Pima County Supes title Villegas as Cano's substitute in Az Home

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to nominate Democrat Betty Villegas to one of many two Home seats in Legislative District 20 on Tuesday.

Villegas will full the time period of Andrés Cano, who stepped down July 4 to pursue a Masters in Public Administration on the Harvard Kennedy College of Authorities.

Villegas heads up the town of South Tucson’s Housing Authority and was beforehand a housing program supervisor in Pima County’s Group Growth and Neighborhood Reinvestment division. After the loss of life of Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias in 2020, she was appointed to his seat however didn’t search election to the place later that 12 months.

Villegas stated defending abortion rights and members of the LGBTQ neighborhood have been on the high of her agenda, together with a deal with increasing residence possession.

Supervisor Adelita Grijilva (D-District 5) made the movement to nominate Villegas to the submit.

“Betty’s expertise makes her a unbelievable vote to signify LD20 on the state Capitol,” Grijalva stated.

Supervisor Rex Scott (D-District 1) stated that Villegas “is aware of the county’s priorities within the Legislature and she or he’ll additionally is aware of who to observe up with on the county degree if she wants some extra details about our wants.”

Supervisor Matt Heinz (D-District 2) famous that housing is certainly one of his high priorities, and that Villegas’ dedication to housing points “weights very closely” on his choice to assist her appointment.

Supervisor Steve Christy (R-District 4), the one Republican on the county board, voted towards the appointment. He didn’t present any remark through the assembly.

District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson didn’t attend the assembly.

Beneath state regulation, the board needed to choose from three nominees forwarded by Democratic precinct leaders in LD20.

The opposite nominees have been TUSD tutorial specialist Elma Alvarez and Lourdes Escalante, govt director of Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, aka the Indigenous Alliance With out Borders, which advocates for the rights of tribal members to journey throughout the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tuesday morning’s appointment got here after the precinct committee members met Monday night to ratify a earlier vote to appoint the three finalists.

That assembly, on July 8, was marred by a failure to correctly notify the general public underneath open assembly legal guidelines.

On the July 24 LD 20 assembly, District Chair Leslie Stalc had the help of legal professional Michael Bryan, who helped steer the gathering via the authorized waters.

Just one precinct committeemember voted towards ratification, however Stalc requested for a second vote “to ensure there have been no issues..

The second vote was unanimous, with 51 in favor. One member of the precinct committee apparently didn’t have her vote recorded, as she was elevating her hand on digital camera slightly than utilizing the “elevate hand” operate of the Zoom assembly.

The assembly barely convened a quorum of the elected PCs within the district. If the ratification assembly had not been held, the get together’s dealing with of the method might have opened the
door to a authorized problem to the seating of a brand new legislator — whether or not
by a Republican activist, an election-denier, or any registered voter in
the district.