TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Tuesday, Rocque Perez, 26, became the second youngest Ward 5 councilman in the City of Tucson’s history. He said he is also the youngest municipal official in Arizona.
Perez was born in Ward 5 and spent his childhood there, but moved away before coming back.
He served as the executive director of the Metro Education Association, a partnership between the City of Tucson and Pima County. He said it was there that he worked on education opportunities for mixed socioeconomic status families and students with special circumstances in Ward 5.
“Really honing in on the needs that that particular community both requires and deserves,” he said about his time with the association.
As a Ward 5 councilman, he’s hoping to work on expanding business developments like the Mosaic Quarter. He said he’s going to build upon the relationships that Ward 5 already has with local businesses.
“To clean up the community, to make housing accessible, to support our young people,” he said.
He’s also passionate about expanding housing to people who come from a low-income background. He said he’s hoping to bring low-income housing to the Barrio Santa Rosa area where he currently lives.
“It’s really about building families up and really breaking cycles of poverty and that’s something that I’ve focused on in the entirety of my life, my professional career,” Perez said.
Perez said people have already reached out to him with issues in their ward. That’s why he said he’s going to collaborate with neighborhood associations, businesses, and the City of South Tucson.
“Bringing them together for common interests with the greatest amount of impact,” he said.
In the next few weeks he’s hoping to have a reception at the Ward 5 office so people in his ward can get to know him.
While he’s in office until December 1, he’s hoping to set up his successor to be successful with issues that he’s hoping to tackle.
“We won’t make any promises on what we can or can’t do, but I think knowing is a good start,” Perez said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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