Karin's Note: Friday, June 20, 2014

 

 

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Dear Tucsonans,

 

 

When our City Manager Richard Miranda announced his retirement effective July 31, I noted that, fortunately, we have a strong leadership team to serve Tucson during our search for a new City Manager. That team includes three very capable Assistant City Managers: Martha Durkin, Albert Elias and Kelly Gottschalk. On Tuesday the Mayor and Council appointed Ms. Durkin as Interim City Manager. We will be discussing our plans for the Manager hiring process at our July meeting. All of us have expressed the desire to include direct public input and participation in that process. I am grateful to Ms. Durkin for stepping in at this time and believe we could not have asked for a better person to do so. She’s smart, insightful, open, and direct; she’s earned the respect of our staff, the community and the Mayor and Council over her years of service. She may also be, if I’m not mistaken, Tucson’s first female City manager. She deserves full support over the coming months as we steadily take on immediate challenges and develop plans that will impact our shared future.

 

 

You may recall that several years ago we ran the risk of losing pristine desert open space along the eastern edge of the Tucson Mountains to development. Through the actions of the Mayor and Council and Pima County we have the chance to permanently protect the land through purchase under the County’s Open Space Bond Program. At our June 30 meeting Mayor and Council will vote on whether to support the use of bond funds (some of which were set aside for acquisitions in the City limits) for Painted Hills. I support that move and welcome the chance to preserve the beautiful rolling hills, covered with mature saguaro cactus, leading up to Gates Pass.

 

 

At our meeting Tuesday we also reviewed two issues at my request. First, the City Attorney updated us on steps taken in recent months to improve the City’s response to requests for public information. Mr. Rankin noted that we’ve invested in technology to improve our capacity to search electronic communications, and improved our monitoring (through the Clerk’s office) of responses from all city departments to public inquiries. Standard protocols have been established and reviewed so everyone can be clear on our obligations to fulfill the public’s “right to know”. The second item discussed was the City’s use of the Emergency Clause, which causes Mayor/Council actions to take immediate effect versus having a delayed effective date (typically 30 days) after public posting. A review of the City’s history reveals that the Emergency Clause has been somewhat routinely applied for decades in our resolutions and ordinances (state statute does not allow its use in actions addressing zoning/land use). But just because it’s become common practice doesn’t mean it is good practice. Our City Charter allows the public to challenge actions of Mayor and Council through referendums during that 30 day lag period; it’s an avenue of public resource that has been diminished but can be restored. To accomplish that, the Attorney and Clerk will work together as items are put on the Mayor and Council agenda. The Emergency Clause will be judiciously incorporated on Consent Agenda items (those items can always be pulled for more rigorous review by any member of Mayor/Council at our meetings) and only rarely included on Regular Agenda items when needed (for example, if there’s an overt deadline that must be met for an intergovernmental agreement or contract).  I thank the City Attorney and City Clerk for their work on these two areas of concern to the public and Mayor/Council.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Karin

 

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Ward 3 Events:

 

- A Walk in the Woods – Saturday, June 21^st 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Woods Memorial Library 3455 N. 1st Ave. You’re invited to the 46^th Anniversary Celebration at Woods Library!  The event features a poem dedication from William Pitt Root, first Poet Laureate of Tucson, as well as readings from Rebecca Seiferle, Poet Laureate of Tucson, Lydia Havens, poet from Tucson Youth Poetry Slam, Teré Fowler-Chapman, and Jennifer Campbell. Come, reminisce about the library while enjoying birthday celebration refreshments and music! You may also place your written memories of Woods Library in the Memory Box.

 

- Rain Crow Gallery Summer Solstice Party – Saturday, June 21^st 7:00 pm at La Placita de la Luna 204 W. Grant Rd. Celebrate the longest day of the year with Rain Crow Gallery! Enjoy light refreshments, live music, and freshly crafted micro batches of fair trade and organic coffee that is roasted in-house. The recently expanded gallery will be open late for cool viewing of beautiful, local works of art. Create fun and beautiful upcycled wind chimes with 100% of the sales going directly to the Community Food Bank. Indigo Oasis will also be there offering skin consultations, chair massage, booking discounts on services, free samples and prize drawings. Visit http://raincrowgallery.com/ for more info.

 

- Benefit Concert for the Mountain View Neighborhood Tree Planting Project - Sunday, June 29^th 6:00 - 9:00 pm at Boondocks Lounge 3306 N. 1st Avenue. The Boondocks Lounge is hosting a musical benefit to assist with the cost of caring for the new trees planted near the popular bar and grill. The Mountain View Neighborhood Association is working towards creating a "green belt" for future farmers markets and community gatherings. Boondocks owners Cathy Warner and Bill Shew have owned the venue for 18 years and regularly host concerts and musical benefits for nonprofit organizations and local concerns.

 

The event features award-winning singer/songwriter Kevin Pakulis offering a lively mix of his original and uniquely-interpreted American songs. Joining his Band's regular line-up of Kevin Heiderman on bass, drummer Les Merrihew and Joel Dvoskin on guitar and vocals will be Special Guests pedal-steel guitarist Neil Harry and singer Ned Sutton. $7.00 Suggested Donation. www.boondockslounge.com

 

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Tucson Talks Transit with Jarrett Walker Friday, July 11^th 5:00 pm at Tucson Electric Power Company 88 E. Broadway.  One of the leading national experts on public transportation is coming to town in July to talk transit.  Mr. Walker is an international consultant in public transit planning and policy, known for his work on educating stakeholders about the choices that transit requires, building clear consultation processes, and helping organizations form coherent and implementable transit goals. The public lecture begins at 6:00 pm, but there will be a reception and information from local transit groups beginning at 5:00 pm. https://www.livingstreetsalliance.org/event/tucson-talks-transit-with-jarrett-walker/

 

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Upcoming Neighborhood and Coalition Meetings:

 

- Amphi Community Action Group – Wednesday, June 25^th 5:30 – 7:00 pm at 240 W. Navajo Rd

 

- Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association – Wednesday, June 25^th 6:00 pm at the Ward 3 Community Room 1510 E. Grant Rd

 

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Citywide Events:

 

- WorldFEST Jam & Celebration– Friday, June 20^th 4:30 – 5:00 pm in front of the Joel Valdez Library. The Jacome Plaza in front of the main library will be the stage for a ‘surprise’ global music and dance performance. Come participate or watch as things unfold! Arrive by 4:30 pm for instructions. But don’t show that you know…it’s flash mob style. Contact Mia Hansen at miajhansen08@gmail.com for more info or to RSVP.

 

- World Refugee Day Potluck Picnic – Friday, June 20^th 6:00 – 8:00 pm at Armory Park Center 220 S. 5^th Ave. Everyone is welcome to join in this potluck picnic for World Refugee Day. Come celebrate new futures and conquered pasts with food, drumming, dancing and lots of Eegees! Consider carpooling with a refugee family to help with transportation and start dreaming of your favorite ethnic dish to share. Free to the public. Contact Nicolle Trudeau at ntrudeau@refugeefocus.org for more information.

 

- Cox Movies in the Park We Bought A Zoo – Friday, June 20^th at dusk in Reid Park Demeester Performing Arts Pavilion 900 S. Randolph Way. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy We Bought A Zoo along with popcorn, soda, food vendors, live music, jumping castles, balloon twisters, and arts and crafts exhibits from area non-profits. Admission is free! Visit https://saaca.org/Cox_Movies_in_the_Park.html for more details

 

- USDAC Imagining to Ignite Civil Engagement – Saturday, June 21^st 3:00 – 6:00 pm at the Historic Y Boardroom 738 N. 5^th Avenue. An Imagining is a vibrant, arts-infused gathering in which a community envisions its ideal future and identifies creative tactics to get there. Part performance, part facilitated dialogue, part celebration, this Imagining from the US Department of Arts & Culture brings together diverse groups of artists, organizers, and community members to imagine what their neighborhoods (and the world) might look like in the year 2034, when art’s transformative power has been fully integrated into all aspects of public life. The ideas, images, and visions generated during this pilot round of Imaginings will be documented and fed back to inform the USDAC’s national story and strategy. More about USDAC at https://usdac.us/. For more about the Tucson Imagining, contact Michael Schwartz at 520-623-2119 or ArtsBrigadeMAP@gmail.com.

 

- Free Healthy Eye Screenings – Saturday, June 21^st from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm at St. Elizabeth's Health Center 140 W. Speedway Blvd. The screenings will include a check for cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration, and dry eye. Healthy eye screenings are recommended for individuals over 18 years old, those with a family of eye disease, a diagnosis of diabetes and/or high blood pressure and for those taking certain medications. For appointments, please call (520) 694-1471.

 

- Pre-Monsoon Mesquite Milling, Sunday, June 22^nd 6:00 am to 9:00 am, Exo Roast Co. and Tap & Bottle, 403 N. 6th Ave., Tucson. Bring Your Own Pods! Pods for milling must be clean, dry, and free of mold/fungus, stones, leaves, bugs and other debris. Cost: $3/gallon of whole pods, with a minimum of $10. See www.desertharvesters.org/how-we-run-mesquite-millings for more information. The milling event will also include a native wild foods demonstration highlighting what's in the wild-harvest season now.

 

- El Día de San Juan Fiesta – Tuesday, June 24^th 5:00 – 10:00 pm at Mercado San Agustin 885 W. Congress. El Día de San Juan Committee invites the public to the 17th Annual El Dia de San Juan Fiesta. The Fiesta will feature a procession, live music and dance, food and arts & crafts vendors, games and activities for children, and free water and watermelon. Free and open to the public, the Fiesta is non-alcoholic and boasts a family-friendly atmosphere. El Día de San Juan honors the Saints Day of St. John the Baptist, and has been celebrated by families living on the Westside for a century. Local tradition hails St. John the Baptist as the one who brings the rains, kicking off the monsoon season in the Old Pueblo.

 

- Sun Express Routes Open House – Tuesday, June 24^th 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave, 2nd floor conference room. The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is seeking feedback from express passengers on Sun Express Routes 102X, 103X, 105X, 107X, 202X, 203X and 312X to further evaluate the impacts of the recommended service changes in the recently completed Comprehensive Operational Analysis of the transit system. Surveys will be conducted onboard these routes during the week of June 23, 2014. Scheduled open house events provide an excellent opportunity for express passengers to provide feedback. A second session will be held on Wednesday, June 25^th at 6:00 pm at the Oro Valley Library. For more information, call Sun Tran’s Customer Service Center at (520) 792-9222 (for persons with hearing and speech impairments, call TDD: 520-628-1565). Except on major holidays, the Customer Service Center is open weekdays from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm and weekends from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

 

- Cinema La Placita Dial M for Murder – Thursday, June 26^th 7:30 pm at La Placita Village 110 S. Church Avenue. It’s Cinema La Placita’s 15^th season showing classic movies outdoors in downtown Tucson! June is Hitchcock month and this week will feature his 1954 film Dial M for Murder, starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland. $3 admission includes all the popcorn you can eat and goes directly toward funding the series. More info at http://www.cinemalaplacita.com/

 

- National HIV Testing Day with SAAF – Friday, June 27^th 8:00 am – 8:00 pm at the SAAF Main Office 375 S. Euclid. The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation is participating in the 20th Annual HIV Testing Day, a nationwide campaign urging people to get tested to learn if they are infected with the HIV virus. Testing will be available at the SAAF main office as well as at other locations throughout Tucson (visit the link below). HIV testing is free and confidential. The testing procedure is a HIV rapid test that produces results in 15 minutes.  SAAF is partnering with the Tucson Indian Center, Walgreens, and Wingspan in this community-wide call for HIV testing. In 1995, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) began National Testing Day as a campaign to reach millions of people at risk for HIV.   The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that more than one million people are living with HIV in the United States. The CDC recommends that all Americans, ages 13–64, be routinely tested for HIV as part of their regular health care practice.  In Pima County, more than 1,000 people are believed to be infected and unaware of it. The only sure way to know if you are HIV-infected is to be tested. More info at http://saaf.org/news-and-events/national-hiv-testing-day-take-the-test-take-control/

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Did You Know...?

 

…that CASA Mariposa is in need of donations of clothes, food and other supplies for women and children?  There has been a significant increase in the incidence of groups of women and children arriving at the border, being picked up by ICE, and then dropped off at Greyhound stations in Tucson – typically groups of about 30-40 would arrive a couple of times weekly, but last week it jumped to just under 100 per day. There is a huge need for help receiving and providing services for these groups. CASA Mariposa has been deeply involved with this effort and United Way has joined them in asking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies from the community:

If you can contribute any of these items, please bring them to Catholic Community Services at the north entrance of 140 W. Speedway, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. For information on volunteering, contact 520-269-6597.

 

…that you can get free Food Stamp Application Assistance at the Woods Memorial Library? Let an employee from the Community Food Bank help you apply for SNAP (“food stamps” or the government nutrition assistance program), AHCCCS (health care) and TANF (cash assistance). Assistance available on Mondays from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm in the lobby of the library. To find out what documents that you will need, please call the Community Food Bank at 520-882-3314.

 

…that the Fund for Civility and Respect is offering free 90-minute Mental Health Safe Space trainings? Mental Health Safe Space is a collaborative campaign focused on educating the Tucson community about mental illness. Their goal is to eliminate the stigma surrounding individuals affected by mental illness and to invoke compassion, understanding and appropriate response. Mental Health Safe Space provides this training to businesses, government employees and residents in downtown Tucson. Participants leave the trainings with a better knowledge of mental illness, ways to identify a mental health crisis, and resources to offer as support in various situations. Mental Health Safe Space seeks to create “Stigma Free Zones” where educated and compassionate community members prevent discrimination and misunderstanding and improve public safety. For more information or to schedule training for your group, visit http://fundforcivility.org/mental-health-safe-space/

 

…that El Rio Health Center will be offering free back to school immunizations and health services at Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Tucson? The 2014-15 school year will be coming up at the end of July - take advantage of this great opportunity to get needed health services for your child before their first day! Children ages 5- 18 are welcome. If you have AHCCCS, KidsCare or insurance, please bring your card. If not, the services will still be provided at no cost. Immunizations are offered (please bring current immunization record), as well as dental and eye screenings, booster seats, information on mental health services, and free Boys & Girls Clubs Memberships.