Friends,  

Earlier this year, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer following a routine mammogram. I will be spending some time in March back in Illinois to support my mom and my family during her treatment. She is in great spirits and is on the path to beating the cancer cells and making a full recovery. She wanted me to remind everyone to make your preventative screenings a priority. I had my first mammogram last year, after turning 40, and please make sure you don’t skip any potentially life-saving screenings.

I will be attending our Mayor & Council meeting remotely, via Teams, in March. My team and I are available to support, as always, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Although I had a prepared article for this month, the nitric acid spill on I-10 on February 14 compelled me to address this pressing issue instead. Specifically, I'd like to share my thoughts on where the City of Tucson should go from here.

This incident required coordination and cooperation among several state, county, and city agencies. State agencies led the efforts to relay information to local agencies, while my team and I worked diligently to disseminate information as quickly as possible.

My goal is to ensure that the City of Tucson assesses its response to the incident and identifies areas for improvement. Therefore, I've created a memo requesting a Study Session item for an upcoming Mayor and Council meeting, directing the City Manager to conduct a comprehensive retrospective. A retrospective is a meeting or review session that occurs after an event or project is completed, with the goal of reflecting on what worked well, what didn't, and how to improve future outcomes.

The limited road infrastructure in the Southeast Region created traffic congestion for over 24 hours without appropriate detour routes. As a region, we must reevaluate our emergency response plan and integrate these discussions into the regional RTA Next and Move Tucson plans. This integration will identify funding sources for crucial road projects within our growth corridors.

Additionally, I've asked the City Attorney to examine regulations concerning the transport of hazardous materials and explore whether local jurisdictions, such as the City of Tucson, can prohibit the hauling of specific materials on residential roads.

I'd like to extend my gratitude to our first responders, who promptly responded to the incident and worked tirelessly to contain the spill. I'd also like to commend the Vail School District for their leadership and response during this incident. As a parent in this district, I was on the receiving end of their decisions and communications, and I must acknowledge their swift and effective response.

My team and I remain committed to continuous improvement, and we are dedicated to identifying opportunities for the City of Tucson to enhance its response to future emergencies.

Important Dates:

-March 4-5th, 2023: Head to the Tucson Festival of Books on the University of Arizona Campus. Meet best-selling authors like Temple Grandin, Robert Crais and Lois Lowry. Explore interactive fun in Science City, stroll the midway packed with booksellers and local food vendors. Admission is FREE! You’ll find it all at the Tucson Festival of Books. Where words and imagination come to life!

-Tuesday, March 7th: City?Council Meeting.?Click here and go to "Mayor & Council Meeting Live" to watch!?(To?watch past meetings, visit?the?City of Tucson YouTube page. This is also where future meetings will be live streamed).

-Saturday, March 18^th, 8am-1pm, at Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum: It is a beautiful time of year to be outside, so head over to the west side of town for a morning of hiking and pulling! (Volunteer Sign Up) The team will hike cross-country and up a canyon about a mile to arrive at the site. Work will be done in the sun, often on rocky slopes. All that attend will receive a very cool Save Our Saguaros sticker. Full Pull Site List

-Saturday, April 8^th, 10am-12pm, at Lincoln Park, Ramada #1: The City of Tucson is updating Plan Tucson, the general plan adopted by Tucson voters in 2013. Help us plan Tucson's future with us by registering to attend a Community Workshop. Virtual and in-person options are available for Ward 4. Please register here.

Flood Safety

The Pima County Regional Flood Control District's flood safety advice can be obtained here. You can monitor the District's network of rain gages and stream gages in real time on your computer by using our mobile app. Go to the Precipitation and Streamflow page for more details and access to the maps.

The Pima County Office of Emergency Management has made it possible through a system called MyAlerts for the Regional Flood Control District to provide near-real-time flood alerts to Pima County residents within certain watersheds. The MyAlerts Flood Alert Messaging webpage provides information about MyAlerts and information specific to the covered watersheds.

Call the Road Conditions Hotline at (520) 547-7510 or visit the Pima County Department of Transportation's Road Closure Updates webpage to get the most recent information on road conditions and closures.

Reporting Potholes

Help the City identify street, lighting, drainage, signage, and other transportation related issues such as:

-Maintenance: filling potholes and cracks, sweeping, trimming vegetation

-Traffic Control: signing, lane striping, crossing signal repair

-Reconstruction: asphalt paving, utilities, curbs, ramps and sidewalks

You can contact the City of Tucson's Transportation Department via phone at (520) 791-3154 or by email at [email protected] with the precise location.

Click Here to View the More Information About City Of Tucson : A to Z with Nikki Lee: February 28th, 2023