Who They Are: Tucson
The City of Tucson, Arizona's second-largest city, runs on a council-manager system: a mayor and six ward council members set policy on odd-year ballots, and the city manager they hire runs 4,000-plus employees. Council members are nominated by ward but elected citywide.
Also: Pima County · Oro Valley · Marana · Congress · Arizona Legislature
Mayor and Council8 people
Four-year terms, elected in odd years: the mayor and Wards 1, 2 and 4 in 2023, Wards 3, 5 and 6 in 2025. New terms begin the first Monday in December after the election.
City Manager1 person
Hired by the mayor and council. Prepares the budget, appoints department directors, and runs the city day to day.
Manager's office and charter officers3 people
Assistant city managers divide the departments. The city attorney is appointed by the council under the charter, not by the manager.
Department directors2 people
The directors who have come before the council in our reporting. The list grows as they do.
Where the pay figures come from
Each figure on the chart is the annual base pay for the seat, from the statute, charter section, resolution or reported contract linked here. Click any person for the same citation on their card.
- Mayor and Council — Regina Romero: $120,750 a year, by statute since Dec. 1, 2025. Tucson Charter Ch. V § 8 (Prop 413, 2023): 1.25 times a Pima County supervisor's pay under A.R.S. § 11-419(A); statutory raises reach Tucson on the first Monday of December of the next odd year (codelibrary.amlegal.com).
- Mayor and Council — Lane Santa Cruz, Paul Cunningham, Kevin Dahl, Nikki Lee, Selina Barajas, Miranda Schubert: $96,600 a year, by statute since Dec. 1, 2025. Tucson Charter Ch. V § 9 (Prop 413, 2023): equal to a Pima County supervisor's pay under A.R.S. § 11-419(A); statutory raises reach Tucson on the first Monday of December of the next odd year (codelibrary.amlegal.com).
Seats and terms come from each government's own pages and election canvasses; pay figures link to their sources above; each person's list of reports is drawn from What They Decided. Tell us what's wrong or missing: nicholas@tucsondailybrief.com.
Who They Are was researched and written by Nicholas De Leon with Claude Fable 5.1 from the official pages, election canvasses, statutes and contracts linked on each chart; the reports naming each person are matched by code from What They Decided, and no model wrote any of it. Last updated 10:31 AM MST on October 5, 2026. Read more about how this is made.
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