At the time of this submission, Thanksgiving is just two days away. Accordingly, your District team and I wish you and yours a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving as we swing into what we hope will be a joyous holiday season for all.
Speaking of your District 4 Office, I am pleased to announce that our team’s new representative to the Vail/Corona de Tucson area is Selina Valenzuela. Selina lives in Corona de Tucson and is intimately familiar with our southeast region. She will also be anchoring administrative duties in our main office, and will be keeping hours and appointments at our Southeast District 4 Office in the Greater Vail Chamber of Commerce building, between the tracks. Selina is anxious to get know all of you and is looking forward to serving the Vail and Corona de Tucson residents. She is taking over the duties of our longtime representative, Lucretia Free, who is running for Congress. We are grateful that Lucretia remains as coordinator for the Southeast Regional Council. We will miss Lucretia, and wish her success and victory!
I am asked often about the frequency of Board meetings and how to watch them. We meet the first and third Tuesdays of each month (unless the need for a special or emergency meeting arises – more on that later). View live proceedings via Pima County’s Facebook page, Cox and Comcast channels 96, and pima.gov. Meetings are also available for on-line viewing up to 90 days after the meeting date. If you want to watch a meeting after the fact or view a specific agenda item discussion, we have developed a sheet to help you navigate to the desired material. Call or email and we will send this information to you, 520-724-8094 or district4@pima.gov
We have three issues at the Board of Supervisors level that greatly affect our District 4 residents: differential water rates, countywide minimum wage initiatives, and vaccine employment mandates for members of our law enforcement community.
The differential water rates imposed upon county Tucson Water customers are set to begin on December 1. As you know, I have been very clear and vocal against the City’s unjustified, and I believe illegal actions, to raise water rates for those living in the county, but not on those living in the City. The Board will be exploring numerous avenues of action in an effort to stop the City’s rate increase during a special board meeting on Thanksgiving eve. I am strongly advocating for a legal effort, yet there may be other methods available as well.
During the last Board meeting, we discussed the subject of setting a minimum wage level. Here again, I have been clear in my disagreement of setting a minimum wage mandate in Pima County. My most significant concern is that the County will try to replicate the same bureaucracy surrounding the enforcement of the new minimum wage policy that the City of Tucson has. The hourly dollar amount, though highly important, is of secondary concern to me, as many businesses are already paying above minimum wage now, and the market will, and should, determine an hourly amount. However, included in the City’s recently passed minimum wage policy is the formation of a Tucson Department of Labor Standards that will have the power and authority to enter businesses, inspect payroll records, and review other private employee policies. It also will have the power to level onerous fines and revoke business licenses. This office will even encourage employees and others to anonymously report businesses if they are not meeting minimum wage policy requirements and will pay a “commission” to those that report the infraction. All of this at a taxpayer cost estimated to be $500,000 annually, just for running the new department. Fortunately, it was clear that the majority of Supervisors did not have the will or desire to go down this same road (yet) and we referred the item to County staff for study and a report, with no action taken.
Finally, I have great concerns about the County’s recently enacted mandatory vaccine requirements imposed on County employees, particularly our Sheriff’s Deputies. The Sheriff’s Department has the highest percentage of unvaccinated personnel among Pima County employees. PCSD already has been suffering terribly from understaffing, even before COVID-19, and now scores of Deputies face termination if they do not comply with the vaccine mandates. It takes several years to attract, recruit, train, and educate a Deputy, and this leaking of experienced law enforcement professionals is unsustainable in Pima County and is a serious threat to our safety and quality of life. We can argue vaccine mandates all we want, but the question must be asked: If you, your spouse or child, or loved one were being attacked and threatened by an assailant, would you rather have a Deputy, who may or may not be vaccinated, there to defend and protect you and yours, or would you rather have no Deputy there at all?
These are challenging times and your District 4 team is up to these challenges. And, oh yes, I love being your Supervisor!
