It costs $240 to publish a dissenting argument in Tucson’s official voter pamphlet, due August 5, ahead of a November vote on a 25-year deal renewing TEP’s grip on the city’s streets and alleys. Inside that deal: a contract clause that financially penalizes Tucson for even considering public power, and a utility-funded study built to make sure it never looks cheap enough to try.
Pay-to-Speak Democracy in the Desert: Prop 421, TEP, and Tucson’s $240 Question
by Three Sonorans
It costs $240 to tell your neighbors you disagree with Tucson Electric Power.
That’s the fee the City of Tucson charges anyone who wants to publish an opposing argument in the official pamphlet mailed to every household with a registered voter, ahead of a vote on a 25-year deal granting TEP continued use of the city’s streets and alleys for its infrastructure…