Jonathan Rothschild: Why I’m endorsing Kevin Volk for Legislative District 17

Having served as the Mayor of Tucson for eight years, I have some thoughts on public service and what Southern Arizona needs to be successful. And a lot of thoughts on what is wrong with the Legislature in Phoenix.

At its best, public service begins with an intention to get things done for the community. For me, my goal was creating a Tucson community that was not only good enough to raise our kids in, but for them to want to stay in.

In order to get things done, you need to be practical. You need to fight for what you believe in, while finding areas for compromise where they exist. That's how we tackled homelessness among veterans, reduced truancy in schools, moved forward with a new Rio Nuevo, and fostered a business environment that stimulated local success and the passage of three bond issues for police and fire, roads and parks.

That's the opposite of what we see in today's Legislature in Phoenix. Up there, we see folks with extreme and rigid ideologies shouting across the room. We see lawmakers who talk about limited government throw that principle aside to pass statewide bans and preemptions over the rights of cities to choose their own future. Meanwhile, real quality-of-life issues are ignored again and again. Instead of working together on a good-faith basis, some are willing to burn the whole system to the ground unless they get their way.

Working to improve communities is not a partisan exercise. The best public servants bring people together with a common goal to make things happen. That's what I worked hard to do. It's possible — we put together coalitions with business owners and employees and developers and neighborhoods, people with interests from across the community. It's not easy — leadership has to set the example to make it happen.

In the race for Arizona State House in Legislative District 17, the leadership contrast could not be clearer. On one side are Cory McGarr and Rachel Jones. They have constantly parroted election conspiracies and have taken a rigid and extreme ideological approach to policy to satisfy a vocal base. I had a number of fights with the Legislature in my time. But I never had to deal with anyone who was obsessed with an election that happened four years ago.

Or are continuously trying to interfere and micro-manage local issues from zoning to short-term rentals to how cities and towns vote, even a bill to ban new bicycle routes in cities' general plans. Cycling is a major activity and tourism draw in Southern Arizona (Tucson has been named a top city for cycling.) Where do you come up with this stuff?

I don't know how to describe their record other than to say it's not one that shows serious interest in working across the aisle to come to practical solutions that work for all people.

Luckily, we have Kevin Volk. I've known Kevin for many years, both as part of the business community and in the nonprofit space. He is smart, works hard, and has a genuine desire to make our community better. He understands the local economy and what works and what doesn't. He understands how government can help or hurt a community with its actions. And most importantly, he knows how to talk policy with people with different points of view to get to common ground.

That's why I'm asking you to vote for Kevin for Arizona State House in Legislative District 17. We've seen politics in our country and our state get ugly, mean, and just plain unproductive, and it's time to start to turn that around. Kevin's focus will be on taking the temperature down so constructive dialog can prevail in Phoenix. That's what we need now more than ever.

Jonathan Rothschild was the Mayor of Tucson from 2011 to 2019, and has served on the board of numerous non-profit organizations serving Southern Arizona. He is a practicing attorney focusing on business law, employment law, and estate planning.

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