Councilman Kozachik faces challenge from political newcomer in Ward 6

The race for Ward 6 has proven to be one of the more contentious elections on November’s ballot as Democratic Councilman Steve Kozachik faces off against Val Romero, an independent who has been called “fringe right” by the longtime incumbent.

The two contenders have diametrically opposed views on issues like COVID-19 mitigation, which is one of Kozachik’s top priorities while Romero opposes vaccine and mask mandates.

On other issues, like Tucson’s deteriorating roads and economic development, the two share similar end-goals but have different ideas for tackling the problems. Kozachik said it comes down to his challenger’s overall lack of understanding.

“I think he is fundamentally unqualified for the position. He has demonstrated over and over again that he’s not even sure what the scope of the job is,” Kozachik said.

Kozachik, a 12-year veteran of the City Council, said his focus for the next four years will be on water security, transportation issues, continuing efforts to combat the pandemic, and taking a multifaceted approach to addressing poverty.

Romero is a small-business owner who wants to increase staffing at the Tucson Police Department, prevent the construction of 5G poles, and promote economic development. He said Kozachik isn’t representing Tucson residents.

“Whether I’m qualified or not, a lot of times even within trades, until you get hands-on experience you’re not going to learn all of the tricks of the trade, how to do different things, how the process works,” Romero said. “ I believe the City Council person should be somebody who represents who they’re supposed to represent, which is the citizens of a community.”

Top issues

Kozachik’s main priority for a next term is water security. His specific focus will be on groundwater contaminated with PFAS, a long-lasting chemical that may be toxic to humans.

In Tucson, there are two major plumes of PFAS in groundwater near the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Tucson International Airport. Kozachik said the federal government is responsible for PFAS levels at those locations being hundreds of times higher than what the EPA allows.

The issue is made worse by two factors: a slow federal response to fixing the issue and the possible loss of other drinking water sources like the Colorado River, which could hit critical water levels as soon as 2025.

“That means that we’re going to have to lean into serving groundwater sooner than this whole federal process of cleaning up the PFAS is ready to roll out,” Kozachik said. “It’s an immediate problem and frankly it’s an existential problem for this region.”

The city has invested millions of dollars to address the issue and may have to spend more as it waits to be reimbursed by the Department of Defense, the incumbent said.

Kozachik said he wants to address the problem regardless of when those federal funds arrive in order to ensure Tucsonans have safe drinking water.

“Our role is more than simply leaning on the federal government; our role is managing and monitoring the problem right now with Tucson Water,” he said. “We’re active participants in monitoring this problem and may even have to come out of pocket for it.”

Romero’s top priority is strengthening the Tucson Police Department through increased staffing, a longstanding issue in Tucson and nationally.

The Police Department here has about a 12% shortage of sworn officers when trainees who can’t be deployed in the community are taken into account. City officials have said the problem is driven by a lack of qualified candidates.

Romero’s plans to bring more officers to Tucson by promoting community engagement with the police. He said he would consider a marketing plan to highlight the positives of working as a police officer here, like the warm weather.

“I know there was in the past a lot of community watch where the community, a neighborhood and some officers from there would kind of come together. They’d have meetings, they’d get to know the people,” Romero said. “It’s just bringing the community together where we’re working together as opposed to working against each other”

Transportation

Both Kozachik and Romero view transportation issues as a key problem. Whoever wins will have to work to address the $13.1 billion worth of transportation needs identified in the city’s 20-year-long “master plan” called Move Tucson.

The situation has been made uncertain by the city’s push to leave the next Regional Transportation Authority, a program that funds projects throughout Pima County through a sales tax approved by voters in 2006.

The RTA could represent the largest chunk of funding for Tucson’s projects, but the city won’t participate if certain program rules — like a voting system that officials said disenfranchises Tucsonans — isn’t fixed.

Kozachik said he will support the city’s participation in RTA Next if changes are made, which would secure the hundreds-of-millions of dollars Tucson will receive if the city signs on.

“I will support it if we can come to terms on things such as proportional representation or weighted voting,” Kozachik said. “It also has to include pavement preservation, pavement repair. The current RTA doesn’t include any of that.”

Identifying backup options in case the city does pull out of the program by its Feb. 1 deadline is also a priority for Kozachik.

Proposition 101 is one possible solution. The 2017 initiative has provided millions for road work through a half-cent sales tax that’s up for voter renewal next May. Kozachik introduced the idea of raising that tax to a full penny to make up for lost RTA funds.

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The incumbent said the city needs to act fast to get the proposal ready to go for next year

“If we’re going to put 101 on the ballot in May of next year then we have to have our own act together,” Kozachik said. “We can’t just walk away from that if we don’t have our own game plan set and ready to go.”

Romero said the city has failed to address the most important transportation issues for Tucsonans to date. He plans to change that if he wins the council seat in November.

The challenger believes it’s “not within the city’s best interest” to participate in RTA Next unless Tucson is given an equitable say on the RTA board, the program’s governing body.

His focus is on road repair specifically, though he doesn’t have any fleshed-out plans to fund the work.

“Realistically in the city of Tucson we need movements on our roads, to fix our roads. How do we get from point A to point B at a quicker rate?” Romero said. “I’m not sure if the Tucson next plan has anything to address that or not, I have not read what it was other than the few articles.”

Poverty, jobs

Romero said his decades-long career running a small business in Tucson has prepared him to address issues facing other business owners in the city.

His approach will involve the creation of a business owners’ “coalition” that can meet with the City Council to directly address issues they’re facing.

“There used to be a business coalition of a lot of small local businesses that used to meet with mayor and council a couple of years back. I would look at recreating that so mayor and council actually have a pulse on what small businesses are faced with,” Romero said.

The political newcomer also wants to promote trade options for residents — like careers in plumbing or welding — in order to create more skilled job opportunities.

Kozachik’s economic development plan seeks to address the issue through assistance for impoverished residents in the near-term, creating high-skilled jobs, and workforce development.

The incumbent pointed to a number of existing programs that he would continue supporting in order to provide immediate needs for poor Tucsonans. Old Pueblo Community Services, for example, offers housing, counseling and support services to homeless people.

Kozachick’s work has also drawn $600 million in private investments in Ward 6, which he said have created service worker opportunities. He hopes to build on that in the next four years by drawing high-skilled jobs to the Sonoran Corridor area.

“Our diamond in the rough is out on the Sonoran Corridor,” Kozachik said. “Those are high-paying logistics and manufacturing jobs that we have to continue to work with the county to develop.”

Workforce development is the final facet of Kozachik’s plan. He said he wants to continue city investments in programs like JobPath, an agency that helps students earn two-year degrees or certifications, as well as a number of early childhood education programs.

5G utility poles

5G utility poles have been a nuisance to residents across the city who said they can damage landscaping and reduce property values. Community members also had no say in the process until new restrictions, spearheaded by Kozachik, were released in August.

The rules required companies to notify and take feedback from residents before installation, and laid out design guidelines that required telecoms to either build the poles on existing structures or spread them out by at least 150 feet.

Kozachik’s work was limited by federal and state laws preempting the city from dictating where exactly 5G poles can or cannot be placed, however.

Romero has criticized the city and his opponent for those shortcomings and said he found a way around the preemption laws that will allow him to be more effective in tackling the issue.

Romero points to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he said city officials were able to take a more hard-line stance by permitting 5G to be delivered only through underground cables rather than utility poles.

“The mayor and council of Chattanooga said ‘no, you can do it, but you’re running fiber to the house as opposed to putting up all of these towers,” Romero said. “If they wanted 5G in the community they had to run it through fiber optics.”

Fiber optic cables are used to deliver a completely different product than the small cell towers, Romero admitted. Companies like Cox use fiber optic cables to provide 5G Wi-Fi to homes, while Verizon and AT&T use poles to deliver 5G cellular service that covers large areas.

Romero’s plan would be to effectively ban the delivery of 5G cell service in Tucson, which state and federal law explicitly prohibits.

Voters citywide will decide three City Council ward races on Nov. 2.