Crews from Tucson Electric Power work on a power pole on South Saddle Ridge Lane in an effort to bring electricity back to customers in this 2023 file photo
Poor TEP
The Opinion piece by Dallas Dukes, TEP's Customer Affairs VP (Jan. 24), and the sponsored ad by Sharon Bronson (Jan. 28) both plead the case for the 14% rate hike. Both praise the commitment, transparency and integrity of TEP. However, what I have observed, from driving down our streets and having been active in the MidTown Reliability Project meetings, is that "rate hikes" are used as a threat to the community when we care what our city will look like, support undergrounding future work, enforcing our city's codes, or using alternates to obscenely huge, rust-colored metal poles on every corner, mid-block and throughout neighborhoods, sometimes placing them in front or in back of your house. They are strangling our city's views and affecting resale values of our homes and property. Why should we pay more for the same old, same old?
Christie Cummins
Midtown
Props 418/419
Per a review of the RTA Overview Brochure: 1) The RTA Board is under no obligation to seek citizen oversight. Why would they then? 2) The RTA will publish financial and project status updates annually in two newspapers, But which newspapers? Something like The Bismarck (ND) Tribune or the Bangor (ME) Daily News? 3) The state auditor will conduct performance audits every 5 years. Five years?? Why not every year? What are the consequences, if any, in the event of a failed audit? Why not financial audits? Who's afraid of what will be found? Will the performance audits include reviews of work done, like meeting specifications or confirmation of proper materials used? Will specs even be reviewable after five years of road use? Vote "no" until we get honest, verifiable propositions that aren't a boondoggle to just continue the, at best, bad management of the local citizens' tax funds.
Alan Brown
East side
Remembering Republicans
I am a veteran and remember when veterans who served were respected and not deemed “losers” by a president who dodged the draft. I remember when the government worked for the people and did not pardon violent January 6 criminals. I cannot recall when our government unleashed thugs selectively into states that did not support the Republican president. I remember when Republicans who lost elections were gracious losers. I remember being a Republican Party voter (Goldwater, Nixon twice, Reagan) when the Republicans were fiscally responsible and worked on a bipartisan basis for the benefit of constituents and our country. That is not the Republican Party today. That is why I will support every Democratic Party candidate with money and my vote.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Charging user fees
When Tucson was a model city known for its excellent library, parks & recreation, transportation, and community college systems in the ’80s & ’90s, nominal fees were charged to users of these services. We need to consider doing this again. Even if such user fees will not cover the full expenses for these many services, they will certainly help to increase our revenue, defray costs, & make the yearly task of balancing our budget more realistic.
Patricia Cattani
East side
Corrections to my column
In my guest column of Jan. 29, I thought I had typed ".3%" and not "3%" for the ratio of Pima County's population of about 1.1 million to the U.S. population of about 350 million. But my tariff totals were correct.
I found $383 billion as a total cost of President Trump's tariffs the past year. But even at a lower estimate of $240 billion, the total absorbed from Pima County would be about $.7 billion. And if the Supreme Court votes against the tariffs, we won't see a refund.
My future inflation estimate should be higher than 3% due to Trump's attempts to lower the value of the dollar. A more probable 4% average interest leaves only about $1.2 billion of the $2.6 billion available for RTA Next 20-year plan in 2026 dollars.
Water is more important than roads. Astronauts in orbit have been drinking recycled water for 60 years. Recycled water is a viable technology for drinking.
Matt Somers
Midtown
This for that?
Border Czar Homan was reported to have said that, in Minnesota, the "crackdown could ease with more jail access." Curious -- does that mean the Feds will club and shoot fewer people if the Feds are given free rein in the city's jails? Strange, questionable strategy.
Don Gerlach
East side
ICE misconduct
I can only imagine the nightmares 5-year-old Liam Ramos is having. Last week, Liam and his father were detained in Minneapolis as they arrived home from his preschool. The two were then sent to a Texas detention center. Liam has been asking about his classmates, mom, family, blue bunny taken by an ICE agent and his backpack. This without a doubt is emblematic of the inhumane treatment that Trump’s regime is perpetrating on Latino communities. U.S. Minnesota District Judge Patrick Schiltz said of ICE conduct, “The extent of the violations and list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law. ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.” Why such lawlessness by ICE? U.S. AG Pam Bondi said, “Nothing will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law." I wonder if her statement includes unlawful conduct by DHS?
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Reuters: Nay
Jan. 29: Sanctuary states/cities.
State/local government has no immigration enforcement authority. They are required to provide some assistance to Federal agencies by law or grants. Providing more cooperation than required exceeds the authority and responsibility of State and local administrative entities. Red States are likely guilty of exceeding their authority.
Sanctuary is defined as ‘protection or a safe place’. Is there a safe place in the USA for illegal immigrants?
Trump campaigned on deporting criminal illegal aliens. No problem with that. Trump’s agency appointees are trying to ‘make their numbers’ without regarding immigrants’ criminality. Campaign promises are made to break.
Conservative Reuters states Soros is not working to destroy the USA or funding paid protestors. Reuters states that there are many unfounded conspiracy theories about Soros. My favorite: Jewish Soros was a Nazi.
“Power and control is what” Trump and associates “are striving for.”
James Abels
Midtown
Where is Congress?
By now, it should be clear that after the horrific killings in Minneapolis and other crimes committed by the federal government, Donald Trump is totally unfit for office. He has neither the capacity, nor the temperament, to lead our country. He treats our country as if it were one of his properties. He resorts to immature insults of those he doesn't like, threats when he doesn't get his way and unlawful acts when it suits him. For someone so opposed to DEI, he institutes his own version, which is "they like me" and puts them in charge of agencies they are unqualified to run, simply because they know how to stoke Trump's ego. Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino need to be fired for willfully and knowingly lying to the American people. Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche need to be disbarred. Kash Patel should be shown the door. The Republican Congress has been remiss in its duties to hold our officials accountable.
Ilene Scannell
North side
Narcissistic obsession
Trump has the FBI taking voting documents from Fulton County, Georgia. He still can't accept that Biden beat him in the 2020 election. So we are to believe that Trump's FBI Director Patel will take all the ballots from 2020 and count them somewhere else and determine the election was stolen and there was massive fraud. Those Fulton County ballots were counted many times. Would anyone believe Trump's private FBI count will prove fraud? Not very bloody likely. The really sad part is that the FBI is supposed to be protecting us from real terrorist threats. Instead, we are spending time and money to placate the bruised ego of a petulant child president. Get real.
Richard Bechtold
West side
Invest in Tucson: Vote yes on 418, 419
When I first moved to Tucson, I had never even set foot in the city. Yet from the moment I arrived, I fell in love with the mountains, the culture and the warmth of the people. Over the years, I’ve seen how vital reliable transportation is — not just for commuting, but for accessing education, healthcare, and all the opportunities that make life in Pima County so special.
That’s why Propositions 418 and 419 matter. These measures will repair and improve roads, ease traffic congestion, and create safer streets for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians — all without raising taxes.
Transportation is the lifeblood of our economy. It connects employees to jobs, families to schools and services, and businesses to clients and partners. These measures are projected to create tens of thousands of jobs in Pima County over the next 20 years. Supporting them is an investment in our future. I urge voters to vote yes on both.
Sandra Sagehorn-Elliott
Foothills
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