Guests – Josh Jacobsen, Conrad Reynolds, Blake Eager, Lisa Von Geldern
Family News: A New Addition
Kathleen Winn opened the Tuesday edition of WinnTucson with a joyful personal announcement. Her daughter recently delivered Grayson Albert Dowell, weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and measuring 20 inches with a full head of dark hair. This marks Kathleen's 19th grandchild and 7th grandson. Little Silver now has a brother named Grayson, who carries the middle name Albert after Kathleen's husband.
Proposition 414: A Debate on Tucson's Tax Future
Josh Jacobson from the Tucson Crime Free Coalition joined the show to discuss Proposition 414, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Tucson. The measure would raise Tucson's sales tax from 8.7% to 9.2%, making it the highest-taxed city in Arizona despite having the state's highest poverty rate.
"On its face, this tax will take the city of Tucson to 9.2%. It will make us the highest taxed city in the state of Arizona with the highest rate of poverty," Jacobson explained.
Despite the city's claim that 67% of the revenue would go to first responders and the remainder to social services like Housing First initiatives, the Tucson Crime Free Coalition opposes the measure. Jacobson emphasized that with inflation still affecting everyday costs, an additional tax burden is unwelcome.
"Everybody I talk to, everybody is struggling to some degree financially or noticing the pinch," Jacobson said. "You notice when you go to the grocery store, you notice when you go to the restaurants, you notice when you go to buy something that your dollars just don't go as far."
A key concern centers on accountability. According to the truth and taxation document, Proposition 414 funds can replace existing funding sources, including those from previous propositions and federal grants. Additionally, with a simple majority vote, the mayor and council can reallocate funds within five broadly defined "buckets."
The proposed oversight committee also raises red flags. Committee members would be appointed for the full ten-year duration of the tax by the city manager based on applications submitted by the mayor and council. These appointees could be removed with or without cause by the city manager.
"The people that are advocating for this aren't even going to be around to see the application of this money," Jacobson noted, pointing out that many current council members will not remain in office for the tax's duration.
Jacobson also highlighted that Tucson's financial situation has improved significantly. While the city projected a $27 million shortfall, halfway through the fiscal year they're now projecting a $22 million surplus. This calls into question the necessity of the new tax measure.
The city of Tucson currently operates on a $2.4 billion budget with a $749 million general fund. Comparatively, Mesa, which is nearly the same size as Tucson, allocates 54% of its general fund to first responders, while Tucson allocates only about 30%.
"We don't necessarily have a revenue problem," Jacobson emphasized. "We have a spending problem."
Residents in Tucson's surrounding county areas would also feel the impact of this tax increase, as approximately 35% of expenditures in Tucson come from county residents who shop and do business in the city.
The mail-in election ends March 5th, with drop-off locations available on March 11th. More information can be found at no414.com.
Election Integrity: A Conversation with Colonel Conrad Reynolds
Colonel Conrad Reynolds, U.S. Army retired and a 29-year military veteran, joined the program to discuss election integrity. Reynolds, who served as a military intelligence officer in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, is currently the CEO of the Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative, a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to securing elections.
Reynolds advocates for replacing electronic voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots that are hand-counted. He explained that voting machines are vulnerable both to hacking and insider threats.
"These machines are vulnerable and not only from a hacking standpoint but also from an insider threat," Reynolds stated. "It's very, very easy to manipulate these machines. It's been proven over and over again."
Reynolds described a University of Michigan experiment showing that 93% of voters using touch screens could be cheated without their knowledge. The few who did notice discrepancies were simply offered a do-over, with no system for tracking or addressing the machine's error.
Mail-in ballots present another vulnerability according to Reynolds. "They dirty up the voter rolls. They get as many different addresses to people, sometimes duplicates," he explained. "If you care enough to vote, you should vote in person with an ID and with a hand-marked ballot."
Reynolds expressed frustration with resistance to paper ballots, even in his solid-red home state of Arkansas. He noted that voting machine companies have significant influence over state legislatures and governors. In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation to punish counties that switched to paper ballots.
"I got nothing against Governor Sanders. I think she's a great, she's a very nice person," Reynolds clarified. "But as a governor, she's not helping us have the transparent elections that we all deserve in this country."
Reynolds cited several experts who oppose electronic voting systems, including Princeton University computer scientist Dr. Andrew Appel and Dr. Philip Stark from the University of California, Berkeley, who invented risk-limiting audits. Notably, both experts come from liberal backgrounds.
"Dr. Stark is the only advisory board for the Election Assistance Commission. He was appointed by Nancy Pelosi, and he is 100% against using ballot marking devices," Reynolds noted.
Reynolds believes federal action is needed since state-level reform is insufficient. He suggested that the Department of Defense could eliminate machine voting by raising cybersecurity standards to levels these machines cannot meet or by requiring that source code be made available for public scrutiny.
More information about Reynolds' work can be found at aviidot.org.
World Baseball Classic Coming to Tucson
Blake Eager, Executive Director of the Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority, joined the program to discuss the upcoming World Baseball Classic qualifier tournament in Tucson. The event begins March 2nd and marks the return of Major League Baseball players to Tucson in March for the first time since 2010.
"We were very fortunate for them to allow us to go into the bid process for the World Baseball Classic qualifier, and we had to compete against about eight cities in the United States and some other countries," Eager explained.
The tournament will feature four teams in a round-robin format: Germany, Brazil, China, and Colombia. Games start on March 2nd with matches at 11am and 6pm, continuing on March 3rd and 4th at the same times, with a standalone 6pm game on March 6th.
Each game will have special themes, including fireworks, Kids in the Park days with thousands of local schoolchildren attending, youth sports night (where children who play in youth sports organizations can attend for free), military appreciation night, and a college night featuring $5 24-ounce Modelos and $1 hot dogs.
All games will be played at Kino Veterans Stadium at Kino Sports Complex. The event is a collaborative effort between Pima County, Kino Sports Complex, Visit Tucson, Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, Mexican Baseball Fiesta, El Charro, and Race Trac.
Eager, himself a former pitcher for the New York Mets and a Tucson native, emphasized the importance of bringing professional baseball back to inspire local youth.
"We had spring training, you had Triple-A baseball, you had USA Baseball, you had Arizona Fall League. So it gave kids like me from the neighborhoods I grew up in an opportunity to see that this is a realistic opportunity," Eager shared. "I think that's the key... it allows Southern Arizona to stay in Southern Arizona. It gives them a little bit more fuel for their dreams."
Several games will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports and MLB Network, providing excellent exposure for Tucson and Southern Arizona during the peak of winter elsewhere in the country.
Eager also hinted at another major announcement coming soon and mentioned that the Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority is working to bring film projects back to the region. The recently passed film incentive bill should help attract productions that have been going to states like Georgia and New Mexico.
Tickets and more information are available at worldbaseballclassic.com.
Get Us Out of the WHO: A Legislative Update
Lisa Von Geldrin joined the program to discuss House Resolution 54, introduced by Representative Andy Biggs, which calls for withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). The resolution currently has 21 co-sponsors.
"These international treaties that put a supranational body over our government are completely inappropriate and antithetical to our constitution," Von Geldrin stated.
The John Birch Society, which Von Geldrin works with, has long advocated for the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations entirely. They argue that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO dictated policies to the U.S. that resulted in harmful measures like school closures and mask mandates.
"All of that is a result of a foreign international body telling us how we need to behave, and it's completely inappropriate on every level," Von Geldrin said. "And not only that, they were wrong."
Von Geldrin also highlighted other legislative efforts, including House Resolution 1498 and Senate Resolution 669, collectively known as the "Get Us Out" bills. Sponsored by Representative Chip Roy and Senator Mike Lee respectively, these bills aim to defund the UN and restore U.S. sovereignty.
Senator Lee's DEFUND Act would:
Repeal critical acts binding the U.S. to the UN
Cease all forms of U.S. financial support to the UN
Prohibit U.S. involvement in UN peacekeeping operations
Revoke diplomatic immunity for UN officials within the United States
Formalize withdrawal from the WHO and other UN conventions
Require Senate approval with explicit withdrawal provisions for any future engagements
Von Geldrin urged listeners to contact their representatives, particularly Speaker Mike Johnson, to support these bills. She emphasized the importance of written communications or phone calls rather than emails, noting that many elected officials report hearing from very few constituents on these issues.
For those interested in meeting Representative Andy Biggs, Von Geldrin mentioned he would be attending the Lincoln Day dinner at Desert Diamond Casino that Friday, along with Congressman Eli Crane and other guests.