If you live anywhere in greater Tucson, you’ve probably seen the signs by now — colorful, easy-to-read reminders urging voters to back Propositions 418 and 419, the ballot measures that would extend the Regional Transportation Authority for another 20 years.
And if you don’t get out much — or you live in rural Pima County — their ads are still finding you. It’s just showing up in your social feeds instead of at the nearest major intersection.
Propositions 418 and 419 have a long list of supporters, including Tucson Electric Power, the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, and Connect Pima, the political action committee paying for much of the signage and digital advertising campaign.
The official publicity pamphlet sent to voters also tilts heavily toward supporters — though it costs $25 to submit a comment to the 283-page document. In this economy, corporations can afford that space far more easily than your tax-averse neighbor can.
What you won’t see is a comparable, well-funded third-party campaign arguing the other side of the case.
At least, not yet.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at Tucson Deserves Better, a newly formed political action committee opposing Propositions 418 and 419 — and the concerns it’s raising as the March special election approaches.
The issue, members say, isn’t the RTA itself — it’s the 20-year plan.
Retired Tucson Assistant City Manager Albert Elias and Vanessa Cascio, executive director of the Living Streets Alliance, both sit on the Tucson Deserves Better PAC.
“Pedestrian fatalities have increased by 243% under the last RTA,” Cascio told us. “We're at this point of urgency — our roads are not safe, and it doesn't matter if you're driving, biking, walking, taking transit.”
RTA Next sets aside 9% of its proposed $2.7 billion budget — roughly $255 million — for safety projects, according to the plan’s sponsors, who argue that every project includes some safety component.
But Elias said some supporters are being disingenuous about what qualifies as a safety improvement.
“I don't know about you, but I would never ride a bike along Houghton Road in a striped bike lane. But they're calling that a safety improvement,” he said.
The former assistant city manager offered a blunt assessment of the current RTA: It has failed — and he believes the new plan shares the same DNA.
“Clearly, it has failed us in the safety realm, but the other place that it has failed us is just the ability to deliver the program,” Elias said, pointing to unfinished or “re-scoped” projects.
He argues that any 20-year plan is too long, citing cost escalations and delays as evidence that the RTA has “mismanaged” the original program.
From the No RTA Next website.
This criticism also extends to the RTA’s governance structure, which gives each jurisdiction — plus a member of the State Transportation Board appointed by former Gov. Doug Ducey — the same single vote.
The pair also raised concerns about the creation of a new citizen advisory committee after the previous one stopped meeting several years ago — and was not involved in shaping the current proposal.1
Part of the problem, Elias said, was that the process was rushed in the interest of political expediency.
With the current RTA tax set to expire in June and a new executive director in place, board members struggled to find consensus last year and ultimately backed the current plan ahead of deadline pressure.
“They did it behind closed doors, because they wanted to get something in front of the voters before it expires in June,” Elias said. “That was the overarching goal — instead of actually thinking about what we’re trying to achieve, what people need, and what people want.”
As a Tucson resident, Cascio said she worries the plan is being driven by development interests rather than community priorities.
“It's not a plan, it's a list of projects,” Cascio said. “And are we flipping the bill for developers who want to continue to build out into the desert?”
The Living Streets Alliance advocates for a multi-modal transportation system. (livingstreetsalliance.org)
With little public polling on RTA Next, opponents say they’re unconvinced by arguments that the proposal represents Tucson’s only viable choice.
“We're operating from a scarcity mentality,” Cascio said. “And the proponents of this plan are feeding that by telling people, ‘If you vote no, your transit service is going to go away. We’ll lose economic competitiveness. We’ll look like bumpkins.’”
A revised plan, backed by a new round of public input, could return to voters as soon as next year.
“We want to open the door to say it’s okay to say no,” Cascio said. “We can figure out something better.”
It’s also not just Tucson Deserves Better and the Living Streets Alliance raising concerns.
Pima County Republican Party Chair Kathleen Winn and several other Republicans have publicly opposed Propositions 418 and 419.
“Despite billions invested, the city ranks among the most hazardous in the U.S. for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians,” Winn wrote. “These outcomes show that the RTA has failed to meaningfully improve public safety despite substantial taxpayer investment.”
As we noted Friday, ballots for Propositions 418 and 419 are expected to be mailed February 11, ahead of the March 10 election.
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Gunfire exchanged: A Border Patrol agent shot and wounded U.S. citizen Patrick Gary Schlegel near Arivaca, the Arizona Daily Star’s Emily Bregel reports. Agents chased Schlegel, who has an active warrant related to human smuggling, and tried to stop him on West Arivaca Road. He fled on foot and fired a handgun at agents, officials said. An agent returned fire and wounded him. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the use of force, which Sheriff Chris Nanos said appeared to be justified, and the FBI is investigating the alleged assault on agents. Meanwhile, two people died and two were injured yesterday when a wrong-way driver and suspected smuggler attempted to evade Border Patrol agents on I-19, the Green Valley News’ Dan Shearer reports.
Preparing for the worst: Businesses in Southern Arizona are prepping for the arrival of the ICE squads that have terrorized cities from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. That includes stocking up on whistles to alert neighbors when ICE agents are nearby or gearing themselves up to tell agents they can’t come in without a warrant, KGUN’s Craig Smith reports. Blowing whistles is a common tactic in other cities targeted by ICE, and University of Arizona Faculty Chair Leila Hudson says whistles could have helped students escape an on-campus shooting at Brown University last month. She’s handing out whistles to faculty, staff and students as a “friendly little reminder that we live in a community and people want to help each other,” the Star’s Prerana Sannappanavar reports.
More measles: Pima County health officials reported a third measles case, this time in a Tucson resident who wasn’t fully vaccinated, per a news release from the county. The infection occurred after the person was exposed to a previously reported measles case. The person isn’t hospitalized and is isolating at home.
Coming out of nowhere: The South Tucson Fire Department is going to lose 30 firefighters when Rural Metro takes over in the coming days, per KOLD’s Sean Mahoney. The agreement between the struggling department and Rural Metro was supposed to keep the firefighters’ jobs intact, but a memo shows 30 positions are being eliminated.
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New digs: The corner of Fourth Avenue and University has a new tenant, Arizona Public Media’s Laura Holanszky reports. 1989 Bake House is moving in, after Cafe Maggie closed (and after Epic Cafe closed before that). Tucson bakery owners Randy Koch and Roselena Trevizo are closing their bakery in Green Valley and moving back to Tucson.
If at first you don’t succeed…
The “Tucson Baseball Team” — a professional Mexican Pacific League team that made Tucson its home in 2025 (and is still looking for a real name) — never got to play a home game because of visa issues.
But Pima County officials are aiming even higher.
They’re holding out hope that the Kino Sports Complex will be home to a training camp for the FIFA World Cup this year, per a new memo from Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher.
Hey, that’d be great if they pull it off!
But unless there’s a new occupant of the White House in the next few months, those visa issues are only going to get worse.
Plus, are there even going to be World Cup games in the U.S. this year?
1 RTA has previously said the advisory group completed its assigned tasks during an earlier planning phase, though that explanation has drawn criticism both then and now.