Kevin's Ward 3 News and Updates

Friday, October 14, 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?

Funding for Solar Empowerment

At the last Mayor and Council meeting we unanimously voted to provide additional funding to the non-profit Sonoran Environmental Research Institute (SERI) to support their Solar Empowerment Program.

The program is a partnership between SERI, who implements the program, and local worker-owned company Technicians for Sustainability (TFS), who has provided initial and on-going funding.

The Solar Empowerment Program helps low-income homeowners get roof-top solar by providing a partial grant (dependent on income) to off-set the cost of the installation. They also assist with a loan application for the remaining amount. SERI currently works with the Clean Energy Credit Union in Denver (although they are hoping to partner with a local credit union) to secure the loans. Since most of the participants in the program have either no credit or bad credit, the program includes money set aside in the “loan loss reserve fund”. This fund is a necessary back up for the credit union to process loans to participants that would typically not qualify for a conventional loan.

Mayor and Council voted to add an additional $100,000 to the loan loss reserve fund and an additional $200,000 to go towards grant funding for recipients.

I can’t say enough good things about this program! It saves people money (as the loan payments are usually lower than their TEP electric bill), it builds resiliency in the community, and it reduces greenhouse gasses. We look forward to scaling up this program in the City of Tucson and thank our partners in community, TFS and SERI.

- Kevin

Desert Living Home Tour by Katie Bolger

Do you want to see real life examples of how to incorporate sustainable practices into your home life? Are you curious about rain basins, active and passive solar home design, composting toilets, rainwater tanks and cisterns, small-scale vegetable gardening, and “laundry-to-landscape” systems that reuse greywater for outdoor irrigation?

Now’s your chance.

Watershed Management Group and the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter are excited to announce the Desert Living Home Tour on Saturday, October 22nd from 10a.m. – 3p.m. to showcase creative, sustainable homes and community spaces to the public in the Tucson and Phoenix areas. This self-paced tour provides the chance to visit homes with sustainable features.

The tour features 29 homes and community spaces, with tour hosts all over Tucson and Phoenix welcoming the public to learn how they implemented these systems and can create their own water and energy saving systems at home. Tickets for the tour are $20, with a sliding scale available for limited-income community members.

The tour will also embrace sustainable transportation with guided bike and bus tour options to travel between select homes for people living in Tucson, at no additional cost. Participants can also choose to join this year's tour virtually, with the option of viewing guided videos from homes along the tour for up to two weeks following the in-person event.

There will also be a virtual community conversation kickoff event for the tour on Thursday, October 20th at 6 p.m. to learn about programs connecting Arizona’s communities to water and energy savings. The community conversation will have representatives from Solar United Neighbors, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, the Sonoran Environmental Research Institute, and The Nature Conservancy. Special guest Representative Sarah Liguori will also be there to share about recently passed legislation supporting rainwater harvesting in Arizona.

To register for the Desert Living Home Tour, visit watershedmg.org/HomeTour.

Cemetery Wash Clean Up by Marlene AvelinoOn Thursday, October 13th, the Ward 3 office - along with a few friends - met up at Cemetery Wash to pick up trash.

Council Member Dahl at Cemetery Wash

Located between Stone Ave. and Oracle Rd. just south of Fort Lowell Rd., Cemetery Wash is one of many hotspots in Ward 3 for litter, debris, and drug use, and our office plans to target this spot once a month for 3 months. While the litter and trash can seem overwhelming, we were thanked by neighbors passing by and cleaned up 12 large bags in a short time, making it feel like our effort was appreciated.

Stephen Addison and the truckload of the trash we removed from Cemetery Wash.

Many thanks to Kristin Woodall and Ricky Romero from the Community Safety, Health, and Wellness program for joining us and to Stephen Addison from the City Manager’s office for coordinating the clean-up and hauling the trash away.

Chief of Staff Katie Bolger, Council Member Kevin Dahl, Stephen Addison, Kristin Woodall, and Ricky Romero helping to beautify our Ward.

We are planning a monthly clean up every second Thursday of the month. We will focus on Cemetery Wash through December and find a new location after the first of the year. If you would like some camaraderie while helping beautify the community, it’s a short 2 hour commitment and the mornings are nice! Look for our flyer and RSVP link in next week’s newsletter!

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

Samos Neighborhood Association
Tuesday
October 18th
6:30- 7:30 pm
on Zoom

Grant Road Coalition  
Wednesday
October 19th
5:30- 7:30 pm
Ward 3 Community Room
1510 E. Grant Rd.

Flowing Wells Neighborhood Association  
Thursday
October 20th
6:00- 7:00 pm
Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center
1660 W. Ruthrauff Rd.

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
Food4Life at New Life Community Church of the Nazarene on October 15th

Food distribution is Saturday, October 15th, at New Life Community Church of the Nazarene (3367 N. Geronimo). Sign-up begins at 8 a.m. and continues as long as they have food. Food is usually distributed beginning around 10 a.m., and they finish by 11 or 11:30 a.m. There will be vegetables, fruit, packaged food, desserts, dairy, and some meat. You get to select your own food, and there are no income, residency, or other requirements.

Free Vaccines at the Humane Society

Ward 3 Ready, Set, Rec! in Ward 3

Fresh Start Expo on Saturday, October 22nd

Trunk or Treat on Saturday, October 29th

Tricks and Treats Event at the Marty Birdman Center

Cyclovia on Sunday, October 30th

Drive-Thru Harvest Giveaway on Monday, October 31st

City Wide Events
Sign Up for Tucson's Climate Action Report!

You can use this link to subscribe to the Climate Action Report through the City Manager's Office:https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/AZTUCSON/subscriber/new   
Annual Bicycle and Pedestrian Count!
Volunteers Needed October 17th through November 2nd Your help is needed this fall to count the number of bikes and pedestrians at key intersections. Pima Association of Governments uses this fresh data annually to help identify trends and informs local planning efforts.

PAG relies on a team of volunteers to spend two to three hours at a designated intersection to track how many non-motorized travelers pass by during that time. The 2021 count, for example, showed more than 70% of riders counted that year were wearing helmets, up from about 45% in 2013.

Volunteering is easy. The count runs Oct. 17 to Nov. 2, and each weekday shift is two hours long. Weekend shifts are three hours long, and you can sign up for as many shifts as you’d like.

Here’s how it works:
1) Visit the sign up page to see which locations and times are available.
2) Sign up for one or more shifts that work best for you. Weekday morning shifts are from 7 to 9 a.m., weekday evening shifts are from 4 to 6 p.m., weekend shifts are on Saturday or Sunday from 7 to 10 a.m.
3) Complete the online training.
4) Perform a count at your designated location.
5) Submit your tally by email or mail.

Sustainable Tucson 2045 Workshops on October 22nd & November 12th

What’s your vision of Tucson in the year 2045? Sustainable Tucson is starting a new initiative: ST2045 - Envisioning our Sustainable Future. For this, we will hold two workshops this Fall (and two more in the Spring) for community members to work together to express their vision of the future we want for Tucson. 

You are invited to be part of one of these workshops. Led by UA Professor Kathleen Kennedy, workshop participants will use a creative and stimulating collage process to create images of Tucson now and the Tucson they expect and want to see in 2045. 

Following the workshops, you’ll also have the opportunity to be part of a “special interest group” to explore key visions further, focus on a specific issue of interest, and recommend first/next steps for action. The workshop results will also help Sustainable Tucson plan what to focus on next year, to help make our community’s vision a reality.  This year, ST2045 will take the place of the Envision Tucson Sustainable Festival. 

Workshops will take place Saturday, October 22nd, 2:00-4:00 pm, at the Murphy-Wilmot Library, (530 N Wilmot Rd), and Saturday, November 12th, 10:00 am-noon, at the Ward 6 Office, (3202 E 1st St).   We hope you can participate. If you’d like to be part of this new initiative, use the link below to register for one of these workshops.   For more information, please contact Tres English [email protected], and you can Register Here

Community Drive-Thru Toy Giveaway on Saturday, October 22nd

On Saturday, October 22nd, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., the Tucson Police Department in conjunction with Toys for Tots will be hosting a community drive-thru toy distribution event in the Geico parking lot on MLK Way.  During this event, we will be giving away over 15,000 toys to families in our community.  The toys mostly range through the age of 14, but all are welcome and no prior registration is needed.

Build a Community Altar for Día de Los Muertos on Saturday, October 29th

Did You Know?
Connect Arizona Affordable Connectivity Program

Tucson Water Discounts

Call 520-791-5443 to make an appointment or visit this site for more information: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/low-income-assistance-program

COVID-19 Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance

Funding requests for unpaid rent and utilities are available for up to 12 months in arrears and three months in advance. Those without internet access can call (520) 447-4423 to apply, and bilingual case managers are available. Go to this site for more information.