Accepting applications: The city of South Tucson opened pre-application waiting lists for the Housing Authority’s Section 8 programs Tuesday, the Tucson Sentinel reports. All pre-applications received through August 25 will be entered into a lottery for random selection. Those selected through the lottery will be placed on the wait list. South Tucson residents can start the process or find additional information at the South Tucson Housing Authority website. (August 2, 2023)

Gentrification or bust: South Tucson officials are considering filing an injunction against the owners of a low-end apartment complex, forcing them to better handle a crime problem at that property and another they own nearby, the Star’s Tim Steller writes. The city council is also weighing legal action that declares the buildings blighted properties and allows for their redevelopment, posing the larger question of whether the city should seek development or try to sustain the city’s low-end housing for existing, mostly low-income residents. Three of the seven council members won last year on a platform of resisting gentrification, so the discussion is likely far from over. (August 14, 2023)

Nicely done: Community leaders and workers at the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen bought the Arizona Motel, KGUN's Reyna Preciado reports. They plan to use it for affordable housing, along with the El Camino Motel they bought earlier this year. They're planning to buy two other motels as soon as they raise the money.

“The Arizona Motel has been serving South Tucson since 1930, and we’re hoping to keep it in the community and off the speculative market to continue serving those who need it the most, the most vulnerable communities,” said Roxanna Valenzuela, a South Tucson city councilmember who also works for Casa Maria. (September 7, 2023)

The Homing Project started in August 2021 and is based on a model of shelters that’s used in dozens of cities across the U.S., most notably in Southern California…They also have the support of South Tucson City Council members and Casa Maria Soup Kitchen workers Brian Flagg and Roxy Valenzuela, who both sit on the Homing Project’s board. (October 6, 2023) (Tucson Agenda)

Help wanted: The City of South South Tucson Fire Department is facing potential liability due to understaffing, Captain Andy Luna told city council members earlier this month, per UA journalism student Erika Howlett.2 Luna said the department only has three firefighters, but needs four to effectively operate. He asked the council for an update on hiring. The South Tucson Fire Department’s website says it is staffed by two full-time fire captains who each cover one shift, with the third shift covered by a reserve captain or driver/operator lead. There are 32 paid reserve firefighters to fill the schedule, including many who work at other agencies in the Tucson area. (October 16, 2023)

**Tucson Jewish Free Loan, in partnership with Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, is providing loans to low-income South Tucson residents** who are at risk of losing their homes. Allison Wexler, executive director of TJFL presented this partnership to the South Tucson City Council last week, telling council members that the work of TJFL was to make interest-free loans of up to $5,000 to help protect people from high-interest credit card debt and predatory loans. Council Member Brian Flagg noted the importance of this mission in the communities of South Tucson, saying “200 places in South Tucson have back taxes, they’re on the chopping block, they have their houses bought out from under them. It’s a county-wide problem…it’s one way that lower-income people are really being screwed.” (January 24) (Tucson Agenda)

The debate over how to balance the varying interests among cities and towns when it comes to Regional Transportation Authority projects raised tensions in the South Tucson City Council chambers last week. The debate revolved around the merits of constructing a business corridor versus increasing investment in public transit and other more localized South Tucson concerns. Flagg even went so far as to question the integrity of the RTA when he remarked that “the inner-city has been disrespected by the RTA for years now.” After much debate, the council passed a motion to communicate support for more local projects catered to the specific needs of South Tucson, rather than larger-scale, multi-jurisdictional projects like the business corridor, which Mayor Paul Diaz advocated for. (January 24) (Tucson Agenda)

Too much trouble: The City of South Tucson sued two rental companies for allowing too much crime on their properties, Arizona Public Media’s Paola Rodriguez reports. The city sued AM Family Properties, LLC and Torino Avenue LLC, which own properties on South Sixth Avenue and East Benson Highway. The city wants a judge to order the companies to increase lighting at the properties, hire security guards, and put crime-free restrictions on new leases. (January 30)

Fix in the works: The owners of two apartment complexes struck a deal with South Tucson officials in court after the city sued over crime at the properties, KOLD’s Andres Rendon reports. Each of the complexes, Spanish Trail Apartments and 6th Avenue Suites, saw more than 800 calls to police last year. Under the agreement, the property owners will install fencing, hire security guards, remove junk vehicles, make sure maintenance employees are available, and other measures. (February 12)

It was already tough for a lot of people in South Tucson to afford housing. Then they got hit by gentrification, out-of-state flippers, the pandemic, and tax liens. But local groups are stepping up to give them a fighting chance. Tucson Jewish Free Loan, a non-profit that provides interest-free loans to the Tucson community, is working with Casa Maria Soup Kitchen in South Tucson to prevent community members from being kicked out of their homes because of tax liens. Those tax liens, which are placed on a property to ensure tax payment, are putting nearly 200 people in the one-square mile that makes up South Tucson at risk of losing their homes, according to South Tucson Council Member and Casa Maria Team Member Roxy Valenzuela. (February 14) (Tucson Agenda)

The transportation plan known as RTA Next has been the talk of Tucson in recent months, but what do smaller towns across the county have to say about it? Their voices sometimes get drowned out by officials in larger jurisdictions like the City of Tucson and Pima County. But when we checked on recent public meetings in Marana, Oro Valley, and South Tucson we found that just because you don’t often hear from them doesn’t mean they’re not expressing their opinions, often colorfully, about what they want from RTA Next. (February 26) (Tucson Agenda)

It takes teamwork: City of South Tucson Public Safety Director Danny Denogean said the city only has one paid, full-time firefighter and 35 volunteer firefighters who work full-time for other agencies, KVOA’s Jafet Serrato reports. Denogean said that without the City of Tucson’s 55 firefighters, ladder truck and special equipment at Thursday night’s Spanish Trail Motel, South Tucson’s three firefighters would not have been able to extinguish the blaze. South Tucson does not have the money or staffing for its own department, but residents have mixed feelings about receiving fire services from the City of Tucson. (February 28)

The City of South Tucson became the first city in Arizona to pass a resolution supporting federal ceasefire legislation at their March 5 council meeting. The council’s resolution conveys their support for House Resolution 786, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Support for the resolution was overwhelming throughout the meeting, with most of the people who spoke at call-to-the-public advocating for a ceasefire. However, a few community members opposed the resolution; Tucson attorney Douglas Levy spoke against the resolution and asked the council to postpone a vote until more members of the Jewish community could be present at the next council meeting. Council member Brian Flagg noted the importance of a ceasefire to the people of Tucson, referencing the financial situation of the city as an argument.

“The biggest private employer [in Tucson] is Raytheon. They’re raking in huge amounts of profits by bombs that are going to kill tens of thousands of people in Palestine, and so that has gotta change,” Flagg said.

“Hopefully tonight is a first step towards changing where the resources are going so that our places, like our barrio, get served and get justice and get equality and get human rights,” he said. “It’s about resources and money…it’s all about South Tucson.” (Tucson Agenda) (March 11)

From bad to worse: The South Tucson City Council may have broken public meeting laws when they turned a simple clerical error into a legal argument, Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock writes. He also gets into the millions of dollars in COVID-relief money Pima County officials are still sorting through and an expensive shade problem in Oro Valley, among other local news items. (April 17)

Taking it to the streets: South Tucson City Council member Roxy Valenzuela said she plans to picket outside the home of the man she called a “slumlord,” the Arizona Daily Star’s Charles Borla reports. The city sued Brian Bowers over rampant criminal activity at two properties he owns. Valenzuela said if Bowers doesn’t sell the properties a “picket of his house in a gated community in the foothills will be organized.” (April 26)

Making it permanent: The South Tucson City Council is considering appointing Veronica Moreno to be city manager, KGUN’s Reyna Preciado reports. Right now, Moreno is the interim city manager, a position the council has appointed her to four times already. At the call-to-the-public at a recent council meeting, local business owner Diane Sears said the city needs somebody to be held accountable for city business and Mayor Paul Diaz decided to put it on an upcoming agenda. (May 13)

Time for a change?: The City of South Tucson held a public meeting yesterday about whether to keep Interim City Manager Veronica Moreno, who has been in the position since 2015, KVOA’s Sarika Sood reports. Moreno has been appointed interim city manager four times and also serves as city clerk and HR director, but some community members are now asking that the city manager position be reassigned. (May 22)

South Tucson voters are going to decide whether to pick up the tab for the city’s long-underfunded fire department. After months of trying to find a way to make up for a funding shortfall, the South Tucson City Council decided at their May 21 meeting to hold a bond election in November. The council formed a citizen advisory committee to look at their options and the committee recommended the city hold a bond election, which would be funded by property taxes. Many residents have come to council meetings in support of the fire department and have stressed the importance of having their own fire department, separate from the City of Tucson. (June 3) (Tucson Agenda)