LAST TUESDAY SEPT 25, SOBERING TURNING POINT FOR TUCSON MAYOR AND COUNCIL; THE GOTWAYS was GREAT EVENT!
LAST WEDNESDAY, SOBERING TURNING POINT FOR TUCSON MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Did we see Mayor and Council ready to embrace REAL Solutions? Ones that TCFC has been pitching for 2 years? It was good to hear many of our talking points and solutions coming out of Mayor Romero's mouth for the first time.
In the spirit of being civil, watching the study session of Mayor and Council on Sept 25th discussing the tragedy at Santa Rita Park, was at minimum. hopeful, and at most, distressing, to see the leaders of our city completely directionless and looking uncomfortably at each other and Pima County Health Department, Dr. Cullen for answers after all this time.
Our elected leaders that were so confident, as much as 3 months ago where Mayor Romero would say, "The people believe in our vision for the city and it is working" along with "Crime on the bus?...that's Ludicrous!" Clearly reality is very slowly beginning to set in. We can’t hide from the mounting evidence of a community unraveling.
It was very uncomfortable watching the session with the Mayor and Council Members look at each other with deer-in-the-headlights looks of recognition that we need real solutions.
We heard from City staff that even after 2 weeks of offering services for those living in Santa Rita Park, ZERO ACCEPTED SERVICES. That was 50 people. We heard Karen Uhlich, Ward 3 admit for the first time, publicly, that Fentanyl is being smoked at our bus stops. For the first time, we heard Kevin Dahl, Ward 3, who has spent the better part of the last two years writing articles attacking anybody who spoke against his narrative that "he does not see the same thing you see." Kevin Dahl spoke for the first time, acknowledging the toll our businesses are facing with crime, by those that committing crimes to support their Substance Use Disorder. This change of perspective likely has been the result of countless businesses in Ward 3 sending email after email, documenting the turmoil they deal with on a daily basis, begging for help and solutions. It is notable that the vast majority of business owners have yet to receive a response, however, we are hopeful that some action is coming.
Mayor Romero admitted we have spent "many millions." When we total it all up it will be in the 100's of millions in buying old motels to allow drug use as low barrier housing, cleanups, city buying and distributing tents, food and abuse of other public services with zero results other than more misery and death for those stuck in the cycle of addiction. It is also important to note, there are plenty of shelter beds available for those that are receptive to accepting resources.
The Crime Tax total is in the 10's of millions for those businesses who had to erect fortresses around their properties, upgrade security systems and hire private security. The cost to residents who continually have items stolen out of their homes, yards and cars cannot be calculated.
There was a very sobering moment where Paul Cunningham, Ward 2, was not as full of confidence as he normally is when supporting Mayor Romero's position that we Tucsonan's "support her/their vision."
Solutions TCFC advocates:
- Expand the Transition Center founded by Pima County and strongly advocated for by TCFC.
- Expand Title 36 (or morph into new statute) for longer stabilization times for individuals in custody as well as court mandated drug treatment as a potential alternative to jail.
- Enforce the law and active ordinances to stop encampments before they become established to prevent sweeps, pushing people toward services.
- Support Prop 312. This proposition is a reaction to the continued failed policies of our elected officials destroying our businesses and property owners.
- Make our busses and bus stops safe again and quit hiding the cost of free transit and violence on busses from taxpayers.
- Add signage to City medians, similar to the ones in the county, to prevent aggressive panhandling and enforce the active ordinance.
Below is a link to the council meeting if you have the strength. TOPIC STARTS AT 42:00 minutes
CLICK HERE FOR LINK: KVOA Story including Josh Jacobsen Concerning Santa Rita Park
CLICK HERE FOR LINK: Tucson City Council Study Session Sept 25, 2024
THE GOTAWAYS TCFC event at The Maverick
Thank you to our host, The Maverick King of Clubs, at 6622 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ 85715 for hosting 90 of our guests!
Thank you to Chris DeSimone, and our Panelists including: Operations Commander, Cochise County Sheriff's Department Robert Watkins; County Attorney, Cochise County Attorney's Office, Brian McIntyre and Heather Lappin, Lieutenant, Pima County Sheriff's Department and Candidate for Pima County Sheriff.
We all enjoyed food, beverage, cinema and an informative panel discussion.
One thing we heard encouraging was Vice President Kamala Harris when visiting the border this last week, the first person she sought out was Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels.
Thank you all for attending this successful first of many events!!! Pictures Below:
I’ve followed TCFC since they started. It never ceases to amaze me how “experts” show up to criticize TCFC in the comments here and then ramble on and show everyone how personally out of touch they are on the actual topics. Keep up the great work TCFC, many of us know how much you are doing and appreciate your efforts.
Janet:
On or about 12-10-22, Lisa Chastain of Gospel Rescue Mission, on the Chris D. morning show commented: “We don’t have so much of a homeless problem, we have an addiction problem.”
Beds are available for people, they’re there, but these people refuse to attend, pretty much because the homes are structured and disciplined. Go ahead, check how many beds are available and empty because these people can’t accept discipline, responsibility and God. So they CHOOSE to live in washes and encampments with dead dogs. As a result, our town looks like Philadelphia, PA, San Francisco, New York and many other cities. How can you turn a city park into an encampment? Don’t kids play on swings anymore? Roll in the fresh grass? Have BBQs? Throw water balloons at each other? Eat Hamburgers and Hot Dogs? And ice cream?
Furthermore, over the decades, and seriously folks, decades, every drug rehab program, every psych intervention addiction and drug scheme program, every thing has been tried to help these people. None of it works. No one at this point is going to create any program or process that has not been tried already. You might change the name, but the program and result remains the same. And if the people running for office are just going to change the party affiliation name, but continue taking us down the same path, well, why bother?
Good Americans want to help each other, even druggies, thieves, drunks, etc. We all do. This problem can be solved, but just like fentanyl and the border, the powers that be do not want to solve it. They would rather see people wasting away the potential and health God has given them. How depressing is it to see this? What effect does it have on you and your family? You live behind bars when you go home at night, right.But there comes a point where you have to realize all this money is just supporting other government expenditures and the druggies are still in the ditches.
You can’t safely drive down the street because one of these people is going to walk in front of your car; they’ll poop on your property; steal anything not secured, break windows, leave paraphernalia and trash all over, ruin the busses and bus stops and destroy every simple beautiful thing we have in this city.
What are you going to leave your children?
The statutes and city code are on the books. Enforce them. And after a quick trial and conviction, we need a tent city where these people can go to dry out from the drugs, sweat all this stuff out of their system, and maybe even do a little work so they can build up some self esteem. Let them prove they can function in society before releasing them. Let them earn it. We give everything away to everyone. The current approach is not working.
Watching TCFC is seems that they try to educate, but if the voters want to continue to elect the “C” team for the job it seems that TCFC has to just work that much harder to continue to highlight their failures until voters wake up. Who knows, a miracle could occur and the elected could smarten up finally start working with TCFC and Pima County. TCFC and Pima County seem to be the only ones on the right track.
TCFC is also confusing the illegal issues with the homeless. The illegals are in hotels all over this country. The homeless are on the street. TBH, the folks that become homeless and want help will receive help. It is there waiting to be given.
The drug using and mental illness from this use do NOT want to come in off the street. Come 5 pm every bus stop, alley etc… is full of drug users. Early AM commutes offend with people taking shits or worse all over this town. Yet, council sits there thinking millions of dollars will fix it. It will not. Never will.The brains of the fent users are fried. They will not be productive population. Why not hand out fent at every bus stop. Every time some do good community member hands a 5$ to a person in the median they are contributing to the further use of the drugs.These people are getting $2-300 a day folks by flying paper.Note: many of the walk in front of cars accidents are high on Fent. Not only is that a huge expense on clean up, medical services etc… it is also an absolute horror to the driver behind the wheel. If the don’t stop from fear of legal reprisal, they are now a felon. To look at the Illegal issue and confuse it w the drug using homeless is incorrect.
Commenting on the LEO remarks from Cochise county and the Harris woman… RIGHT THIS SECOND she can wake up sleepy Joe and close the border. She ( if God Forbids she wins) will not do a thing to close it. If you buy that promise coming out of her mouth then I have some breach front in yuma to sell you too. Just like city council and Romero, Harris and the democrat council love the fed tax dollars coming into Tucson and other cities like it. They have the blood of the dead citizens killed by Illegals and homeless crime on their hands. Our city looks worse every week. More boarded up properties than a month ago. It is criminal. BUT all the same people were voted back into place just like before. Tucson will be run into the ground until it looks like San Fransisco.
It sounds as if some progress was made. Keep working on it TCFC. You’ve done incredible work so far. I plan to attend one of your future events.
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