A potential recount of ballots that will give Tucson’s mayor and council the biggest boost in pay is back on the table.
After issuing a statement last week that said a recount of the voters in Proposition 413 were not required by state law, the council on Tuesday said they will let state election officials decide whether a recount is required by law.
Proposition 413 passed by 289 votes, official results released Friday show.
A total of 96,799 votes were cast in the Nov. 7 election, the city said.
This falls within the margins that “trigger” recounts, as set by state statutes. The law says a recount is required for any election with a margin of less than 1/2 of 1% (or any margin less than 0.5%).
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An automatic recount that was seemingly triggered was originally scheduled to last a few weeks, according to city manager Michael Ortega who informed city council of the timeline at their meeting last week.
The idea was quickly scrapped. A news release sent by the city late Friday said a recount was not needed because “the proposition is a local referred ballot measure that was called as a special election and administered as a special election.” It went on to say state statutes that trigger recounts don’t apply.
“As such, recount provisions, as codified in Arizona Revised Statues 16-661 through 16-667, do not apply,” according to Friday’s release. “These recount provisions, relating to local municipal elections, only apply to elections of candidates to an elected officer rather than referred non-candidate measures,” the city said at the time.
In a meeting Tuesday, however, the council said it will let the Arizona secretary of state’s office, as well as the state attorney general’s office determine if a recount is needed.
At the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning, District 4 Supervisor Steve Christy chided the council for its stance that the state law on recounts did not apply. He said the council “should be ashamed of themselves” and that today is a “bad day for transparency.” He then voted to approve the canvass.
“This obviously is a bad day for transparency when it comes to some kind of a situation where the city council and mayor are deciding to, what I determine, ignore the rules that have been laid out as far as triggering a recount,” Christy said. “This is a huge jump in pay, and I don’t think it’s been successful by the populous as far as voting for a decade … This amount they’re requesting is extraordinary.”
Christy initially indicated he would vote no on the certification. His vote flipped, however, after it was clarified that a recount could not be triggered until the county certified its results in the first place.
District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson was the only opposing vote for certification.
Steve Kozachik, Tucson’s vice mayor, said ahead of Tuesday’s online meeting that, that while he did not support rolling back the recount, proceeding with one would not change the results.
“In a time like this where scrutiny is all over the integrity of elections … it’s probably the best look if the city at least petitions for a recount,” he said.
In other words, Kozachik said, let a judge decide. That way, he said, the council is checking all the boxes in the event a recount is in fact required.
Prop. 413 increases the mayor’s annual salary from $42,000 to $97,750 and its six council members from $24,000 per year up to $76,500, a 130% and 220% boost, respectively.
These salaries, which have been in place since 1999, lagged behind Tucson’s median household income of $48,058 according to U.S. Census data.
Prop. 413 also ties Tucson’s elected officials’ annual income to the earnings of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, whose salaries are set to increase by $20,000 at the start of 2025 in accordance with state statute, meaning the mayor and council salaries also could see another bump then.
