Tucson Speaks Out: Dec. 17

Thank you to our County and City officials

Thank you to Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, and Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar for speaking up in support of our community and announcing that law enforcement agencies and prosecutors with the City of Tucson and Pima County will not become immigration enforcers participating in roundups and mass deportations. Kudos to these leaders for helping to provide safety and justice for all local residents. I am grateful they have taken this position to protect local families, to preserve our constitutional democracy, and to focus local government resources where they belong. I hope elected leaders in other communities throughout Arizona will do the same.

Amelia Cramer

Downtown

Red-light traffic cameras

Regarding recent letters about red light traffic cameras, I too, have seen drivers run straight ahead through red lights, which is very dangerous for cars at the intersection, as well as for the driver. When we had red-light cameras, one of the biggest complaints, from me included, was that “innocent” drivers were getting photographed and ticketed for getting caught in the intersection on yellow arrow left turns because they didn’t have enough time to clear the red arrow. I am in favor of bringing back red-light cameras, but only for straight-ahead red-light runners. The cameras should go on when the light turns red plus a little extra time to allow clearing the last bit of the intersection on a yellow light. Also, the cameras need to ignore left arrow turns, which is less of a problem, even if it means some true violators are not caught. I believe this would give the proposal a better chance of passing.

Raymond Silverstein

Midtown

City processes still suffering COVID?

Thanks to neighbors who submitted the Guest Opinion, alerting City residents to the proposed Community Corridor Tool (Dec. 15). They make clear how their input would have been beneficial, if asked, during that writing process.

This lack of public engagement is just the latest example that Tucson’s Department of Planning and Development Services (PDSD) may not have gotten over COVID. It apparently has found lack of personal interactions to be welcoming.

A few years ago there were a series of disturbing Design Development Option (DDO) determinations. Repeated requests for public participation in clarifying and publicizing procedures were ignored.

City notice of a Zoning Examiner Public Hearing, Jan. 9, 2025, states: “In person attendance by public will be prohibited.” Why would the City be restricting the opportunity for a group of people to attend and jointly participate next month?

Does PDSD prefer its COVID practices? Are opportunities for Citizen Stakeholders participating, contributing, compromising while sitting in the same room to problem-solve to be avoided — too troublesome for staff?

Ruth Beeker

Midtown

Government efficiency

Republicans, as the party of government efficiency, we must unite in pressing to repeal the expansion of the ESA education vouchers program (2022 HB2853). Pre-HB2853 uses for special needs and other disadvantaged students are legitimate state purposes, but those using the revised program are purchasing bounce houses, kayaks, ski vacations, and Legos for their “students” with this funding approved during the Ducey administration, making the Republican Legislature look foolishly wasteful of taxpayers’ funds. Just this week, fraudsters from out of state have been indicted for registering dozens of fake children to steal yet more from the state, and Supt. Horne is now approving everything and “we’ll simply … audit later.” Really? Are Republicans serious about government waste, fraud, and abuse, or not?

Eric Witherspoon

Northwest side

Giving more

While the story relating “What Keeps Billionaires from Giving More” was entertaining, I question just how many billionaires read the Daily Star?

Susan Maynard

Green Valley

More pieces for the gratitude puzzle

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November was the month of gratitude, for the blessings great and small in our lives. At many a Thanksgiving table, guests were asked to name something or someone for which/whom they were grateful. December adds another component to gratitude: Giving. Bell ringers and countless others ask us to open our hearts and wallets to those in need.

Even while appreciating the blessings we have, it’s important to concurrently add a few more pieces to the gratitude puzzle. First is to acknowledge our losses, both past and recent: a person, a professional position, money — all losses were painful and shouldn’t be stuffed under the false utopia called “hunky-dory.”

Both self-care and acts of loving kindness can put a soothing balm on these wounds.

As for the future, whoever we are, however we live, nobody is calling it “nirvana.” What are our personal and professional aspirations? How can we achieve them? How can we make our lives, the lives of those around us and the world better in 2025?

Barbara Russek

North side

Some easy reductions in DC

As Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency look at how to eliminate waste and lower spending, they should be sure to include looking at White House personnel. According to the latest annual report required by Congress, White House Office Personnel totaled about 550 under Joe Biden at an annual salary cost of $55 million plus benefits. Full of assistants, associate assistants, special assistants and the like there are titles such as “Policy advisor to the White House office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships” and (my personal favorite), “ Director of gifts”. I realize $ 55 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the current annual deficit of $1.8 trillion and total debt of over $36 trillion, but White House personnel looks like it has some easy targets. Trump had about 410 personnel ... we’ll see what he has this time around.

Mathew Scully

Sahuarita

Fentanyl-Fold a Flop

As a professor of pharmacology, I note that the recent article about the “fentanyl fold” was replete with errors. For example, the phenomenon is not caused by fentanyl alone, but rather by the combination of fentanyl with xylazine, which is a veterinary tranquilizer (hence the street name “tranq dope”, among others). And statements such as fentanyl “can be a short-action drug and a long-acting drug” is misleading without explanation (it is not the drug, but the physiology/genetics of the person taking it). It is regrettable that this inaccurate article was reprinted from The Arizona Republic without first fact-checking it by the talented reporting staff and editors of the Star, and without first checking with the specialized opioid pharmacology and drug use experts located in Tucson. Addressing the opioid crisis is difficult enough without the uncritical propagation of misinformation from unreliable sources.

Robert Raffa, PhD

Foothills

Community Corridors Tool

“Something is rotten in Denmark” or in this case Tucson. The fast-tracking and timeline of this massive zoning change has been remarkable but what is even more remarkable is how few of our citizens/property owners have a clue what is afoot.

I was included in an email response from PDSD that actually used the word “robust” in describing participation levels in the two public forums recently held — one in-person and announced only days prior and a Zoom meeting. The total was 112 people of our population of over 550,000. Robust participation? Really?

Planning and zoning for Tucson’s future is important but this is overwhelming what this wants to do and favors deep-pockets developers while allowing for homeowners to suffer enormous financial losses should their property wind up with a multi-story structure abutted directly next to theirs with negligible parking and more and no recourse. It’s shameful and wicked if this is passed as is.

Fran Garcia

Midtown

The Four Horsemen of Pima County

Southern Arizona’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, Mayor Regina Romero, Pima County DA Laura Conover and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos — proudly announce in a December 15 Star statement (not opinion) that they will bravely not be “immigration enforcers.” Well, you four are a special kind of stupid.

No thanks to you four for ignoring two illegals from Venezuelan Tren De Aragua gang member’s rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Houston, Texas. That’s just one of only thousands of similar violent crimes, mostly by single males, committed by illegals here that you ignore. Got that, Conover and Nanos?

All for the simple reason that you all agree, as mindless Democrats, with Biden’s open-border policy that has given us over 10 million illegals in 4 years and 1.4 million illegals who have ignored deportation orders from US immigration courts. You clowns are a direct threat to our nation’s national security.

Steve Sollenberger

Foothills