying areas, and families commuting across city and county lines cannot afford stalled progress.
These measures continue an existing regional funding structure, and they do not create a new tax. They unlock significant infrastructure investment at a time of economic uncertainty. For veterans transitioning into civilian careers, this means workforce opportunities in trades and public works. For small businesses, it means improved access. For transit riders, it means safer and more reliable corridors.
Climate justice requires cutting emissions, but it also requires investing in communities that have borne the brunt of environmental harm and neglect. You cannot build a clean-energy future on crumbling infrastructure. You cannot ask underserved neighborhoods to wait while we debate perfection.
Voting no does not punish cars. It punishes communities still fighting for safety, mobility, and economic opportunity.
As veterans, we understand progress often happens in phases. You secure the ground in front of you while continuing to push for broader transformation. I will continue fighting for a fully transit-forward, climate-resilient Tucson. But rejecting 418 and 419 risks widening inequities for the very communities we claim to defend.
Tucson and surrounding rural areas are interconnected. Regional investment strengthens access to jobs, healthcare, and opportunity across boundaries. When we stall, working families, tribal nations and veterans absorb the cost. My oath did not end when I left the service. I still believe in fighting for policies that protect people and expand opportunity.
Propositions 418 and 419 are about choosing investment over stagnation, safety over delay, and equity over abstraction. If we truly believe in justice — for veterans, for tribes, for Black and brown communities, and for working families across greater Tucson and rural Arizona — then we must vote yes.
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