Hookah lounges, homeless camps, and more

The Tucson City Council looks at new ordinances this week ... Santa Cruz River refuge inching forward ... Sheriff employees speak out on Nanos.

The Tucson City Council is trying to figure out how to tamp down violent crime around hookah lounges. At Wednesday’s council meeting, they’ll take a look at ordinances that would limit hours of operation at hookah lounges and require them to install security cameras.

Violent crime at hookah lounges burst into the spotlight in recent months, including gunmen firing 180 rounds at a midtown location. But city officials say the problem is much deeper than a handful of incidents, particularly late at night. Tucson police put together statistics for the council meeting that show police are called to hookah lounges four times more often than they’re called to traditional bars.

As the council wrestles with rising homelessness in Tucson, they’re planning to ban encampments in washes. They drafted an ordinance back in February, but held off until the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for cities to enforce camping bans in June. Tucson officials are framing the new ordinance as a public health and safety measure for people who sleep in washes and first responders who assist them, along with addressing environmental damage.

Officials already can lean on trespassing laws and ordinances that prohibit putting structures in drainage areas, but the new ordinance “would directly and plainly prohibit camping in City washes, which will make enforcement more straightforward,” City Manager Tim Thomure wrote in a memo to the council.

The Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge could move one step closer to becoming a reality this week. Vice Mayor Kevin Dahl and Council member Lane Santa Cruz want the city to call on federal officials to establish the refuge, which would make it easier to bring in federal dollars to preserve and beautify the river. Back in May, Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva led a similar effort at the county for 630 acres in Tucson to be set aside for the refuge, which has widespread support from local environmental groups.

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City officials want to keep drawing on the expertise of University of Arizona researchers as they deal with complex issues like zoning and housing. Under an agreement the council plans to sign with the UA’s Drachman Institute, the city would pay up to $500,000 to the institute over the next five years for “urban, regional, environmental and other land use planning.” A report from the institute was a big part of the council’s conversation earlier this month as they considered an overhaul of the zoning code to address the housing shortage.

Tucson businesses could see their water rates go up as officials try to keep pace with the Central Arizona Project charging the city more for water, as well as encouraging water conservation among businesses. The council plans to announce their intent to raise rates on Wednesday and then hold a public hearing on December 10 before the rates would take effect in February.

You can watch the Tucson City Council meeting on the city’s YouTube channel. The study session starts Wednesday at 2 p.m. and the regular session starts at 5:30 p.m.

Pulling back: Votes get relatively little information about judges before they cast their ballots, and this year they’re getting even less, our sister newsletter the Arizona Agenda reports. The commission that puts together judicial performance reviews is no longer showing the public how each commissioner voted on each judge. That move came two years after a pair of judges who met the commission’s standards, but had some individual commissioners vote against them, were rejected by voters.

Ongoing negotiations: In his rundown of Tucson City Council agenda items, Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock breaks down recent developments in negotiations for the RTA Next deal that would bring more than $2 billion to local projects, if local officials can agree to a deal that would appeal to voters.

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry: Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller highlights one of the main criticisms against Sheriff Chris Nanos as he runs for re-election: “He gets angry at people who cross him and retaliates,” Steller writes. Nanos says employees who complain aren’t seeing the big picture, while his former chief deputy says Nanos acts like a “tyrant.”

Creativity on display: Local artisans have a new place to showcase their wares, where Tucsonans on the east side won’t have to deal with the heat as they shop, This is Tucson’s Gloria Knott reports. The indoor Saguaro Square opened last month on South Houghton Road and it’s already home to 125 local vendors selling everything from “Gilmore Girls” stickers to crocheted plushies.

Water woes along the border: The Star’s Emily Bregel sheds light on the dwindling water supply in the San Pedro River aquifer, and what that could mean for water on the Arizona side of the border. Ranchers in northern Sonora not only have to deal with climate change, they’re also pointing to what they see as excessive groundwater pumping by a copper mine.

Magnus speaks out: Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus, who also was Tucson’s police chief, said he was disappointed with Border Patrol agents who didn’t cut through the border wall to rescue a man who was severely injured after falling on the Mexico side of wall, the Arizona Luminaria’s John Washington reports.

According to Magnus, Border Patrol not quickly deciding to rescue the man “speaks to a more significant cultural problem that’s not unique to the Border Patrol but deeply troubling anywhere in law enforcement when those sworn to protect forget that protecting lives must be their top priority regardless of politics, bureaucracy, burn-out, or fear of repercussions.”

43: Days left until the Nov. 5 general election.