City election questionnaire: Economy

Mayor

Arthur Kerschen

Tucson can help the economy by cutting taxes, deregulating business and eliminating business mandates.

Regina Romero

As Mayor, one of my top priorities is to make sure Tucson is an equitable, sustainable, thriving desert city.

In my first term as Mayor, I continued the work I began as a Council Member on Economic Development. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, and bringing in or expanding businesses are the job creators. I am committed to supporting our local entrepreneurs, small businesses and legacy businesses while creating appropriate incentive packages to bring in high-wage, long-term jobs.

Hiring the City’s first small business program manager, with a team of bi-lingual small business navigators is key to supporting Tucson’s economy. The classes we offer in Spanish and English that support our small businesses are filling a niche. Our Sazon Emperarial program and Academia de Belleza program are two examples. Our small business navigators are available to help small businesses navigate the City of Tucson systems as well as gain financial literacy and other business skills.

Under my leadership, the City of Tucson also hired an International Trade Specialist. Mexico is our biggest trading partner. We have already welcomed 20 dignitaries and companies from Mexico and Canada.

The City of Tucson can continue to support the University of Arizona and Pima Community College as important partners in developing the workforce we need here in Tucson. We need mechanics and engineers. We need emergency medical technicians and doctors. We need people who can work in manufacturing, and drivers. The programs offered by these institutions help make sure we have the educational opportunities that are needed.

In my first term as Mayor, the City of Tucson worked with community stakeholders to update our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. We need to continue to expand in the sectors where we already excel and invest in the opportunity areas that were identified.

Now, I will work on powering the future of Tucson with green jobs and infrastructure, greater diversity and upward mobility in our small business ecosystem, investments in a 21st-century workforce and a resilient, climate-adapted city through the Transform Tucson Fund. We are setting a national standard for excellence in driving public-private investment into innovation, business and job creation, as well as investments in equity and sustainability.

Overall, the City of Tucson needs experienced leadership, evidence-based policies and innovative solutions to make sure that our resources are maximized, and our state and federal assets are leveraged where they are needed the most.

Janet “JL” Wittenbraker

Refer to question 2: be business-friendly and bring the movie/production industry back to Tucson.

Ed Ackerley

MARKETING. Other cities are in Tucson with billboards, television and radio commercials, newspaper ads, magazine ads, signs, wrapped buses — all encouraging Tucsonans to visit elsewhere. Tucson needs a robust marketing plan with a sustainable and increased marketing budget to run in key markets to encourage businesses to open locations in Tucson, provide meaningful employment and focus on higher-paying jobs. The Economic Development office and Visit Tucson should have a coordinated marketing effort to this end.

Ward 1

Victoria Lem

Victoria Lem did not respond to our questionnaire.

Miguel Ortega

We need to take full advantage of our regional and cultural position as a City in Southern Arizona. Tourism is extremely important to our economy, and we must do all that we can to strengthen our city as a top destination for tourists so that they spend money at our locally-owned businesses, pumping more money into our economy via sales taxes. A stronger emphasis should be placed on Sonoran tourists - we need to do more to promote ways to have them exit on Irvington, 22nd Street, Congress and Speedway instead of limiting their visits to only our malls. Many of these Sonoran visitors are our tios and tias and cousins — we need to develop educational programs in Sonora that explain when they spend more of their dollars at locally owned businesses in Tucson, they are making the lives of their cousins and nephews in Tucson by generating more money for the schools they attend, the roads they drive and the public safety agencies that keep them safe.

Even if families traveling to Tucson from Sonora shift just 10 to 15% of their shopping to locally owned businesses, that would generate a significant pump to our general funds. We also need to compare how we generate revenue to our general funds to other models by other cities. How do we compare? How can we improve? We need to make sure we are at the top of the list when it comes to ensuring that growth and development is paying for itself and contributing to our housing and needs. We also need to compare our efforts to support labor organizing efforts to unionize. We need to explore ways we can incentivize larger businesses to provide for discussions by their workers to unionize and also hold larger businesses accountable if they are practicing union-busting tactics to prevent their workers from unionizing. We need to be open and upfront about being a union-friendly town and make the direct link between union jobs and a strong economy.

Lane Santa Cruz

The South and West sides of our city have experienced historic disinvestment. It has been a priority of mine to focus investments and resources to those who are most impacted. For instance, during my first term, I worked to solicit private funding to provide cash assistance to Tucson’s immigrant community who were often excluded from federal aid. I also worked to develop the framework used to distribute American Rescue Plan dollars into our community. Our focus on communities hardest hit by the pandemic and investments in parks, youth employment, affordable housing, our small businesses and legacy businesses, frontline workers, and neighborhood investments is a key component of helping Tucson’s economy.

Our community holds the solutions to many of the problems we face. Holding roundtables and listening sessions with local business owners helped to guide the work that the City of Tucson’s Small Business Navigators do. Providing support to our new and existing businesses, including access to financial literacy classes in English and Spanish, helping businesses to develop succession plans, including transitioning to worker-owned cooperatives and helping to access needed capital keeps our small businesses stable.

Investing in our youth through employment opportunities in the City, innovative partnerships with nonprofits that teach skills and career exploration, and expanding community-school partnerships is a long-term strategy to help Tucson’s economy.

Ward 2

Paul Cunningham

I believe that the best economic development that the City of Tucson could do would be to implement my Childcare for All program. Childcare for All would be a collaboration between local school districts and the City of Tucson to provide sliding scale, after-school childcare until 5:30 p.m. for all City of Tucson residents. Not only would a city that provided universal child care attract the young professional talent base that companies want, it would encourage UofA grads to stay in the city.

Universal afterschool care would bring together City programs (and their funding) like KidCo and afterschool open rec at the neighborhood centers with the afterschool programs that exist at some TUSD schools. Additional funding would come from sliding scale user fees (between $20 and $50 per week, depending on income) and DES vouchers.

We also have to continue the good work that the City has done in the last decade to attract companies offering high wages and health insurance to their employees to Tucson, whether that is through economic incentives or good old-fashioned networking and promoting our city.

Lisa Nutt

As a single mother of two small boys AND a small business owner, I'm keenly aware of the struggles people and families in our city have experienced in recent years. The challenge for government is to balance the best interests of the people with the need to grow and expand. That’s why I believe Tucson needs to do a top-down review of current economic development policies and practices, its regulatory scheme and the process by which businesses can start in or move to Tucson. In some cases, the Council can assist by streamlining some regulations that can make it much easier for businesses to grow and prosper here. We also need to prioritize increasing the number of our high school graduates (which lags the national average) and our educational attainment rate if we are to attract and retain the most fitting companies and employers.

Ernie Shack

Ernie Shack echoed Wittenbraker’s responses

Pendleton Spicer

Small businesses are the backbone of Tucson’s economy. Small businesses and entrepreneurships should be encouraged by implementing deregulation of businesses, easing their tax burden, and eliminating mandates of all kinds. This will also create a conducive atmosphere for industry and manufacturing to come to Tucson in the future. Above all, we should remove all mandates that inhibit a welcoming atmosphere for people entering a business. I believe that we need to strengthen the economy as it exists more than grow it at this time. I would encourage tourism and film production as a way to strengthen small businesses. I would work toward eliminating as many layers of government as possible to allow free market principles to dictate a healthy supply and demand — in other words, to do what the free market does best.

Ward 4

Ross Kaplowitch

Tucson’s economy could be vastly improved by truly supporting our business community. We need a strong local economy to attract new businesses and encourage our current businesses to stay in Tucson.  Lower sales tax, safe business districts, improved parking, and especially reduced regulation (red tape) at the city level will encourage businesses to stay and local residents to support them. 

Nikki Lee

In spite of the pandemic, we’ve had many economic successes during my first term. To name a few, in 2020, Raytheon selected Tucson as its headquarters for Raytheon Missiles & Defense following the merger of the Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) and Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business units. In Ward 4, TuSimple expanded its Research & Development and Operations functions, creating additional jobs and opportunities in Tucson. American Battery Factory selected Tucson as its corporate headquarters, and the project will provide an estimated $1.2 billion in capital investment, $3.1 billion in economic impact to the state, and accelerate the growth of the clean energy economy across the country.  

To bolster Tucson's economy, the city must continue to focus on fostering a supportive environment for existing businesses of all sizes and new enterprises. My background as a leader with private sector experience is a significant advantage, as I have been able to leverage my expertise, insights, and network to drive growth and foster collaboration between public and private entities.

Tucson must have a favorable business climate to attract new ventures, support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and support our community’s existing employers. This includes streamlining the permitting processes within the Planning & Development Services Department and ensuring that the department has all the necessary resources and staff to be successful. We must continue to evaluate and offer tax incentives when it is fiscally sound to do so and provide resources to help businesses navigate regulatory requirements. Additionally, the city must continue to invest in modern infrastructure, including transportation and digital connectivity, making our city an attractive destination for businesses of all sizes.