Kevin's Ward 3 News and Updates

Friday, October 7, 2022

News and Updates 
Next Mayor and Council Meeting
Ward 3 Neighborhood Association and Coalition Meetings
Ward 3 Events
City Wide Events
Did You Know?

Neighborhood Networking

On Tuesday night, my office was thrilled to host a gathering of neighborhood leaders. Ward 3 has 32 registered neighborhood associations and we had people representing over half in attendance.

Ward 3 neighborhood associations have accomplished some incredible work and are poised to do more!

After a delicious buffet of Mexican food from Ward 3 restaurant Juanitos, 26 neighborhood leaders assembled in small groups to share goals and successes (more on these in a future newsletter) and build relationships.

Many thanks to Rebecca Ruopp and Kyle Kerns from Planning & Development Services for their great agenda and assistance that enabled networking to be the core of the workshop.

We plan to offer future workshops. If you are interested in becoming active as a neighborhood leader, please let us know. 

- Kevin 

An Update on Bobcats in Tucson by Katie Bolger

Last week featured the good work of Bobcats in Tucson. This week, there's a sad ending to report. One of the collared bobcats known as Sadie was shot and killed illegally on Wednesday, September 28th. One of the team members received a mortality alert from Sadie's radio collar on Wednesday and recovered her body on Thursday south of Ironwood Hills and west of Painted Hills Road in the Los Arroyos del Oeste subdivision.

Sadie died from a single gunshot wound. There is reason to believe she died very quickly after being shot as her movements were normal within just a few hours of the mortality alert. Her death was reported to the Arizona Game and Fish Operation Game Thief Hotline in hopes that a reward will be offered and the person responsible will be found.

Sadie provided much information, and the team learned a great deal from her. She had and lost two litters of kittens this spring and summer. If there is any bright spot in this, it is that she did not leave behind orphaned kittens nor was she pregnant. 

According to biologist Cheryl Mollohan, Sadie was a beautiful creature. This is the third of 25 radio collared bobcats that has been killed illegally, which equals the deaths from vehicle strikes, previously the program's highest source of mortality.  

Again, if you are interested in supporting the all volunteer effort of Bobcats in Tucson, please check out their link bobcatsintucson.net and consider supporting them financially.

Block Painting Party in Barrio Blue Moon by Marlene Avelino

Last Saturday, October 1st, Barrio Blue Moon and Living Streets Alliance hosted a block painting party to beautify the freshly installed traffic circle on 14th and Helen and the existing traffic circle on 14th and Mabel. The streets were closed to traffic, DJ Aqua had everyone’s hips moving, and there was plenty of pan dulce right next to the coffee. 

BICAS was set up with their free bike repair station, and Community Gardens of Tucson was chatting with neighbors about the gardens next to Tucson House and giving away sweet pea seeds.

Local artist Armando Sotelo III designed the 14th and Helen roundabout mural. The imagery is inspired by Native wisdom in the lunar calendar, which is represented by the shell of a turtle. The roundabout on 14th and Mabel is a simple and colorful checkered pattern. 

Eco Gro donated plants, soil, and planters to add the finishing touches to the newly beautified traffic circles. 

President of Barrio Blue Moon Neighborhood Association Sharayah Jimenez chatting with a few of the residents of Tucson House that made it down to help celebrate.

This project is part of the Thrive in the 05 Initiative, made possible through many different partnerships including Tucson Housing & Community Development, Tucson Department of Transportation & Mobility, Tucson Ward 3 Councilmember Kevin Dahl, PSOMAS Engineering and Living Streets Alliance.

Mountain View Neighborhood runs from Prince Road to Fort Lowell Road, and from First Ave. to Mountain Ave. The neighborhood contains two active churches - Water of Life Spiritual Community on Mountain Ave. and Pastor Caleb Duron Church on Park Ave. Besides those, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church has been located on Fort Lowell for years, but recently bought a new property just north of city limits at the base of the foothills, and the Fort Lowell property was auctioned off last month as 4 separate parcels. St. Demetrios has historically been the site of the Tucson Greek Festival. 

Cori Runyon, a 4 year resident of the neighborhood, says what she loves about living in Mountain View, is that “it’s walking distance from Guadalajara Grill, the neighbors are friendly, and the abundance of wildlife (I saw 3 bobcats in one morning!)". These bobcats and other wildlife were seen in the nearby neighborhood of Richland Heights West, which is just across the street from Ms. Runyon's house on Mountain Ave. The area is notable for its dirt roads and luscious desert landscape.  

Cori, like other residents,  lamented the erection of Mountain Enclave, a recent KB Homes development that managed to squeeze 76 homes onto a 6 acre lot that previously held just one. This development was the driving force that pushed most members of the current MountainView Neighborhood Association to get organized and involved. Many neighbors joined the Association to stop the development from going through, but they were ultimately unsuccessful.   

Asked why she moved into the neighborhood, Seven-year Mountain View resident Lisa Polito replied, "I liked the vibe of the house, and the neighborhood struck me as under-the-radar, with a few artistic touches here and there, a wide variation in construction styles (read: not cookie cutter), and a real socio-economic mix.  And before Mountain Enclave consumed the 6-acre heart of the neighborhood, it still had the actual-desert vibe that evoked the Tucson of my (now distant) youth. Since the development, I've come to know many of my neighbors, and I discovered the neighborhood is more eclectic, diverse, and creative than I could have expected. And there's still so many neighbors I haven't met yet!"  

Neighborhood Association Vice President Maria Voris, echoed this sentiment by saying, "What I loved about it then was the 6 acre lot that Imogene Russel owned which was primarily mesquite and creosote creating a wonderful habitat for urban wildlife. My property shared a line with hers so it was quite a respite. Back then in the mid 90s when we still had a proper monsoon you would hear coyotes and spade foot toads. I even saw a gray fox once! So different back then."  

Many neighbors are also concerned about how traffic will be affected as Mountain Enclave fills up. Only about half of the units - which are priced between $350,000 and $400,000 - have been sold so far. That said, Mountain View is comprised of almost entirely of dead-end streets, with Halcyon Road being the only road that goes all the way through the neighborhood.  

While Mountain View doesn’t contain any schools or parks, each of the neighborhood’s four corners boasts a fantastic Mexican restaurant. On the corner of North First and Fort Lowell sits easily one of my favorite restaurants in town, La Botana. Anything there with shrimp is delicious, and there are lots of other great options as well. Notably, they serve margaritas in what is essentially a glass bucket.  

The southeast corner of the neighborhood (at Fort Lowell and Mountain) features one of the finest taco trucks in the region, Tacos Los Compas. And the northeast corner at Mountain and Prince features Guadalajara Original Grill, where anything with their chile verde is amazing. If this weren’t enough, the northwest corner of the neighborhood, at First and Prince, has a little hole in the wall called Reyna’s. On Google Maps it’s just called Tortillas, but they sell Sonoran Dogs, too, which hit the spot.  

Reyna’s is just around the corner from the Pima County Health Department North Office. This is a wonderful neighborhood resource, especially to those without health insurance and those who are underinsured. The Health Department provides a variety of medical care, often on a sliding scale for those who need it. They also provide free contraceptives.   

Habitat for Humanity, the nationally recognized non-profit is located on Mountain Ave, just around the corner from Guadalajara Original Grill. Habitat for Humanity is known for bringing together volunteers to help build homes for those in need.  

Adjacent to Habitat for Humanity is a walled-off parcel belonging to Tucson Electric Power (TEP) that houses some of their infrastructure. The wall that separates it from the sidewalk contains one of the lovelier murals in the area, featuring a Gila monster, farmers, purple mountains, and more. 

Next Mayor and Council Meeting 

The next Mayor and Council Meeting is on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
Once available, the agenda will be posted here: Mayor and Council Meeting Agendas

Ward 3 Neighborhood Association and Coalition Meetings

Mountain First Neighborhood Association 
Saturday
October 8th 
8:00- 9:00 am
Mitchell Park  
1100 E. Mitchell St. 

Alvernon-Grant Initiative 
Tuesday 
October 11th 
6:00- 7:00 pm
Emmanuel Church
1825 N. Alvernon Way

Richland Heights East Neighborhood Association 
Wednesday 
October 12th 
9:00- 10:00 am 
2000 E. Greenlee Rd. 

Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association 
Wednesday 
October 12th 
6:00- 7:30 pm
Parkside Terrace Apartments
2150 N. 4th Ave. 

Country Glenn Neighborhood Association 
Wednesday 
October 12th 
7:00- 8:00 pm 
Pocket Park at Treat and Alturas 
2525 N. Treat Ave. 

Limberlost Neighborhood Association 
Saturday
October 15th 
10:00- 11:30 am
Limberlost Family Park 
4255 N 4th Ave. 

The Ward 3 office is open. Staff will answer phone messages, emails and requests for meetings by the next business day. Leave your message at 520-791-4711 or email [email protected].

Ward 3 Events

Got Junk, Trash, Yard Cuttings?

To help keep our neighborhood clean and free of junk/debris the City of Tucson is providing a large roll off dumpster for the Amphi Neighborhood. 

October 7th - 11th at Amphi Park 510 E Navajo Rd 
Please keep the area around the dumpster clean! 

It takes everyone to keep a neighborhood CLEAN! 

Tackling Food Waste at the City Level

Tuesday, October 11, 6:00 pm

On Zoom:

Join Sustainable Tucson as we welcome our October speaker, Nina Sevilla, from National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She will share the findings of NRDC’s ground-breaking report, “Wasted: How America is Losing up to 40 Percent of its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill,” and will look at how we can address this problem at the city and community level. Nina will share examples of how other cities across the U.S. are taking the lead to reduce food waste and suggest what can be done in Tucson.

At NRDC, Nina helps lead federal policy advocacy, shares successes and lessons learned from NRDC's Food Matters project to a network of partners across the nation, and works with those partners to run a consumer education campaign, Save The Food, to reduce household food waste. Prior to joining NRDC, Nina worked to increase food access through child nutrition programs at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona in Tucson.

For more information and the Zoom link for the meeting, see our website (www.sustainabletucson.org), Facebook, and Meetup.