El Independiente

              UNIVERS4TY OF ARIZONA
Department of Journalism
Tucson, Arizona 85721
cial de este mes, el consejo
de Sur Tucson designó a
Victor Soltero como nuevo
alcalde.
Soltero, quien ha sido
miembro dei consejo por
ocho años, reemplaza a
Dan Eckstrom quien fue
nombrado a la Mesa de Su-pervisores
dei Condado
Pima cuando Sam Lena, un
miembro de la mesa, aceptó
una posición en la oficina
"i
Mofford.
Soltero, de 49 años, dice
que espera mejorar la ima-gen
negativa que tiene la
ciudad de Sur Tucson. Una
de sus prioridades será
atraer mas negociantes a la
area, indicó.
Ei alcaide nuevo fue su-pervisor
dei mantenimiento
del Tucson Unified School
District.
En su posición como al-
Soltero es alcalde nuevo
por Tripti C. Hindocha
Durante una junta espe- de la Gobernadora Rose calde, Soltero recibirá $200
mensuales. El periodo de
oficio se extende hasta
mayo, 1991.
Durante la junta, John
García, miembro dei con-sejo
renunció su posición
como vicealcalde y fue
reemplazado por Shirley
Villegas.
Villegas ha sido miembro
del consejo por 10 años
también.
Tribe subpoenas hail's financial records
by Tripti Hindocha
The Pasqua Yaqui tribe has
subpoenaed the financial records
of it's bingo hail from the former
manager of the bingo hall. Tribal
administrator Lindsay Rhodes
said Merritt 'Mutt' Johnson was
fired after refusing to hand over
the financial records on April
20th.
Rhodes said Johnson owed the
tribe about $100,000 in unpaid
bills and profits from some of
thegambling operations.
"He did not pay the tribe the
by Jessica Bell
Dan Eckstrom drives through
the streets in South Tucson like
he's giving a tour to an old
friend.
He points at the houses where
his friends grew up. He talks
about the Gospel Rescue Mis-sion
that has been in the city for
24 years, and that now wants to
open a center for homeless
women and children. He smiles
as he points at the new city hail
complex and drives over newly
paved streets. He talks about
South Tucson making a come-back.
Dan Eckstrom has not always
had such an opportunity to
smile. For 15 years he has been
mayor of what was a one square
mile economic ruin in one of the
hottest spots in the sunbelt. And
now he is a member of the Pima
County Board of Supervisors.
He was appointed to the board to
replace former board chairman
Sam Lena, who recently went to
work for Governor Rose Mof-ford's
administration in Tucson.
Eckstrom has seen South Tuc-son
through more than its share
of controversy about everything
from an image as the "bad side
of town" with a huge homeless
problem, to a $3.6 million dollar
lawsuit filed against the city in
1978.
He was fresh out of college
money from the video machines,
blackjack or the poker. He's kept
all the money." Rhodes said.
Tribal chairman Raul Silvas
said Johnson has been given 20
days in the tribal court subpoena
to hand over the records. Silvas
said the case may have to go to
federal court. Johnson who is in
Georgia could not be reached for
comment.
The hall has been plagued by
management problems since it
opened up in 1981. Johnson who
with a degree in government
from the University of Arizona
when he was elected to the
South Tucson City Council at
the age of 23. He insists that his
age was not a problem for him.
"I was ready for it," he says,
with a mischievous grin. He was
chosen as mayor two years later
by the council when the former
mayor took a job in Phoenix.
"I've lived in South Tucson
all my life. I grew up here and I
got involved in everything, he
said."
Although Eckstrom will earn
about $23,400 for serving on the
board for the rest of the year, he
received only $200 a month as
mayor and never got a raise in
l5years.
Eckstrom is a man who laughs
constantly and is always well
dressed - in blue suits and crisp
white shirts that have become a
sort of identifying uniform.
"I even survived a recall elec-tion,"
he said. The move to recall
him started when he fired the
police chief in 1978. Some of
the chief's supporters got angry
and sent out recall petitions. In
the end, Eckstrom and three of
the council members he support-ed
got back in office. The person
who supported the chief of po-lice
was voted out.
While it was an important part
. e
is the sixth manager the hail has
had, was hired in October after a
five-month shut down of the
bingo operation. The closing of
the hall last May was prompted
by the firing of Johnson's prede-cessor,
Al Chavetz.
Rhodes said the gambling
operation will now be run by an
employee co-operative. She
added that 4 of the hail's 36
employees had resigned follow-ing
the management shake-up.
Mayor oflS years leaves position
Eckstrom accepts position on Board of Supervisors
of his life, being mayor of South
Tucson was only a part-time job
for Eckstrom.
For four years he has chaired
the Pima Association of Govern-ments
(PAG), he is a member of
the Air Quality Control Commit-tee,
and is involved in minority
efforts of the Small Business
Administration.
He also owns a consulting
firm and was a founder of the
Maya Construction Company,
though he is no longer a part of
that business. He runs his pre-sent
business out of his home
and says that it gives him more
time to spend with his two chil-dren,
Jennifer, 11, and Billy, 8.
When he was mayor he often
brought them to City Council
meetings and other functions so
they could learn the business of
politics that their father has
made his life.
Those who know Eckstrom
have watched him grow and
have confidence in his abilities
as a leader.
"In my opinion, under Dan's
leadership, the town has turned
around," said Sam Lena, former
Chairman of the Pima County
Board of Supervisors.
"They've gotten rid of the
streetwalkers, forced the dilapi-tated
buildings out, come
through the Roy Garcia incident
cont. p.3
by Kevin Turner
Local sculptor Alex Garza
wants to bring his Southwestern-flavored
art to the forefront of
the Hispanic community.
As a preparator at the Tucson
Museum of Art, Garza said the
museum is launching an effort to
reach out to ethnic communities
to look at galleries and exhibits.
As an artist, he wants to esta-bush
a sculpture garden on Tuc-son's
southside.
"All communities can start
feeling that this museum is part
of their community also. We
need to. make sure that there is
accessibility between the
museum and ethnic commu-nities,"
he said. "The museum is
trying to set up a better relation-ship
in the communities by
meeting with Hispanic civic
groups and community agencies.
On my part, it's a grass-roots
effort, just basically telling
people what's going on here."
As well as working to bring
the community to the art, Garza
also plans to bring the art to the
community.
Garza, who hails from Chica-go,
came to Tucson in 1982, and
has since seen the influence of
Non-profit org.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Permit No.190
Tucson, Arizona
epCId? dicipte
Photo by David A. Portnoy
Local Tucson artist Alex Garza with his sculpture entitled
Pharoahs Totem.
For more see pages 6 and 7.
South Tucson sculptor brings art
to Hispanics and Hispanics to art
the desert on his work.
He said the first effect he
noticed in his art after the move
was the eminence of light
caused by the change of climate
the increased sunshine.
Attuned to his surroundings,
Garza says, his "intentions are to
pursue the uses of organic matter
(stone, wood) indigenous to the
Southwest to pay homage to the
environment of the Southwest."
He said the homage must be
here because, "this is where my
people are."
The museum is also to feature
the work of Hispanic artists
more often, he added.
Garza is an easygoing man
who becomes emotional when
he talks about his work.
"When I'm working with
stone, I feel like I'm participat-ing
in something that's been
going on for millions and mil-lions
of years. It is a ritual that
has gone on since man first
made marks on stonethe stone
has endured."
Garza's most recent series,
"Totem," for example, involved
the genesis of shapes from cante-cont.
p. 7
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 4 "SOUTH TUCSON'S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER" MAY 1988