World View launch

World View Enterprises has launched its Stratollite balloon vehicles from the Spaceport Tucson site south of Tucson’s airport.

 World View Enterprises

Pima County has won another court battle over its economic development agreement with high-tech balloon company World View Enterprises, but the case isn’t over yet.

The Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute is “definitely” planning to appeal the latest decision in the case, said Tim Sandefur, vice president of litigation for the conservative think tank.

“The case sets up really well for an appeal on the important legal questions at issue,” Sandefur said.

Pima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen discusses COVID-19 testing, vaccinations and reflects on one year since the county's first coronavirus case was tested.

The institute sued the county in 2016, arguing the no-bid contract with World View represented an illegal giveaway of tax money to a private corporation.

On Feb. 22, Pima County Superior Court Judge Paul E. Tang struck down the last of the institute’s claims when he ruled that the agreement did not violate the state constitution’s so-called “gift clause.”

“I hope this is the end and the Goldwater Institute doesn’t further waste more of its donors’ money on this specious, politically motivated lawsuit,” said Pima County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bronson in a written statement. “We were very careful to comply with the law when drafting this agreement with World View, as court ruling after court ruling after court ruling has proven.”

Judges in Arizona have already ruled that the agreement with World View did not violate state procurement rules or laws governing the lease of public property.

Under the terms of the 2016 deal, the county built World View a $15 million facility south of Tucson International Airport in exchange for lease payments that will total almost $25 million over 20 years and a promise to eventually create 400 high-paying jobs.

So far, county officials said, World View is in compliance with the incentive package.

Kozachik, Romero clash over zoo

Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik pushed back on Mayor Regina Romero after she came out Wednesday in favor of pausing the controversial Reid Park Zoo expansion.

Romero, in her written statement, had pointed to Kozachik, without naming him, as an obstacle to resolving the land-use conflict over the park’s south duck pond and Barnum Hill.

“I have provided the privilege to the Council Member representing the area, and the Reid Park Zoological Society to reach a resolution with community members,” she said. “However, it has become clear to me that resolution to this issue is not on the horizon.”

Kozachik, who has had an ongoing rivalry with Romero, though both are Democrats, wrote a response, noting he’s been working on an improvement plan for Reid Park to try to address public concerns.

“The work I’ve done in support of finding a win-win path forward has not been at the ‘privilege’ of the Mayor,” he wrote. “I’ve invested this time because I have been mindful of both the public process this governing body has gone through to get to this point, as well as the public concerns raised regarding the expansion area.”

The council is scheduled to discuss the expansion at its Tuesday, March 9 study session, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Construction on the project is scheduled to start later this month.

Kozachik to face rare primary challenge

Kozachik is facing competition for his seat representing Ward 6.

Miranda Schubert, an academic adviser at the University of Arizona, announced this week she’s running for the office Kozachik holds.

Miranda Schubert

Candidate for City Council in Ward 6

Kozachik has held the position since 2009 and won his last election in 2017 by a nearly 30% margin. This is the first time he’ll face an opponent in the Democratic primary.

According to a news release from her campaign, Schubert’s goals are to create a more expansive approach to climate change, make housing more affordable in Tucson, and expand public safety beyond “conflated” police budgets.

“There was undeniable consensus around priorities like affordable housing, higher wages, and greater investment in our infrastructure; then we saw the actual budget and none of that was in there,” she said in the release. “It was clear that our community’s ideas were only going to make it into these budgets if more people on the Council were willing to stick their necks out for them, and that’s when I started to really contemplate running.”

Currently, Schubert also works as a DJ for KXCI and hosts the live feminist talk show “Ladytowne.”

The ward-only primary election for City Council is scheduled for Aug. 3. The general election takes place on Nov. 2 when city voters will pick the representatives of Wards 3, 5 and 6.

Lawmaker siblings observe elections in El Salvador

Tucson-area legislators Daniel and Alma Hernandez, who are siblings, traveled to El Salvador over the weekend to observe that country’s parliamentary election.

They were among a group of five members of the Arizona House of Representatives to travel to the Central American country Friday and return Tuesday, Daniel Hernandez said.

They were trained and hosted by the Salvadoran electoral tribunal, and went to polling places to monitor how the elections played out. They went to two polling places and found just two irregularities to report, both of which were for opening late, Hernandez said.

The group was tested for COVID-19 before traveling and upon returning, he said. While there, they were given N95 masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment to use.

In their legislative roles, they will be voting remotely for five days and must test negative before returning to the House floor.

In the election, populist President Nayib Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party won what appeared to be a supermajority in parliament, meaning he is poised to take even greater control of the country.

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— Henry Brean

— Tim Steller

— Nicole Ludden

— Tim Steller