Tucson Speaks Out: June 16

Data center facts

In Wenatchee, Washington, which has a large ice-cold river next to it, a data center uses 1.4 million gallons of water a day for cooling. It uses enough electricity to power 80,000 homes for a year. This data center says it will, in the long run, hire 160 workers. I’ll bet two Walmarts or two Fry’s stores could hire the same number of workers, increase the tax base, and use wayyy less water from a water-starved desert like Tucson. I say if they want to build, 1) no tax breaks, 2) you get charged residential rates for water use, in and out, 3) fully fund and build a water treatment plant 4) TEP cannot change the rates to its current customers for the increase in electrical output. Tucson and Pima County work too hard to conserve water and electricity to allow such a monster energy-sucking, water-slurping industry to exist here.

Douglas Heaberlin

Vail

Be informed before approving data centers

Pima County’s Board of Supervisors must demand full transparency when considering Project Blue or any future data center project.

I moved to Pima County from Ireland, where unchecked and desperate data center development has been a national embarrassment. These facilities have had an outsized impact on climate goals, infrastructure, and the landscape, with economic benefits proving uncertain. All this in a country with a far more advanced green energy program, and with significantly more water resources, than here in Southern Arizona.

The Sonoran Desert is not a blank slate, and open space is not empty space — the landscape counters our development but will be increasingly unable to do so when blanketed by resource-intensive projects such as this. At minimum, the public and decision-makers must be fully informed before a decision is made that results in irreversible harm.

Kate Hotten

East side

Economic showdown

The bitter fight in DC concerns the federal budget and the ever-growing national debt, now approaching $ 38 trillion. The USA has already lost the top ratings by the global ranking agencies, so we are now in a spiral downwards, which President Trump is desperately trying to hide from us. Spending millions of dollars on his military parade is just a charade by a petty wannabe dictator. Cutting medical and scientific research, removing vast amounts of money for education, childcare, public news media, the arts, diplomatic representation across the globe, foreign aid, the infrastructure, the environment, and making enemies out of our closest allies is a frenetic yet hapless attempt by a nasty bully to save face when we are marching directly toward a collapse. Reasonably raise the taxes on the super-rich, stop wasting money on governmental showmanship, live up to your social and economic obligations, don’t scapegoat the millions of immigrants who do much of the basic work for us, cut ICE, and then we can talk.

Albrecht Classen

Midtown

The abominable showman

Our country is under siege by a delusional psychopath megalomaniac president and the minions who follow in his madness. Senator Padilla’s treatment by federal agents is simply the latest (as of this writing), of an endless list of examples. In DJT’s alleged mind, no theatrics are too tame or too destructive to let everybody know who’s boss.

I hope all people who embrace America will protest the disease that is this administration and threatens to infect all of us.

Robert Kafes

Midtown

Is this who we really are?

It seems to me that we can no longer blithely say “this isn’t who we are.” Between Trump’s staggering pettiness taking unlawful aim at those whom he thinks have injured him and his recklessly ignoring the Constitution with no reprimands from Republicans who cower in fear at his threats, and a Supreme Court that gives him immunity, perhaps we must ask: Is this what we have become? Is this, perhaps, who we really are?

Barbara Benjamin

Foothills

Iran

Does anyone remember Donald Trump resigning from the Iranian nuclear agreement? Who started the world down this path? Think.

Mary Beth Schneider

East side

Civil War redux

“We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this Governor Newsom and this mayor placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city,’’ said Kristi Noem.

Sounds like a declaration of war to me. Red states against blue states. Which side will purple Arizona join? Perhaps it’s time to resurrect the “Free Baja Arizona” movement.

Steven Brown

Midtown

Trump speaks to troops at Fort Bragg

As a soldier for a quarter of a century, I was appalled at President Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg. An inspirational military ceremony was instead partisan political theater.

Worse than that was the behavior of soldiers. There was jeering at the names of elected political leaders; laughter at diversity and equity in the Army; and booing at President Biden and the media. The appropriate response should have been respectful silence.

What message does this send to our soldiers that the leadership permits this to happen? More seriously, what message does this send Americans when this looked like just another political rally, this time cheered on by the Army?

The reputation of the Army in California, after the January fires is sterling. Fort Bragg’s soldiers have severely tarnished that image.

Five years ago General Milley was similarly used in a political photo op at the White House. He immediately regretted this staged event and publicly apologized for it. Will the leadership at Fort Bragg have the same courage?

Peter Huisking

Retired colonel, U.S. Army

Sierra Vista

Democratic incompetence

Democrats still haven’t figured out why they lost to a criminal sociopath. If you look at Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs, at the bottom tier are the basic needs of life: food and shelter. The middle and working classes have lost a lot of ground over the last 40 years. Many voters are struggling to buy groceries and pay the rent.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are way up on Maslov’s hierarchy of needs with their identity politics and other stupid stuff. Trans rights. Which bathroom to use. Seriously?

Democrats, you cannot alienate most of the voters and win elections. Now we are ruled by a fascist party that is hell bent on destroying the Constitution and concentrating the nations’ wealth with the wealthy.

Tell me again why the billionaires need more tax cuts?

Gary Thacker

Midtown

President Trump displays his knowledge

President Trump finally recognizes how important those vicious “murderers and, rapists” undocumented immigrants are. On June 12 he posted on Truth Social that “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.” Fortunately, not totally impossible because those vicious murderers, rapists and gang members allowed into the country by “Stupid Biden” were taking jobs making beds and harvesting crops. Who knew?

President Trump is such a wise and thoughtful leader who is able to end the war in Ukraine in One Day, (oops!) knows more than all the generals (double oops!!) and is so knowledgeable about immigration (triple oops!!!). Quadruple oops will be next with changes to vaccine mandates for children.

Mike Carran

Marana

‘Turning’ students

As a 20-year teaching veteran, I have thoughts about this strange concern about teachers “turning” students. Some folks seem to be concerned about “turning” students into a different gender. I was more concerned about students “turning” work in on time. Some folks seem to be very concerned about teachers “turning” students into police-haters. I was concerned about students “turning” in a five-paragraph essay using a thesis statement. Some folks seem to be concerned that teachers are “turning” students into political activists. I was only concerned that a students could identify character, setting, and plot when “turning” in a literary analysis. If these folks only knew how hard it was for the teacher to do their basic job with all the requisite meetings, conferences, lesson plans, and grading, these folks would know we have neither the time, willingness or ability to “turn” our students into anything other what their parents, friends and social media feeds lead them to become.

Norman S. Golden

West side

Grow the middle class

One solution to our nation’s growing budget is to reduce expenditures — a valid approach, but only if done surgically by experts who can assess the pros and cons of such decisions. Another solution is to raise taxes on the wealthy — a valid approach since such wealth was largely built on taxpayer-supported assets (public education, interstate transportation, security, research and development, etc). But another time-tested solution is largely overshadowed — strengthen and broaden the middle class.

The middle class is our economic engine. The more numerous and well paid its members, the stronger our national, state and local economies, and, thus, our tax base. Supporting unions, increasing minimum wage, supporting education at all levels (including trades), supporting families with a child tax credit and affordable home-ownership, and providing grants and low-interest loans to small businesses, are only a few of the possibilities.

Linda Dobbyn

Midtown

Private equity and college sports

Now that the House vs. NCAA settlement is official, most universities will lose even more money in athletics than they do already. Private equity funds hope to be a solution. (That’s what they do. They take high potential businesses and turn loss into profit.) Their focus presently is football and basketball. That would be an exceptional strategy at UA. To do it well, however, would require a major real estate development effort around the campus. Unfortunately, the current political setup in Tucson probably makes that a non-starter. Baseball offers an intriguing alternative. MLB teams are reducing their minor league systems. How about going all the way? Hook up with 10-20 other schools. Go pro in baseball. Sell a partial interest to private equity. Develop Reid Park a little. Make a positive cash flow. Let the players go pro anytime they want, not just after three years. Maybe IPO the team. Once that works, the vibe might change on football and basketball, too. Then off to the races.

Walter Ramsley

East side