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“We are all frustrated, and how each of us expresses that frustration is a personal decision. For me, I always seek to turn frustration into action. ... Rather than engage in a back-and-forth exchange with Chair Scott about who did or didn’t do what in the past — it is my sincere hope that we leave that aside to focus on our shared resident’s needs,� Romero wrote to constituents over the weekend. “We must act together — and urgently.�

The public, albeit small, spat between the two elected officials, both Democrats, began in early October, when Romero, in releasing her Safe City Initiative, wrote: “We must demand that our State and County governments step up to help Tucsonans with this public health crisis.�

She told the ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV then that local partners, which “need to come to the table and act now, I feel, have been kind of taking a back seat.â€�

Scott countered that her comments wouldn’t “stand up to scrutiny.�

Later, Scott said it seemed like Tucson officials “felt obliged to attack the county, disregarding or mischaracterizing our equally dedicated work to take on these issues.� He took issue directly with comments made about the Pima County Transition Center, a board-approved and county-operated initiative. “Pima County has been and will continue to be a leader in taking on unsheltered homelessness and the associated need to increase our housing stock,� he said.

Romero, on Saturday, said it wasn’t a surprise that “this public discourse is difficult and uncomfortable,� but added that so are the problems the county and city both face. She said the county and the city “can do amazing things when we focus on solving issues,� such as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that homelessness, affordable housing and the opioid crisis “are presenting a similar challenge.�

“The City and the County have continued to work on these issues. We have made progress in some areas more than others. We need to be laser-focused on creating services for the service gaps that exist and filling them. Our joint residents deserve that,� she said. “It isn’t useful to go back and forth to try to relitigate the past. Residents are demanding we take action on the fentanyl epidemic and homelessness.�

On the Transition Center, Romero said that while she appreciates all the county does with it, “What the Transition Center does not do is provide detox, which is one of the biggest gaps in services and one of the most significant needs in our community.�

“This is my request to Pima County — we need to use opioid settlement funds to create the detox and treatment services we need, because we all know incarceration is not the goal, treatment and recovery is,� the mayor said. “So, I will continue to ask Pima County to work with the City of Tucson and our state partners to address the fentanyl crisis in our public spaces. I have been clear about the City’s efforts to address these challenges, and I look forward to hearing directly from the Board of Supervisors about what additional solutions they are offering when we meet soon.�

A joint meeting between the Tucson City Council and the Pima County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., Nov. 18 at the Pima Association of Governments office, 1 E. Broadway.