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Pima County Supervisor: District 1: Republican: Joe Higgins

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.02.2008
Name: Joe Higgins
Office seeking: Pima County Supervisor District 1
Age: 39
Occupation/employer: Entrepreneur - Sports Buzz Haircuts - Talking Trash Waste Removal
Family: Married to Chris for 11 years, daughter Hailey, 10, son Jack, 7
Religion: Catholic
Income: Depends on the year
Residence: River and Craycroft area
Education: BA University of Arizona, political science, economics
Offices held/run for: Chair, city of Tucson Small Business Commission; Chair, TREO Small Business Subcommittee
Civic activities/organizations: Executive committee and past president of Catholic Community Services Foundation, board member Salpointe Catholic High School, founder and president of Foothills Sertoma Service Club
Why are you running?
I'm concerned about the future of Pima County. I'm concerned my children won't be able to find a good job or be able to afford to buy a home. As a small-business owner, I see day in and day out opportunities we miss as a region due to our poor planning and lack of vision.
The biggest issue facing my constituents (or potential constituents) is: Financial pressures on our working families, small businesses, and the elderly are forcing people to make tough decisions. Pima County's huge spikes in property taxes these past 3 to 4 years have us at a breaking point. We need fiscal control and discipline in local government. District 1 wants transparency, efficiency, and cooperation with surrounding towns and cities.
Do you have a personal motto or words you live by? If you want something done, give it to a busy person.
Favorite local hangout: The Shanty on St. Patrick's Day. Vivace for a great dinner with my wife. SHOP LOCAL!
NPR or Fox? Fox all day at the office in the background.
How long have you lived in Arizona? 1976 - 2nd grade. I am originally from a small farming community in Wisconsin.
What kind of vehicle do you drive? What kind of mileage does it get? Volkswagen Beetle - "Vote Higgins-mobile" - 28 mpg
If I could have dinner with any living person, I would choose: Warren Buffet. He is a business legend who picks random businesses in different industries, invests, helps them to greater success, then gets out of the way.
If I had my own reality show, it would be titled: "Extreme Makeover: Pima County Edition"
First job: Age 12, sweeping and filing for my mom's boss, a local attorney. Now I'm his garbage man!
Taxes: For the last several years, Pima County has cut the residential property tax rate in response to steep increases in property values. However, many homeowners continue to pay more in taxes. Should Pima County cut the tax rate further, and if so, what cuts would you make to county programs to offset the lost revenue?
The county has a responsibility to navigate up and down years. We saw the largest increase in recent memory in property values. The problem was that the underlying number of people moving to our community did not increase as quickly as home values. This should be a great indication that speculation brought on by loose credit and low interest rates was fueling the housing growth. Pima County should have been prudent and used the windfall to retire debt, invest in road projects, and increase our rainy-day fund. The last thing we should have done was plow more money into bureaucracy by expanding our government work force. Now with the downturn in real estate and tremendous financial pressure, families are feeling Pima County cannot react quickly enough to reduce its overhead.
Pima County should definitely reduce its tax rate. We are so out of line with peer counties that in many cases, our tax rate is 3 to 4 times higher than areas such as Phoenix, Portland or Austin. Higher property tax rates without efficient transportation systems, great school districts and booming industries are a big problem and are rapidly catching up with us as a region.
To solve some of our problems, we need outside-the-box thinkers who are more concerned about the future of our children than getting re-elected. Career politicians got us to the point where we are today, and we need to bring in a fresh perspective.
Working as a region to stop duplicated and overlapping services would be a natural starting point. We see glimpses of regional approach to government with TREO, the RTA, regional water discussion, libraries and the joint court complex. Just when we start moving forward, we take two steps back by forcing Marana to take us to court over sewer agreements, or blocking Oro Valley's ability to control future growth. Pima County needs to act more like a county and work with the surrounding cities to ensure they have all the tools they need to be successful. In short, more localized control.
● I'm concerned that we missed the chance to buy Rosemont Mine and haggled over a $6 million spread like the Santa Ritas were a used car. We had the SDCP money in the bank and knew the potential impact but blew it.
● I'm concerned that we put UPH into a position at Kino that allows them to leave any time. I'm concerned that the Board of Supervisors missed loss projections so badly that a $10M subsidy from the county turned into $21M, and no end is in sight.
● I'm concerned about where we located our $30M baseball stadium and then put together a contract that leaves the taxpayers paying a bill on an empty facility.
● I'm concerned that 7 out of 10 of our top employers in the region are government entities paid for by you and me. We must diversify our economic base and stop the brain drain of educated work force that leaves Pima County because of a lack of good jobs.
Growth: What kinds of policies should the county adopt in regard to growth?
Pima County must work within the framework of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and the Comprehensive Plan to ensure growth is sustainable with the natural resources we have in place. I would encourage the municipalities to be in greater control of undeveloped areas. I am not an advocate of annexation of existing neighborhoods, unless they agree to the process and it makes sense.
Impact fees: Pima County is in the process of creating regional infrastructure plans that would call for significantly higher impact fees within targeted areas. Do you support raising impact fees? If not, how would you pay for needed infrastructure?
Impact fees are a direct tax to new home buyers. No matter what dollar figure we put on new development, it will be directly passed down to the buyer. The buyer is you and me and our future generations. The impact fee totals in our county are fair and manageable (not including utility, sales tax and permits).
I support impact fees being paid at close of escrow. I support taxing agencies clearly defining where impact fees are being spent, and I support increasing impact fees based on agreed-upon indexes.
There is an acceptable balance that allows growth to pay for its direct impact, and if we deviate from that balance, we will push growth out of our county. With impact fees passed down to the buyers, homes become less affordable, driving growth away to Pinal or Maricopa.
Business: What kinds of policies should Pima County adopt to encourage a good environment for business?
Small business employs upwards of 95 percent of the people in Pima County. As a leader in the small-business community, I have championed many issues that work to make it easier for business to get up and running and thrive. One of my single biggest frustrations in local government is the bureaucratic maze that puts up roadblocks to success. I for one am sick and tired of election year rhetoric from politicians touting a need to support small business. The reality is that business is the economic engine that can keep a community vibrant and diverse.
As your elected official, I will instill a "how can we help you" mentality instead of a "fill out this form in triplicate" attitude. I believe our region needs to focus on strategic clusters like optics, aerospace, shipping logistics, transportation and tourism. We must leverage our relationships with the University of Arizona, Raytheon and military bases to foster entrepreneurship and industry growth. With 7 out of the top 10 of our region's employers as government entities, we have a major need to diversify our employment base.
Water: Pima County has tried to position itself as a leader in regional water cooperation, but the county is not a water provider, and state law limits the county's ability to regulate water use. What kinds of water policies should Pima County adopt?
Pima County is the largest wastewater provider in the region, and the city of Tucson is the largest water provider. These two entities have tremendous power to control water policy. Conversations around regional water policy are a step in the direction of ensuring the latest technologies and best management practices are utilized to ensure an adequate and safe water supply. I do think other municipalities and the business community should be allowed a seat at the "water table" to have a voice in our collective future. I am encouraged by our development techniques and use of reclaimed water for landscape irrigation, which employ the latest conservation principles.
Management: Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry's contract is up in January. What qualities would you look for in the next county administrator?
The county manager must agree to work at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors.
I would insist that our county administrator be forthright and open with his administration and with the supervisors. The administrator must understand the importance of our environment, economic impacts of county decisions, the need for greater transportation planning, care for our indigent population and, most importantly, how decisions we make as a team impact future generations. I would require the administrator to share information and allow for full disclosure on budget and policy decisions. The county leadership must work well with towns and cities, and honor all prior commitments.
Cooperation: How would you work with officials from other jurisdictions to promote regional cooperation?
Regional cooperation is lacking in District 1 and must be changed. In speaking with administrators and elected officials in Oro Valley and Marana, their view of the relationship with Pima County ranges from rocky relationships to downright court battles. The county needs to take a hard look at past conflicts and current policies and make sure they fit in with building a strong region. I would work to mend these fractured relationships and assist the surrounding communities in achieving their goals.
We must look at a regional approach to government. We see glimpses of regional cooperation with TREO, RTA, library districts, courthouses and regional water discussion. I would drill deeper to look at additional areas where we can assist each other in building a stronger region. Pima County is losing $38 (million) to $80 million per year in state shared revenues due to our old ways of discouraging, blocking or competing with cities and towns for future growth. The closer we can get the people toward their elected officials, the more responsive our system becomes. Recent elections in Oro Valley are sure to bring changes that reflect the wishes of the electorate. To me, that is democracy in action.
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