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South Tucson voters will decide next week whether to recall their mayor and two council members, a move that could reshape city leadership and the local affordable housing agenda.

Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela and Council Members Brian Flagg and Cesar Aguirre are all facing a recall, with write-in candidates Anita Romero, Christopher Dodson and Eduardo Baca hoping to take their seats.

The election will cost the 1.2-square-mile city between $10,000 and $15,000, according to City Manager Veronica Moreno, but Council Member and former Mayor Paul Diaz — who initiated the recall — said the cost is worth preserving the “last civil rights residents of South Tucson have.”

“They spent $20,000 on a used 2006 fire truck,” Diaz told Tucson Spotlight, adding that the special election — which costs less — is worth it for “the rights of the people here in South Tucson.”

Diaz said he filed the recall because he believes the three prioritize “special interests” in affordable housing over economic development.

He also claims that Valenzuela falsely stated she was a South Tucson resident when running for City Council and didn’t move into what he called a “Brian (Flagg)-controlled apartment” until a year and a half into her term — an allegation Valenzuela has denied.

Valenzuela called the recall effort an “interpersonal dispute” and said it stems from Diaz’s desire to reclaim the mayoral title he lost in the 2024 election. While residents vote for City Council members, the council selects the mayor. The three council members’ terms end next year.

“We have a deficit and when every cent counts, it’s like the South Tucson way, unfortunately, to deal with political disputes (this way),” she said. “I don’t believe in recalls. I believe if someone was elected to serve, they should finish their term.”

Diaz was previously involved in two other recall elections, in 2015 and 2018.

“The only way we're going to get anything done is working together,” Valenzuela said. “Instead of putting his energy [into] positive things, on a positive impact for the community, (Diaz is) wasting his energy.”

Flagg, Aguirre and Valenzuela campaigned together on a platform centered on affordable housing. All three volunteer at Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, a nonprofit dedicated to creating safe, affordable housing in South Tucson. The organization also runs a daily meal program for the community.

They also run a community land trust through Casa Maria called Barrios Unidos Land Trust, a nonprofit organization working to keep homes out of the hands of developers.

“We have a lot of problems in our city to deal with,” Flagg said. “It's just ridiculous and a distraction from the real issues that need to be dealt with here.”

Tucson Spotlight previously reported that Diaz believes Flagg, Valenzuela and Aguirre’s agenda is to buy properties to create Section 8 housing so the government will pay the nonprofit to house people. He has said that people living in substandard conditions should consider moving out of South Tucson.

“South Tucson can only do so much,” he told Tucson Spotlight in December. “If the person said, ‘They haven’t fixed my heater for three weeks,’ they need to look someplace else other than South Tucson, because we cannot do it.”

Diaz said he would rather focus on bringing in economic development and phasing out the police and fire departments, merging them with existing departments outside of South Tucson.

Diaz collected 174 ballot signatures against Valenzuela and 163 each against Flagg and Aguirre, with the assistance of paid canvassers who stood outside businesses and knocked on doors.

He endorsed the write-in candidates running to replace Valenzuela, Flagg and Aguirre.

Baca, who is running to replace Aguirre, is a longtime South Tucson resident and the owner of Baca Upholstery.

Dodson, who is seeking to unseat Flagg, has lived in South Tucson for a little over a year.

Romero, who is hoping to replace Valenzuela, is a longtime South Tucson resident who previously served on the city council.

“I'm going to do what I do, which is working for justice and organizing the community,” Flagg said. “We're going to do that whether we’re elected officials or not — and I speak for Roxy and Cesar.”

Susan Barnett is Deputy Editor of Tucson Spotlight and a University of Arizona alum. Contact her at susan@tucsonspotlight.org.

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