The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
The Mayor and Council last week decided — obviously in a collective delusional brainstorm — to study how to acquire Tucson Electric Power. If the past teaches anything, this effort will amount to spitting into the wind.
The impetus, according to the council, for this little trip into Fantasyland is the fact that non-municipally owned power companies charge consumers 7% more. The reasoning, it seems, is that when the city buys TEP, electrical rates will drop and the Mayor and Council will be heroes. The estimate for acquiring TEP is $7 billion. We wonder what the debt service on $7 billion would be in today’s market.
The last serious effort to convert the city’s privately held utility to public-owned was in the late 1960s when the honorable James N. Corbett, a devoted New Deal Democrat, was elected mayor. At the time, the city utility was Tucson Gas & Electric (the gas business was sold later). Mayor Corbett’s car license said “ZAP TGE.” He believed utilities should be city-owned.
Back then, the effort failed. It will certainly fail again, and it is strange that the council would agree to pursue such an exercise in futility. Perhaps it is because the next best thing to municipal progress, is appearing to seek it. It’s probably the best the council can do because the city charter in its present form impedes progress.
And inaction is what this municipal government has been about mostly. It cannot fix the streets. It cannot annex northward. It cannot charge a property tax that provides sufficient revenue. It survives only with the sales tax. The city’s elections are fouled by a primary system that requires candidates to run for nomination in their district but must run citywide to be elected. That’s just wrong. The ward is an entity unto itself. It means a Republican running in an overwhelmingly Democratic ward could be elected.
Tucson’s city charter was written in the 1920s when the “good government” movement was at its zenith. This was an era when reformers crusaded against Chicago-style district politics where bribes, favors and smoke-filled rooms greased the gears of progress and commerce. As a result, rather than give power to the mayor, where it belongs, the municipality’s actual chief executive is the city manager, elected by no one. The mayor who ought to be the chief executive sets agendas but can vote only to break a tie. This government structure is not suited to a metropolis of more than a half million in a metro area of more than a million. It was just fine for a town of just over 20,000. While Corbett couldn’t buy TG&E for Tucsonans, he instituted a water policy that sought to integrate water resources for the entire region. He was the most effective brick-and-mortar mayor in the city’s recent history. His administration took full advantage of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, programs that sought urban renewal and improved city services with model cities. He built La Placita. And he did it all in just one term. Having offended establishment authorities almost at every turn, Corbett charged on. He berated the Downtown Power Structure, which meant the city’s newspapers, Chamber of Commerce and the denizens of the Old Pueblo Club, the men’s-only dining room atop the Pioneer Hotel where Democrats were sparse and Republicans legion.
When a reporter called to ask a question, Corbett routinely announced the time. That was followed by his affably declaring, “Never let it be said that Jim Corbett would not give the press the time of day.” Then he would hang up, question unanswered and needlessly provoking the press.
The Downtown Power Structure made certain Corbett would last only a term. It recruited a Republican attorney, Lewis C. Murphy, who was tall with a soothing baritone voice. This support and money defeated Gentleman Jim. Murphy was elected thrice more. Murphy was the Warren G. Harding of mayors; he looked and sounded the part but did bupkis. Today he’s remembered for Murphy’s overpass.
Based on its record, it seems doubtful the City Council will wind up owning TEP. If history is any guide, electricity rates will continue to be dear, the council’s efforts notwithstanding. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see what more illusions/delusions of progress the City Council can summon.
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