No local organizations have come out to oppose Proposition 411, a ballot measure with seemingly universal support that could generate $740 million over the next decade to fund road safety upgrades and โimprovementsโ to every residential street in Tucson.
Election Day is May 17, but ballots have already been mailed out to city voters whose โyesโ votes would extend the same half-cent sales tax Tucsonans passed in 2017 through Proposition 101 โ meaning the tax rate wonโt increase regardless of the election outcome. A โnoโ vote would end that tax.
Though they have the same funding source, Proposition 411 could have a much greater impact on transportation than its 2017 predecessor: It will create $590 million for neighborhood road repair, or seven times the amount of annual funds generated by Proposition 101 for local streets.
The unopposed ballot measure has received big donations and an outpouring of support from groups including the local firefighters union, Living Streets Alliance and even the Tucson New Car Dealers Association.
โQuality streets will not only improve the response time for firefighters, but will also decrease the wear and tear on our fire trucks, and keep them in service and on the road longer,โ said Gil Molina of the Tucson Fire Fighters Association, who added that safety upgrades under Proposition 411 will help combat traffic deaths in Tucson, which increased by 22% last year.
A political action committee called โTucsonans for Better, Safer Streetsโโ has raised over $27,500 to support the initiative. Itโs run by Ian McDowell, a vice president at Sundt Construction โ a company that could win contracts if Proposition 411 passes โ as well as former Ward 3 councilmember Karin Uhlich.
The lionโs share of that PACโs funds came from the Tucson New Car Dealers Association, which donated $25,000 last month. The rest of the cash came from McDowell and Tom Warde, the PACโs treasurer and a local commercial real estate consultant.
More than a dozen other individuals and groups argued for Proposition 411 in this yearโs voter guide, with many citing the condition of Tucsonโs local roads โ 85% of which are in poor, very poor or failing condition โ as the reason for their support. Nobody submitted an argument against the initiative.
Edmund Marquez, of the Tucson Metro Chamber, said itโs also an economic issue.
โThis is our opportunity to repair our roads, this is our opportunity to invest in our community. This is great for economic development,โ he said. โIf you look at it from the (perspective) of us being able to attract companies with higher paying jobs to Tucson, this is the basic blocking and tackling of what a city should have โ nice neighborhood streets.โ
City officials unanimously support the initiative as well. The funding is central to their transportation โmaster planโ called Move Tucson, which requires a boost in annual road work spending by more than $120 million โ a 50% increase โ over the next two decades.
That funding target will be nearly impossible for the city to hit without Proposition 411 money, so Tucsonโs transportation goals for the next decade are largely riding on the outcome of this election.
โThe number one issue I hear from Tucsonans is the condition of our streets. Anyone who drives, bikes and walks on our streets knows the condition they are in,โ Mayor Regina Romero said. โI hear Tucsonans loud and clear. We need to fix our streets.โ
Voters who registered by the April 18 deadline will receive their mail-in ballots for the Proposition 411 election later this week. Votes should be mailed back no later than May 11 to ensure they make it to the City Clerkโs Office in time to be counted.
If residents miss that deadline they can drop off their ballot at one of the numerous voting sites across the city by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Replacement ballots will also be available at most of those locations for voters who bring identification.
Brnovich fundraises off election report
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich moved quickly from issuing an โinterim reportโ on the 2020 election to using that report to fundraise for his political campaign.
Brnovich is running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate and is facing pressure to find something wrong with Arizonaโs 2020 general election. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly alleged the election was stolen from him, but no evidence has emerged that proves the claim.
Brnovich, who certified and defended the election in the weeks afterward, implied in his April 6 interim report that something went awry. He noted, for example, that some of the forms documenting the transportation of ballots lacked signatures or other information, but he did not go beyond that to produce any evidence of tampering or fraud.
Republican Maricopa County officials noted in response that Brnovichโs report produced no evidence of significant wrongdoing or any acts that would have changed the results.
On Monday, 12 days after the report was issued, Brnovichโs Senate campaign used it to raise money.
โEarlier this month, my office published a much-anticipated interim report on the 2020 election in Maricopa County, and what our investigation revealed should concern every Arizonan,โ he said in the first sentence of the email.
While the report may earn Brnovichโs campaign some donations, it did not impress Trump. He said of Brnovich in a Monday email, โRather than go after the people that committed these election crimes, it looks like he is just going to โkick the can down the roadโ and stay in that middle path of noncontroversy. He wants to be politically correct.โ
Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate in the five-person race for the GOP nomination to face Sen. Mark Kelly.
Third Dem enters CD6 race
While the GOP field in the new Congressional District 6 is large, it has seemed for months that the Democratic race was down to two candidates โ Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Kirsten Engel.
Not so.
A third candidate has made the ballot for the Democratic primary in the new district that covers half the Tucson area and most of southeastern Arizona. Avery Anderson submitted 1,889 signatures and will contest the primary with Hernandez, a member of the state House, and Engel, a former state senator.
Anderson, 28, is an engineer working at Raytheon Missile Systems. Anderson was an unknown to local Democrats, and this is his first run for elected office.
He acknowledged in a short phone interview Thursday that his run โdefinitely is ambitious.โ Anderson, who moved to the area about five years ago, said his top priority is fighting climate change.
โThere is a need to act and act now,โ he said. โThis should be the priority for the Democratic Party going forward.โ
In the GOP primary, the candidates are: Juan Ciscomani, Lucretia Free, Brandon Martin, Young Mayberry and Kathleen Winn. Both primaries are scheduled for Aug. 2.
