User:Ncaroliner/sandbox

Major Local Issues
The major local issues addressed by Regina Romero include public safety, infrastructure, affordable housing, and climate change. Mayor Romero approaches public safety from multiple directions such as strategies for reducing violent crime and general safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. The Arizona Department of Public Safety aids in the enforcement of state law. Public safety is a prevalent issue in Tucson, Arizona. As of 2023 violent crime is up 75.60% from 2022. The city of Tucson's Pedestrian Safety Action Plan moves to make walking safer for pedestrians by identifying strategies for high pedestrian involved collision areas. Other drafted strategies include managing vehicle speeds, improving pedestrian visibility, and data driven enforcement and evaluation These strategies come from both policy changes and civil engineering improvements. Proposed policies include The City of Tucson 's draft Cross walk Installation policy and redefining the limits of school zones to include areas where children often commute to school as pedestrians .Infrastructure in Tucson is a relevant issue. Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility Public Information Officer, Michael Graham says " About 70% of our neighborhood streets are in failed to poor condition" .Regina Romero supported an extension of Proposition 411. Proposition 411 is a 0.5% sales tax designed to generate revenue specifically for residential street repairs which passed in 2022 with 57,024 votes. A recent purchase of a two acre plot in the Thrive '05 area is part of a development led by Mayor Romero's office as a step towards affordable housing. The purchase is part of the Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson which unanimously passed in December of 2021. The HAST plan is focused on creating a pathway to homeownership and reducing the fiscal burden and responsibility of housing by creating affordable rentals. Mayor Romero's position as a mayor of a geographical area significantly impacted by climate change creates space for many climate initiatives. The largest initiative for climate change in Tucson is the Tucson Resilient Together Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. This initiative works towards making Tucson's cities operation by 2030. The Tucson Resilient Together Climate Action and Adaptation plan received funding from the federal government for the American Rescue Plan. Other initiatives such as the million trees program, storm to shade , and solar Tucson are example of more initiatives that create green jobs and reduce the cities cooling cost by investing in the cities green infrastructure.