This year's mayoral election makes it pretty clear what the future of Tucson will be, and it's spelled Phoenix. The results are a huge victory for the Growth Lobby, for the Jim Clicks and Don Diamonds and their ilk who profit off of sprawl. Anyone who had hoped for a more rational transportation policy, check out the Rex Babin cartoon at the top of the "Scattered Shots" page to see what's in store for us. And anyone who had hoped that our economic polarization, among the worst in the nation, would be addressed, you'll be waiting a long time.The results of the Prop 200 debacle vindicate the view that the will of the voters can be safely ignored with impunity, that their concerns can be buried under a torrent of cash. And of course the same goes for the mayor's race Ð Mr. Walkup's supporters are being disingenuous when they claim both candidates spent about the same, since he didn't have to deal with bruising primary challenges. And of course, he didn't have a city agency spending buckets of taxpayer money to undermine his platform. Quite the contrary; he can certainly thank Tucson Water on his financial disclosure forms.
Which reminds me Ð was our household the only one to have received an illegal mailing on behalf of the Walkup campaign? It arrived on the Saturday before the election in a plain envelope with no return address. The letter inside was signed by a couple dozen ostensible Democrats who urged a Walkup vote - though at least one signatory says he is neither a Democrat nor a city resident. Nothing identifies who paid for this mailing, and others on the list refuse to divulge who organized the last-minute effort. And of course the County Recorder's office, run by one of the many prominent Democrats who deserted their party's nominee, simply couldn't be bothered.
I hope I'm wrong when I forsee a bleaker future for our town, with more low-wage jobs for the working poor and more subsidies for sprawl, but I'll believe the Mayor-elect's homilies about "consensus-building" when I see it happen. The Old-Boy & Girl network of "moderates" who closed ranks behind Walkup will get most of the seats at the table. Then we'll talk consensus.
What's important to remember, though, is that no matter who is elected, we'll get the kind of city we're willing to work for. If you want transportation alternatives, growth controls, better schools and neighborhoods, and better jobs, nobody's going to hand them to us. We have to continue to make some noise about it. This time we got out-hustled by the big money. It's happened before and it'll happen again. But nobody bats a thousand.