Bobby Nichols

Nonpartisan

If elected I will take every possible measure to effectively make Tempe a sanctuary city for immigrants. SB1164, SB1088, and HB2099 were all vetoed by Governor Hobbs, which leaves our cities significant room to implement rules prohibiting local law enforcement from participating in federal raids on immigrant communities and detaining immigrants based on whether they have "papers" or not, even under the statutory framework established by SB1070.

To solve Tempe's workforce housing shortage, we can build public housing on public land, subsidize the development of multi-family townhomes, duplexes, triplexes, and establish residential missing-middle zoning overlays throughout the entire city.

I will also introduce legislation to invest in disaster preparedness and, in emergency situations, encourage responsible masking and other airborne illness mitigation methods in indoor public buildings.

I will also use my platform in the league of cities and towns to fight for an Arizona green new deal and support the repeal of unreasonable preemptions on municipalities that want to enforce green building codes and establish their own solar power programs to move away from gas reliance.

I will also introduce legislation that places strict limits on the use of water for the maintenance of non-native plants and corporate luxury developments.

If elected, I will introduce legislation that creates a free municipal childcare program for Tempe’s new parents and young families to make this city more affordable for everyone.

To cut down on carbon emissions in our city and provide social mobility for Tempe workers, we can expand our low-cost and no-cost public transportation options like the Orbit bus and the Tempe Streetcar.

I will introduce legislation to deploy social emergency response teams consisting of healthcare professionals and skilled social workers across the city to provide needed empathy and support to women who call out for help.

I want to make transportation more affordable by expanding Tempe’s orbit bus neighborhood circulator routes and stretching the Tempe Streetcar rail lines into south Tempe (or at least to the Tempe library). By focusing on these common sense public transit projects and building on the bones of our current system, we can provide low and no cost public transit options to workers, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce the cost of car ownership like gas, maintenance, and insurance for vehicle owners.

If elected, I will introduce legislation to expand the city’s social and medical services for individuals with disabilities, fight for the expansion of no-cost and low-cost public transit to create transportation options for individuals who cannot drive, and update Tempe’s public spaces, public buildings, and public infrastructure so that it is genuinely accessible to everyone.

If elected, I would introduce legislation to enhance our public schools by increasing educator compensation, covering classroom expenses that teachers are practically forced to pay, providing social services to students, and updating our public school campuses.

If elected, I will support our LGBTQIA communities by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care, making Tempe an LGBTQIA sanctuary city, and hiring new city staffers dedicated to uplifting our LGBTQIA residents.

To keep Tempe Tenants in their homes, we can establish rent controls on city owned, financed, subsidized or insured freeze our unreasonably high rents, and increase funding while expanding access to housing vouchers and rental subsidy programs.

I will also use my platform with the league of cities and towns to actively lobby the state legislature to repeal SB 1070, which would break down the last barrier between Tempe and becoming a genuine sanctuary city for immigrants in every sense of the word.

To secure public investment in public benefits for generations to come, Tempe can investigate the creation of a public bank or, at least, a non-depository municipal finance corporation that partners with local credit unions to invest public resources in the public good and diversify the city’s revenue streams while protecting our finances from billionaire owned banking conglomerates.

To eliminate food deserts and provide high-quality meals for Tempe families at below market-rate prices, we can invest in city-owned grocery stores modeled after the historically successful projects in Kansas and Wisconsin.

If elected, I will introduce legislation that makes Tempe a reproductive health sanctuary city by prohibiting law enforcement from collaborating with regressive and oppressive state actors attempting to track, catch, arrest, and imprison women for refusing to comply with local forced-birth laws.

If elected, I will introduce legislation to expand public transit options and place solar panels on all publicly owned buildings to decrease carbon emissions and provide Tempe residents with safe sources of renewable energy.

If elected, I will always fight for responsible budgets, progressive tax structures, and reasonable spending priorities in Tempe.