Incumbents Win Re-election, TCFC Looking to the Future

TCFC Leadership congratulates all of the candidates, volunteers and participants that worked hard in the 2023 City of Tucson election

Every incumbent including Mayor Regina Romero and Council Members Paul Cunningham, Lane Santa Cruz and Nikki Lee were re-elected. We congratulate them on their victories and once again, want to extend our hand in partnering together to make Tucson a better place for all. 

Running for office demonstrates the best and strength in keeping America the strongest democracy in-the-world.

Now there is much work to be done to get Tucson on track to becoming a safer, more prosperous city for all.

Mayor Romero put it perfectly: “When the opponents talk about Tucson being dirty and full of crime and homelessness, I know Tucsonans know the quality of work that we’re doing. They pay attention to what we do and not what they say.”

To Mayor Romero- the reality is exactly as you put it, Tucson is “dirty and full of crime and homelessness” and it has not gotten better in the past 4 years. 

32% of registered voters voted and only 14% voted for Mayor Romero. The result is hardly a strong mandate for the Mayor and council members to double down on failed policies.

It is disappointing that 70% of the voters do not feel it necessary to make their vote count by taking the time to mail-in the ballot sent directly to their home or drop it off at a polling place.  We know that people care, apparently not enough. 

Change can't happen unless people take the time to vote, a right that our fathers, and ancestors died for protecting our democracy. 

Tucson Crime Free Coalition Looking to Future

As TCFC enters its second year, we have taken steps to become a 501c(4) which we believe will help us take our Coalition to a broader level. TCFC is working on longer term solutions, including legislation at the state level. In the near future TCFC will be unveiling our longer term goals and strategies.

In the short term, we are advocating strongly for the City of Tucson to do two things:

1. Replicate the signage on City medians that TCFC successfully had placed on County medians to curtail panhandling. TPD needs to enforce the current City of Tucson ordinance that prohibits panhandling from medians.  You will notice it works!  You don't see panhandlers on medians with these signs.

2. The City of Tucson must make the bus system safe for drivers, riders and the community at large, while maintaining financial fare relief for riders that qualify and return fares for riders that do not.

Read more on these topics below:

1. No Panhandling Signage in Pima County - plans to expand into City. Tucson is a very generous and giving community, we must educate people to the fact that giving $5 to an individual panhandling on a median, likely just bought them 10 fentanyl pills. This is the opposite of helping, it is in fact enabling.  It's better to donate to agencies that help people in need where they can get services. In addition, it is against the law.

Here is the current City of Tucson Ordinance that is not being enforced:

Sec. 20-501. Prohibited conduct.

No person shall stand upon or otherwise occupy a street or highway and solicit or attempt to solicit employment, business, contributions, donations or sales of any kind from the occupant of any vehicle. For the purposes of this section, "street" or "highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way, including traffic medians, if a part of the way is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.

(Ord. No. 9058, § 1, 5-18-98; Ord. No. 9479, § 2, 10-23-00)

"The Mayor and Council can pass, amend or otherwise nullify Ordinances. With regard to the Tucson Code and specifically "Section 20-501. Prohibited Conduct," this remains in the Tucson Code and has not been amended (since 10/23/2000) or nullified.

2. TCFC will continue to expose the Crime on the Sun Tran bus system that our elected leaders were/are trying to hide.  We support restoring fares to public transit with reduced or no fare for those that qualify.  Currently our busses are used as a tool in organized retail theft as well as the movement of crime around our community. Drivers and riders are put in hostile and dangerous conditions where public drug use is common, as are assaults, stabbings and at least one shooting. Let us not forget that many of our riders are also school age children. 

Mayor Romero and Council want take $9M+ every year to fund fare-free transit we don't need that should instead be used for public safety including hiring more TPD officers that are now not able to respond to our 911 calls because they have defunded TPD.

TCFC obtained an internal Sun Tran report showing that Sun Tran is bleeding more money than is being reported.  Since Regina Romero was elected Mayor in 2019, Sun Tran has increased its security budget from $306,371 in 2019 to $1,033,905 in 2023!

Here are the Sun Tran security spending by year:

2019 - $306,371
2020 - $644,787
2021 - $649,373
2022 - $797,064
2023 - $1,033,905

Total: 3,431,501 

(Just for security that isn't working)

TCFC will continue to advocate for a safer community for all and hold our elected officials accountable for any decisions that they make that is contrary to our mission statement.