Tucson Mayor Gives First 'State Of The City' Address

TUCSON, AZ — Tucson's first Latina mayor gave her inaugural 'state of the city' address this week, detailing her plans for a "safe and sustainable" city.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero spoke Wednesday, almost a year to the date after she was sworn into office. She previously served three terms on the Tucson City Council. Her speech touched on the economy, sustainability efforts, public safety and, of course, the coronavirus pandemic.

"I have been hard at work to deliver on my promise to build a safe and sustainable city with economic opportunity for all," she said. "I ran on a bold platform to take our city to the next level of progress and prosperity.”

Much of Romero's first year in office has been dominated by the coronavirus and efforts to mitigate its continued spread. The city received approximately $96 million in federal CARES Act funding and allocated more than half of that amount toward community grant programs and emergency assistance, including millions to support small businesses struggling with the economic fallout.

“It is undeniable that COVID-19 has tested our limits, and we are still actively fighting this deadly virus,” she said. “In Pima County, we have lost close to 700 lives to COVID-19. Each and every one of those lives is much more than just a statistic. They were parents, grandparents, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors. They were our fellow Tucsonans.”

The mayor and the council most recently voted to institute a citywide curfew in order to help curb the spread of the virus, which starts Friday at 10 p.m.

“I understand how exhausted and fatigued you are with this pandemic," Romero said. "I am too. But we need to stay the course. Brighter days are ahead. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Romero has also emphasized sustainability in her first year as mayor, notably voting with the council to remove glass from city recycling and battling climate change with plans to go carbon neutral by 2030.

“Planning for the future requires us to adapt to the unique challenges climate change poses to our city,” she said. “This summer, we saw this front and center, with wildfires in our mountains, and 100 days of 100 degree-plus heat. This not only presents an existential threat to our globe, but locally, climate change has serious, real-world consequences right here in Tucson.”

Romero has also had to contend with police brutality protests in the city and across the U.S., as well as several high-profile deaths in Tucson police custody. In response, the city council voted to create a Community Safety Pilot Program, which directed the Tucson Police Department to hire six social workers to manage mental health calls.

She also headed up efforts to support officers, including buying the department additional body cameras and police vehicles so they can better perform their jobs.

2021 will bring more challenges, Romero assured, with her first priority continuing to be the pandemic and economic recovery. Her plan will likely include efforts to bring new companies to the area and create more jobs for Tucsonans, she said. Remaining CARES Act funds will help with this endeavor.

“Tucson, we have so much to look forward to in the coming years,” Romero said. “Yes, 2020 has tested our limits, but we have proven our resilience, and positioned ourselves to come back stronger than ever.”