Get ready to vote for Pima County Supervisor District 1

Republican incumbent Ally Miller will face Democrat Brian Bickel in the Nov. 8 general election. Miller handily defeated her Republican primary challenger John Winchester on Aug. 30, taking over 57 percent of votes cast. She is in her first term.

Beyond incumbency, Miller enjoys a fundraising advantage over Bickel and represents a district with far more registered Republicans — more than 39 percent of its roughly 132,000 registered voters — than registered Democrats, who make up nearly 31 percent. So far, Miller has raised over $77,000 for her reelection and Bickel has raised about $25,500. Bickel has not received many of the large campaign donations that gave political newcomer Winchester a financial edge over Miller during the primary campaign, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

As in the primary, Miller was the only candidate to not provide responses to questions posed by the Star to all supervisor contenders with competitive races.

Q. Caterpillar’s move to Pima County, along with several other developments, has been pointed to as evidence that the county’s economic landscape is improving. However, some have criticized the taxpayer-funded incentives and other means used to attract businesses to the area. What are your thoughts on the county’s recent role in economic development? Would you push for a different approach?

Bickel: I think Pima County’s recent successes in economic development have demonstrated an effective approach. Tax incentives are a recruiting tool, much as sign-on bonuses are a recruiting tool in the business world. Recruiting for Fortune 500 companies is going to require incentives of some kind. However, we should not break the bank to attract a business. I believe that we exhibited that kind of control in the Tesla recruitment. We lost out to a community that was willing to provide greater incentives. Tesla would have been a great company to have in Pima County, but I think there was wisdom in not pursuing them at any cost. Ultimately the deal needs to make sense and there needs to be a net benefit to the County. I would not push for a different approach without due consideration.

Q. Roads, and their often poor condition, are a perennial source of complaints in Pima County. What do you think is the best approach to improve the condition of county roads in coming years?

Bickel: First, I believe that we need a comprehensive survey of all Pima County roads including residential, connectors, feeders and arterials. This information should include current condition, priority and a timeline to repair or replace the road surface. Then we should create a maintenance schedule for every road in the County. Finally, we need to create a funding mechanism that is totally under the control of Pima County and not the state. There are a number of options available and they all need to be evaluated for both immediate needs and the ongoing maintenance of effort.

Q. Beyond the issues raised in the previous questions, what is the most significant problem or issue facing your district, and what would you do to address it?

Bickel: Of the responsibilities within the purview of the Board of Supervisors, I believe the two items above address the most pressing issues in District 1.

Q. What is the most significant problem or issue facing the county as a whole, and what would you do to address it?

Bickel: Aside from the issues mentioned above, I believe the most significant issue facing Pima County is our tax structure. I believe that we are overly dependent on property tax to generate revenue. I believe that we should look at what other Arizona counties are doing, particularly Maricopa County. I would consider investigating the restructuring of our revenue stream, if it makes sense for Pima County. This must be a revenue neutral process. We are not trying to generate additional revenue, just restructure the source of the revenue.

Q. Why should voters pick you over your opponent?

Bickel: There are two things that a Supervisor must be able to do to be successful. First, a Supervisor must be able to come up with ideas that are going to benefit and/or improve the lives of their constituents and/or Pima County. Second, a Supervisor must be able to convince at least two more Supervisors to support these efforts. As a former hospital chief executive and military officer, I have demonstrated success in both of these areas. I have led troops, been involved in negotiations with foreign governments, insurance companies, medical suppliers and employees. As a result of my experience, I developed a keen sense of negotiation, collaboration and compromise to get the most benefit for the greatest number of people. These are the skills that are needed on the Board of Supervisors at this time.

While all five seats on the Pima County Board of Supervisors are on the ballot in the general election, only Districts 1 and 3 have competitive races. We are focusing our attention on those, and offer our recommendations:

The Star endorses Brian Bickel for the northwest-side District 1, and incumbent Sharon Bronson for the largely rural west-side District 3.

Bickel is running against incumbent Republican Ally Miller, who has routinely made false statements about Pima County, its personnel and her habit of using her personal email account to conduct county business.

We do not endorse Bickel as simply an “anti-Ally Miller” position.

His career as a hospital administrator and in the military, specifically as a liaison with the civilian community, makes him an attractive candidate. Both roles required communication skills, the ability to negotiate details while keeping the big picture in mind and vision to guide a complex organization.

Bickel identified his top priority as the county’s tax structure and diversifying its tax base, because, as he said, the budget is heavily dependent on property tax, which is a volatile revenue source that fluctuates from one year to the next depending on the market and property valuations.

Bickel’s approach to economic development is forward-looking and embraces collaboration.

He recognizes government’s role to help bring big businesses to Pima County, which happened with the successful joint public-private effort to land Caterpillar’s headquarters, but also wisely knows there is a limit to what elected officials can and should do with taxpayer money to lure new businesses.

“The problems we’re dealing with aren’t partisan,” he said.

We find much to like in Brian Bickel as a fresh perspective on the board. And we find much to like in Sharon Bronson, an incumbent running against newcomer and Republican Kim DeMarco.

Bronson has the advantage of being the incumbent, but her time in office has been spent wisely.

She knows that the way to improve Pima County isn’t to slash and burn its budget, but to increase revenue — she also cited the Caterpillar deal as an effective use of public-private partnerships to build business.

Bronson’s expression of regionalism was refreshing, especially given our area’s tendency toward parochialism. Working together is powerful and the way forward. As she said, “Twentieth century economic development was different.”

Also valuable is Bronson’s institutional knowledge of Pima County.

She has the long view and has been on the board when it worked well, even when members disagreed. “There is a way to work together,” she said.