/ Modified aug 30, 2015 3:20 p.m.

METRO WEEK: City Government Lacks Fiscal Plan, Leadership

How did past city decisions shape the budget struggle, poverty and politics?

Tucson voters will choose three City Council members in November. Whether they re-elect Democrats, bring in new Republicans, or a combination, the next City Council inherits a difficult situation.

Year after year, the city faces budget deficits and long discussions about funding priorities versus revenue availability. Sun Tran workers are on strike and the city says its hands are tied in the situation because it cannot negotiate the labor contract. Regardless of how, and when, that's resolved, the questions about raising fares or cutting routes and how much the city should subsidize the system are annual debates.

Metro Week invited a panel of experts on Tucson to analyze the city's past decisions and what the next city council will take on. They are experts by virtue of living in the city for more than four decades and serving in leadership positions.

Tom Volgy is a political science professor at the University of Arizona. He was a Tucson City Council member in the 1970s and 1980s, and mayor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He said the city needs a strong mayor system, in which one person sets the direction for the city. The present system does not allow the mayor to vote on many of the issues the City Council considers. He also supports a regional government model, where services are not split among municipal lines as they are now.

Daisy Jenkins is a former executive at Raytheon Missile Systems and Carondelet Health Network. She runs a consulting company and is chairwoman of the United Way of Southern Arizona. She said the city needs to renew its focus on workforce development and poverty prevention to attract higher-paying businesses and improve the quality of life.

Joe Burchell is a former Arizona Daily Star reporter, he covered the city of Tucson for more than three decades, and later edited the paper's government coverage until he retired in 2015. He said the city has long lacked leadership, and it must stabilize its budget.

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