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.
Haha. Lived here since ‘76. This is a de facto “Sanctuary City” as our previous mayor, rothschild conceded. And we defunded the police. And proudly used taxpayer money to hang a blm banner on city buildings, right?
And painted rainbow colored crosswalks, right? Tucson is now, in effect, a third world city, a clown city. It has sunk so far as a family friendly city that it will take an Emergency Health Declaration to turn it around. As in Washington, DC, we need control of the city to be wrested from the m&cc and turned over to responsible people.
Warts and candy hearts? If you look through rose colored glasses. Areas of this city look worse, and make you feel worse, mentally and physically than those bombed out cities in Europe after the war. Those were war torn, ravaged cities Yet in a couple years, those people were able to rebuild their cities. We live in a “free” country, and we can’t do that? We’ve had decades to improve our city and what do we get? What’s the problem here? We can’t fix this?
Just drove down Broadway, westbound from Country Club. What is the vacancy rate along that stretch? 60% ??
Engaged electorate-we have an electorate that’s engaged, problem is they keep voting for more and more free stuff. And anyway, next time, VOTE HARDER-this makes all the difference.
Local media-Lefties forever why don’t they tell which of the criminals in this town are illegals? and why are they still here?
Accountable politicians only way to make them accountable is make them personally liable when they engage in actions that endanger public safety. Otherwise no difference. You’ll get some new program with a new name, and BUDGET, which simply rehashes old programs that never worked.
Law enforcement: Answer this: Is Tucson the only city in the country where a guy can kill two little girls and not get the death penalty? Really? Do we not like children here? Who’s safer here?
We’ve been conditioned to believe that “this is life”, that crime is a fact of life. If there is a mental illness, this is it. In actuality, it doesn’t have to be like this. We can live in a safe, comfortable city. Every crime in the state statutes and city code, etc., begins with: A person commits (whatever crime) by(and then the elements of the crime). Whether it’s a public nuisance, sexual assault, theft, burglary, assaulting a police officer. And then the statutes lay out the punishment for those crimes It’s all done for you. By not enforcing the laws, the m&cc are endangering public safety.
Been livin’ in our beloved pueblo, on and off (but always on) past 44 yrs. Love this town, warts and candy hearts and all. ENFORCE codes, road rules, and stop pandering to 1 or 2 hyper-narrow segments of the population. Encourage your readers to read Blake Morlock column in the Tucson Sentinel. (No paywall.) He’s a long-time rezzie, too, and has no partisan filter. For Tucson to succeed financially, we need an engaged electorate, good local media, accountable politicians, public safety, and well maintained roads (along with enforcement of traffic laws). All the rest is gravy!
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