The Tucson Business Alliance (TBA) has unanimously endorsed Tucson Charter changes on Propositions 403 and 404, which seek to update the city charter. Both propositions will appear for city voters on the November ballot. The city charter has not been significantly updated since its adoption in 1929 and the TBA is supporting the proposed changes given the overwhelming growth and change of Tucson over the last 86 years.
Proposition 403 would bring the mayor of Tucson up to voting equality with the other members of the city council and would count the mayor toward establishing a quorum. Proposition 404 would change the Charter so that the city manager would directly hire all department directors who report to him or her. This would give the city manager more and better control of the work done by department heads in Tucson.
“Approval of these two propositions would bring more fairness, more accountability, and more efficiency to city government,” said Joe Snell, current chair of the TBA and president of Sun Corridor Inc. “It’s time we modernized our city government to reflect today’s world and these changes will help Tucson continue to grow and thrive.”
The TBA was established to provide Southern Arizona business organizations with a structure to formally interact and collaborate. The vision of the TBA is to build a highly cooperative and impactful business community capable of working individually or collectively to take action that builds a vibrant economy in Tucson and Southern Arizona. Members include Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Visit Tucson, Sun Corridor Inc., Tucson Metro Chamber, Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Tucson Association of Realtors.