Rep. Ethan Orr, R-Tucson

Rep. Ethan Orr, R-Tucson

Name: Ethan Orr

Chamber: House of Representatives

Party: Republican

Profession: Executive director of Linkages of Arizona; adjunct professor at the University of Arizona and Pima College.

Hometown: Tucson

Legislative District: No. 9, which includes the north-central and northwest areas of metropolitan Tucson.

Committee Assignments: Higher Education and Workforce Development (vice chairman); Energy, Environment and Natural Resources; Judiciary.

Previous or Current Elected Offices: None

Highlights of Community Involvement: Council aide for city of Tucson; commercial revitalization program manager in the Tucson Office of Economic Development; director of economic and community development for South Tucson.

Why He Ran: “We have a real lack of leadership in our community, and the conversation that always bothered me is we’re always talking about what we don’t like, what we don’t want to be. I grew up skiing, and you never say, ‘I’m not going to hit that tree.’ I guarantee you’ll hit the tree. In Tucson, we have the little brother syndrome. We’re always saying we’re not going to be like Phoenix … The big issue with Tucson is, what are you going to be? Because you can have a small-town feel with proper planning, but if you don’t have it, you’re going to react to crisis. And that’s what we’ve done. That’s what I really want to do: change the conversation.”

His Focus: “Education is very important. I’m doing a lot with elder abuse to figure out how we prevent particularly the exploitation of vulnerable adults. Energy and natural resources is just going to be fun – I really love the state parks.”

Bills: Author of HB 2479, which would accelerate the personal property depreciation cycle.