Why Did Pima County’s Prop 463 Fail?

Pima County supervisors Richard Elias, Sharon Bronson, Ramon Valadez. [Photo from Pima County]

Failure by more than 11 points is a sound rejection of the Prop 463 road bond package.  It is a message that should be heeded.

It appears The 4 members of the board of supervisors,  Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and their supporters  are going directly to , you guessed it, “Supervisor Ally Miller and her voters” as the root cause of the failure.   They are correct that I opposed this bond election and they are also correct that the majority of the voters rejected Prop 463.    What they are missing is the Why of the failure.  Is it a flawed analysis or simply a refusal to acknowledge any responsibility for the reasons this bond failed?  One thing I believe we can all agree on is that pointing fingers and threatening voters that dared to vote against this bond is a very bad road to go down.  It is these voters who pay the bills…who write the checks who pay the taxes.

My first campaign slogan in the 2012 election was “Restore Trust “in Pima County governance.   I saw that the trust was gone…it wasn’t a slogan that got a lot of attention but it was clear as I was out in the community speaking to the voters that they had little faith in the Supervisors and their management of this county and specifically road management.   I believe the county board of supervisors and their appointee, Chuck Huckelberry, would be wise to consider their own contributions to the erosion of trust in Pima County government.

First, one need  look no further than an analysis of the data comparing the Prop 425 election  to the Prop 463 road bond results.  It should be noted that   Supervisor District 5 (Elias) approved the road bonds, however, the bigger story is found in the increasing distrust for the board of supervisors’ management of the roads.

The level of Distrust is increasing all across the County

When the data is broken down by district it seems  clear that voter distrust of the Board of Supervisors has increased significantly in just the last 3 years.   Most notably, Supervisor District 5 distrust has increased by an astounding  11.26%.    District 1 was second highest with a level of distrust that  increased by 7.84% in the last 3 years.  The fascinating data encompasses District 2 (Valadez) and District 3 (Bronson) where voter distrust is rapidly increasing.  While it is true that District 4 distrust increased the least, it is the district which has the least trust in   the Pima County Board of Supervisors.  And it is clear, democrat controlled  Districts 2 and 3 have increased their distrust by almost double.

The Voters sent a message….Again.

Voters said NO to an $815 million Bond Package in 2015 which included Prop 425.  The message was loud and clear.  I heard the message.  Voters just said NO again, for a second time in 2018 with a rejection of Prop 463.   The problem we have is that the 4 members of the Board of Supervisors, Huckelberry and all those who advocated for this bond did NOT hear the message.  They were too busy in their bubble of cronies deciding they would go ahead and spend millions on the projects the voters soundly rejected.  The BOS authorized $25 million on the courthouse and now in phase 1 it is expected $26 million for the Kino Stadium will sail through on December 4, 2018 without any consideration for the will of the voters.

It is stunning to read  that anyone  is suggesting punishing the voters who dared vote against Prop 462 bonds by only fixing roads in precincts that voted YES!    This is defying a democratically held election.    But this is the mindset we are faced with every day in Pima County.  How dare the taxpayers question us?

And on Nov. 20, 2018,  the county administrator and board majority approved a legislative agenda to lobby for yet another sales tax increase in Pima County to be foisted on the poorest of the poor.

Will you hear the Voters this time?

At what point will the board of supervisors listen?  Voters said NO and will continue to say NO.

It is time to prove to the voters that you-the board of supervisors  are serious about fixing the roads.  That you will do the following:

  • Cut the wasteful spending on the nonessentials
  • Cut the county budget
  • Down size head count
  • Use the $90 mil per year HURF/VLT for road repairs

Maybe it is time to heed the call of a resident, Mr. Chris King,   who presented a resolution at the November 20th , 2018 Pima County Board of Supervisor meeting declaring  that the citizens of Pima County have no confidence in this administration.  Maybe it is time to demand  the resignation of the county administrator.

**Supervisor Ally Miller is supervisor for District 1 and is serving her second term on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

 

About Ally Miller, Pima County Board of Supervisors District 1 (ret.) 11 Articles
Supervisor Ally Miller began serving her 2nd term as the Pima County District 1 Supervisor in January 2017. Miller was first elected in November 2012, and has strives to share important information with the residents of the county through the newspapers, social media, and policy focused public gatherings.