Prop 414 splits Dems

Sparks are flying … Bishop says adios … And Musk's imagination runs wild.

The biggest names among Tucson Democrats are divided over whether to support Proposition 414, and the gloves are coming off.

Flanked by members of the Tucson Metro Chamber and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council (as well as her brother and sister), Democratic state Rep. Alma Hernandez blasted the Democratic Tucson City Council for pushing forward the half-cent sales tax measure, saying it was unnecessary and would hit the city’s poorest residents the hardest.

“Prop 414 is not the way to go. I feel that it is a lousy deal that is only going to impact the poorest in our communities,” Hernandez said. "We are asking the poorest of our communities to foot the bill for things that we should already be prioritizing in our (city) budget."

Her comments were part of a press conference Tuesday hosted by the Chamber to demonstrate a united opposition to the measure as ballots go out to residents later this week.

If voters approve it next month, Prop 414 would generate an estimated $800 million over the next decade to boost public safety and address social safety net issues, including a growing unhoused population, the fentanyl/opioid crisis and a lack of affordable housing.

To fund the measure, the Tucson City Council is asking voters to raise the city’s sales tax rate from 8.7% to 9.2%, essentially adding a nickel to the price of a $10 Grinder sandwich from Eegees.

Joining Hernandez at the press conference was her sister, state Rep. Consuelo Hernandez, and her brother, former lawmaker Daniel Hernandez. Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, who also represents a Tucson-area district, did not attend the event, but she also backed the Chamber's opposition to the measure.

These four Democrats aligning with the Chamber over Prop 414 represent a deeper schism inside the Pima County Democratic Party. And it’s not just a fight between the Hernandez political dynasty and the seven Democrats on the Tucson City Council.

More than a dozen elected Democrats in Pima County have put their political weight (and in some cases their own money) into supporting Prop 414, which they argue is critical to making Tucson streets safer.

Hernandez said the Tucson City Council is making choices to spend its budget on other programs, suggesting the city could make the difficult budget decisions to put more money into law enforcement.

"It's a shame that our city has only invested about 30 percent when we talk about public safety, and now we're using public safety as the reason to pass this tax increase. That, to me, is unacceptable,” Hernandez said.

When asked by reporters for an example of a city program that could be eliminated, Hernandez could not offer a suggestion.

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City officials say Prop 414 is necessary because their budget took a hit when former Gov. Doug Ducey implemented the flat tax plan, which Tucson City Manager Tim Thomure estimates will cost the city about $40 million annually in state-shared revenue.

However, Hernandez argued that the city is projecting a budget surplus this fiscal year, suggesting that the impact of the flat tax has been somewhat alleviated.

While Alma Hernandez and her allies largely focused their ire on the Tucson City Council and their support of Proposition 414 during Tuesday’s press conference, their opinions are not shared by many local elected Democrats.

Here’s a list of some of the prominent Dems who back Prop 414:

• Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva and former Supervisors Sylvia Lee and Dan Eckstrom

• Pima County Attorney Laura Conover and Pima County School Superintendent Dustin Williams

• State Reps. Betty Villegas, Chris Mathis, and Stephanie Stahl Hamilton

• TUSD Board President Jennifer Eckstrom, TUSD Board Members Dr. Ravi Shah and Natalie Luna Rose

• Sunnyside School Board President Beki Quintero and Amphitheater School Board Member Matt Kopec

• Former Congressman Ron Barber and former Tucson City Court Magistrate Margarita Bernal

• South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela

The internal divide among local Democrats was no surprise to the new chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, which announced the party’s support for Prop 414 last week. These types of measures are always divisive, Eric Robbins said.

"Democrats are perfectly capable of disagreeing with each other, but of course, I am disappointed with anyone who doesn't support Proposition 414," Robbins said.

As part of our ongoing series detailing how the City of Tucson wants to spend the estimated $800 million that would be raised if Proposition 414 passes next month, today we’re exploring how officials want to modernize city’s fleet of aging helicopters and drones.

Prop 414 would spend $16.7 million over a decade to upgrade its aging fleet by replacing a 26-year-old helicopter with a fixed-wing plane, replacing another helicopter, and finally getting parts for its third helicopter. The city would also add/replace drones in its small fleet.

While the figure is about 2% of the overall money the city expects to raise over the next decade, the various types of aircraft have come under heavy (rhetorical) fire from residents concerned that the city is increasing its surveillance of its citizens.

Thomure said one of the biggest misconceptions is that the $16.7 million is solely for an airplane. He expects the city will pay about $5 million for the fixed-wing plane. This is the difference between buying a Gulfstream G280 and a Cessna.

While the 26-year-old helicopter replacement is inevitable, Thomure argues going from a helicopter to a plane will allow the Tucson Police Department to de-escalate some emergency situations, allowing it to fly high above a situation for hours unnoticed.

“Let's say we have an incident going on, and then we have, like, let's say an armed robbery occurs, and then there's a vehicle that takes off, and we know about the vehicle, and we can either chase that vehicle, which is dangerous, or we can tag that vehicle and (have the) airplane follow this vehicle for the next eight hours and tell us when it stops somewhere where we can go get it,” he said.

The same plane could also multi-task, Thomure notes, monitoring everything from street racing to urban wildfires.

Searching for the money: The Arizona State Museum on the University of Arizona campus is in dire need of maintenance, but officials can’t agree on who should pay for it, the Arizona Luminaria’s Carolina Cuellar reports. Museum officials want the Arizona Board of Regents to pony up $50 million to make repairs, such as replacing 100-year-old electrical wiring encased in wood. The various maintenance issues led to the museum’s closure last August, and it likely won’t open again for two years.

Bound for Motor City: Pope Francis named Tucson’s Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger the Archbishop of Detroit on Tuesday, KOLD reports. Weisenburger took the reins of Tucson’s Catholic community in 2017 and his farewell Mass is scheduled for March 2 at the St. Augustine Cathedral.

Hemmed in: Marana is planning a 20-acre downtown district, but nearby Oro Valley doesn’t have the land to do it, KGUN’s Kenny Darr reports. Oro Valley is already built out, leaving just 12 percent of the town’s land base that isn’t developed yet. But Oro Valley officials aren’t giving up hope. They’re still looking at ways to create a central gathering area, such as local parks and a community center.

Predestination at the Capitol: GOP and Democratic lawmakers proposed immigration bills that would pull local law enforcement in opposite directions, and the fate of each bill is likely already decided, Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reports. The GOP bill would require local law enforcement to identify people in their custody who don’t have legal status. It’s championed by Senate President Warren Petersen and it’s already scheduled to get a hearing. But Gov. Katie Hobbs said she would veto bills that force the state to use resources to enforce immigration laws, which is a federal responsibility. Meanwhile, Democrats proposed the “Immigrant Trust Act” that would block local law enforcement from arresting or questioning people based on their citizenship status. No hearing yet for that one.

New York City officials are getting a taste of the absurdity of border theater this week, and what happens when people who don’t understand how things work get put in charge.

Elon Musk posted on social media that FEMA took $59 million that was dedicated for disaster relief and spent it on “high end hotels” for migrants in New York. City officials scrambled to explain the money wasn’t meant for disaster relief and it wasn’t spent on luxury hotels, the New York Times reported. Still, Trump administration officials suspended the payments and fired people for doing something they didn’t actually do.