A four-meeting kind of day
Big day for wonks … They’re gonna play nice? … And Joe’s thumbs are getting sore.
By some cruel twist of bureaucratic fate, there are at least four separate local government meetings today1 that you should know about or try to attend.
Lucky for you, these non-revolutions will be televised/live-streamed. But the Tucson Agenda — Joe specifically — will spend about 10 hours downtown checking out two government bodies meeting in three separate buildings over the course of the day.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors will meet first at 9 a.m., but today’s Big, Beautiful Meeting between the Tucson City Council and the supervisors is the main event.
So let’s start there.
The Big Beautiful Meeting
We’ve mentioned this upcoming showdown between the city and county a few times, but to recap: The two governing bodies don’t really get along. Each blames the other for not doing their part to solve the region’s problems, and today’s meeting is their first attempt at talking it out, rather than complaining about each other publicly.
The agenda for the joint meeting includes an 18-page overview — authored by the city — of the various city and county services aimed at addressing a fentanyl-related public health crisis and the growing number of unsheltered people living in the greater Tucson region. Almost all programs mentioned in the memo have been in place for some time. And while some of these programs might fly under the radar, they do not represent new, detailed proposals on how to address the ongoing crisis.
It should also be mentioned that we are in the middle of a fiscal year. Both agencies have already adopted budgets, and hypothetically shifting a million dollars into a new program would be a huge undertaking.
For example, adding 40 more cops would cost something like $6 million and would take a year to hire, train, and outfit new recruits, and the city is already in the red this year to the tune of $24 million.
And while she’s not part of the official guest list, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover told us she plans on attending. That could make for an interesting meeting, considering the city has floated a handful of ideas that would encroach on her domain — including the idea of making fentanyl possession a misdemeanor that the City Attorney’s Office could prosecute, rather than a felony that falls to Conover’s office.
City and county officials set aside roughly five hours for the meeting. It’s an opportunity for the 11 elected (or appointed) Democrats and the lone Republican to discuss new programs, reallocation of resources and other solutions.
Or they can continue to duke it out publicly.
The joint meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. You can stream it here, and you might want to grab some popcorn.
Pima County Board of Supervisors
Before they can head to the joint meeting, Pima County Supervisors have their own regularly scheduled meeting to get through.
The supes’ meeting starts at 9 a.m., and you can tune in here.
Here are a few of the items we’re keeping an eye on.
File this under “sounds familiar”
A week ago, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva roasted Congress for failing to hold President Donald Trump accountable and act like “the co-equal branch of government that we are.”
Today, Supervisor Jennifer Allen wants Pima County to approve a non-binding resolution urging Arizona’s congressional delegation to grow a spine and stand up to Trump.
“Whereas, the Pima County Board of Supervisors has witnessed the consolidation of power in the Executive branch by Executive Orders and actions such as, but not limited to: the revocation of birthright citizenship; freezing of federal spending approved by Congress; shuttering of federal agencies; demonstrating a pattern of usurping the duties of the Legislative Branch; violating due process of persons in the United States; infringing upon civil service protections for federal employees; threatening deportation and/or prosecution based on political views; ignoring or disobeying judicial mandates; politicizing law enforcement and the military; and generally expressing contempt for the separation of powers, freedom of speech, and equal justice under the law,” the resolution reads.
After getting through that litany of complaints, the resolution asks Arizona’s congressional delegation to “take the lead in pressing their colleagues to stand up and reclaim their Constitutional duty to be an equal partner in the administration of the U.S. government.”
Consider it a “teaser”
County officials will give the supervisors a financial update at today’s meeting.
Given how deep in the red the City of Tucson is, we would love to tell you more about the county’s financials.
However, despite frequent complaints about agenda items with no materials (from us and from supervisors), the county did not attach any memos or other materials. Just the bare minimum to meet the state’s open meeting law requirements.
It is the only item on today’s agenda that does not have additional information.
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Project Blue, again
The supervisors will meet with their attorneys in executive session about Project Blue.
It’s the fourth time in a row they’ve gone behind closed doors to talk about the boondoggle of Project Blue, so we suspect a legal fight is brewing.
Recent memos from County Administrator Jan Lesher suggest that proxies for Amazon Web Services are anxious to get the sale of the 290-acre parcel finished by Christmas.
The supervisors have been talking with their lawyers since early October, but they’re all pretty tight-lipped about what the legal concerns are at this point.
American Battery Factory redux
It has been so long since we’ve talked about the massive battery plant that the Utah-based American Battery Factory wants to build on the southside of Tucson that we thought the project might have become a casualty of the current economy.
Turns out, the company is asking for an extension, with plans to break ground — no joke — on April 1, 2026.
Staying on the list
The county is also exploring ways to allow people to meet the new “volunteer” requirements for those receiving SNAP benefits, better known as food stamps. In order to receive benefits, people now have to give a minimum of 80 hours per month in work, training, or volunteer time.
While the proposal is still in the earliest of stages, the county is considering allowing people to volunteer in some county departments to meet the new requirements.
The Tucson City Council
Technically, the council has two meetings planned for today — a study session starting at 10 a.m., and the regular nighttime meeting, which will start at 5:30 p.m.
You can watch both meetings here. And we’ll be tuned in to keep an eye on the following issues for you.
You can’t do that here
The council will revisit what it is calling a “public drug use treatment ordinance” during the study session, but unless staff has radically changed its proposal in the last few weeks, it will likely focus on making it a misdemeanor in the city to possess or use fentanyl in public. The new ordinance would allow the city to prosecute these crimes, which have been historically handled by the Pima County Attorney’s Office as a felony charge.
Members of the Tucson Police Department have publicly complained that PCAO is not aggressively prosecuting these types of cases, although Conover told us recently that prosecuting a majority of these cases would take a massive influx of attorneys, police officers, and jail staff.
After a hit-and-run killed three UofA students, the council will get an update on improving pedestrian safety along Euclid Avenue near the University of Arizona.
The city started work on the dangerous pedestrian crossing along the busy stretch of road shortly after the tragic crash. It plans to complete the safety improvements by next spring.
It is certifiable
The council will certify the election results during their nighttime meeting, paving the way for Democrats Kevin Dahl, Miranda Schubert, and Selina Barajas to be sworn into office next month.
After they are seated, the entire council will also choose among themselves who should serve as the Vice Mayor.
Fun fact: Joe will be live-posting from the various meetings from his Bluesky account. Follow him to follow along!
Our count of four meetings doesn’t include the planned meeting of the Marana Town Council, also scheduled for tonight.