John Backer for Pima County Supervisor - District 2
I'm John Backer, an Air Force Veteran (A-10 Electrician) with over 30 years of experience in the technology industry, where I've successfully tackled complex challenges across various sectors, including law enforcement.
At the core of problem-solving is active listening, a quality I deeply value. Sadly, our current supervisor has repeatedly demonstrated a refusal to listen to the voices of Pima County residents.
I’m running for the board of supervisors because the current board has been playing "board games" with the residents of Pima county -
The board has been spending our tax dollars like it is Monopoly money. The board has been keeping our residents in poverty by causing
nothing but Trouble for potential employers. The board either doesn’t care or understand the Risk being faced by our residents from
crime, fentanyl, and the overwhelming numbers of immigrants. It is time to elect me to serve you on the Pima Board of Supervisors and
end the Aggravation we have all been experiencing, and rest assured, I will ensure your concerns, ideas, and thoughts are not just
acknowledged but truly heard. - BackBacker.org.
Issues
Lack of Transparency
Currently, the BOS agenda is published about 1 week before the meeting; however, the addendum gets published only 2 days before the meeting. Two days is not enough time to examine and research all the addendum items to be considered.
Using master agreements in purchasing and a lack of competitive bidding
Board meetings are currently being held during the day; however, evening meetings would provide the opporuntiy for more to participate.
Wasting our Tax Dollars
Annual County Budget over time
2017/2018 adopted budget - $1,267,072,355 in expenditures and $1,086,225,487 in revenues
2018/2019 adopted budget - $1,334,100,609 in expenditures and $1,090,848,610 in revenues
2019/2020 adopted budget - $1,310,817,540 in expenditures and $1,128,183,604 in revenues
2020/2021 adopted budget - $1,422,509,302 in expenditures and $1,193,007,024 in revenues
2021/2022 adopted budget - $2,115,600,207 in expenditures and $1,544,411,567 in revenues
2022/2023 adopted budget - $1,932,712,979 in expenditures and $1,650,438,149 in revenues
2023/2024 adopted budget - $1,760,492,343 in expenditures and $1,494,014,002 in revenues - adopted June 20, 2023
The current board of supervisors has limited the speaking time provided to the call to the audience, and based on the number of residents wanting to share their thoughts, the individual speaking time can be further reduced to only 2 minutes.
The voters of Pima county voted down a measure to turn Pima County into a santuary county, but Pima county is acting as if the voters approved the measure.
Policies that keep Pima County Residents in Poverty
Pima County's "Prosperity Initiative" - the cure for poverty is opportunities - current board policies limit opportunities
To attract new business opportunites, Pima county must address crime, fentanyl, and homelessness.
John Backer was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee and is a lifelong Republican. The Air Force brought him to Tucson on July 4, 1984 to serve as an Aircraft Electrician on the A-10 at Davis-Monthan – later working on F-16s and A-7s at the Arizona National Guard in Tucson. John has spent most of his adult life in the Tucson area. He is married and the father of a blended family of 4 adult daughters and an adult son – John is also a grandfather of 5 (soon to be 6) children ranging in age from newborn to 13.
John has earned four college degrees including a Masters, Bachelors, and two Associates degrees.
John is currently serving our community as:
The Chairman of the Town of Sahuarita Planning and Zoning Commission
Elected PC – LD19
Previously, John served our community as:
An Arizona Republican Party State Committeeman representing LD2 – 2018-2020, and 2020-2022
A Pima County Board of Adjustment commissioner for Pima County District 4
LD2 3rd vice chair
D2 1st vice chair (for a short time prior to running for County Supervisor)
Served on the Town of Sahuarita visioning committee for the Sahuarita Square project
Served on the Pima GOP nominations committee in 2018
Additional Community Involvement:
Cub Master for pack 328 for 4 years
Assistant Cub Master for 1 year
Recreation league sports coach for soccer, basketball, and volleyball
Junior Achievement – taught elementary students the JA curriculum
Habitat for Humanity – volunteered to help build homes
Neighborhood Watch Co-Coordinator for 3 years – Madera Highlands
HOA advisory committee member for 1 year – Madera Highlands
In addition to running for public office himself twice, he has helped several Republican candidates including his daughter Brianna Hamilton who won a seat on the Flowing Wells School Board. John helped by:
conducting data analysis for the campaign
participating in flag waves
walking neighborhoods
leveraging social media
participating in events
texting voters
John has 30 years of technology experience – including 10 years working at IBM on a World-Wide Visual Analytics Team which helped clients:
Fight terrorism
Find fraud, waste, and abuse
Make sense out of large amounts of data
Over the last 4+ years, John has been working for a Tucson based software company as their Director of Business Development and Client Success. The company and John are proud to serve the law enforcement community.
John is also a Realtor and leads The Backer Team consisting of real estate agents from Nogales to Tucson and reaching into Phoenix.
Sign Nominating Petition
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office provides a method to collection online petition signatures through their website. For the first time, as a candidate for Pima County Board of Supervisor – District 2, we can use this capability to qualify for the ballot by collecting signatures from Republicans, Independents, and Party Not Declared (PND) voters in Supervisor District 2. To sign my nominating petition, click the button below and provide the requested information by the state of Arizona to verify your identity and sign my petition.
Using the online petition portal will show you the nominating petitions you are able to sign based on the area you live in and will prevent you from accidently signing more petitions than allowed for each position. When you provide your identifying information, it is important to note that the state already has the information, you enter the information requested to confirm your identity.
If you prefer to sign a paper petition, please reach out and we will bring a nominating petition to you.
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