The Daily Agenda: That’s exactly what he’s talking about

Jan. 6 committee co-chair speaks in Tucson … Ciscomani supports Capitol coup leader … Food truck rules incoming.

This one’s almost too on the nose. 

The co-chair of Congress’ Jan. 6 investigation came to Tucson last week to talk about the power of convictions and holding elected officials accountable.

A few days later, a Tucson-area congressman voted to elevate a prominent target of that investigation to lead the House of Representatives.

Rep. Juan Ciscomani voted twice this week to make Rep. Jim Jordan the speaker of the House. Jordan was a key player in the Jan. 6 coup attempt, mostly for trying to persuade his Congressional colleagues to throw out millions of votes in swing states, including Arizona.

What did Ciscomani, a first-term Republican, get for making such a questionable decision? Nothing. Jordan lost both votes. At least the 22 Republican members of Congress who refused to vote for Jordan can say they stood up for their convictions.

Republicans were still unable to select a new House Speaker as of Thursday evening, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the near future of the chamber and next year’s sure-to-be highly contentious elections.

A week before it got to this point, several hundred Tucsonans got to hear about the situation straight from Rep. Bennie G. Thompson during an NAACP event honoring scholarship recipients and community members recognized as game changers.

Thompson was the keynote speaker for the NAACP Tucson Branch’s annual Freedom Fund Luncheon, with community leaders, elected officials and local political candidates on-hand for the event that celebrated the past year’s work to advance the group’s mission of achieving equity, political rights and social inclusion.

With a pivotal 2024 election looming and continued turmoil in Washington D.C., there were also serious matters to address, and Thompson jumped right in.

“There are still people in this country who don’t want Black and white people, Latinos and others to get along,” Thompson said. “The bunch that I’m up there (in Congress) with, they’re talking about division.”

Thompson, Mississippi’s longest serving African American elected official, chaired the committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and shared with attendees his experience during the siege and after, as he worked to hold parties involved accountable and ensure that nothing like it happens again.

“I was the only person who didn’t get on the floor when those crazy people were trying to break in,” he told attendees, pointing to the Congressional pin on his jacket lapel “They told us on that day, ‘Take this pin off, because if they break in, they’re going to kill Congressmen.’ I told them, ‘I’m not hiding, I’m not taking this pin off and the first one that comes through this door won’t know what happened.’”

The committee dissolved at the start of 2023, after conducting more than 1,000 interviews, reviewing hundreds of thousands of records and ultimately voting to refer former President Donald Trump to the U.S. Department of Justice for prosecution.

Knowing that he would face scrutiny as a Democrat leading an investigation into crimes perpetrated by Republicans attempting to overturn the 2020 election, he intentionally selected Republican Liz Cheney as vice chair to send a message that the investigation would be nonpartisan.

While the committee didn’t accomplish all it had hoped, Thompson said he believes if it hadn’t been for their work, the DOJ wouldn’t be pursuing cases against the people responsible.

The January 6 investigation also has a connection to the current conflict in Congress, Thompson said.

“You might have noticed that we’re having a little issue in Washington,” he said. “We have not been able to pick a speaker and for the last few days, we’ve been in suspended animation. What a way to run a government, right?”

One of the people identified during the committee’s investigation was Jordan, the most recent candidate for Speaker of the House. Jordan was subpoenaed after the committee discovered text messages from January 5 with Trump’s chief of staff.

While Jordan refused to respond to the committee’s subpoena, he was ultimately referred to the House Ethics Committee for follow-up and the DOJ for prosecution.

With a handful of Republicans still refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election and denying that the January 6 attack happened, it’s important for the NAACP and other groups to continue to speak and promote the truth on these and all issues of importance, Thompson said.

“What we have to understand is in this country, if you let people have a microphone and let them speak ill will of other people, we’re in serious trouble,” he said. “And that’s where we are right now.”

Thompson pointed to Trump’s 91 indictments and the fact that he’s still leading the Republican ticket for the 2024 election, touching on the inequity and absurdity of the situation.

“I can’t have two tickets without them trying to bring me home,” he said.

While Thompson acknowledged that the NAACP is a nonpartisan group, he urged attendees to think about the people they elect during the next election cycle and “bring home” some of the elected officials representing Arizona in Congress.

He reminded the group that elected officials are put in those positions to serve the people, but a lot of the time that doesn’t happen.

“People get too big for their britches, but you can’t forget the people who sent you to Washington,” he said. “And too many times, people get to Washington or to the state capitol and they forget the people who sent them.”

That sentiment may have hit closer to home than Thompson realized, or Ciscomani may have liked.

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Food trucks galore: The Tucson Planning Commission recommended a new zoning amendment to allow food truck courts in the city, KOLD’s John Macaluso reports. Tucsonans love going to food truck courts, where a handful of food trucks gather and offer hungry people different options. But the city’s zoning code doesn’t have any rules for how or where food truck operators can do it.

Seal of approval: Pima County Supervisor Steve Christy, the lone Republican on the Board of Supervisors, endorsed Republican mayoral candidate Janet Wittenbraker in her effort to unseat Mayor Regina Romero in November.

New faces: Hobbs appointed new members of the Rio Nuevo board, but local business leaders weren’t sure why, the Star’s Gabriela Rico reports. They didn’t have a problem with the new appointees, many of whom are Democrats, but they wondered why any change was necessary at all. 

“The issue I have is the adage, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,’” Michael Guymon, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber, said in a news release. “There was a time when the Rio Nuevo board was broken and the governor and legislature stepped in, but that’s not the case today.”

Casita votes: Sunday is the last day to vote in the casita model competition. City of Tucson staff will take into consideration the public’s votes when they select which models will get the fast-track permitting treatment. There are more than 60 models to choose from and some of them look pretty cool.

Affordable housing incoming: The City of Tucson bought vacant land at the corner of Stone and Speedway for an affordable housing project. The two acres will become part of the city’s “Thrive in the 05” area. The money to buy the land came from the $50 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city will seek input from the public and put together financing to develop the land into affordable housing. 

Brilliant!: The good people at the Arizona Republic’s political podcast, the Gaggle, invited Curt to talk about Tucson’s political scene as the November elections approach. They covered the elections, Prop 413, and the general dominance of Democrats in Tucson. 

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2,300: The square footage of the mural that local artist Pen Macias will start painting next month on the side of Bailey’s Fabrics and Supplies at 1401 N. Bailey Lane, This is Tucson’s Elvia Verdugo reports. All she needs is input from the community. For those interested, they can fill out a survey with questions about special places and memories in the 85705 area.