Thank you, Tucson!

4 min readJun 23, 2021

Last night, Mayor Romero and the Tucson City Council made the historic decision to implement differential water rates and use the revenue to cancel water bill debt, expand the Low Income Assistance Program, and invest in climate resiliency. This is a huge victory and we’re so grateful and proud of the work of every single one of you who wrote, called, spoke at a meeting, or talked to a friend.

The resolution they passed includes the key goals of the Our Water Tucson platform. All of our demands for how to use the revenue were included, including those that were not even on the table until we began our campaign — debt cancellation for over 10,000 families is on the way! The resolution did not go into detail about how the Low Income Assistance Program would be improved, so we will keep organizing to ensure that low income families in Tucson see lower bills, low income families outside city limits see the new rates offset, renters become eligible for assistance, and barriers to enrollment are removed.

This is a tremendous win for climate justice, ecosocialism, and the equitable use of natural resources in our Sonoran Desert. With this decision, the Mayor and Council have said that our water belongs to the City, not to sprawl developers.

Now some details: The Mayor and Council chose Option 7, which is a range from 10–40% depending on how much water the household uses, designed to further incentivize conservation and efficiency. We advocated for a flat 40% hike (Option 4) because it would raise more revenue, but Option 7 will still raise $10 million per year — a great start. It appears that they were leaning toward Option 6, which raises only half the revenue of Option 7, but months of relentless pressure from our coalition appears to have resulted in a doubling of the revenue and we are proud of that.

There are so many people to thank, starting with Mayor Regina Romero. In the face of relentless negative pressure from developers and wealthy special interests, she stood strong and fought for a fair water policy. Last night when she said “a city without water doesn’t exist,” she showed that we need to look at the big picture and act boldly in the face of the Climate Emergency. Tucson will be uninhabitable for future generations if we don’t protect our dwindling water supply, and last night our Mayor took a huge step to secure our future.

Councilmember Paul Cunningham also deserves tremendous credit for spearheading the differential rates initiative and standing up for Tucsonans who suffered decades of inequity. He received overwhelming negativity from opponents but he never backed down in his mission to protect our people and our environment.

We especially want to thank the wonderful folks at Casa Maria. They were the first group to endorse and join the Our Water Tucson coalition, largely because their history of fighting to cancel utility debt and provide relief to low income families was a perfect match with our mission. They have hosted numerous events and spread the word far and wide with beautiful infographics, videos, and word of mouth, and this would not have been possible without their tireless efforts.

We also want to thank the folks at Tucson Democratic Socialists of America who were also with us from the beginning. Tucson DSA mobilized their membership early to build pressure on the Mayor and Council, which was indispensable in making this happen. They share in this victory and we stand with them as the fight for a fairer Tucson continues.

City Council candidate Miranda Schubert was an early endorser and vocal advocate who wrote excellent op-eds and letters to the editor in support of Our Water Tucson and frequently mentioned our platform in debates and speeches. We believe her passionate leadership on this existential issue is one of the biggest reasons her opponent, Councilmember Steve Kozachik, begrudgingly decided to vote yes at the last minute (when called on to vote, he dejectedly said “…I suppose.”). We need more leaders like Miranda.

By the end, our coalition consisted of 17 local organizations and leaders. Hundreds of Tucsonans wrote, called, or spoke at the public hearing. We want to thank all of the other local organizations and leaders who endorsed Our Water Tucson—see the full list below — and every single Tucsonan who made their voice heard because they made this victory possible. This happened because of your hard work. Thank you and onward!

Local Organizations and Small Businesses

Tucson City Council Candidates

Miranda Schubert, Ward 6 Candidate
Andres Portela, Ward 6 Candidate
Lucy LiBosha, Ward 3 Candidate
Lucas Rodriguez, Ward 5 Candidate

Thank you, Tucson!

Local Organizations and Small Businesses

Tucson City Council Candidates

Written by Our Water Tucson

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