Tucson City Council agreed to explore a new city ordinance criminalizing public drug use during Tuesday’s study session. Ward 4 councilmember Nikki Lee introduced the item and led the discussion.
Lee said the ordinance is meant to address a gap left by the Pima County Attorney’s Office, which does not prosecute many low volume drug possession charges.
“We all know at this table when people in the community see public drug use, they immediately think of [Tucson Police Department] and why are you guys not doing your job? And then they zoom out and say, ‘Well, it’s the mayor’s fault and this council’s fault for telling TPD not to enforce the law.’” Lee said to the council during the meeting. “We know that that is not true.”
Tucson Chief of Police Chad Kasmar said 25% of the year’s total arrests are narcotics-related and about 65% of those cases are not moving forward. Kasmar said he’s in support of the ordinance if their conversations with the county attorney prove unfruitful.
“We’ve been having this dialogue for two years within our body of government to find solutions because at the end of the day, if 50% of any of your work was being thrown away every day, we would make different decisions,” he told the council.
Kasmar said the ordinance could serve as an additional tool that would allow the city to appropriately track narcotics possession cases that are not being prosecuted at the county level. It could also be used to leverage arrests into various options, such as video alternative jail or drop-offs at the transition center.
Lee said she has received split initial feedback on the proposal.
“Some folks do not want to see an additional misdemeanor attached to a person for using substances, especially if they have the disease of substance use disorder. Others are coming from the other side of that coin saying we do not want to see this charge go from a felony level down to a misdemeanor,” she said.
Council members were split on the proposal but all were in support of having an expert committee weigh in on the potential ordinance and what it would entail.
“Jail’s not the answer. Avoiding jail can be an incentive, though,” Ward 6 council member Karin Uhlich said about the ordinance.
Mayor Regina Romero said it’s important to have buy-in from all responsible parties.
“Whether it’s in public or not, we need to make sure that the the jurisdictions responsible for treating public drug use, or drug use period, are part of the table,” she said, adding that she has been asking since March for a public meeting with the Pima County Board of Supervisors on the fentanyl public health crisis and unsheltered homelessness.
City Manager Tim Thomure agreed to seek expertise on the subject, to form a committee and come back with an assessment within the next 60 days. The committee will discuss the need for the ordinance, the potential benefits and the resources needed for the ordinance to meet its objectives.
The ordinance discussion followed an update from the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness on its new five-year plan.
Brandi Champion, Tucson’ s community safety program director, said the collaboration conducted two surveys — one for the public, the other for the organization — to identify strategic goals on unsheltered homelessness.
Kat Davis, the city’s continuum of care manager for Housing and Community Development, said the survey showed the public and the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness were aligned on priorities such as access to alternative housing models and supporting prevention strategies. Based on the results, the collaboration adopted four priorities and 13 goals to guide its work over the next five years.
They also reported that Housing First’s first job fair was well-attended and they’ve had 3,037 visits to cooling centers this summer.
Tucson city council also weighed in on a number of initiatives to tackle housing affordability and homelessness issues during the Tuesday meeting, including the use of the $324,665 balance left in the Tucson Housing Trust Fund.
Ann Chanecka, director of the city of Tucson’s Housing and Community Development department, recommended the money go three ways: $185,000 for eviction prevention and emergency rental assistance through the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness, $60,000 for community-led projects like weatherization and home repairs, and $75,000 to launch the Housing Alternatives for Urban Strength (HAUS) pilot program for a year.
The HAUS program would help people facing challenges renting like poor credit or criminal history. The city would cover selected move-in costs and offer landlords up to $2,500 per tenant for unpaid rent or damages during the first 12 months, according to a meeting memo. In exchange, landlords would waive last-month rent, security deposits and cap year-two rent increases.
“You don’t just get a new lease on a place, you get a new lease on life,” Ward 2 councilmember Paul Cunningham said.
Beyond housing, council members and the mayor also discussed rising utility costs. In a closed-door executive session, they voted to challenge Tucson Electric Power’s proposed rate increase.
TEP is seeking a 14% rate increase from the Arizona Corporation Commission after a 10% hike in 2023. The additional costs would burden families and small businesses and call into question TEP’s commitment to Tucson’s climate goals, Romero’s office said in a news release following the decision.
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