Shaw, Ward 3 Within 19 votes - Results Reflect Dahl's Poor Performance; City Council Extends Free-Transit Again Amid Brewing Budget Woes and Crime
Tucson Crime Free Coalition Newsletter – August 2025
Fare-Free Transit Extended Again
The Tucson City Council voted to keep city buses and the Sun Link streetcar free for another fiscal year — despite repeated concerns from drivers and riders about safety issues and crime.
TCFC maintains that the extension ignores the clear link between fare-free transit and increased disorder on buses and at bus stops.
Project Blue – A Missed Opportunity
Negotiations for Project Blue, a $3.6 billion data center development, were abruptly ended by the mayor and council after months of discussion. This decision came without independent, third-party evaluations of the developer’s claims regarding water usage, power needs, and economic benefits.
From TCFC’s perspective, the council’s abrupt halt to talks reflects a politically driven rejection rather than a fact-based negotiation. Ending the project prematurely not only killed a major job-creating opportunity but also sent a clear message to the business community that Tucson may not be open to high-scale investment.
With Project Blue dead, the city now will be looking for other ways to fund unsustainable projects like the FREE CRIME BUS,,, can you say "Prop 414 part 2" Just wait for another looming city tax measure from City of Tucson. Without major new private-sector revenue sources, taxpayers will bear the burden for City Hall’s spending priorities.
TUSD – Financial Crisis and Another Bond on the Ballot
The Tucson Unified School District is on the ballot this November seeking voter approval for a full 15% override.
TUSD continues to suffer from declining enrollment, high administrative costs, and under-utilized facilities. Research from the Common Sense Institute points to a statewide problem of “empty buildings and empty buses,” with fixed costs remaining high even as student numbers shrink.
Read the full CSI report here: Echoes in the Halls – Arizona School Districts’ Growing Problem with Empty Buildings and Empty Buses
TCFC believes taxpayers are again being asked to pour money into a system that has failed to reform itself.
2025 City Council Election Update–
Ward 3
The Democratic primary between incumbent Kevin Dahl and school-board member Sadie Shaw has tightened dramatically. Updated results released on Aug. 9 show Shaw trailing by just 19 votes, 3,288 to 3,269. Fewer than 100 ballots remain to be counted, and an automatic recount is likely. The winner will face Republican Janet “JL” Wittenbraker in November. It's clear that such a close race is a referendum on Dahl's Poor performance and the fact that constituents complain about him not being engaged especially with office hours of 9-1 and off-on-fridays.
– Ward 5: Salina Barajas won the Democratic primary and will be unopposed in the general election.
– Ward 6: Miranda Schubert won the Democratic primary and will face Republican Jay Tolkoff in the general election.
RTA – On Life Support
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is facing both financial and political crises. The current half-cent sales tax expires in 2026, and RTA Next—the proposed renewal and expansion plan—is stalled due to jurisdictional infighting. The projected funding gap is between $400 million and $600 million over the next decade.
Without an agreement, the RTA could dissolve, forcing municipalities to fend for themselves on road and transit funding — meaning higher local taxes and reduced long-term planning.
Everyone who voted to continue the fare free busses should have a bus stop installed in front of their homes.
Tom, Your comment is on point!! All that needs to be said following that is
“I,concur.” It makes me sad and angry at what our city has become. I could not have imagined, in my wildest dreams, what this place was would be like in the hands of plain ignorance. I wonder if the current city government is really this stupid or is there something else happening here?? I don’t have that answer. I really cannot wrap my head around the ignorance that runs so rampant here.
Project Blue – A missed opportunity? Looks like we dodged a bullet to me. We must preserve our water or the next gen won’t have any. No amount of beat the peak with make up for what that data center would have stolen from us. Plus, the power it would have required would only have raised our rates to further make our community pay for it. The anount of jobs it would have generated (75-150) is a joke. And PS. regarding the other parts of this newsletter, if the city would spend money appropriately and not on pet projects (climate change, green, or even affordable housing) or even start charging to ride the bus, there would be no issues and no reason to continue to up our taxes (again)
Let’s solicite President Trump to do a D.C. on Tucson. We can bring in the National Guard to assist the failed Police Dept. The City needs to rid the Tucson swamp!
From a logical perspective – Fare-Free Transit Extended Again is just one of many dumbfounding, highly wasteful and unsafe treats the Tucson City Council has provided. One must beg of how these individuals were elected. It comes down to a root cause of either: the voters are extremely incompetent or the elections are rigged or both.
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