Bog News July 2023

CONTENTS
Good reasons to vote for Miguel:

1: Miguel LISTENS.

2: Miguel is pro-labor, labor is Pro-Miguel.

3 Independent thinkers support Miguel.

4 Miguel is not in anyone’s pocket.

5 Miguel is the only “clean” candidate.

6 Miguel is pro-public, pro-education.

7 Miguel is not a racist.

8 Miguel doesn’t hate cops.

Well, folks you should have received your ballots in the mail for the Primary Election in the City of Tucson. The election in Ward 1, which encompasses much of the south and west sides of Tucson, is an important race for those concerned over the fate of our barrios and working class neighborhoods, and is the only focus of this issue of Bog News.

For almost four years we have been “represented” — and I say that word loosely — by Lane Santa Cruz (LSC) who is being opposed in the Democratic Primary by Miguel Ortega. All Ward 1 registered Democrats, and Independents who requested a Democratic Party ballot, can vote. There are many reasons why the incumbent should be voted out of office, and the info provided below should give you a comprehensive list.

REMEMBER: you must return your ballots by August 1st: (the city suggests mailing by July 26th).
For information and volunteering opportunities like canvassing (i.e.,urban hiking), phone banking, sign posting, or donating your life savings (that’s a joke, you can only take $500 max!):
http://www.ortegaforcouncil.com

1 reason to vote for Miguel Ortega: he likes people. This may sound like a rather frivolous principle to base your vote on, but don’t we want our representatives to at least act like they like us? Or should we feel like we don’t represent the correct demographic that our council member would choose to represent?

I was having a talk with a friend and supporter of LSC (and yes I have friends with those whose political views I don’t share, shocking…) and I was complaining about what seemed to me a hostile attitude I always feel when encountering “our” council person. His response to me, surprisingly, was:

“Scott, she really doesn’t like white people — and she doesn’t like men.” He paused for a moment and then said with a short laugh, “She actually doesn’t really like people in general.”

Again, this was from a friend and supporter of LSC! To be honest, I don’t particularly like a whole lot of people either. In fact, I wear a T-shirt that says; “when this pandemic is over, there are some of you I still don’t want to see!” — but I am not running for friggin’ public office.

Nobody can say that Miguel Ortega doesn’t seem to really like people, even if one doesn’t agree with him (and I don’t always): he is a “people-person” which is reflected in the way he interacts with a wide diversity of folks, and I have been watching him do so for many years as the MC of Fiesta Grande in Barrio Hollywood and in many other actions where he has played a leading role. He was there in the El Rio Coalition II, and always stuck up for all of our neighborhoods. Miguel is the happy warrior who loves to engage with people on issues and MIGUEL LISTENS — even with those he may disagree. That would be an enormous change from the current occupant in Ward 1.

Miguel treats people fairly and with respect, no matter their race, gender or where they live, which should translate in practice into a fair allocation of resources for everyone in the ward, not just “favored” folks. In contrast, LSC has clearly directed the bulk of city resources in Ward 1 to the south-side, but it is to the obvious detriment of the west-side. Just look at all the swimming pools the city has opened all over town, and then go to our west-side Joaquin Murrieta Park and see an empty pool with a damn tree growing out of it! Or El Rio Golf Course, which gets the worse carts in the city and is constantly under pressure to produce more revenues, even when the course is paying for itself. LSC treats the west-side like an unwanted step-child. El Rio Neighborhood Center, which has been neglected for years, has finally received a needed makeover, but everyone knows that it only happened now because it is election season. Potholes left open for over three years are now starting to finally be filled. Does she think we are that friggin’ dumb? Are we? (I guess we will find out August 1).

How more obvious could her distain be when she kicked dirt in our faces by trying to redistrict El Rio out of her ward to divide the strength of the barrios? A ward that is supposed to INCREASE its population, yet she tried to cut all of Precinct 37 from her responsibility. I guess having fewer constituents than all the other wards is still too much for her to handle (and maybe why they say she never returns phone calls). I can tell you that other council offices would appreciate a new council member who takes care of their own ward on occasion, rather than other wards having to make up for the inaction and unresponsiveness at Ward 1.

2 Miguel is working class, and has a wide-based support from labor.

This includes: The Teamsters Union, Electrical Workers, Communication Workers, Sheet Metal, Air Rail, Transportation Union, and a majority of the unions in the Pima Area Labor Federation.

LSC has very weak or no support from unions and hardly any support from city workers (especially from Police, Fire, and Teamsters, who can’t stand her for good reasons). While Miguel did not oppose the move to make city bus service free (your Bogman disagrees on this; reasonable “non-sheeple” folk can disagree) but Miguel would not have implemented plans to make bus fares free without talking to the bus drivers who have to live with the safety consequences of the decision, which is one reason he has strong support from the Teamsters. Again, Miguel would at least meet and LISTEN.

Those who know Miguel (or have read of his background) know that he worked as a farm laborer in the fields with his family as a young boy — an experience which he clearly has never forgotten. He met his wife Maricela at a Cesar Chavez rally, and was once fired from a job due to his union organizing. It shouldn’t be a surprise that most workers and their unions support Miguel over LSC. It IS more surprising that any union would support LSC.

3 Miguel has the support of leading independent thinkers and actors like:

• Teamsters Communications Coordinator and Principal Officer and Chair of the Pima Area Labor Federation, Trish Muir
• Tucson City Councilman, Steve Kozachik,
• Arizona State Senator, Sally Ann Gonzales,
• Arizona State Representative ,Alma Hernandez,
• former city council member, Jerry Anderson,
• former Tucson Education Association President, Pernela Jones, and many other activists whose names I will not list for fear of leaving one of them out!

NO, Miguel is not part of “Duh Machine” that brought us Regina Romero, Juan Ciscomani (through redistricting) and the disgraced Rodney Glassman. Miguel is part of a movement — not a “machine.” Like those supporting him, he is an independent thinker and acts that way.

4 Miguel is not in the pocket of big business, and has refused money and offers from developers and other big-wigs. In contrast, LSC has taken money from Keri Sylvan (of La Cholla/36th fame) and Tucson Electric Power (of Prop 412 fame) and those with personal vested business interests — not community betterment.

Developers love LSC, especially when she champions rezoning changes and looser permitting that allow things like more Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) without requiring that developers provide affordable housing or neighborhood protections against absentee landlords, leading to a proliferation of Airbnbs that harm neighborhood cohesion. She ignored all suggestions to make the ADUs better for the neighborhoods: but she just doesn’t listen.

Miguel would not, as LSC has done, claim that those who opposed the La Cholla/36th Street rezoning are not the “demographic” group she would choose to represent. Or ignore neighborhood concerns while trashing a long-standing annexation agreement just to bolster developer profits (and more political donations). LSC has and continues to accept campaign cash from the same developers whose nonsense she approves. Miguel has not hesitated to oppose things like the recently defeated Proposition 412 that was promoted by a billion dollar company (T.E.P.) and supported by LSC. (Nor will he ignore TEP’s free rein on where they want to place their sub-stations (hint: in the floodplain!): to be covered in the next Bog News).

Likewise, Miguel will take environmental issues seriously and demand developers follow the law. This includes holding developers responsible when they violate the native plant protection ordinances and water conservation rules, which LSC has not done.
Unlike LSC, who has given breaks for the big boys on the rainwater harvesting ordinance and native plant protections, Miguel will insist that they
Special dispensation for developers is exactly the kind of thing Miguel Ortega will put a stop to:

RAINWATER HARVESTING ORDINANCES IGNORED:
“The vast majority” of approved developments were “grossly out of compliance with the ordinance” on commercial rainwater harvesting and this lack of compliance was covered up and kept secret from the public for nearly three years, while LSC was in office.

See article “Enforcement lacking…”: HERE

NATIVE PLANT PROTECTION IGNORED:
The native plant preservation ordinance has been ignored by developers “100% of the developments reviewed failed to meet the policy requirements.” for the past 20 years because “Tucson has all but forgotten the ordinance even exists: staffers rarely confirm that the rules are being followed, developers are free to skirt reporting requirements and the city doesn’t inspect the sites .…”

See “Tucson rule…unenforced” HERE

When other council members pushed for the immediate hiring of new positions to try to get enforcement, LSC opposed them. HERE
follow the law. He won’t disparage active neighborhood residents or slander people who want to keep the barrios united by insuring fairness in redistricting, and he’ll respect those who peacefully protest Tucson’s tax give-aways through Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) and other favored subsidies like those awarded to LSC’s “friends.”

Miguel is committed to working with neighborhood groups and social service programs to deal with gentrification and displacement, which is why many members of the Barrio Neighborhood Coalition support his candidacy. LSC has done virtually nothing on promoting affordable housing and hardly ever attends neighborhood meetings (except during election time). Likewise, Miguel will consult with local business people when they raise concerns about the traffic safety hazards the city created on So.12th Ave or let Silverbell Road turn into an obstacle course.

5 Miguel is really the only one “running clean.” LSC takes “dark money” from Political Action Committees, while she is also applying for supposed “clean” election matching funds! (How “clean” can it be when she takes dark money?) Most, if not all of these PACs, are not from Tucson — yet these outsiders pour in tons of money and resources into our local election.

The “Mijente” group based out of L.A. was the benefactor of LSC’s expenditures when she sent 12 people to a conference/fiesta of theirs in Philadelphia. The Mijente PAC is in turn raising money for her re-election (as reported in last month’s Bog News) and helping to run various aspects of her campaign. As of this writing Mijente PAC has not registered with the city clerk’s office — another potential violation of the law.

On top of that, LSC’s own travel expense report shows she took a trip to Boston and Santiago, Chile (?) as part of Mijente “Elected Fellowship Study,” along with another trip to Argentina (?) with the “Ciudades sin Miedo” group, whoever the hell they are. (At least they are not scared). “Mijente” seems to be the gift that keeps on giving (to LSC anyway) just as our taxpayers seem to keep giving to them.

“Duh Machine” is pouring in a ton of money and resources — you will see “La Lame” signs with her “Frieda Kahlo” wanna-be image everywhere, and we can expect a flood of massive direct mailings,
LSC vs public education

“Sin Escuela Final” is a 32 minute video produced by LSC as an “auto-ethnographic representation” of how “unschooling” is practiced in her “blended” family and is an amazingly personal expose of the council person.

Designed as a critique of “structured” education LSC shows how her kids are being raised differently than at public schools and expounds on how detrimental it is to use textbooks and being taught to read.

We are assured that any problems that these “unschooled” children may have with reading or arithmetic is not a problem and we should recognize that these youngsters “will inevitably acquire those skills” somehow — so why worry about putting them through the stress of disciplined learning?

One parent proudly told the story of her eight year old child who, when presented with a script to read, gleefully pronounced that she could NOT read! But, alas, according to her parent one day “she just started reading…it just happened!…” Clearly such miracles are far superior than the “negative experience” in a formal educational setting and the need for “partnership” and “support and encouragement” rather than teaching some “some specific pedagogic technique.”

As one of LSC’s children proudly proclaims:

“Our mom doesn’t think that we should go to school …
I don’t even know what it feels like to go to school.
It’s a jail for kids…”

The video, ironically, was “produced in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Language, Reading, and Culture at the UA in 2016.” Yes, the project which takes aim at formal education was done for a formal degree! More irony: one of fathers of LSC’s kids has been elected head of the Tucson Educational Association.

Video: HERE or at
https://darlane-santacruz.wistia.com/medias/n4k4xq3wd7

(It’s really a doozy!)

probably TV and radio along with a flood of print ads (already in the Tucson Sentinel, the Arizona Daily Star, the Weekly and other social media). There is no way to compete with developer money in a town that is “fixed” the way Tucson has become. All we can do is outwork them and hope enough people wake up and vote.

The letters LSC generated to the editor trashing Miguel are almost all coming from people outside Ward 1 and from those who have monetary benefits in supporting her. (I’m looking at you Porky).

They even got Miguel’s former employer, the ever malleable Karen “ill-itch” to write in to say that it was only after he left her office as her chief of staff (after 5 years of service) that she realized how awful the constituent services were! It took her 5 years to figure that out her constituents were not being properly served? (Maybe if she actually lived in the Ward she was supposed to represent she would have been more aware?)

Distinctively, those who wrote letters to the editor in support of Miguel were mostly Ward 1 residents — not political operatives and city bootlickers — who know how terrible LSC and her poor constituent service has been for the ward.

Miguel will respect the law, and not use taxpayer money and resources to promote his political campaign. As mentioned above, LSC used city resources and OUR money to support a “Mijente” event in Philly, and when Bog News asked to see the public records we were first ignored and then attacked in the Ward 1 newsletter, claiming that I was using “legal but shady” practices just because I demand transparency.

Indeed, using the Ward 1 newsletter in a potentially illegal use of taxpayer resources to promote her partisan campaign and to attack her political opponent. If the city attorney was not the corrupt wanker he has always been, LSC would be advised to stop breaking the law and to immediately open up the books. Is it true that LSC overspends her budget every year? Do we have a right to know? Like the cops fighting for years for the cam recordings of LSC at the anti-cop riot, it may take just as long to get the city to open up her financial books — records that should be available to the public on immediate notice.

6 Miguel supports public institutions, including public education, with both of his kids going to public school. As noted by council member Steve Kozachik:

“When others proposed closing Manzo Elementary School, Miguel was there to oppose that action. It was 2012 and I worked alongside Miguel and others to preserve not only Manzo but also Sewell Elementary school in Ward 6. While 11 schools were closed, because of our advocacy TUSD spared Manzo and Sewell.”

LSC is opposed to public education as she has articulated herself in her video “Sin Escuela,” which can be watched in the adjacent column. It is a perfect exposé of LSC’s values, and the video really should be
watched by every voter.

7 Miguel is not ignorant, and so, is not a racist. He has worked his whole life with a diversity of people in a wide range of circumstances. As Patrick McKenna, president of the Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association says:

“Miguel does not promote the weaponization of identity politics, — but Lane does.”

For example, LSC blamed those who opposed her attempts on redistricting out El Rio with vandalism when someone — supposedly — tried to break into Ward 1. While no one then or now has any idea who was involved (including not knowing their race or gender), LSC felt perfectly comfortable blaming her political opponents for some minor damage at the back door of the ward.

Claiming we were trying to “scare and intimidate a brown femme council person” and a “violent reminder that the history of our barrios is still tainted with toxic machismo and misogyny,” asserting that these “intimidation tactics are unacceptable.”

What is really unacceptable is making false, slanderous allegations purely based on conjecture and personal bias with no evidence or proof of the charges. As I said at the time, how does she know it wasn’t some white woman from the foothills who was the vandal? Or is it only our local macho Chicanos that break shit?

8 Miguel doesn’t hate cops. You be the judge of where you think LSC is coming from on this one.

There are few issues as sensitive as ones dealing with the police, which is why I have left this to the end of Bog News so that it can be fully explored. I need to first explain where I am coming from so you understand my own prejudices/perspectives.

My grandfather emigrated here from Ireland about 100 years ago and, like many Irish immigrants, he took whatever crappy job was offered — which is why so many Irish, like him, became cops. Grandpa Egan was a New York City cop when an arrogant future imperialist known as Teddy Roosevelt was police chief (and who also happened to save the Grand Canyon and other natural treasures —a “diabolical dialectic”). I have other family members and friends who have been cops, firefighters, and other first responders as well.

In my teens, I was once knocked around by NYC cops at an anti-war demonstration (my head got in the way of a baton). As one of a contingent of Yanks I experienced being tear-gassed while being shot at with rubber bullets and getting clubbed in the head by British soldiers at a demonstration in Belfast in 1984. The same year I was tear-gassed and shot at with wooden bullets during the Clifton-Morenci strike. I was arrested (with Father Flagg) when we occupied the office of Senator Dennis Deconcini in a sit-in protest of his support for aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. So I have had my share of confrontations with police.

I was also totally horrified like most Americans at the murder of George Floyd (even wrote a song about it) and support demonstrations — NOT RIOTS — to demand police accountability. I have also known great cops in Tucson like Sixto Molina and I totally supported the community policing of the Adam One team in Barrio Hollywood (before council member Jose Ybarra shut it down). More cops and more community policing is the way to go. Militarized cops with tanks is not, in my view.

I have had some trouble getting behind the “Black Lives Matter” slogan, not (obviously, I hope) because I don’t think their lives matter but because I think Brown, Native American, poor
Tucson Police Protective League President accusing LSC of assaulting a TPD Officer. HERE Whites, etc. lives matter also. So I wasn’t crazy about taxpayer dollars being used to plaster Tucson City Hall with a slogan I am unsure of. I don’t think it is inclusive enough. Still, I can understand WHY the chant was adopted, Black people are subjected to an overabundance of BS, I don’t think it is the best choice of words.

In contrast, for the life of me, I can never get behind the “Defund the Police” nonsense being propagated by people with what I can only describe as having an “infantile disorder.” Defunding cops, or just about any public service, I neither understand nor support.

I was recently re-reading the early autobiography of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn entitled “Rebel Girl.” She was a fascinating character in American labor history who starting out in the anarcho-syndicalist labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and later joined the Communist Party. As an interesting side note (to me anyway) her friend Dorothy Day developed the other way: being a Red first and then ending up leading an anarcho-type movement known as the Catholic Workers, a path slightly closer to my own (sin curas!). Interestingly, when Flynn died as head of the CPUSA she donated her works and few possessions to the Catholic Workers.

In any case, I couldn’t help thinking about the slogan “Defund the Police” while reading about the strike that Flynn helped lead, the great Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike of 1912:

“…a banner was unfurled by a group of Boston anarchists with the words ‘No God! No master!’ It gave the Lawrence police a pretext to break up the parade. A few days later it caused a riot in Quincy. That banner was worth a million dollars to the employers and may have been a deliberate act of provocation. Some of us believed that it was.

A majority of the workers in Lawrence were Catholic. We had pursued a correct labor policy during the strike of confining our remarks … only on strike issues. We did not discuss religion and warned all speakers, regardless of their personal views, not to offend the religious feelings of the people.. Now came this banner in an IWW parade, unsigned and with no reference to the IWW on its face. But the full impact of its appearance was used against the IWW in Lawrence.”

That is how I feel about the “Defund the Police” slogan — it couldn’t be a worse slogan to be adopted by the progressive movement and supporters for police reform if it had been actually created by the right-wing. (As someone who was once harassed by them, I am somewhat undisturbed by the slogan “Defund the FBI.” If not, they should put up a bronze statue at the FBI building of J. Edger Hoover in a tutu. (I am not homophobic or anti-gay: just anti-ballet).

And here we come into another stark contrast between the Ward 1 candidates:

MIguel truly respects First Responders, a clear distinction from LSC. This does not mean anyone should assume that Miguel will not hold the cops responsible when they do something wrong — he knows those who enforce our laws have a special obligation to follow them and to be held accountable for their actions. But LSC publicly disparages the men and women in blue, actually insulting them in public.

What is called her “do you know who I am?” moment came when she went to an anti-police protest that turned into a riot where she demanded to see the police
Santa Cruz Votes Against Police Budget:

The council voted 6-1 on a budget with Ward 1 Councilwoman Lane Santa Cruz the only member to vote “no.” She said she voted against the police “in solidarity with members of the community who have demonstrated against systemic racism and police brutality in the wakes of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the Tucson Police in-custody deaths of Carlos Lopez Ingram and Damien Alvarado earlier this spring.”

Council member Steve Kozachik voted with all the other council members (except LSC) to approve the budget, saying “spending less on Tucson Police would betray voters who passed Proposition 101. The measure raised the city’s sales taxes for five years in part to support first responders. We take that funding away now and they’ll never trust us again.” Adding: “The two things that I hear most commonly are, No. 1, improve your response times. And No. 2, we the neighbors appreciate community policing. Community policing takes more officers, not fewer. And if we’re going to improve our response time, again, cutting funding and reducing staffing is not the way to achieve that,” Kozachik said.

See full articles HERE and HERE captain because, as she said:

“I am the f*cking council member who represents this area!” — Lane Santa Cruz

Well, yes she is unfortunately. She further enraged TPD officers when she claimed that they had “murdered” Carlos Ingram Lopez. They responded to the grandmother’s frantic call that her grandson was “drunk, yelling and running around the house naked” two days after the man had been charged with domestic violence. Holding him down in a prone position while being handcuffed, he died on the floor of the garage where he had run from police.

While “no blows, strikes, chokeholds, knee to the neck, chemical or electronic weapons were used and no shots were fired” there was a full investigation of the incident by TPD, the FBI, and the County Attorney’s office. Conclusion:

There was “no evidence to prove negligent or reckless homicide,” although the cops were blamed for “deviations from the standard care” and three officers resigned before being fired. Likewise the county medical examiner concluded that the death was caused by “sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of acute cocaine intoxication and physical restraint,” with an enlarged heart “ as “a significant contributing condition.”

Not exactly cold-blooded “murder” as the current council member charged. Apologies? LOL! Being a council member means never having to say you are sorry. Just to rub it in, LSC then voted against the police budget (it was a 6-1 vote).

Miguel understands that “public safety” is a larger issue than just law enforcement. He understands that we need to be safe in our homes not only from crime but from evictions. He supports serious efforts at more affordable housing (including pressuring the State for rent control options) while LSC gives us lip service.

He also is acutely aware how dangerous the current fentanyl epidemic is, because he has been involved in drug prevention programs with youth, with prisoners, and veterans. (Tragically, we note with sorrow and sympathy that LSC’s brother died of a fentanyl overdose. The current drug wave is truly a plague on all our communities, especially in our barrios). It is important to point out that in South Tucson Miguel worked for “Sueños del Barrio” in dealing with teenage pregnancy, addiction and gang prevention, and is currently a counselor for the American Lung Association. Social service, community service, has been his life.

Final point: I have been around long enough to see people I thought had strong principles abandon the very people and causes that got them elected. “Power corrupts” seems to be an ageless truism: people get elected and fall in love with the perks of public office and seduced by the ego strokes and the self-delusion that tells them nobody can do it better than them and they start believing that retaining their privileges and position in the job is the only thing that matters. Do I think Miguel Ortega will fall into this trap? No, but there are no guarantees in life. What I can tell you is that Miguel knows that if he betrays the ideals that he has professed, the very people who support him now will be the first to confront him if he goes off the rails. A real movement is based on principles, not personalities. This is why he needs to win.

As Malcolm X said:

“We must understand the politics of our own community, and we must know what politics is supposed to produce. And until we become politically mature we will always be misled, lead astray or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn’t have the good of our community at heart.”

RETURN YOUR BALLOT NOW: VOTE FOR MIGUEL ORTEGA!
for more information on the city election and other candidates:
https://www.tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Clerks/Elections/Primary-Election

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A word of THANKS…
to all the fine people who showed up at fundraiser last Friday for Miguel Ortega at Mariscos Chihuahua, the greatest restaurant in Barrio Hollywood, with the greatest ceviche in the world and run by the best business guy in this town. Thanks C.P.! Thanks to the Wholigan’s for entertainment. Thanks to all the elected officials who showed up in support. Thanks to the neighborhood activists. Thanks for the $$$!

Included in that gathering was the only reporter who took interest, Jim Nintzel — formerly of the Tucson Weedly, oops, I mean Weekly (and manager of numerous other publications) and now a reporter for the Tucson Sentinel. It is good to see him back on the beat, even when I don’t always agree with him. Let’s hope he remembers the old saying: “sacred cows make good steaks.” (Now, if someone could help the talented wordsmith Blake Morloch remove his head from the bollox of the Pima County Democrats, that rag could really be something). Anyway, welcome back to the struggle Jimbo!