Louise Francesconi is the former president of Raytheon Missile Systems and serves on several local corporate boards.

As the retired president of Raytheon Missile Systems, chairman of the board of directors for Tucson Medical Center, and a member of the Unisource Energy board of directors, I am a committed and involved citizen of Tucson. I was very happy to see that Gov. Ducey signed the KidsCare legislation.

I am a strong supporter of this legislation for so many reasons and am pleased that our elected leaders listened to our voice.

But, as we cheer for KidsCare, I am wondering, who is going to write to the Caterpillar employees moving into Southern Arizona and explain that Tim Steller’s column in the May 5 paper does not represent the community where they are moving?

Is Tucson the perfect city? No. It is a city where so many of us have moved professionally over the years and love ... yes, love it.

My family moved here in 1993 with then Hughes Aircraft Co. and more than 3,000 other families. We got engaged in our schools, our community and the beauty of the Sonoran desert.

We have successfully launched our children into adults, grown older and we continue to be enthusiastic about Southern Arizona’s future and we are proud to continue to be a member of this growing community.

The Tucson region welcomes the Caterpillar employees who are moving into our community with open arms. We are here to meet you, to help you and look forward to your energy and engagement in making the future of Tucson one we are all proud of.

With KidsCare, we made our voice heard β€” and the Legislature and the governor listened and together, we are building a stronger community.

To our new neighbors, unlike what Steller wrote β€” Arizona makes a lot of sense β€” you will see what I mean as you learn what Tucson is all about.


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Louise Francesconi is the former president of Raytheon Missile Systems and serves on several local corporate boards.