Roger Yohem

Think about it: The Tucson City Council’s inability to make tough decisions on big issues actually results in better solutions — by someone else. 

Take Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment. Slow action by the city forced state lawmakers to come up with new controls over the city. It was part of the budget package that Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed but legislators are still hopeful of getting something approved. But the bottom line, is that after all these years, downtown may finally get its much-needed convention hotel. 

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After a “no” to fund this year’s Fourth of July fireworks show on “A” Mountain, an inflamed business community defused the costs. The spectacular was a blast.   

And months ago, because the mayor and city council refused to take action to improve public safety, some 18,000 citizens have signed petitions to change the city’s charter. The big issue is simple: Make public safety first.

“This initiative sets public safety as a budget priority, a decision that the city council would not make,” said Bill Arnold, a Realtor and chairman of the Public Safety First Campaign. “Council will argue that they can’t afford this. But the real price is doing nothing. That costs even more. How do you put a value on a murder that isn’t committed?”

The charter amendment proposal sets a minimum level of police and fire protection. By 2014, it will require 2.4 police officers per 1,000 residents; the current ratio in the city is 1.9. For fire fighters, it will increase the manpower and equipment necessary to respond to 90 percent of all emergency calls within four minutes. The current response rate is 46 percent.

The initiative came from a coalition of businesses and associations including the Tucson Association of Realtors, Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, Tucson Firefighters Association and Tucson Police Officers Association.

After Tucson recorded its most violent crime year ever in 2008, leaders in the private sector understood rising crime rates threatened Tucson’s economic future, even if the city’s leaders didn’t see it.  

Those involved in this effort openly agree it’s a lousy way to set public policy.

“This is not the right way to govern a city,” said Larry Lopez, president of the Tucson Police Officers Association. “We have been warning this mayor and council for the last few years of this pending crisis. They have had every opportunity to prepare, but they chose not to make public safety a priority.”

With this lack of leadership, the Public Safety First Committee realized a citizen’s initiative was the only way to get something done. As noted earlier, 18,000 people agreed by signing the petitions telling the council they disagree with their priorities; the city’s fundamental responsibility is to provide a minimum level of public safety.

Due to mandatory retirements, the Tucson Police Department will have lost some 130 officers in this and next fiscal year, according to Lopez. Plus, 15 more officers have left the city’s force for other jurisdictions. 

“Here’s the bottom line: We all have to make tough financial decisions in our personal lives. You have a certain priority of what’s important,” said Roger Tamietti, president of Tucson Firefighters Association Local 479. “The community wants fully-funded public safety. City Council was unwilling, so now they get a mandate.”    

For any business or entrepreneur, let alone a family, university professor, surgeon, professional, Gen Xer, or urban light-rail rider thinking of relocating here, the crime statistics depict Tucson as a dangerous city. Out of 200 cities surveyed by Forbes magazine, Tucson’s crime rate ranked among the 10 highest. On a scale of one-to-10, with 10 being high crime, the FBI rated Tucson a 7 for violent crime and property crime. 

On the Nov. 3 city ballot, voters  can make a tough decision on a major issue for themselves. They will have a simple choice: vote “yes” to set minimum standards for public safety or vote “no” and watch helplessly as increasing border violence, murders, drugs, sexual assault, car jackings, burglaries, and home invasions impact our highly hyped quality of life.  

“We have a very simple message to the community, let’s make Tucson a safer place to live and work,” said Lisa Suarez, this year’s president of the Tucson Association of Realtors. “My question to the Mayor and Council is: How can your citizens enjoy any other city service, like parks, public transportation, arts or theater, if they don’t feel safe in your community?”

Contact Roger Yohem at editor@azbiz.com His marketing, PR and communications work for the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, Tucson Electric Power, and Southwest Gas have won several national awards. His Business Notebook column weighing in on local political, social and business issues appears biweekly.