2024
SOMOS D5
STRATEGIC PLAN
BACKGROUND
The District Five Somos Distrito 5/ We are District 5 Strategic Plan was formulated, with over fifty community leaders’ assistance, over the course of 2021. These individuals brought expertise spanning labor, housing, environment, education, community organizing, and business. The Somos D5 Strategic Plan is a living document and our staff has been working to implement and to revise parts of it as goals are accomplished and roadblocks have arisen.
District Five has accomplished a considerable number of the objectives in the plan thanks to community support and the people of Pima County, but many remain works in progress, and several we propose for revision.
In 2023, District Five gathered many vital community allies to produce a revised and updated document to guide the work into the coming months and years. It will remain a living document, subject to changes needed to reflect policy successes and changing circumstances.
Our values and mission remain the same, and they reflect the legacies of the remarkable District Five Supervisors of the past – David Yetman, Raúl Grijalva, Richard Elías and Betty Villegas.
SOMOS D5 PRIORITIES
EDUCATION
ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE RESILIENCE
HEALTHY & SAFE COMMUNITIES
HOUSING PEOPLE CAN AFFORD
Cultivate Equitable Access to Educational Opportunities
Expand Access to Clean Air & Water
Advocate for Equity and Access
Support Affordable & Sustainable Rentals & Home Ownership
Defend & Enhance Public Schools
Defend, Restore, Expand, & Connect Public Lands
Defend Workers’ Rights
Prevent Evictions
Produce Engaging & Helpful Information about District Five
Enhance the Urban Environment at the Neighborhood Level
Address Physical and Mental Health Disparities
Promote Affordable Utilities & Internet Access
Enhance Workforce & Educational Partnerships
Support Safe Homes & Relationships
SOMOS D5 STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATES
Every month, D5 will be highlighting an accomplishment that directly meets the goals and priorities of our Somos D5 Strategic Plan.
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The Federal Highway Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation have withdrawn their 2021 approval of an Avra Valley route for the proposed Interstate 11. A 280-mile leg of the proposed freeway was to knife through Avra Valley close to Tucson Mountain Park, Saguaro National Park West, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Ironwood Forest National Monument, and severely impacting Pima County’s landmark Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Pima County has opposed an Avra Valley interstate route since 2007-- most recently approving an opposing resolution, sponsored by D5, in June 2024. A 2022 lawsuit that the Coalition filed charging that the environmental review of the I-11 route by the Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation was woefully inadequate. The agencies had approved the route in November 2021, but now withdrew that approval, but will continue planning for a possible I-11 freeway. Joining the Coalition on the lawsuit are three of its member groups – the Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson Audubon Society and Friends of Ironwood Forest. Also in official opposition to the Avra Valley route are Congressman Raúl Grijalva, the City of Tucson, the Town of Sahuarita, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. National Park Service. The Avra Valley route disrupts the habitat of numerous unique and rare Sonoran Desert species, including federally protected species such as the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl and the Pima pineapple cactus and opens the area to intensive urban development. This is a victory for the community and our environment.
MISSION & VISION
We are District 5 - a comunidad that strives to provide enduring opportunities to lead diverse, safe, and productive lives through equitable access to education, housing, and a healthy environment.
We will reach our shared vision of a healthy, thriving community by honoring and preserving our history and environment and maintaining a vision of hope for future generations. We will collaborate with neighborhoods and essential partners to create systemic change, and advance shared policy goals.
We are District 5. Somos District 5.
The District 5 Strategic Plan has been crafted with a pro-equity lens aimed to defend, work with, and empower the D5 community, especially its most underserved residents. Our priorities are education, environment and climate resilience, healthy and safe communities, and housing that people can afford. We have crafted the plan with community and will continue to strive for transparency and collaboration with community members.
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Integral to District 5’s Strategic Plan, while not always specifically stated, is the recognition that historical and ongoing systemic discrimination disproportionally impacts working and poor families, women, children, the elderly, black, indigenous, people of color, immigrants and refugees, undocumented and mixed status families, people without homes, the LGBTQIA+ community, the differently abled, and other communities. 
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These acknowledgements have guided our document and the priorities contained within.
