Carmine DeBonis, Jr., advanced the majority of his professional life working with Pima County, Arizona, one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. After graduating from

the University of Arizona in 1991 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Regional Development, Carmine worked with the Pima County Board of Supervisors through 1996.

 

During this time with the Board, Carmine quickly advanced to positions of greater responsibility. His exposure to nearly every aspect of government service including land use, public infrastructure, law enforcement, health care and community services, allowed Carmine to foster effective relationships. He effectively reached consensus on complex community issues and bridged differing viewpoints from varied constituencies.

 

In 1997, Carmine accepted a position with the Pima County Development Services Department. After serving in increasingly responsible roles supporting the development, building and planning divisions, Carmine advanced to department Director in 2001. With continued emphasis on partnering and team building, the department was transformed into a customer-friendly, agile organization.

 

The agency was skillfully managed through an economic downturn resulting in increased service delivery levels despite suffering a reduction of 60 percent of operating expenses and associated staff reductions. Carmine aptly directed policy and process changes to achieve a 75 percent reduction of review timeframes for building permits and development approvals. As a result, County leadership relied on Carmine to lead activities outside his department to streamline land entitlement and development approval processes.

 

Carmine DeBonis, Jr., is now one of three Deputy County Administrators for Pima County.  As of mid-December 2016 he oversees approximately 1,200 employees comprising the functions of seven Pima County Public Works Departments: Development Services; Environmental Quality; Transportation; Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation; Regional Flood Control District; Regional Wastewater Reclamation; and the Office of Sustainability and Conservation. Other organizational support units in Carmine’s area of responsibility include the Public Works Administration office, Public Works Human Resources Support Unit, the Project Management office and the Real Property Services office.

 

In this leadership capacity, Carmine will rely on his numerous successful experiences to guide the Public Works departments toward increasing customer satisfaction, improving processes, enhancing financial efficiency and promoting employee development. Using progressive techniques and business strategies, Carmine will lead the public sector agencies under his direction to not only meet, but exceed, service delivery expectations for the greater benefit of Pima County.

 

Carmine completed his Master’s Degree in Business Administration at the University of Arizona in 2006. He is blessed with a beautiful family: his wife Norma and two active teenagers, Mia and Nicholas. In his spare time, Carmine enjoys restoring his 1965 Ford Mustang.

PRESIDENT CLIFF brought the meeting to order.  HUGH THOMPSON gave the inspiration while GARY HIRSCH and JOHN HEIMBAUGH led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the “Star Spangled Banner”. JOHN STROBECK led the introduction of guests and Visiting Rotarians which included an exchange of flags with a rotary club from Sweden.

 

We had one birthday this week - MIKE SCHULTE Schulte. MIKE thanked his sponsor SONNY SOLOT and mentor DON ROLLINGS, and he stated that the most unusual thing in his life this last year was getting married to his lovely wife Oksana. GARY HIRSCH introduced a new member, his wife, family member KANDY HIRSCH.  KANDY has degrees in business, computer science, a Masters degree in counseling, and is a certified hypnotherapist. Welcome KANDY!

 

PAT ZUMBUSCH introduced TCCS Sponsor Supercuts and member THERESA LIVERZANI-BAKER. THERESA appreciates the rigor and transparency with which the Rotary chooses non-profit recipients.

 

SERGEANT AT ARMS FONDA INSLEY, stepping in for SAA DALE BERG, introduced the raffle and DAVID PASHKOW brought an amazing glass pumpkin to auction and to help publicize the Pumpkin Fiesta at the Sonoran Glass School on 10/7 & 10/8. For announcements, PRESIDENT CLIFF BOWMAN reminded us of the Trident Mixer Sept 28^th, KATHY KITAGAWA presented a Blue Badge to Family Member, ANN PLIMPTON who revealed that she has been the source of the elegant cosmetic collections we all thought came from her husband. DON ROLLINGS presented a Blue Badge presentation to PRODIP DUTTA who suggested that the next big challenge for Rotary may be the problem of poverty. PHIL GUTT described the Accelerator package that is available to both visitors and Rotarians during the car show, including a trip to Wayne’s Toys and the Mini Time Machine Museum. MARK CLARK made a pitch for more Car Show Volunteers – SIGN UP SOON!! ANN LANCERO invited us to purchase Car Show T-Shirts, and Past President JON WANG announced the long awaited “ladies cut” Rotary Work Shirts. BOB LOGAN and MARGARET HIGGINS encouraged us all by "Happy Jackson" to come to a special showing of a documentary on the opioid epidemic produced by BOB’s son. Doug Woodard played a video touting all the great opportunities at the District Conference.

 

PRESIDENT CLIFF BOWMAN introduced JIM LUBINSKI, President of our Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation of which all of us are members. JIM introduced the Three New RCT Foundation Endowments: Community Charities, Scholarships and International Programs. The goal of these new endowments is to create a corpus of at least $500,000 each, which will then allow a percentage of the income to be used to fund programs in these three areas. A star studded cast of Past Presidents including HUGH THOMPSON, ARNIE JACOBSEN, JONI CONDIT, CHARLOTTE HARRIS, and ROGER HARWELL joined ANGELA MOORE in describing how Rotarians can support these new endowments.

 

PRESIDENT CLIFF adjourned the meeting with a quote that In the desert, the slow quiet entrance of autumn is like breathing a sigh of relief – here, here!

This year's District Conference will be held on October 13-15, 2017.  We are returning to the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel Reid Park in Tucson.  Rooms are available for only $79 per night, plus taxes.  Early Bird Registration is only $185 for the entire conference - and what a conference it will be!  Keynote speakers are Jennifer Jones, Susan B. Neuman, Michael Angelo Caruso and John Matthews - our own Rotary International Director.  There will be more than 20 breakout sessions and special events for our Interactors and Rotaractors Saturday morning.  Sunday morning will be special, with a salute to Rotarian veterans and active duty personnel.  A special conference website will be up and running by Sunday, July 16. Watch for the link on the District 5500 website: rotaryd5500.org.  Sign up early to qualify for the low room rates and special Early Bird Registration.

 

The Rotary Club of Tucson will be hosting a Hospitality Suite on Friday and Saturday evening during the conference, along with other Rotary Clubs in our District.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you to meet Rotarians from all across southern Arizona.  If you have never experienced a Rotary hospitality night, come on out for the fun and fellowship!

 

The Association of Fundraising Professionals Southern Arizona Chapter will host its 29th annual National Philanthropy Day Awards luncheon on Friday, November 17, 2017 at The Westin La Paloma. Registration is at 11:00 AM.  Luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.  Our Rotary Club will be honored at this luncheon and receive one of the five major awards. A film will also be shown that features our Rotary Club in the video. The  ticket cost of the event is $80.00 and a portion of that is tax deductible. We hope many of you will attend and represent the Club and show how supportive Rotary is of community engagement and service. Registration can be made on our website under "Upcoming Events" but your club account will not be billed for the luncheon. Money for your tickets will be collected by Ellie Patterson and checks should be made payable to "So. AZ AFP" (So. AZ Association of Fundraising Professionals).   We have four tables reserved and money needs to be turned in by October 27^th. This is such an honor for our Club. Thank you to former member, Cheryl House, who nominated us for this award.

 

Thanks to our partner, Tucson Clean and Beautiful, our club is off to a good start towards RI President Ian Riseley's goal of planting one tree for every Rotarian.  Our work on Saturday in the Garden District neighborhood resulted in over 80 trees planted on our club's way to 250. 

 

Thanks Chuck Sawyer and all who came out to help!

The mission of the YWCA is:  Eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. In Arizona, we are living out that mission in a challenging context that includes a ranking as 6th in the nation in poverty, largely women and immigrants. In response, as we enter our 100th Anniversary year, the YWCA has created the Women's Impact Fund.

 

Traditional lenders are slow to invest in start-up and new businesses. Women and minorities, especially those with low incomes and/or a history of debt, face even bigger obstacles. This puts an enormous cash flow burden on our entrepreneurs. Although those we served through the Women’s Business Center generated $3.5 million in sales revenue last year, they secured just $63,000 in business loans. The Women’s Impact Fund will become a primary lender for women and immigrant entrepreneurs in Arizona, and a source of capital to invest in programs and businesses that drive economic development in Pima County.

 

This initiative will reduce the number of working women who still live in poverty and increase access to capital for entrepreneurs. YWCA is a leading provider of bilingual, culturally competent workforce readiness, leadership development and business training programs for more than 2000 women each year. YWCA’s efforts align with Rotary’s priority of offering training and support for Tucsonans to build careers that support individuals and families while boosting the local economy.