Tucson Speaks Out: June 13

No Kings protesters, take notice

We Southern Arizona voters have only a few opportunities to make changes in Federal or State legislative politics come the November General Election.

In Southern Arizona, CD7’s Adelita Grijalva is very unlikely to lose. CD6, however, is very much in play as Ciscomani is very unpopular and JoAnna Mendoza (Democrat) offers a very strong candidacy.

In the State Legislature, current Southern Arizona District House and Senate seats are safe for the Republicans (LD19) or Democrats (LD18, 20, 21).

Currently in LD23, there is one House seat held by a Republican, and in LD17 there is one House seat and the Senate seat held by Republicans. When those Republican seats are won by Democrats, there is a chance that Democrats will take control of the State Legislature.

In the past year, approximately 20,000 Southern Arizona Democrats and Independents raised their collective voice at the No Kings protests.

I encourage those 20,000 individuals to lend their support to the CD-6, LD-17 and LD-23 Democratic campaigns.

Randy Garmon

North side

Christian values in politics?

More and more Republican leaders are asserting (unconstitutionally) that there is no separation between church and state, that we’re a Christian nation, that religion should be a part of American politics. Religion provides politics with “traditional Values”, they say. But here’s their champion, Trump — divisive, mendacious, tyrannical, hateful, and mind-numbingly corrupt. What does it say about their precious “values” that this evil man has had more overt, unwavering, support from Christian pulpits than did any of his predecessors?

George Timson

Midtown

Asking a lot from $1.75

Nobody wants unsafe buses. Riders, drivers, and transit workers deserve better.

On that point, I agree with Councilmember Cunningham.

Since his op-ed acknowledges that fare-free transit didn't create homelessness, addiction, mental illness, or violent crime, I'm struggling to understand how a bus fare became the solution.

Housing instability, addiction, and untreated mental illness existed before fare-free transit and will still be here after fares return.

According to local reporting, 19 violent incidents connected to Sun Tran occurred over roughly 425 days. That's serious. It also isn't the daily chaos some rhetoric suggests.

Don't overlook the obvious: in one of the hottest cities in America, we've underinvested in shade while restricting where unhoused people can exist. Bus stops often become some of the few places offering shelter from the heat.

Everyone wants safer transit. But making a problem less visible isn't the same as solving it. That's asking a lot from $1.75. Need a little shade? Read the first letter of each paragraph.

Melissa Cordero

West side

Help is on the way!

Ironic, isn't it? I can't count the number of LTEs I've read over the past 18 months complaining about the unavailability of CD6 Congressman Juan Ciscomani. Now he's in our faces all the time. Or at least his gigantic (expensive) campaign signs are.

The antidote to this situation lies in retired Marine and Democratic candidate for CD6, JoAnna Mendoza. I refer readers to her AZ Daily Star opinion on March 18: "Ciscomani is funding chaos, not security."

"True security doesn’t come from writing a blank check to a leaderless agency. I was outraged when Juan Ciscomani, voted last year to hand DHS a $150 billion slush fund designed to evade congressional oversight — paid for by gutting Arizonans’ health care."

It is way past time for a change, and JoAnna Mendoza has what it takes to deliver.

Greg Lewis

Midtown