City News

After a nationwide recruitment, the City of Tucson has three finalists for the position of director of Tucson Water. The finalists were recommended by an assessment panel of water stakeholders representing citizens, City staff, and water and infrastructure professionals.

The City of Tucson's Small Business Assistance Line, (520) 837-4100, is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Help is available in both English and Spanish. Staff members from the City Manager's Office of Economic Initiatives answer the calls.

The Small Business Assistance Line is one of a number of City initiatives to make the City of Tucson more business-friendly, along with 21 business incentives, streamlined permit processes, and more.

A challenge to the City of Tucson's Nov. 3 General Election was dismissed yesterday by a Pima County Superior Court judge. Republican City Council candidates Kelly Lawton and Margaret Burkholder filed the challenge, saying the judge should throw out the election results and declare them the winners or order a new election. The two lost in the citywide election, but say they would have won had the City used a ward-only election.

In his ruling, Superior Court Judge Gus Aragon said the candidates shouldn’t have waited until after the election was over to file their challenge.

The 21st annual Downtown Parade of Lights will take place on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. and will last approximately two hours. The parade is expected to have approximately 75 different entries with 1,500 participants.

Before the parade begins, people can enjoy a festival with games, music, food, live entertainment, and more.

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild’s Tree Lighting Ceremony at Armory Park begins at 4 p.m.

As the City of Tucson installs more green infrastructure along streets and on public properties, maintenance practices will need to be adjusted to fit the designed structures. Crews will need to know the difference between native plants, invasive plants, and excess volunteer plants. They also will need to know proper techniques for pruning.

To learn more, watch the video below.

Tucson City Manager Michael Ortega wants a long-term hiring freeze and plans to offer incentives for hundreds of employees to retire early.

During a Mayor and Council retreat last Friday, Ortega introduced several measures to bring a structural balance to Tucson's operational spending plan over the next two fiscal years.

The immediate hiring freeze would save the City about $12 million next fiscal year, with additional savings in early retirements, attrition, consolidations, partnerships, and other measures.