City Election Coverage
November 7, 2001
Ronstadt, Dunbar: not a done deal
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Republicans Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar might have to wait until next week before their apparent victories in two Tucson City Council races become official.
About 2,900 votes remain uncounted from Tuesday's election, including roughly 2,000 "early" ballots that were dropped off at polling places on Election Day rather than submitted by mail. Election officials also must verify about 900 so-called question ballots, including those cast by voters who arrived at the wrong polling place.
City Clerk Kathy Detrick said she hopes to tally about 1,500 of those outstanding votes by Friday afternoon. The rest should be counted before Tuesday, when the mayor and council are set to make the results official.
Ronstadt holds a 1,705-vote lead over Democrat Gayle Hartmann in his bid to win a second term representing Midtown Ward 6. Dunbar holds a 2,303-vote lead over Democrat Paula Aboud in North Side Ward 3. Democratic Councilman Steve Leal was unopposed in South Side Ward 5.
Although it's mathematically possible that votes on those uncounted ballots could give the election to the Democrats, it isn't likely to happen. Dunbar would need just 598 of 2,900 uncounted votes - about 20 percent - to be assured of victory. Ronstadt would need 1,196 votes, or about 40 percent of the remaining vote.
Hartmann has conceded she won't likely catch up, but Aboud is holding out hope for a miraculous swing in her favor. Although Republicans requested far more early ballots than Democrats, some Aboud supporters had convinced themselves that early ballots submitted at polling places Tuesday were likely filled out by procrastinating Democrats.
Detrick said the delay in tallying final results can be attributed to a record number of early ballots, which take longer to process and verify than votes cast at ballot boxes. About 20,000 city voters cast early ballots this year, easily surpassing the previous record of 15,133 in the 1999 election.
"Early voting is a great convenience to the public. So from our perspective, if it encourages people to vote, that's great," Detrick said. "But it may be an adjustment for voters to realize that they won't have immediate results."
The heavy load of early ballots contrasted with the dismal turnout at polling places. Just 21 percent of eligible city voters participated in Tuesday's election, a figure Detrick said was disappointing.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
November 6, 2001
30 percent of voters expected to turn out
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
About 30 percent of city voters are expected to participate in today's election to resolve two council races and settle the fate of three propositions.
Three of six seats on the Tucson City Council are up for grabs, but only two races are contested. Councilman Steve Leal is unopposed in South Side Ward 5 after defeating fellow Democrat Jesse Lugo in the Sept. 11 primary.
Democrat Paula Aboud, Republican Kathleen Dunbar and Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman are running for the North Side Ward 3 seat being vacated by Democratic Councilman Jerry Anderson. In Midtown Ward 6, Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt is running against Democrat Gayle Hartmann.
Ballot items include Proposition 100, which would increase the mayor's annual salary from $42,000 to $48,000 and raise council members' salaries from $24,000 to $32,400.
Proposition 400 would renew the franchise awarded to Southwest Gas, allowing the company to continue serving customers in the city. Proposition 401 is the city's updated general plan, a broad document to be used in steering city development.
City Clerk Kathy Detrick expects that about 75,000 voters will cast ballots in today's election. About 252,000 city voters are eligible to participate, but just 194,000 are considered "active."
More than 25,000 voters requested early ballots by mail, a record for city elections. But just 17,000 of those ballots had been returned by Monday, Detrick said. .
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
November 4, 2001
2 council races going down to last pitch
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
It's not exactly the World Series, but the races for two contested seats on the Tucson City Council have produced their share of late-inning drama.
As voters prepare to head to the polls Tuesday, council candidates and their supporters have competed for their attention with advertisements, public appearances and a whirled series of last-minute accusations and recriminations. Don't expect any extra innings, though: This game ends when polls close Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Three of six seats on the council are on the ballot, but only two races are contested. Councilman Steve Leal is unopposed in South Side Ward 5 after defeating fellow Democrat Jesse Lugo in the Sept. 11 primary.
Democrat Paula Aboud, Republican Kathleen Dunbar and Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman are running for the North Side Ward 3 seat being vacated by Democratic Councilman Jerry Anderson. In Midtown Ward 6, Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt is running against Democrat Gayle Hartmann.
The candidates have feuded on various fronts, but their positions on the top city issues offer reasons enough for choosing among them. Victories by Dunbar and Ronstadt would give Republican Mayor Bob Walkup two reliable GOP allies. Wins by Aboud and Hartmann, meanwhile, would restore their party's longtime control of the council's agenda.
Voters also will pass judgment on three ballot measures Tuesday.
Proposition 100 would increase the mayor's annual salary from $42,000 to $48,000 and increase council members' salaries from $24,000 to $32,400. The changes were proposed by the Citizens' Commission on Public Service and Compensation, a seven-member panel appointed by the city manager.
Proposition 400 would renew the franchise awarded to Southwest Gas, allowing the company to continue serving customers in the city.
Proposition 401 is the city's new general plan, a sweeping document that will be used to steer the city's future development. The measure lacks any real controversy, since critics who once complained the measure was too vague have now concluded it's too benign to oppose.
Polls will open at 6 a.m. Tuesday and remain open until 7 p.m. All city residents who were registered to vote before Oct. 8 are eligible to participate.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com
October 28, 2001
$90K backs city GOP hopefuls
Ronstadt, Dunbar have fund-raising edge
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A billboard company, a home builders group, local business leaders and the state GOP have helped raise more than $90,000 to back the campaigns of two Republican candidates for the Tucson City Council.
A group dubbed Citizens for a Better Tomorrow had raised $62,045 through Oct. 17 for its campaign to support Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt and GOP candidate Kathleen Dunbar, according to reports filed Thursday with the city.
The Arizona Republican Party, meanwhile, kicked in $30,000 to help those candidates through its own independent group, Good Government for Tucson.
The groups give Ronstadt and Dunbar a significant financial advantage over Democrats Gayle Hartmann and Paula Aboud, whom they'll face in the city's Nov. 6 general election. They've already sponsored ad campaigns, and such groups are known for delivering last-minute hit pieces designed to keep opponents' supporters away from the polls.
"We're certainly trying to get a message out," said Jonathan Paton, chairman of Citizens for a Better Tomorrow. "These are economic leaders of the community who are concerned about the economy. They're all concerned about the future of their businesses and the future of all Tucsonans."
A political action committee affiliated with billboard magnate Karl Eller gave $10,000 to Paton's group, while the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association gave $9,000. Car dealer Jim Click and his relatives contributed a combined $4,000, while Compass Bank - where Click serves on the board of directors - contributed $5,000.
The group's donors also include land investor Don Diamond and his relatives ($6,500); Estes Homes President Bill Estes Jr. and his father ($5,000); developer David Mehl and his wife ($3,000); and Stephen Quinlan, president and CEO of Long Realty ($2,500).
Aboud, who is running against Dunbar and Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman in Ward 3, said she isn't too worried about facing off against all that cash. "I'm more concerned with what the people in Tucson think of some people living outside the city trying to buy their City Council," she said.
Citizens for a Better Tomorrow will spend about $25,000 on a radio advertising campaign.
Paton and some of the same donors were affiliated with another group that mailed out unflattering photos of Councilman Steve Leal in a failed effort to help challenger Jesse Lugo in the Ward 5 Democratic primary.
Ward 6 candidates Ronstadt and Hartmann have raised enough money for their own campaigns to reach the $80,000 spending cap imposed on candidates who accept public matching funds.
Dunbar also has raised enough to reach that limit, while Aboud has about $55,000 in donations and matching funds. Hoffman, meanwhile, has raised about $10,500 in public and private funds.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
October 9, 2001
Ronstadt, Dunbar get campaign help from 2 new groups
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Republicans Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar can expect a little help from their friends as they
campaign for the Tucson City Council.
Two independent campaign committees were created last week to support the GOP candidates,
promising an infusion of cash their backers hope will counter the Democrats' voter registration edge in
the Nov. 6 general election.
"We think Mayor Bob Walkup needs a team to support him and his agenda for economic development
in the city, and we think Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar would be the best members of that team,"
said Jonathan Paton, chairman of the newly formed Citizens for a Better Tomorrow.
The group involves some of the same people who formed a committee that tried to topple Councilman
Steve Leal in the Ward 5 Democratic primary. Paton, a former legislative candidate who was involved in
that effort, said he's not sure how much money the group will raise or how it will be spent.
Gayle Hartmann, a Democrat running against Ronstadt in Midtown Ward 6, said business interests will
probably control the groups working against her.
"A significant amount of my opponent's larger contributors are developers, the billboard industry and the
auto dealers. And that's who will be funding the independent campaigns," she said. "People instinctively
don't care much for those sorts of supporters."
Officials from the state Republican Party are behind Good Government for Tucson, a second
independent campaign committee formed last week. While the party itself has coordinated campaign
efforts with GOP candidates in the past, state law precludes such activity when the party has fewer than
three candidates on the ballot.
"This is a really important election for us to help our candidates get their views out," said Nathan Sproul,
executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. Sproul wouldn't comment on how much money the
group would raise or how it would be spent, saying to do so would violate "the spirit" of state law.
Independent committees are forbidden from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support.
They also have become known for firing off the sort of confrontational attacks that candidates are loath
to launch themselves.
The group that opposed Leal, for example, began by mailing out requests for early ballots. But in the
final days of the primary, it sent out fliers picturing Leal with his eyes closed and a slogan admonishing
voters to "wake up" the council.
"If the purpose of an independent campaign is to help the public get more information about the
candidates, I have no problem with it," said Democrat Paula Aboud, who is running against Dunbar and
Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman in North Side Ward 3.
But she added that ads late in the campaign against Leal went too far.
Paton said Citizens for a Better Tomorrow will try to focus on the different positions candidates have
taken on various city issues. "I don't really consider that negative campaigning," he said.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or joes@azstarnet.com
September 12, 2001
Analysis
City Council's character could change on Nov. 6
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tuesday's primary set up a pair of general election races that could recast the character of the Tucson City Council.
In North Side Ward 3, Demo-crat Paula Aboud won a chance to face Republican Kathleen Dunbar, Green Party candidate Ted O'Neill and Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman in the Nov. 6 general election. Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt and Demo-crat Gayle Hartmann, meanwhile, will square off in Midtown Ward 6.
Those two citywide votes will serve as a de facto referendum on the council's recent departure from its once-liberal moorings. Republican Mayor Bob Walkup's election in 1999 has led to the emergence of a four-vote majority that has frequently frustrated Democrats Jose Ibarra, Steve Leal and the retiring Jerry Anderson.
If Ronstadt holds on to his seat and Dunbar replaces Anderson, a city once known for its left-leaning politics would be run by a mayor and council that includes three Republicans and a pair of Democrats - Shirley Scott and Carol West - who seem likely to side with them more often than not.
"I think it would very definitely go in the direction of big business and big developments," said Sharon Chadwick, who chairs the Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Tucson. "I think it would be very hard for neighborhoods to make their case."
If both Hartmann and Aboud score victories, though, the council would do an about-face. Walkup would be the lone Republican in a group that would likely be ruled by four Demo-crats who tend to put neighborhood interests ahead of business concerns.
"The mayor would have a more difficult time getting support for his initiatives," said Bob Johnson, executive director of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, a group made up of local business leaders.
"I definitely see that option as being less friendly to the mayor in terms of his pursuing what I think is a pretty solid vision of the city's future."
In Ward 3, Dunbar enjoys a healthy fund-raising lead over her rivals and the name recognition gained from her term as a state representative from a district that included much of Midtown.
Aboud, though, benefits from the Democratic Party's significant voter registration advantage within city limits - a 119,539 to 76,755 edge over Republicans as of last month. That advantage is even more pronounced in Wards 3 and 6, where potential voters have the added incentive of turning out to cast ballots for their own council members.
In Ward 6, Hartmann has raised enough money to mount a competitive campaign against Ronstadt, the Republican incumbent. She also can expect support from voters in her own heavily Democratic ward, which voted against Ronstadt in his 1997 citywide victory.
Ronstadt, though, has developed political muscle through his constituent service and his alliance with Walkup.
His name recognition has grown beyond a mere link to his pioneering Tucson family, and he has won loyal support from Tucson's business community.
If Republicans and Democrats end up splitting the two available seats Nov. 6, the makeup of the council will remain much as it stands today, observers said. But if either party wins a sweep, the impact will be swift and substantial.
"I think we're at a real crossroads here," Chadwick said.
"This election will give us a chance to make a choice based on which direction we want the community to go."
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or joes@azstarnet.com.
September 9, 2001
Early votes popular in primary
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Although the city's primary election won't be settled until Tuesday, either Councilman Steve Leal or challenger Jesse Lugo is nearly halfway to victory.
Almost 1,500 of the voters who are eligible to participate in that Ward 5 Democratic primary race have requested early ballots, and 949 had returned them by Friday. By the time polls close on Election Day, early ballots could represent about 40 percent of the votes cast in that race, City Clerk Kathleen Detrick said.
That level of early voting would be the highest in Ward 5 history and probably the city's as well, Detrick said. About 22 percent of voters in the 1999 citywide election cast early ballots.
"I don't believe we've had anything come as high as what we're seeing in Ward 5," she said.
Independent campaign groups working on behalf of Leal and Lugo have focused on early voters by mailing out ballot request forms to eligible voters in the South Side ward. Since voter turnout in Ward 5 generally lags behind other areas of town, supporters of both candidates have made a point of locking up as many votes as possible before Tuesday.
Early voting isn't nearly so prevalent in the Ward 3 Democratic primary between Paula Aboud and Vicki Hart. Just 519 of the voters eligible to participate in that race have requested early ballots. By comparison, 473 Republicans in Ward 3 have requested early ballots for the GOP primary, in which Kathleen Dunbar is running unopposed.
Nearly 800 early ballots have been requested in Ward 6, where Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt and Democratic challenger Gayle Hartmann are running unopposed. They will face each other in the Nov. 6 general election.
Registered voters in Wards 3, 5 and 6 are eligible to cast ballots, but the Democratic primaries in Wards 3 and 5 offer the only contested races.
The winner of the Ward 5 primary between Leal and Lugo will take office because they're the only candidates in the race.
Leal, an administrator at the Pima County Jail, is seeking a fourth term on the council. He has touted his record of delivering government services to his working-class ward, including new recreation centers and libraries and a permanent home for an adult education program.
Lugo, a business consultant and lobbyist, has said he would bring a higher level of service to ward residents. He said he'd push to hire hundreds of new police officers, request that streets be swept more frequently and ask other council members to take money intended for their own districts and spend it in Ward 5 instead.
The pair disagree on many issues. Leal said he'd support adding a half-cent to the city's sales tax to fund transportation improvements, but only if at least half the proceeds are dedicated to public transit. Lugo said he'd prefer to ask state legislators to increase the tax on gasoline. But he'd endorse such a change only if lawmakers also agreed to give Pima County a larger share of the proceeds.
Lugo opposes a number of city policies approved with Leal's support, including the restaurant smoking ban, the denial of public funds to the Boy Scouts, restrictions on "big box" stores and a "living wage" ordinance that requires city contractors to pay employees at least $8 an hour plus benefits.
In Ward 3, Aboud and Hart offer different experience but similar approaches to city issues.
Hart, who produces publications for the Pima County Attorney's Office, is a longtime community volunteer and victim-rights advocate. She has successfully lobbied the Legislature to revise Arizona's insanity defense law and worked on a successful ballot initiative that gave crime victims new privileges in criminal-court proceedings.
Aboud worked as a teacher, coach and real estate broker before taking over management duties for her family's real estate holdings. She has been active in neighborhood politics through Ward 3 Neighbors, a coordinating council for her North Side area's neighborhood associations.
The two Democrats agree on most city issues but do have some differences. Hart supports the transportation sales tax proposal, while Aboud is more skeptical, saying she'd support it only after pressing the city staff for more details about how it would be used. Aboud has called for a citizens oversight committee to review city spending and said she'd consider a hiring freeze if the city budget gets tight. Hart said she'd endorse small, across-the-board cuts to city departments and deeper cuts to "redundant" spending on social services.
Hart also said she'd consider imposing a separate fee for trash collection and landfill costs. Aboud said she opposes a separate fee for trash, though she'd consider a new, temporary fee to raise money for addressing environmental problems at old city landfills.
The winner of the Ward 3 Democratic primary will face Dunbar, Libertarian Jonathan Hoffman and Green Party candidate Ted O'Neill in the general election.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
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