In the aftermath of the November vote, Zach Jenzer kicked off the next election cycle in Tucson by announcing last week that he would challenge Democrat Regina Romero for mayor. Jenzer, formerly registered as a Republican, is running as an independent candidate.

On a dirt lot in the Mercado San Augustine just west of downtown Tucson, Jenzer said it will expand Tucson’s housing, boost business development and help solve the city’s homelessness problem. Jenzer, 32, served as president of the Menlo Park Neighborhood Association for four years, and hosted Tipping His Point, a Tucson-focused news and political talk show at 1030 KVOI for five years. He is currently Executive Director of the networking group Tucson Young Professionals.

“Over the past few decades, Menlo Park neighborhood residents have found themselves at a time when they have to have important conversations about their future,” he said, noting that his neighborhood has become a major focus on housing access and affordability. , added that it “wrestled with major problems” in economic development and transportation planning. , public safety, homeless. He added that Menlo Park “represents the whole city.”

“Tucson is now in exactly the same place, in the same moment,” he said. “We have reached a point where we can no longer just preserve our history. We must also protect, strengthen and shape the future of this place for our children and theirs. it won’t.”

“I ran for mayor as an independent because despite all the beauty and beauty of this place we call home, our current course is leading us in that direction. I don’t think so,” he said.

Mr. Jenzer said he ran for mayor of Tucson last year. Jenzer switched his party registration from Republican to Independent on January 26, 2022, according to county records.

Tucson’s ballot not only selects who will be the next mayor, but it also votes for the 1st, 2nd and 4th Wards, where three Democrats currently serve on the city council.

In District 1, first-term Councilor Lane Santa Cruz seeks a second term. In District 2, Paul Cunningham, who has been in office since 2010, will seek another term. In Ward 4, 1st-term Alderman Nikki Lee seeks his second term.

Jenzer will face a tough road to take Romero’s place. She served for years on the Tucson City Council’s Tucson First District and in 2019 easily defeated her independent, Ed Ackerelli, to become Tucson’s first Latina mayor. In 2020, she led Tucson through her COVID-19 pandemic and also survived recall efforts by organizers. I didn’t submit enough A signature to submit a petition to the ballot.

Furthermore, Jenzer will be in direct competition with Ackerlery. back in the ring Challenge Romero as an independent. Ackerley quickly hired dozens of Tucson police officers, paved and repaired roads, boosted the city’s economic development, established what he called “homeless transition centers” in abandoned buildings, It promised to set up a “quick strike team” to relocate. And clear out homeless camps.

Tucson has 131,000 registered Democratic voters, 98,000 are unregistered with a political party, and only 61,000 are registered Republicans. 2,300 are libertarians.

Candidates associated with a political party must collect signatures to run in the August 1 primary (mail-in ballots are held throughout July), while independent candidates must submit to the city’s November election. To participate in the general election ballot, a nomination petition containing approximately 3,000 valid signatures must be submitted. The signer must be a registered voter living in the city who has not signed another candidate’s petition.

In December, Romero noted her efforts during her tenure as mayor. Prefecture address“Decades of unmet need, social inequalities and disproportionate investment have contributed to a shortage of affordable housing stocks, critical infrastructure needs, homelessness and climate change. “It has created complex and multifaceted issues, including a lack of action to take action,” she later said. We will ensure our cities improve outcomes for individuals suffering from mental health, substance use, homelessness or extreme poverty,” he added.

Jenzer said he applied for candidacy about six months ago and has been discussing the issue with voters in his living room during that time.

“Among our most pressing challenges, housing affordability, neighborhood safety, homelessness and economic opportunity have surfaced again and again in our conversations,” he said. He added that median rents have risen 40% since 2017 and house prices have risen 60% over the same period. “This is partly a result of population growth outstripping the meager supply of housing built since 2009,” he said. Jenzer said this was partly due to understaffing in the city’s permitting department.

He also criticized the recent move to mandate electric car chargers in new homes because few people have one. “Maybe in the future, we have just imposed electric vehicle regulations on new multifamily and affordable housing,” he said. “There was no nuance about this. Is this the time to add regulation in the midst of the housing crisis?”

Jenzer argued that Tucson’s recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic has “always been near the bottom” compared to the state’s six other metropolitan areas. Tucson’s business and employment growth is “the last slowdown among comparable metropolitan areas,” he said, according to his MAP dashboard at the University of Arizona. At the same time, homelessness increased by 70% between 2020 and 2022. While city leaders have pursued a “housing first” model, the program is not “scalable.” , argued that the cost of protecting fewer than 200 people would be high.

Over the past few years, the city and Pima County have pursued a housing priority policy. This focuses on moving people into temporary housing, followed by other services. This contrasts with previous models, which often required work, vocational training, or drug treatment programs before housing was provided. Additionally, last year Tucson and the county purchased motels to use as shelters and used millions of federal dollars to subsidize apartments.

Jenzer said the city spent $10 million to $12 million to buy just a few motels and hotels. The city needs to find a solution for the roughly 3,000 people who “need a roof over their heads” overnight.

About 74% of homeless people are “no shelter” and pursue what he calls “shelter first, treatment first, housing acquisition” rather than the housing first model. This includes more shelters, faster access to mental health and substance abuse support, and “more accountability” when “there is criminal activity.”

The shelter should be the “starting point,” Jenzer said.

Other cities have had success with the Housing First model. A survey conducted in New York City in 2004 found that after five years, more than 80% of those who participated in the program remained at home. In Canada, a survey of five cities, including Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton, found that nearly two-thirds of his 2,000 participants in the Housing First program maintained their housing, while overall We have also found that we are reducing our costs.

2021 study According to the National Institutes of Health, Housing First programs reduced homelessness by 88% and improved housing stability by 41% compared to Treatment First programs.

“We know these issues are growing. There is no sustainable way to really tackle them on a large scale. So from having enough shelter as a starting point, not as the final game. start,” he said. “It would be the other way around, given what is happening now,” he said.

“But I believe the reason we continue to stick to this policy is because it’s politically tied,” said Jenzer, noting that Tucson is “one of the only cities or towns in Arizona.” He argued that it was because partisan elections were being held.

“Everyone else is saying nonpartisan independent elections are a good idea because these issues should not be politically charged,” he argued. You have to have a pragmatic view of whether you’re on board or not, and if it doesn’t work out, you need the freedom and independence to switch and redirect,” he said.

“Politics will not allow it. Politics favors purity over pragmatism,” Jenzer said.

Jenzer, who promised a chaotic campaign, said his position was “financially responsible and socially inclusive” and had previously switched parties, often casting split votes. He also criticized how “national politics” has kept local races informed, and said he would refuse questions about both abortion and gun control.

“That’s not the job you’re hiring me for,” he said.

Jenzer said he would lead a “grassroots” movement that is “cross-party and cross-generational”.

“Republicans and progressives and everything in between join our movement, cut through the political hype, and make Tucson a place of quality of life, affordable opportunities for residents and businesses alike.” “Now is not the time to be political or play it safe,” he said.