Imagine Greater Tucson 2010-11 Phase I Community Conversation and Survey Statements Related to Effective, efficient, and accountable local governments and other public institutions

1	"Balancing the budget" is currently ineffective - it’s a joke
2	A great sense of community though we are highly dysfunctional and disconnected from being truly effective on high levels.
3	Accountability and investigations
4	Accountability for use of resources - link strategies and outcomes
5	Accountability in government (i.e., Rio Nuevo)
6	Accountable goverment
7	Although most of our elected officials are well meaning, they are so concerned about making unpopular decisions that they cannot effectively lead. We need real decision making (not grandstanding) and the ability to convince the public about the wisdom of these decisions. Then those directions must be carried out over long periods of time to come to realization. We need to keep continuity in our leadership, such as Chuck Huckleberry, whose experience helps him make logical decisions.
8	Another sales tax (RTA) and spending is happening without accountability. Painted empty buses, new fare system - I didn't vote for aesthetic but additional functional base service. Why are government staff so large? COT - Pima County?
9	Architects, consultants paid large amounts but no results. Money is pocketed without accountability. Someone is profiting but not the citizens of Tucson.
10	As it stands, Congresswoman Giffords is a good representative for District 8. She is thoughtful and effective. Sadly, the same cannot be said of other Congressional leaders in our state. We must move Tucson and Arizona forward, not back into the Eisenhower years.
11	Because we are a government/public sector region - government sets the direction. Tucson/Pima County/southern Arizona is controlled by elected Democrats in a State that has a legislature controlled by elected Republicans. Pima County has had stable administration and Board of Supervisors while City of Tucson has had turnover in the City Manager and Council. U of A as a land grant university has engaged with the local business community very differently than ASU. Hundreds of millions of TIF funding for Rio Nuevo was spent with minimal benefit. Pima County wastewater and Tucson water are fighting amongst themselves and with others. Even PAG and TREO are additional bureacracies. We are not nimble, dynamic, responsive to taking advantage of opportunitie because we have a bureaucratic culture. Initiating and sustaining a series of improvements for lean, accountable, responsive, collaborative government would improve the near and longer term quality of life.
12	City Council is ineffective
13	City council is very partisan. Desperatly need differing views and opinions. City manager has proven to be totally unqualified for the job. Need fiscal accountability and responsibility and smart growth decisions.
14	City government is ineffective.
15	City of Tucson, Pima County and PAG are poorly managed with very little accountability. Jobs and contracts are given to friends routinely without any transparency.
16	Costly duplications prevent efficient and effective use of limited resources.
17	Demand accountability from corporations
18	Developers are not being held accountable for future water use.
19	Effective government (not size of government) makes the community work for all. We should be able to merge/consolidate some County and City services
20	Effective leadership
21	Effectiveness of city and county government
22	Efficiency and cost-effective economics in public management will raise my confidence in a brighter future
23	Even though contractors say they will respect the environment, they routinely cut down cactus and native species. They have little regard for the environment, or for the laws that would hold them accountable. Many of them have friends in high places, and believe they do not have to follow the laws that the rest of us must follow.
24	Even though we have escaped the strangulation of freeways, we are still car bound. We publically support car travel ('free' streets and parking) and do not support alternatives. If you go out to dinner at a nice restaurant and have a glass of wine and you drive home, you are at risk for DUI. And your only alternative is to take a taxi. Where is the bus system? Develop an effective rapid bus system with local feeder routes. Work with the other public transportation system, the school buses! If there was one effective public transportation system including the resouces currently spent on Suntran and the school busses, we would have a great alternative...and keep providing those bike lanes for those of us who what to stay fit while we get around instead of driving to the gym!
25	Future planning has not been effective with the continued expansion of the valley.
26	Get something constructive done with Rio Nuevo. Better accountability!!!
27	Government accountability
28	Graffiti - get rid of it and catch more graffit people and make them accountable for it. Combined with that is getting ride of 'trash' in public spaces like along freeways and empty lots.
29	Holding elected officials accountable for their decisions. Rio Nuevo is a disgrace.
30	I believe as Tucson grows, we are unprepared to move people effectively around this community. Those in positions of 'leadership' have not had the ability to get beyond the talk. We are staggeringly behind.
31	I feel in Tucson but also nationally that there is too much us and them and so nothing ever changes about the way things are run so everything stays the same. There seems to be no accountability
32	I feel that Tucson is a rudderless ship. The Chamber is ineffective, SALC a disappointment, City government a mess, Rio Nuevo an embarrassment, etc. IGT has the opportunity to change some of that.
33	I find the city government ineffective and generally incompetent - just look at the Rio Nuevo fiasco
34	I live in unincorporated Pima County and own a business in the City. I can't vote in City elections. There is no cohesion among the components of the region and therefore nothing can effectively be done for the good of the entire region. In addition, the liberal impact of the University(one of our greatest assets) on the City government is detrimental to positive growth.
35	I think the time for a full time council and a strong mayor has come. The mayor should be elected on a platform he is accountable for.
36	I understand the effectivness of the traffic cameras but i would change the notice on when they are turned on.
37	I've worked in local government for almost 25 years, and know we could improve the quality of life for so many in the community if we had effective local governments that were well-run and worked together cooperatively.
38	If we hope to get more of our share of the tax revenues paid into the state, we need an effective communicator to get the community to embrace annexation. However, with the current state of our wimpy elected officials, we will npt have any chance to have anyone want to be a part of that City!
39	Improve cost effectiveness
40	Individuals do not have an enticement or accountability platform
41	Instead of raising sales taxes to offset deficit, the goverment should examine more efficient cost-effective ways of doing business.
42	It accelerates the consequences of political decisions that are overwhelmingly short-sighted and selfish. It allows some people to have much more influence than they deserve and most of the time those people don't have the kind of perspective that is either useful or effective in making our community balanced in various ways: growth is planned with future generations foremost in mind, water resources are not rationed draconianly, transportation is efficient not an ordeal, etc. In short- for the most part- the same people that caused most of our problems are still in positions of influence and it's difficult to believe they have the ability to solve the problems they created. At some point more people will realize that the only way to change the solution is to change the people(and their mindset) that created the problems. Perhaps then more people will vote.
43	Lack of cohesive & effective community leadership
44	Lack of leadership and accountability has resulted in the squandering of multiple millions of dollars in failed projects. I wish we had a leader who could say, 'The buck stops HERE' instead of pointing fingers or shrugging.
45	Leadership Accountability
46	Many tasks/projects/events are done in a small way, if at all. The Rio Nuevo project seems to have lacked forward movement and appears to have collapsed into itself. I've seen an attitude in non-profit organizations and homeowners associations that is lacking in curiosity, ambition, cooperation, and accountability. This attitude makes it difficult to move forward with anything in Tucson.
47	Money/accountabilty
48	More effective government
49	More effective local governance
50	No importance is placed on it, no one is holding the state accountable
51	No transparency or accountability. We have two poor systems of government operating ineffectively in the same valley (city & county)
52	Our City Council and board of supervisors is not effective in growing our community. Prime example is the Downtown Hotel. Cleveland Ohio which has less thank 500,000 inhabitants has major downtown hotels and attractions.
53	Our current form of government does not inspire or promote political leadership. The proposed charter amendments are step in the right direction, but don't go far enough. Get rid of the city manager form of government! Cities with strong mayors get things done and fix accountabilty.
54	Paucity of effective leadership has been and will continue to be a detriment
55	Pima Co. accounts for more criminal activity than neighboring counties because we have a sheriff who would rather focus on politics than criminal activity. Our mayor is clueless, weak and lazy - effectively oblivious to the failure he has facilitated in Tucson. Furthermore, any city government that considers Isabel Garcia's actions against Sheriff Joe in 2008 (in which she led youth to beat a pinata in effigy & decapitate it - inciting violence against the sheriff) at all acceptable or legitimate needs to be ousted! There is no room for such vitriolic dialogue and hideous, hate-filled actions from a city worker against a state official. Absolutely indefensible!
56	Pols make ridiculous statements and the press let them get away with it, no accountability.
57	Portland OR has no city or state sales tax, yet manages to get all the great things (from public transit to open space) that Tucson claims they want, but want to charge via tax to get. This ties back into lack of accountability with the funds.
58	Responsible/accountable Government leadership
59	Rio Nuevo needes to be accountable to the voters through city council members, so they can be voted into office when they get things done and voted out of office when they don't. It has been as clear as mud so far and the coasts of doing virtually nothings for years has been astronomical.
60	See #2. Why are we renting city buildings to entities for a fraction of what we pay for them? Why is it we are funneling millions of dollars in to projects, but then not holding people accountable when nothing happens? We are in a budget crisis and yet the needless spending and reckless accountability continues...
61	TUSD needs to be broken into several smaller districts that would be easier to manage and be more responsive to the areas that they serve. Larger has not proved to be either better or more effective
62	The City suffers badly from poor leadership and decision-making, witness Rio Nuevo foibles over the last several years. And inter-jurisdictional squabbles are often embarrassing. We need leaders who are willing to say that this is simply not acceptable, and who will work for collaborative democracy & personal accountability, and for inter-governmental cooperation, with little concern for self-aggrandizement.
63	The City system seems overly cumbersom and ineffective. Restricts ability to get projects done, wastes tax revenues, has a narrow vision and talks more than does.
64	The Rio Nuevo fiasco keeps getting worse. There is no excuse, at this point we should focus on holding those responsible, accountable for this debacle.
65	The Tucson city council deems ineffective
66	The anti-growth mentslity of local government is hurting the community in both the long and short term. We must embrace growth while managing it effectively.
67	The county just spends to much money and are not held accountable by the voters as they just keep voting the same ones in.
68	The current form of government does not inspire or promote political and civic leadership. We have lived in many other cities and have found from personal experience that strong mayor cities get things done, are more progressive, and more accountable.
69	The efficiency and effectiveness/skill of local government.
70	The local government is completely inaffective
71	These areas seem more in touch with the needs of small businesses, the importance of government accountability, and the role of local charity and volunteerism. Community balance is more transparent. The rural communities next to S, OV, & M are good reminders of simple, affordable lifestyles and the importance of ranching and farming and making and selling products and not just service industries.
72	They routinely set up and encourage shadow bureaucracies in the form of Neighborhood associations and committees. This allows for radical special interests to drive the agenda an for the City government to shirk accountability. A council person was elected. They should make the decisions and be help accounted for them, not some 'citizen's' committee
73	Tucson's crime rate coupled with areas of blight make it less attractive. There is a growing gap between wealthy and poor, and this will inevitably lead to more crime. TPD is a great asset to the community; leadership is concerned about people. But they become less effective when all they can do is react instead of interact.
74	Tucson's number one problem has been the lack of affective communication among political parties. They continue to be so distructive with their issues that they tear the community apart. They act like angry children and go for the kill when others disagree. This breeds hate and causes those already mentally unstable to react in violent manners.
75	Tucson's taxes need re-evaluating. Accountability through external, INDEPENDENT fiscal oversight is needed of the City's budget. Cost-cutting measures need to be taken to balance and manage the budget.
76	Very few effective leaders
77	We have to hold government officials/employees accountable
78	We need accountability with our money and one way would be to restructure all government into business units. We need to learn to function in smaller units and learn that we do have a budget and raising taxes for everything is not acceptable. We have lots of waste because the government is not in manageable pieces. If it were we would not have problems with not enough teachers, fireman and policemen. The money would be there if we could really see where it goes on a smaller scale. I as a citizen should be able to look at a balance sheet for any unit of government - like the fire department and understand where the money is going and where it comes from.
79	We need government that is effective and well funded. Good government creates a good community. Government is not the 'problem' nor is it the enemy. Community is not a collection of independent individuals living in isolation and avoiding bumping into each other. Community is individuals working WITH and FOR each other. We need civic institutions standing along side our religious institutions to make a community not only survive but thrive.
80	With the budget problems, and the waste we hear about the rio neuvo project, the local government needs to step up the plate and be financially and socially responsible, and service oriented. and accountable to the citizens of tucson
81	Without effective elected officials, we stagnate