The COVID-19 public health crisis has hammered incredible destruction on our country, killing hundreds of thousands of people, rendering millions of others unemployed, and stretching social services to the absolute limit. In these trying times, it is both unethical and a public health hazard, that anyone should face the nightmare of losing their home. Instead, tenants have stood before biased judges who have failed to follow basic judicial protocol or give those defendants a fair hearing. For this reason, we are urging public officials of Pima County, the City of Tucson, and the City of South Tucson to work in collaboration towards these goals:

1. There is no end in sight for the pandemic. Therefore, the MORATORIUM ON EVICTIONS must be extended until the pandemic is under control.
2. Likewise, TUCSON WATER, TEP, and SOUTHWEST GAS must keep in effect the SUSPENSION OF UTILITY CUT-OFFS until the pandemic is under control.
3. Public agencies have the capacity to provide direct relief to tenants of public housing. Those families must be protected from eviction. Outstanding rental debt, including utility payments, should be immediately forgiven and future rental payments must be reduced to zero for the duration of the pandemic.
4. Lack of legal representation is a chronic problem which disenfranchises renters. All defendants facing an eviction must be provided the option of a government sponsored or state appointed attorney.
5. Work with our representatives in Congress to obtain sufficient funding from the federal government to help pay rental costs, and create an efficient program that provides these payments directly to landlords.

Early forecasts project nearly 75,000 evictions in Pima County over the next few months. Failure to take decisive action during this crisis, as outlined above, will devastate communities, destroy lives and families, and demonstrate a lack of competence within our public institutions, and an unconscionable disregard for human decency. We, the undersigned, implore decision makers to execute the above actions, in full, before the December expiration of the federal moratorium mandate.