- Speaker #0
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Beyond the Ballot AZ, the show where we break down the only in Arizona stories that have shaped our lives and the issues that impact us today in under 10 minutes. I'm your host, Tom Collins, executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. And here with me is the wonderful and very smart Gina Roberts, voter education director for Clean Elections.
- Speaker #1
Hi, Tom. Thank you for that introduction. It was so kind. The audience should know that you also have a very long resume, starting as a journalist and then as an attorney and as an election official. So very well-rounded. And it makes sense that we are starting a show today that really looks at amazing events throughout Arizona's history. So I'm so excited, especially with this being our very first episode of Beyond the Ballad Easy.
- Speaker #0
Yeah, me too. And although we're starting with somewhat of a sad subject, which is the recent passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva, but also inspiring. And we're going to be talking about the influence of Congressman Rehava. He represented Arizona as a member of Congress for 20 years, and before that served as a school board member and a county supervisor, and before that was a student activist in Tucson. And so he had a long legacy of leading social movements.
- Speaker #1
Absolutely. And I think, you know, across Arizona, maybe felt like this ripple effect of when the news came about that the congressman had passed because he was such an influential person here for Arizona. And now everyone, you know, while we recognize and remember the congressman, we have to look forward as well. And there's a special election coming up to fill his seat. So we'll talk about what voters need to know about the election in that district all towards the end of the show.
- Speaker #0
We're honored to introduce our first guest, really an institution. in Southern Arizona, Tom Volge, former mayor of Tucson and professor at the University of Arizona. Tom served on the Tucson City Council from 1977 through 1991 and continues, I believe, to work at the U of A as a professor. He also, for those who know Clean Elections history, originated the Clean Elections program that operates in Tucson. So, Tom, thank you for joining us on our first Beyond the Ballot AZ.
- Speaker #2
It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
- Speaker #0
So we wanted to talk to you today about Congressman Raul Grijalva, who recently passed away. And what we wanted to sort of bring to folks was more about his legacy in Tucson, his origins in Tucson, and sort of a better understanding of who Raul Grijalva was as a local leader. So, you know, you would have met probably sometime in the 70s. What was that first encounter like?
- Speaker #2
I actually met... Raul after he got on the school board. And I didn't personally know him when he was a Chicano activist, but I had already heard a lot about him. And then we worked together on the school board, then we worked together on the board of supervisors. And obviously we worked together when he was in Congress as well. We had a long, long-term relationship.
- Speaker #0
And what was that like? I mean, we understand through news coverage of both his term and his recent passing and about how he positioned himself in Congress as a progressive leader. In local government, what are the kinds of issues that you all would get involved with one another on?
- Speaker #2
Well, we crossed paths on a number of different dimensions. One was on environmental issues, obviously. He was incredibly helpful on clean election issues. Social justice issues were equally important to both of us and we worked very closely on that. He broke his teeth on education in Tucson and education became terribly important for us. The city does not directly deal in the business of education, but no city can exist without quality education. So we work together on a variety of educational issues. And the two most memorable ones for me are really the social justice dimension and also in the clean elections dimension where he was just a champion of all of this.
- Speaker #1
You know. Some of those issues actually can be pretty polarizing. And I know the congressman had this saying on the county board, no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. Was that his way of reaching across the aisle and creating bridges between those groups?
- Speaker #2
You're right. They are very polarizing issues. It's very, very hard to cross those bridges. He probably worked harder than anybody else I knew to try to cross across communities. He was more successful than most. Not completely successful at all of that, because you get vital interest at stake. And when you have vital interests at stake and someone is trying to play with those interests with you, then it becomes problematic for everyone. But he worked really, really hard to try to do that. And I think his stint on the school board, which is really a nonpartisan position that's really designed to help kids from all walks of life, allowed him to take those steps easier than a lot of other politicians.
- Speaker #0
One of the things that we were talking a little bit before we started about was his perspective on how the city, the county, and its different governments that interact there, you know, having a vision for that together. You know, were there specific issues where that vision sort of played out in your view?
- Speaker #2
Well, historically, the city and the county were always at odds. Typically, the county assumed that it was representing people outside of the city, even though... most supervisors were elected inside the city. The city believed that it was truly representing the interests of the city. So there was a permanent clash going on all the time. Raul grew up in an environment on the south and west side where he recognized the true needs of city residents, at least as much as county residents. And he had an emotional attachment to what was going on inside the city, at least as much as what was going on in the county. So we were able to forge not only friendships, but true partnerships and a common cause to say, these are metropolitan problems that we need to address on both sides of the aisle. He was probably the first one I was able to work closely with on the board of supervisors. I can count on one hand how many supervisors I was eventually able to work with, but he was certainly the first one and very easy one to work with.
- Speaker #1
I think that's something that we would see him quoted often is, why did you support this measure or this measure? And he would express sometimes, even though it wasn't perfect, it's still doing something for the people. And so I think he was always looking at progress, not perfection.
- Speaker #2
He was looking at progress instead of perfection, although at times he stood up for perfection as well. And that's when he earned the ire of a lot of people. I remember when he... supported a boycott of Arizona over social justice issues and earned the hatred of enormous numbers of people, not in the Democratic Party, but independents and Republicans as well. He did it as an act of conscience, and he made it very clear that he was doing it as an act of conscience. He was one of the few people in politics who was able to say, politically, I know this is not a good thing for me to do, but as a human being, this is really important for me to do. And it's that combination of the two dimensions that I think made him so unique. It's one of the reasons why people are going to have a hard time filling his shoes.
- Speaker #0
Well, thank you very much for sharing your time with us and for giving us the opportunity to talk to you about Congressman Garofalo. We really appreciate the time. And thanks again.
- Speaker #2
It was my pleasure. Thank you.
- Speaker #1
There will be a special election in CD7 to fill this seat in the House of Representatives, and whoever's elected to office, they will take over Congressman Grijalva's term until it ends. So here's what you need to know.
- Speaker #0
The CD7 primary election is happening on July 15th, and there will be a debate beforehand. We'll have that date on the Clean Elections website at azcleanelections.gov as soon as it's available. If you live in Congressional District 7 and you want to vote in the primary, you'll have a few options. You can vote early in person. Early voting begins June 18th and goes through July 11th. You can also vote by mail. You just need to request a ballot by July 3rd and mail that ballot back before July 8th. You can also vote in person on Election Day, July 15th, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at a voting location. And if you still need to register to vote, you have until June 16th to do so. So you can check out our website for instructions on how to register.
- Speaker #1
That's a lot of dates to remember. So listeners, if you didn't write them down, that's okay. You can visit our website, azcleanelections.gov. We have all those dates available there for you. We also have information on the candidates, their profiles. You can check out our debates. And also really important, this is a primary election, just like any other primary election, meaning every eligible voter can participate, including our independent voters. So you can check out our website. Again, that's azcleanelections.gov. And also don't forget the CD7 special general election will also take place later this fall on September
- Speaker #0
23rd. Thanks for listening to Beyond the Ballot AZ. I'm Tom Collins.
- Speaker #1
And I'm Gina Roberts. Tap the plus icon on your podcast app to follow the show so you know as soon as we release new episodes.
