From decades-old mobile home parks to a new burger joint with pool tables and shuffleboard, Tucson’s Ward 3 spans a wide range of city life.
The candidates running for the Ward 3 city council seat offer a similarly varied set of values for city voters.
Incumbent Kevin Dahl, a Democrat, offers an environmentally-minded outlook with a focus on enforcing green city ordinances like requiring rain water harvesting plans for local businesses. A longtime nonprofit professional, Dahl previously was the executive director of the Tucson Audubon Society (now the Tucson Bird Alliance) and Native Seeds/SEARCH, a regional group working to preserve the genetic diversity of Southwestern Native American crops.
“We touch everybody’s lives,” said Dahl, of what he has learned in his years representing Ward 3. “I’m running because I’m experienced and accomplished and we’ve done a lot of good work.”
Tucson Unified School District board member Sadie Shaw, a Democrat, grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Ward 3 and pledges to work more with mutual aid groups on homelessness. If Shaw wins the city council seat, she may have to resign from the school board.
“I’m not afraid to go against the grain, and I vote independently,” Shaw said. “I will listen to the people. I will be their voice when elected.”
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican candidate Janet “JL” Wittenbraker in the general election. She previously worked in the city manager’s office and as a contract administrator for Raytheon. She has also run for mayor and Pima County Board of Supervisors previously. Wittenbraker promises an open door and a tougher approach to people selling drugs in public spaces in Tucson.
“We may not always agree on every issue, every solution, but you have my word that I will always listen to your ideas,” she said.
With a little under a month to go until the election, the candidates have attended several candidate forums, sparring over the impact of immigration enforcement actions on Tucson communities and what hours the city council office should be available to constituents.
Arizona Luminaria asked candidates about three areas that could help shape the future of Tucson: homelessness and housing instability, the budget and road improvements.
In this race, Democratic voters and independents in Ward 3 can cast their ballot for either Dahl or Shaw in the primary election on Aug. 5. Tucsonans can vote by mail — the last day to drop a ballot in the mail is July 30. See a list of ballot drop-off and voting sites.
The general election is Nov. 4, when the Democratic primary winner will take on Republican candidate Wittenbraker. The winner in November will serve a four-year term as Ward 3’s council member.
Under Tucson’s unusual election system, the primary vote is limited to voters who are registered in the candidate’s party and in the ward in which they are running.
Then, in the general election, voters citywide can punch the ballot on the complete slate of primary winners in all parties and all wards.
Housing and homelessness top of the list for Ward 3 candidates
From access to housing to resources for people living on the street, a significant portion of Tucson’s city council’s time goes to thinking through where people live and how.
What to know about voting in the Primary Election
Most Tucson voters will vote by mail. Early voting starts July 9. The last day to drop your ballot in the mail is July 30. Primary Election Day is Aug. 5.
Helpful links:
- Check your voter registration
- Find out which city ward you live in
- See a list of ballot drop-off and voting sites
Independent voters
Registered independent voters can vote in this partisan primary, either by returning a postcard indicating whether they want to receive a Democratic or Republican ballot or by contacting the City Clerk’s office at 520-791-4213 or cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov. The deadline to request a ballot is July 23. After that, independent voters can vote at any voting location on Election Day.
With Tucson’s population projected to grow 7.5% to 603,724 by 2045 (up from 561,548 in 2023), the city must add more than 62,000 housing units to meet current and future needs, according to a housing assessment from public policy firm ECOnorthwest. The city council passed a new zoning tool to address this issue, and has worked to purchase old motels to redevelop into affordable housing.
Still, with more than 2,000 people in Tucson homeless, how those people are treated and where they can go remains a key part of the discussion. Most recently, city officials passed a new ordinance criminalizing sleeping in washes.
Critics of the city’s approach say clearing encampments only destabilizes already vulnerable communities, particularly amid extreme heat. Research from the University of Arizona shows that homelessness in Tucson persists in part because of a housing system that makes rental or homeownership access unaffordable, the ongoing flow of people into homelessness through eviction and high rent, and a homeless service system that means many people never receive any help.
Here is where the candidates stand on the issue:
Dahl said there are dozens of solutions to homelessness, and he planned to continue working on all of them. He was proud of Tucson’s purchase of the Wildcat Inn, which the city operates as a shelter, as well as the new emergency shelter in Ward 3’s Amphi neighborhood. He also pointed to the ongoing need for enforcement in some parts of The Loop, and said his office used discretionary funds to pay for a Tucson Police Department bike police patrol. Dahl runs a cooling center with cots in his office community room during the summer. He was the lone council member present at the meeting who voted against the wash ordinance. “My vote is not to say ‘hey washes are a great place to camp,’” said Dahl, who almost drowned in a wash as a child in Scottsdale. “I know for a fact we’ll be clearing people out of washes simply for their own safety.”
Shaw said she hears more about homelessness than any other issue from the residents of Ward 3. In her view, the lack of trust between unhoused communities and the city is a roadblock to more cooperation. She plans to use some of the ward budget to support mutual aid groups like Amphi Liberation Mutual Aid that she says have built relationships with people living outside by providing basic resources. She would also allocate a ward staff member to focus specifically on homeless outreach. “We need professionals who can go out and do this outreach,” Shaw said.
Wittenbraker said she believes some people are homeless because they are down on their luck, but they are the minority of people on the streets in Tucson. Instead, she pointed to people experiencing substance abuse and mental health struggles. As a city council member, Wittenbraker would advocate for more directly addressing criminal activity like drug dealing, and offer people the choice of treatment or jail time if they are caught breaking the law. “I have no tolerance for the people that are selling drugs into our communities,” Wittenbraker said. “But I also recognize there’s not one solution, like we’ll stick you in a house and all your problems go away. That’s not the reality.”
Budget questions mean shifting around dollars on hand, say candidates
Tucson city officials have painted a bleak budget picture for the city amid the federal funding uncertainty, the loss of revenue from a state level flat tax and Tucson voters rejecting a city-proposed sales tax this spring.
How will candidates weigh what funding is essential, and where they’ll cut back or fight for more, if they are elected?
Dahl suggested that the city run two voter referendums to secure more funding, which would essentially uncouple two of the big areas that would have been covered by the rejected city-proposed sales tax proposition 414. One vote would be on more funding for police and public safety, the other on more housing and social service support. He also wants to increase regulation of AirBnB properties. Dahl also said he hopes more residents will participate in budget discussions. “It’s easy from afar to say: ‘well you should take money from here and put it there,’” he said. “I encourage people who are interested in budgets to come learn about that stuff.”
Shaw would like to see if there are cost savings to be found in non-mandated expenses, like new technology budgets or funding that goes to consultants for tasks city staff may be equipped to do themselves. She also questioned whether the facility upgrades to the Eastside Tucson Police Department Annex were necessary. For additional revenue, Shaw suggested taxing hotels and AirBnBs or a vacant property tax. “There’s whole strip malls where there’s no business that is active,” Shaw said. “Naturally people do congregate in those areas and sometimes there’s fires or high instances of crime.”
Wittenbraker wants to see more funding for 911 operator salaries and supports shifting some of the funding focused on climate initiatives back to the more bread-and-butter parts of the city’s work, like roads, parks and public safety. “It’s not for our city government to mandate that,” she said. “We’re spending money on too many things — we can’t effectively deal with any one issue.” On issues like fare-free transit, which currently keeps Tucson city buses free of fares, Wittenbraker suggested a city-wide referendum.
A bumpy ride: how would candidates deal with fixing Tucson’s roads?
Tucson residents often voice frustration about the poor conditions of the local roads, from potholes to delayed expansion projects or unprotected bike lanes.
Much of that work has been funded by Proposition 101, a half-cent sales tax approved in 2017 that will eventually collect $250 million. Of that money, $100 million is being used for road improvements, according to the city. Of that $100 million, 60% will go to major roads, while 40% is slated for local street improvement. So far, the project has completed 96% of its total 897 lane miles.
Dahl said he is proud of Tucson’s road program. Given that roads in the city can be 100 years old — rather than newly built like in adjacent localities — he feels the city has done its best to tackle the wear and tear of cars and extreme heat. “We’re on schedule for spending the right percentage” of Prop. 101 funds, he said. He would also continue to advocate for the needs of Tucson amid competing regional transportation conversations. “People here who are suffering a bad road shouldn’t be paying for the great new roads at the extremities,” Dahl said. “That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Shaw notes that road repairs are already funded in many ways, but that many residents feel that funding doesn’t work for everyone. “It’s unfortunate — it just shows that there’s a lot of distrust with how money is used,” Shaw said.
Wittenbraker proposed a systematic way to fix the roads: beginning at one side of the city all the way through to the other. Under that approach, the city would focus on repairing roads, not expanding or any other changes. “Get that work done. Then you have time and resources to invest in the infrastructure,” she said. She also said that unprotected bike lanes on big streets like Broadway were dangerous for cyclists and stressful for drivers.
Debate videos
League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson candidate forum
Democrats of Greater Tucson candidate Q&A events
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