August 27, 2001
Ward 5: Tough City Council battle pits 2 Democrats
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Aaron J. Latham / Staff
Steve Leal, left, and Jesse Lugo are vying for Leal's City Council seat in the primary election. Expect a general-election-style showdown.
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By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
There's no need for a general election battle in Ward 5, but voters are getting one anyway.
The race for the South Side council seat will be decided in the Sept. 11 primary because Councilman Steve Leal and his only challenger, Jesse Lugo, are both Democrats. But while their contest doesn't pit parties against each other, it features two candidates whose stark differences create a general-election-style showdown.
Leal is an establishment Demo-crat who has pushed government to solve societal problems, particularly those facing the poor. Lugo offers a more conservative vision of city government that has attracted support from business leaders and some prominent Republicans.
Lugo also has proved to be an aggressive campaigner, going after Leal like the attack dogs the challenger has encountered while campaigning door-to-door. He has criticized Leal's work ethic, questioned his effectiveness and even lobbed potshots at his gardening skills.
"His yard is full of weeds," Lugo said, standing amid the uniform gravel of his own front yard. "It's an eyesore."
Leal concedes his yard could be neater. He's been busy, he says, providing for the needs of Ward 5 residents.
During his 12 years on the council, the city has built or expanded four neighborhood centers and three public libraries, found a permanent home for an adult education program and directed more resources to South Side neighborhoods he said were neglected before he ousted Republican Councilman Roy Laos in 1989.
"Jesse might want to say that none of that exists, but it exists," Leal said. "The issue is being effective, and I'm effective."
Lugo, a 47-year-old lobbyist and business consultant, said Ward 5 streets are the worst in town. He said he'd demand that city street sweepers clean every street at least twice a month. "People want to see their tax dollars at work," he said.
He also said he'd lead other council members on a tour of Ward 5 and convince them to give up discretionary spending in their own wards to improve conditions in his. "I would ask them to share costs and make an investment," he said.
Leal said that strategy is unlikely to work. He said he has encouraged city staffers to chart objective measurements of living conditions on maps so the council can see precisely where resources are most needed.
Lugo said his top priority would be hiring another 450 or so Tucson Police officers to increase the department's presence on South Side streets and improve response time to crimes. He believes the money for that could be freed up by consolidating several city departments with their counterparts in the county.
That arrangement has worked well for the public library system, Leal said, but other efforts to consolidate haven't won cooperation from the county. He also said consolidation wouldn't save enough money to pay for police officers, street sweepers and other programs Lugo has said he supports.
Leal, a 54-year-old administrator at the Pima County Jail, said his top priority is supporting job development programs for working-class residents. He also wants to find a way to make undeveloped industrial-zoned property in Ward 5 available for affordable housing projects.
Both candidates oppose charging a separate fee for trash collection and landfill costs. Beyond that, they disagree on most everything else that has come up in the campaign.
Leal said he supports a proposed half-cent addition to the city's sales tax to fund transportation improvements if at least half the proceeds are used to improve public transit. Lugo opposes that tax. Instead, he said he'd lobby state lawmakers to increase the tax on gasoline, but only if they also agreed to give Pima County a greater share of receipts.
Lugo also 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 required city contractors to pay employees at least $8 an hour plus benefits.
Such positions have helped Lugo attract support from business leaders, home builders and other traditional GOP constituencies that are supporting Citizens for Alert Government, an independent campaign group.
As of last week, the group had raised about $10,000 from "movers and shakers in Tucson," said Jeffrey Hill, the group's treasurer. "They're business leaders, and most business people are Republican," Hill said of the group's donors.
Leal, meanwhile, has won support from Tucsonans for Excellence in Government, an independent group supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Mike Vespoli, the group's treasurer, says it plans to spend about $10,000 mailing out ballots and materials supportive of Leal.
Both candidates have raised enough money to secure city matching funds, and both will have the resources to spend up to the city's $60,000 cap through the Sept. 11 primary.
While Lugo has attracted his share of Democratic supporters, he also has collected cash from prominent Republicans, including car dealer Jim Click, GOP council candidate Kathleen Dunbar, developer Donald Diamond and attorney John Munger, who hopes to become the next chairman of the Pima County Republican Party.
Some of Leal's largest donations have come from construction company owners, contractors and real estate professionals. He also received large contributions from car dealer Bob Beaudry, Democratic consultant Jan Lesher and a variety of attorneys, doctors and other professionals.
Lugo has been endorsed by the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association, the Tucson Board of Realtors and the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Leal has been endorsed by groups including the Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Tucson, Sierra Club, the Arizona Human Rights Fund and the Southern Arizona Central Labor Council.
Leal said Lugo is too tight with Republican business leaders to represent the heavily Democratic Ward 5. The election of GOP Mayor Bob Walkup has moved the council's agenda to the right, he said, and someone needs to speak out for the poor. "I definitely bring that," he said.
But Lugo said Leal has grown complacent during his time in office. What Ward 5 really needs, he said, is someone who will work full time to address the needs of residents.
"The issues of this ward have been isolated and neglected," Lugo said. "The incumbent isn't paying attention to the will and needs of the people, and that's what he's paid to do."
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
August 15, 2001
Leal's use of city-owned vehicle for campaign is wrong, Lugo says
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
When Tucson City Councilmen Steve Leal hits the campaign trail, he's usually traveling in a city-owned car.
City officials say the arrangement is perfectly legal, because Leal's campaign reimburses the city for time spent driving that 1987 Chevy Caprice on campaign business. But Leal's opponent, Democrat Jesse Lugo, says the Democratic incumbent should find another ride.
"I don't know what the city attorney says, but in my opinion I think that's illegal," Lugo said. "I don't want my tax dollars paying for someone who's running for public office."
But taxpayers don't pay for those campaign trips, Leal said. Council members have long had the option of driving a city car, he said, and those who do routinely reimburse the city for personal use of those vehicles.
"This system has been functioning for years," Leal said. "Jesse's been around long enough to know that. He's just trying to mislead people."
Republican Councilman Fred Ronstadt said he avoids driving his city-issued 1998 Ford Contour for campaign business. While he occasionally campaigns on his way to and from official council trips, he said he uses his wife's car, rides a bike or asks a volunteer to drive when he makes trips exclusively for his campaign.
"It's a taxpayer vehicle, and to use it to campaign I think is inappropriate," he said. "Even though I would reimburse the city for it, other candidates don't have access to a vehicle provided by the taxpayers."
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com
August 14, 2001
Lugo wants city to focus on basics
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
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Jori Klein / Staff
Jesse Lugo is leaving his Model T roadster at home and campaigning on his bicycle, trying to meet every Ward 5 voter.
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Jesse Lugo made his name as a gas station owner, and he's known in some circles for his meticulously maintained 1927 Ford Model T roadster.
But when it comes to his campaign for the Tucson City Council, Lugo has given up his automobile for a well-used bike.
Lugo is trying to personally visit every voter who's eligible to cast a ballot in the Ward 5 Democratic primary. He travels primarily by bicycle, setting out at 8 every morning, taking a four-hour midday break and finishing up around 8 p.m.
"Voters want to see that candidate face to face," said Lugo. And in case some of the neighborhood dogs don't, he carries a pocketful of dog biscuits.
"As soon as their ears go down, guess what? I've got my clearance to move on by."
Former City Councilman Rudy Castro said Lugo has displayed similar determination since his days as an outfielder on Cholla High School's baseball team.
"When the going got tough, most of those guys would put their heads down and didn't really want to play. But he'd say, 'Hey, look, it's not the end of the world. Let's get it together and do it,' " said Castro, Lugo's coach at Cholla. "He does not let up one bit in anything he does."
Lugo, 47, began his career as a gas station attendant and ended up buying the Chevron station at East Speedway and North Sixth Avenue in 1984 from the former owner's widow. He has worked as a business consultant and lobbyist since the station closed in 1997. He lost a campaign for a state House seat last year.
He said he wants the city to focus on delivering basic services, including police and fire protection, paramedic services and trash collection. He opposes a proposal to collect a separate fee to pay for garbage pickup and landfill maintenance, saying the city owes its residents two trash pickups a week at no extra charge.
"People deserve a minimum amount of return on their investment in the community," he said.
Lugo opposes adding a half-cent to the city's sales tax to fund transportation improvements. "That's a regressive tax that hurts the poor," he said.
Instead, he said he would lobby the Legislature to increase the tax on gasoline 5 cents a gallon and to adjust that amount automatically to account for inflation. But he said he would only support that change if the state modifies its gasoline tax distribution formula to give Pima County a larger share of the pot.
Whatever money might be raised by that tax should be spent first to improve the city's main arterial roads, he said. He would like to pay for bus pullouts and make sure all city streets are swept at least two times a month. "That way," he said, "people at least can see and witness that their tax dollars are doing something."
He also said the city should be spending more money from its general fund to pay for speed humps, street lights, sidewalks and other neighborhood improvements. "We need to make an investment in the entire community," he said.
If the city's budget gets tight, he said he would look to consolidate the operations of some city and county departments to save money. He also said he would support cuts to city social service programs, though he didn't say which ones.
"We've got to make social services more efficient and apply more scrutiny there," he said.
Lugo opposes raising money for roads and other infrastructure through impact fees on new homes built in the city. "Those are upfront costs that might keep first-time home buyers from getting a home," he said.
He said the council should have allowed the Legislature to establish gun policies rather than trying to skirt a state statute by requiring background checks on the private sale of firearms at Tucson Convention Center gun shows.
Lugo, a member of the board of directors of the Boy Scouts, also criticized the council's vote to cut off public funding of that group because of its policy of excluding gay Scouts and leaders.
"The only entity that's going to get hurt by that is the kids," he said.
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
August 13, 2001
Leal reflects on his achievements
By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
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Jori Klein / Staff
Steve Leal talks about improvements that have taken place in Ward 5 during his 12 years on the City Council.
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When Steve Leal looks back at his 12 years on the Tucson City Council, he sees numbers.
Four. Three. Sixty-five. One.
That's four new or expanded neighborhood recreation centers, three new or expanded libraries, $65 million in road improvements and one permanent home for an adult education program that have either been built or scheduled for construction in Ward 5 during his three terms in office.
"What other part of town got four new neighborhood centers in that time?" he said. "None."
While much of the funding for those projects was approved by voters in bond packages, Leal said he lobbied city staffers to make sure those items were on the ballot. He also said he's employed "bare-knuckle leadership" to secure money from block grants and other sources for Ward 5 projects.
"He's been a very strong supporter of South Side needs," said Manny Herrera Jr., president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. "That's what he was elected to do - to help Ward 5 people - and he helps in all areas, not just for one isolated group."
Leal, 54, is an administrator at the Pima County Jail. He worked as a mechanic, a roofer and in various construction jobs before he defeated Republican Roy Laos in 1989.
He said he wants to create publicly funded job-training programs to prepare residents for a variety of careers. The city subsidizes Tucson's high-tech industry "clusters," but those high-paying positions aren't available to the majority of Tucson residents, he said.
"We have allowed work-force development to mean high-tech, and that leaves you in a situation of trickle-down economics." he said. "We need a cluster for everyone who's not in one."
He said the city should expand its economic research to chart the progress of low- and middle-income wage earners and create programs that help them get ahead. "The entire community needs to take a step up the ladder," he said.
Leal also said he'd like to work with the owners of industrial-zoned property on the South Side to see if they'll consider building homes there instead. "A lot of this land is left undeveloped," he said. "We should seek out these landowners, bring some planning and resources to the table and ask them to down-zone their property."
He said he would support a proposed half-cent addition to the city's sales tax to fund transportation improvements, but only if at least half the proceeds are used for public transit. He also said state lawmakers should increase the tax on gasoline to raise more money for road improvements.
Improving city bus service would be of particular benefit in Ward 5, Leal said, where many lower-income residents rely on Sun Tran to go to work or make shopping trips. "Sales tax is often regressive," he said. "But if you give it back to the people who generate it, it's not regressive."
Leal said he'd oppose raising money for roads and other city infrastructure needs through impact fees on new homes. Such fees create a need for larger mortgages, he said, "putting people in the position of paying more for their housing forever."
He said he'd also oppose charging residents a separate fee to cover the cost of trash collection and landfill maintenance. If the city budget gets tight next year, he said he'd favor selling off surplus city property before seeking service cuts or tax increases.
Leal defended the council's so-far-futile effort to skirt state law and require background checks on the private sale of firearms at Tucson Convention Center gun shows. "I don't think cities should be cowards," he said. "We need to struggle to deal with problems even if there's no immediate solution there."
He also praised the council's decision to eliminate public funding for the Boy Scouts because the group excludes gay scouts and leaders.
"Government needs to reflect the best about us in people," he said. "If public dollars are to be used by an organization, it shouldn't be an organization that trespasses on our civil rights and engages in discrimination."
* Contact Joe Salkowski at 573-4243 or at joes@azstarnet.com.
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