Total recall: South Tucson edition

That Project Blue party was off the hook … Spellcheck your ballot … And at least it’s cheap.

South Tucson voters will decide in less than two weeks whether to recall Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela, along with Councilmembers Brian Flagg and Cesar Aguirre.

Roughly 2,433 residents received a mail-in ballot as part of the recall effort, which was organized by former South Tucson Mayor and current Councilmember Paul Diaz.

But the ballot might throw some voters off.

It only includes the names of the three elected officials being challenged — not the names of the write-in candidates hoping to replace them. A paperwork mix-up by those leading the recall effort led to the write-in candidates’ names not appearing on the ballot.

All three incumbents have about one year left in their four-year terms.

To oust any of them, voters will have to correctly write in the names of the replacement candidates on the ballot (in the correct slot) — not just vote “yes” on the recall.

Political signs dot the medians and corners of South Tucson, asking voters to support recall efforts against the Mayor and two members of the Council.

For this oddly specific ballot, here’s what you need to know:

• Eduardo Baca is running to replace Aguirre.

• Christopher Dodson is running to replace Flagg.

• Anita Romero is running to replace Valenzuela.

Write in the wrong name for the wrong seat — say, putting Baca where Flagg is listed — and the vote won’t count.

That's just one of the many quirks of this recall election, which fits squarely within South Tucson’s long tradition of political infighting.

Flagg, a longtime community fixture known for running the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, acknowledged the city’s turbulent recall history.

Valenzuela, Flagg, and Aguirre ran as a slate in 2022, campaigning on a platform to address the local housing crisis.

The trio won and have spent the past three years trying to stretch the city’s limited resources to tackle housing issues — including via a legal fight with the owner of the Spanish Trail Motel on the city’s southern edge.

From left to right: Flagg, Valenzuela and Aguirre

Diaz, who personally collected signatures to trigger the recall, has criticized Valenzuela’s administration’s focus on housing.

He argued that efforts to convert motels into housing — primarily work by Casa Maria — have diverted resources away from other departments, including fire and police services.

Valenzuela has dismissed the recall as politically motivated.

“Our focus remains to serve the least of us,” she said.

She also noted that Diaz has participated in previous recall efforts, and that organizing such a vote is relatively easy in a city as small as South Tucson.

According to city rules, a recall petition must gather signatures equal to 25 percent of the total number of votes cast for the official in their most recent election.

Our source in City Hall said the number was roughly 100 for each candidate.

There is a lot of history when it comes to South Tucson. Help us stay on the beat by becoming a paid subscriber today.

Political infighting may be a hallmark of South Tucson politics, but the city within a city is also facing serious financial strain.

Earlier this month, the parent company of Food City — the largest grocery store in South Tucson — announced it will close that location in October, eliminating a critical retail anchor for the community.

That blow comes amid growing challenges for the city’s emergency services.

The South Tucson City Council recently approved a stopgap agreement for the City of Tucson to provide backup firefighting support. Under the agreement, Tucson will respond to structure fires requiring more than one engine, or in cases when South Tucson’s limited staff cannot keep up with emergency calls.

The contract will cost South Tucson $25,000 per month.

A mural outside of the South Tucson Fire Department.

Officials from South Tucson, Tucson, and Pima County are working on a broader intergovernmental agreement to share firefighting resources and divvy up the estimated $300,000 annual cost.

A finalized deal is expected in the coming weeks.

Structure fires have long been a public safety issue in South Tucson, including the fire that damaged the Spanish Trail Motel — a property at the center of an ongoing legal dispute over housing conditions.

In response to safety concerns and asbestos exposure, the Pima County Board of Supervisors recently approved $1.5 million to clean up the unused portion of the site.

Staffing the city’s fire department has also become more difficult.

A recent policy change at nearby departments now prohibits full-time firefighters from picking up extra shifts in South Tucson or other jurisdictions on their days off.

South Tucson has historically relied on part-time shifts from certified firefighters employed by other agencies to avoid the cost of maintaining a full-time department.

South Tucson Public Safety Director Danny Denogean told the Council this month that the policy shift by the Drexel Heights and Santa Rita fire districts was tied to liability concerns and increased awareness about occupational exposure to carcinogens.

A mob of Tucsonans shouted down the backers of Project Blue at a public meeting last night, slamming the proposed data center for its water and energy drain, and the secretive way it came to town.

The whole meeting is worth a watch if you’re interested in the topic.

It was mildly informative and very entertaining.

The meeting ran late and today’s email is already long.¹ And there wasn’t much in the way of actual new information presented.

So for today, we’ll just give you the need-to-know highlights.

People were angry

The meeting kicked off smoothly enough — City Manager Tim Thomure introduced the panel, which included city and county employees and various representatives for the project.

But within 20 minutes, the crowd was shouting down local land use attorney Keri Silvyn, a consultant for Project Blue, booing and yelling “shame.”

Thomure stepped in, but he couldn’t calm the crowd.

“There’s no water here for you,” one person shouted.

“I’m the person who lives here, so there’s plenty of water here for me,” Thomure shot back.

Silvyn tried to continue, but the vibes were off, and the protest shouts continued through her 45-minute presentation.

The meeting was a who’s who of Tucson politics

Councilwoman Nikki Lee, whose district Project Blue would occupy and who has already said she has a lot of questionsabout the project, set up the meeting and warmed up the crowd.

Mayor Regina Romero was front and center, listening to the (mostly) angry constituents. Romero has been neutral in her public statements about Project Blue, so it’ll be interesting to see if last night’s feedback sways her.

Also in attendance was City Councilmember Rocque Perez, who has mostly remained mum on his position thus far. And Pima County Supervisor Jennifer Allen, one of the two supervisors who voted against the plan.

The construction unions are Project Blue’s biggest supporters

Local union members — who either self-identified as union members or wore matching vests — made up a sizable portion of the roughly 700 people at the public meeting. They loudly clapped for the proposal, especially when the developer suggested that building all planned phases of the project would take a decade.

The developer, Beale Infrastructure (not to be confused with Amazon Web Services, the end user, per the Luminaria’s recent reporting), said they are talking to local unions about jobs.

But they stopped short of any guarantees about using local unionized tradesmen — telling the audience they would encourage them to bid on the project.

Nobody said Amazon

While audience members kept referring to Amazon as the end user, city and county officials, as well as representatives from Beale, avoided mentioning the world’s largest retailer during the two-hour forum.

Project Blue isn’t for AI

An audience member’s carefully crafted question got the developer to say that the first phase of the project will be for a traditional data center, and will not be related to AI.

The secrecy is business as usual

Logan Craig, the VP of development at Beale, told the crowd that the non-disclosure agreement with the economic development offices at Pima County and the City of Tucson was “absolutely standard business practice.”

“We’re excited to be here now, sharing project information that is critical to the community and the electeds,” Craig said, while not looking excited.

It’s worth noting that both city and county elected officials have complained that the NDAs, which were signed on their behalf, go too far and the practice of signing them needs to be revisited. And that yesterday’s meeting only happened because one of those NDA-bound officials demanded it.

This isn’t the final word

Thomure, the city manager, said the agreement is in a draft form and that, based on public pressure, the Tucson City Council is likely to revisit sections before taking a final vote.

That includes addressing perhaps the biggest complaint about the project: The city can’t just shut off the water if Project Blue uses more than it promises. Solutions could include putting a cap on how much water the data center could use, and adding a shutoff mechanism if it goes over, rather than just a fine.

But what do you think?

Did you watch? Were you swayed by any of the arguments? Did you learn something new? Are you happy or frustrated with how city officials ran the meeting?

Sound off in the comments!

The recall election in South Tucson will be a bargain — democracy on a budget, if you will.

A few weeks ago, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a $12,000 contract with South Tucson to run the election through the Recorder’s Office.

Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela expects the final bill to land somewhere around $15,000, since the city will pick up a few extra costs to hold in-person voting for the election in two weeks.

“We could have used those funds to address other issues here in the city,” Valenzuela said.

Our list includes things like potholes, payroll, or the police department.

Or literally anything that doesn’t involve another do-over at the ballot box in South Tucson.

1. We had to cut today’s Other News roundup to make this fit. And there will be plenty more to say before this is over — city officials say there’s another public meeting next Thursday night, location TBD.