Ward 2 candidates argue over roads, solutions to Sun Tran strike

City Councilman Paul Cunningham and Republican rival, Kelly Lawton, both told Arizona Public Media Metro Week host Andrea Kelly that the strike was hurting the Tucson community, but they disagreed over what caused the strike.

Lawton, campus director at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide, said the seeds of the problem can be traced to previous council decisions of not addressing inefficiencies with specific bus routes and against raising fares.

“We are feeling the repercussions now,” Lawton said.

Cunnningham shot back, saying Lawton’s stance on the month-long bus strike didn’t add up.

“I really find it weird that we have all these riders who are suffering the most but we are going to put the price of the strike back on the riders. I don’t really understand how that logic works,” Cunningham said.

He said the city made the best offer possible to help the union keep pensions, increase pay for their lowest-paid employees and continue to have fully-paid health insurance.

“The teamsters walked away with a $2.7 million offer on the table. The money is there,” Cunningham said. “The city’s role is to tell them to go back to the table.”

Throughout the candidates’ discussion, Lawton focused heavily on criticism of Tucson roads, saying he was suspicious of the timing of the road work in Ward 2.

“There is road work being done. The unfortunate thing is that it is being done all at one time and I find it highly coincidental that it is happening right around the election period,” Lawton said.

Cunningham said he was particularly proud his staff was able to accelerate roadwork, singling out one stretch of Broadway from Camino Seco to Houghton Road currently in the planning stages.

“We’ve worked really hard in the Ward 2 office to really move that project along,” Cunningham said, noting the Regional Transportation Authority project is 18 months ahead of schedule.

Lawton criticized the city for taking so long to repair portions of the road.

“This one stretch of road has been a bombardment of potholes” Lawton said.

Ward 2 runs from roughly the city’s northeast side to past 22nd Street on the south and from Wilmot Road to the city’s eastern edge past Houghton Road.