Powers for Tucson City Council, Ward 6 (video)
Yes, I tossed my hat into the ring for the Ward 6 appointment to fill Council Member Steve Kozachik's seat on the Tucson City Council.
Sometimes, unexpected opportunities pop up in our lives, and we must make the decision to seize the day and grasp the opportunity … or step back.
Two such opportunities have presented themselves in my life: in 2015 when State Rep. Victoria Steele announced she was running for Congress and in March 2024 when Tucson City Council Member Steve Kozachik announced his resignation from his Ward 6 City Council.
I seized the day in 2015 and ran for the Legislature as an outsider candidate and won. Nine years later, I’m doing it again. On April 2, 2024, I submitted my letter of interest and my resume to the Mayor, the City Council and the City Clerk to be considered for the Ward 6 appointment.
I served Legislative District 9 (LD9) for six years in the Arizona House. My district included much of Ward 6 and Tucson north of Speedway — from Interstate 10 to Sabino Canyon. I hope you will support me in this endeavor.
The people don’t get to vote on appointees to the City Council seat, but there is a process in which people can be involved.
The League of Women Voters is holding a candidate forum on April 23 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, beginning at 5:30 pm. You can attend the forum and submit questions to Ward6@tucsonaz.gov by April 12. It is my understanding that the forum also will be videotaped.
You can send letters of support for “Powers for Ward 6” to the Mayor and Council Members and the City Clerk.
You can write letters to the Editor about the appointment and, of course, “like” and “share” social media.
Powers for Ward 6 Letter of Interest
Here’s the letter of interest that I submitted.
April 2, 2024
To: The Honorable Mayor Regina Romero,
Council Members Lane Santa Cruz, Richard Fimbres, Nikki Lee, Paul Cunningham and Kevin Dahl, and Clerk of Courts Suzanne Mesich,
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying this colorful Tucson spring.
I’m contacting you today to express my interest in the appointment to the Ward 6 Tucson City Council seat recently vacated by Council Member Steve Kozachik.
I appreciate Kozachik’s work on the City Council and wish him well in his new endeavor. Kozachik was my council member for 12 years, and for six of those years, I was his legislator. I believe my background in finance, management, communications and public health – as well as my experience serving part of Ward 6 and the City of Tucson in the Arizona House -- would be useful additions to the Tucson City Council.
Having moved here with my partner in 1981, I have lived most of my life in Tucson and raised my family here. Both of my children and all four of my grandchildren were born in Tucson. My children graduated from Tucson Magnet High School, and my daughter and I are both University of Arizona alums.
For most of my time in Tucson, I have lived in Ward 6 neighborhoods. We were 30-something Tucson newbies when we rented a cute Territorial style duplex in the West University Neighborhood in 1981. When our first child was a toddler, we bought a California Bungalow in the Pie Allen Neighborhood in 1983. When our family grew, we bought a ranch style house with a view of the Catalinas in the Fort Lowell Park area. Our kids went to Whitmore Elementary School, my son played with the Fort Lowell Soccer Club and I volunteered at school and with the Girl Scouts. When I became an empty-nester, I downsized and bought a Territorial style house in the Palo Verde Neighborhood in 2004. My life story is intertwined in the neighborhoods where I lived and the neighborhoods I served in the Legislature.
Tucson’s historic architecture, interesting plants and geology, laidback lifestyle, cool music scene and … of course … great temperatures and no snow attracted me here. I want to help Tucson move forward while protecting our city’s eclectic characteristics, historic architecture, multicultural lifestyle and fragile desert environment. As a former legislator, I have a unique perspective regarding the challenges and opportunities our city faces in the Arizona Legislature.
My family and I have deep roots here. I care about Tucson’s future. That is why I am submitting this letter of interest regarding the appointment to the Ward 6 seat. I am undecided about running for this seat in 2025. I am a life-long member of the Democratic Party. I was raised in a union household, continue to be a strong union supporter and am a member of the National Writers Union (Local 1981).
Thank you for your time. My resume is attached.
Sincerely,
Pamela Lampman Powers1
Powers for Tucson City Council, Ward 6 Video Transcript
[Recorded April 3, 2024.]
Hello. My name is Pamela Powers. Today's video is a little bit different instead of a commentary about the news. It's an announcement.
As many of you know, I served Legislative District 9 in Tucson, in the Arizona House for six years and recently retired in January 2023.
When I retired, many of my constituents asked me if I would ever consider holding political office again.
And I said, "Maybe something local." Right?
And so now an opportunity has presented itself for a local office. And that is that Steve Kozachik recently resigned from his Ward 6 City Council seat as of March 31. And the City Council has set up a process for an appointment for somebody who lives in Ward 6 to fulfill the rest of his term, which goes through 2025.
And so yesterday, April 2, I submitted my letter of interest and my resumé for this appointment. And I hope that you all will support me also in this appointment. I'm going to be sending out information how you can do that. You can obviously share this video, talk to your friends. You can send a letter or an email to the mayor and council and the clerk of court saying that you support me for the appointment. You can write letters to the editor ... lots of different things ... through your own social media about it.
Anyway, I think that I would be a welcome addition and maybe a useful addition to the City Council because I have a long background in management, public relations and communications.
And I think one of the things that Kozachik and I had in common was that we were known for communicating with our constituents.
My little desktop videos from the Capitol were very popular. You could see those desktop videos from a City Council person in the future, if you support me for this appointment.
Communicating with you and doing videos and explaining tough issues, that's how I do public service. That's what I did in the Legislature and that was what I would do on the City Council.
And so I hope you'll support me in this. The people don't get to vote [on who gets the appointment]. There will be a public forum on April 23 where some number of candidates will be asked to answer questions. You do have the opportunity to submit questions by April 12. In my Social media. I'll talk about how you can submit letters of support and how you can submit the questions, because bring it on. Let's have some good questions. Let's have questions about housing and the environment and water and homelessness.
The city is doing a pretty good job, but there are also a lot of issues that they're going to be facing in the future. And it's good for you all to know how the appointees would feel about these different issues.
So anyway, please support me for this.
And thank you very much for listening.
Note the name change. In case you’re wondering, Lampman is a family name.
Good luck - we'll be writing in support!
What great news!!