Topics in This Issue:

-Humanizing the Homeless

-Ward Office Budget and Housing Affordability

-Refugees

-Ukraine War Forum

-ByFusion Plastic Blocks

-Strawbale Construction – Sustainable Tucson

-Rosemont Hudbay and the Santa Ritas

-PFAS Public Comment

-Reid Park Master Plan

-Proposition 411

-Sam Hughes Newsletter

-Social Equity Marijuana Dispensary Licenses

-Electric Vehicle and Parking Code Changes    

-COVID

Humanizing the Homeless

Meet Marie. I caught up with her when I joined Ann Charles and her family serving an Easter meal at Sister Jose women's shelter. Marie is 75 years old and is sharp as a tack. And don’t even try to BS her – she has heard it already.

Marie is a Tucson native. She went to high school at Salpointe - she was one of the Lancer mascots back in the day - class of '65. She has a degree in Interior Design from the UA.

Marie tied her degree in design together with both the sale and remodeling of real estate. She's quick to point out how those dots connect; redesign and remodel a clunker and resell it. She had a crew of 18 workers working for her when she ran La Mariposa. The name means butterfly in Spanish and comes from one of her workers telling her they took a mess and turned it into a butterfly.

During the Reagan years when real estate taxes were altered, the bottom fell out of the market she was in.  She and her partner kept their heads above water by running a bar and some apartments. When her partner died from cancer about 8 years ago, she lost both properties and became homeless, having been given 15 minutes to leave her apartment. She has the usual health challenges that come with being 75, but still wants to work and believes she has skills to help with remodeling homes like she used to do.

During her couch surfing days while looking for stable housing she had 5 cases of heat stroke. What makes her happy is playing golf, saying she still has her Ping clubs - but of course hasn't played in years. What makes her sad is being out of control of her situation. She says 'you've gotta keep your sense of humor - you can't just give up and die.' She's at Sister Jose now helping the younger women with some basic life skills. One fun fact about Marie is she was a professional horse trainer until 10 years ago. She trained English, Western and Harness horses. If you ever talk with her, she'll beam with pride when sharing that part of her with you.

Ward Office Budget and Housing Affordability

When ward offices have money left at the end of the fiscal year, we have the option of allowing it to roll into the General Fund, or to use it for community needs. This year housing/homelessness is the main topic facing the region, so our team is using our left-over funds to touch those needs.

I’ve requested a June 7th agenda item for M&C to approve two buckets of funds, each headed to our Housing and Community Development Department. The money will go to emergency rental assistance for seniors, and to helping our homeless protocol team get new tenants in our shelters documents they’ll need in order to take next steps in pulling their lives together. This is the memo I submitted – it gives a more thorough description.

Click Here To View City Of Tucson - Kevin's Note: Friday, May 9, 2022