What do you believe is the role of the Tucson City Council in making the Tucson region a great place to start, run, relocate, and/or expand a business?

The City Council must foster an ecosystem where small businesses and local entrepreneurs can thrive. This includes ensuring accessible infrastructure, affordable water and energy, and affordable housing. Investing in the infrastructure, public transit, and housing supply is necessary to support a robust local economy. To do so, we need to ensure that our permitting and licensing processes are efficient, transparent, and equitable. As a council member, I would prioritize reducing bureaucratic delays, expanding technical assistance for emerging businesses and strengthening workforce development pipelines by aligning with career and technical education programs at TUSD and JTED as well as local training programs within the region.

Recent decisions by the Tucson City Council, like the 20% increase in the CAP water surcharge over four years (rising from $0.70/Ccf to $1.00/Ccf by 2027), as well as the unknown variables of operating a business in a high-crime area, have raised concerns about the long-term cost of doing business in Tucson. These decisions must be weighed with a lens of economic impact, particularly for small businesses that may already operate with thin margins. Public-private partnerships can help generate opportunity for Tucsonans, not just outside investors. I support more investment in our commercial corridors, and expanding support for local businesses.

Please tell us why you support or oppose the continuation of the RTA.

I support the continuation of the RTA, with key reforms. Ward 3 residents—and many in the urban core—have seen slower or less equitable returns from RTA investments. Future RTA funding should include clearer benchmarks for prioritizing neglected infrastructure in underserved areas. The projects planned for the City of Tucson that were never materialized, and those still under construction, like the Grant Road improvements, should be actualized. Since Tucson residents are the largest contributors to the RTA fund, I would like to see the next iteration of RTA funds have a greater allocation for projects within the City of Tucson, and a more inclusive process to acquire and incorporate feedback from business owners, operators, and residents, alike.

Income-aligned housing supply is key to regional competitiveness and has become an issue of great importance to our members. What are your views on initiatives like the Community Corridors Tool? What can we be doing to make housing more affordable for Tucsonans?

Tools like the Community Corridors Tool (CCT) are a step in the right direction, especially if they are implemented with meaningful community input. However, the city must go beyond this policy and transform their own departments, like the Planning and Development Services Department, to be more streamlined to work with developers big and small, as well as residents who want to develop their land for casitas, duplexes or larger housing complexes. When I’ve spoken to people who are trying to build, they’ve complained about waiting for months or years for permits to be approved and poor customer service from employees at the City. Even with the CCT, these unnecessary obstacles are going to hinder the expansion of affordable housing.

The City’s 2025 Housing Affordability Strategy Update outlined critical progress, like transitional projects at the Amazon Motel, permanent developments like Newport at Amphi, and emergency shelter programs such as the Gospel Rescue Mission.

However, we still lack sufficient affordable units. I support inclusionary zoning policies, expanded tenant protections, and the development of social housing models that keep affordability permanent. We also need to reduce barriers to adaptive reuse of existing buildings and invest in land trusts like the one I founded in Sugar Hill, which prevent displacement while building generational equity. Affordability should not come at the expense of cultural preservation or existing community members but to remain competitive, Tucson must treat housing like essential infrastructure and invest accordingly.

Prop 414’s failure created a lot of conversation about city resources and focuses. What should the city’s budget priorities be going forward?

The failure of Prop 414 revealed widespread concern over accountability and how new tax revenue would be spent. Going forward, the City must prioritize restoring trust.
Budget investments should be focused on the priorities actually identified by residents and business owners as part of the City’s community feedback efforts, such as housing, public health infrastructure, transportation access, park restoration, and modernizing failing systems like 911 dispatch. We must also address the overfunding and inefficiencies in departments like TPD, where outdated policies and expensive settlements undermine community safety and financial responsibility. Any new tax revenue must primarily benefit residents and put a dent in the root issues that lead to crime, addiction and poverty. We should incentivize creative participation from the business community in crafting innovative solutions to Tucson’s endemic problems, such as providing financial incentives for businesses that build or enhance green infrastructure or those that provide accessible jobs for vulnerable populations, such as non-native English speakers or individuals experiencing houselessness. By doing so we may extend our existing budget while also generating solutions to issues like sustainability and poverty.

What measures should the city be taking, and/or doing differently, to address the incredible rise in chronic unsheltered homelessness?

We need low-barrier, trauma-informed, and culturally competent solutions. This includes designating City-owned surplus land for safe camping areas with access to mobile hygiene units and wraparound services. We should prioritize converting vacant property into safe, service-equipped transitional housing options like those at the Amazon Flats.

I support developing interim job programs for unhoused individuals, modeled after what has worked in cities like Albuquerque, as well as expanding access to harm reduction services and behavioral health care. Importantly, the City must shift resources to mutual aid groups who built trust with unsheltered populations. These groups are often more effective at connecting people with resources than traditional service providers. We need to approach homelessness as a systemic issue rooted in housing policy, not criminalize poverty or treat it like an individual failure. We also need to strengthen our partnerships with organizations like La Frontera who have experience with healthcare and housing.

The City’s “Housing Central Command” efforts are a promising model but need greater investment and transparency. Transitional housing should be low-barrier and linked with job training, mental health care, and addiction recovery efforts. The most affordable housing today are tiny homes, remodeled shipping containers and mobile homes, but zoning restrictions often prevent these housing options from being implemented in some wards.
Preserving and expanding the housing stock in creative ways must be part of the solution.

Lastly, we should center the leadership and partnership of individuals with lived experience, so that we may ensure that any solutions we explore are vetted by people who understand their potential barriers and/or impact.

What does the ideal relationship between the City Council and the business community look like? What issues do you believe we could/should be collaborating on to enhance economic competitiveness?

The ideal relationship is collaborative and transparent. We should be co-designing solutions that increase hiring pipelines from local high schools and colleges, reduce infrastructure barriers, and support small-scale entrepreneurship. The City Council should work with businesses to address shared challenges, like workforce development, public safety, and infrastructure, while ensuring that our economic growth benefits everyone. Business leaders should be allies in advocating for housing affordability, reliable transit, and climate resilience because a thriving economy requires thriving people and places.

The city of Tucson has hosted several energy town halls to gather community input on a potential franchise renewal with Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and an energy collaboration agreement, both of which are separate items that do not have to be passed together. Do you support renewing the franchise agreement with TEP? If so, why or why not? Additionally, what types of partnerships would you endorse between TEP and the city?

I would only support renewing the franchise agreement with TEP if it includes enforceable climate accountability. Tucsonans need an agreement that prioritizes energy equity, investment in community solar, and resilience hubs powered by solar and storage, particularly at public facilities like libraries and cooling centers. We should also negotiate utility debt forgiveness for low-income households and direct financial support for electrification of low-income homes.

I would like to see the City pursue public power for Tucson and have already stated so publicly from my official campaign social media platforms and I’ll continue to do so at every opportunity. I’ve lived in Ward 3 long enough to know what it feels like when your electric bill makes you panic. I’ve had to choose between groceries and keeping the lights on, especially during brutal summers when staying cool isn’t a luxury, it’s survival. Meanwhile, Tucson Electric Power raises rates, blocks rooftop solar, and invests in fossil fuels, all while sending profits to a corporation in Canada.

Tucson deserves an energy system that puts people before profits. The city’s public power study shows that taking control of our energy future is possible. It would help us lower long-term costs, meet our climate goals faster, and make decisions publicly, with real community input. That’s why I’m running the kind of campaign I believe we need more of: transparent, people-led, and rooted in the realities our neighbors are facing every day. Ultimately, it will be the voters who decide if public power is an option they want to pursue.

What are your views on Tucson’s police and fire funding and staffing levels?

Public safety is important, but it must be balanced. I support maintaining robust fire and emergency response services while reevaluating police funding in light of other unmet community needs. I have called for a forensic audit of the Tucson Police Department to better understand how funds are spent and whether they are resulting in improved public safety outcomes. I also support expanding non-police crisis response models, such as Community Safety Programs, that can more appropriately respond to behavioral health and substance use emergencies. Every dollar should be spent with accountability and transparency. We should ensure that any staffing increases come with oversight, accountability, and measurable improvements in community safety.

What policies would you put in place to help small businesses?

I would champion microgrant programs, local procurement reforms to favor small and locally-owned businesses, and reduced red tape in licensing and permitting. I would also work to activate underused commercial spaces for affordable pop-ups or incubators and provide support for arts, food, and cultural entrepreneurs who may not fit traditional business models. Tucson also needs to preserve affordable commercial space and support cooperative business models. I believe business health and community well-being are intertwined: access to housing, transit, and childcare are small business issues too. We must create a local economy where businesses and workers grow together, so I would also increase opportunities for continued education for entrepreneurs, mentorship programs to strengthen relationships within the business community, and skilled networking events sponsored by the City and its partners to increase interdependence and resilience within our service sectors