CITY MOVES FORWARD WITH JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY - Tucson's Mayor and Council yesterday, Sept. 27, voted to create a Juneteenth holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The paid holiday for City employees will be celebrated on June 19 of each year or the Friday preceding or the Monday following that date if it falls on a weekend. An official ordinance codifying the date and logistics will be drafted and presented to Mayor and Council for approval at the Regular Meeting on Oct. 18. Earlier this month, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to create a Juneteenth holiday for County employees. In June, the Biden Administration approved Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
Watch the Mayor and Council item
Mayor and Council agenda materials (item 8)
Juneteenth

CITY APPROVES SOURCE OF INCOME ORDINANCE - Tucson's Mayor and Council last night, Sept. 27, adopted the Source of Income Protection ordinance, which will make it unlawful for property owners and landlords to reject an applicant whose source of income is a Housing Choice Voucher or some other form of government assistance. The new protection will be included in the City’s Human Relations and Fair Housing ordinance. The Source of Income Protection is also one of the 10 policy points included in the Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson (HAST) plan developed by the Housing and Community Development (HCD) department and previously adopted by Mayor and Council. The new ordinance does not force landlords to rent to a voucher holder or lower rents. The intent of the new ordinance is to provide voucher holders more opportunities to find rental housing in a wider area of Tucson. HCD improved its landlord relations efforts and inspection process and encourages more landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher program.
Source of Income ordinance
HCD
HAST

READ THE LATEST TUCSON DELIVERS PROGRESS REPORT - Follow the progress of the voter-approved Tucson Delivers - Proposition 101: Safer City, Better Streets half-cent sales tax program; and Proposition 407: Parks + Connections Bond program. Of the $250 million projected to be collected from the Proposition 101 half-cent sales tax (2018-2022), $100 million is dedicated to the Better Streets initiative, with 60% dedicated to major roadway improvements and 40% dedicated to neighborhood street improvements. The Safer City initiative provides $150 million for vehicles, equipment, and facilities for the Tucson Fire and Police departments. The Parks + Connections Bond (2019-2028) provides $225 million to improve City park amenities, including playgrounds, sports fields, pools, and splash pads. Connection projects include greenways and shared-use paths, pedestrian safety and walkability, and bicycle boulevards. Learn about the goals of Tucson Delivers and the specific projects being completed by visiting the website and English or Spanish newsletters linked below.
Tucson Delivers
Tucson Delivers 3rd Quarter update
Tucson Delivers actualización del 3er trimestre

DEADLINE APPROACHING TO COMPLETE CODE CHANGES SURVEY - The City of Tucson's Planning and Development Services Department (PDSD) is collecting input from stakeholders, staff, and the public on potential code changes following direction from Tucson's Mayor and Council to streamline processes. Staff anticipates those proposed code changes will fall into three categories: cleanups/clarifications, improvements/enhancements, and policy-driven code. Based on suggestions received, PDSD will refine feedback into a suite of code amendments that would be most effective in terms of streamlining. If you're interested in commenting, please follow the link below to take an online survey by Saturday, Oct. 1.
Share suggestions for code changes

OPERATION SPLASH 2022 CONCLUDES - As the region’s summer thunderstorm season comes to an official record-keeping end Friday, Sept. 30, the Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility’s (DTM) Operation Splash initiative and sandbag distribution operations have concluded. The self-service sandbag distribution site, located at Hi Corbett Field, opened in June to offer free sandbags to residents concerned with flooding during the monsoon. This was the seventh consecutive year DTM offered sandbags as part of Operation Splash. An estimated 28,800 sandbags were distributed during this year’s thunderstorm season. Since 2016, DTM has distributed approximately 166,300 self-service and prefilled sandbags.
Read the news release