Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the Tucson area (and perhaps with the holiday spirit in mind), the city's mayor and council voted to extend the eviction moratorium on housing units owned by the city. The vote was unanimous.

The moratorium was set to expire on New Year's Day. With the extension, the moratorium is now in effect through at least June of 2022- and given the fluid situation of the pandemic, possibly for even longer.

Citing the uptick in COVID-19 cases, Council Member Richard Fimbres stated that allowing the eviction moratorium to expire was precisely the opposite of what needed to be done. When the mayor and city council got together this week to discuss the matter, Fimbres put it very simply. "This is not the time to end the city’s moratorium of city-owned and operated housing units," he declared.

In order to further assist the renters in the Tucson area, US Rep Raúl Grijalva contacted the Treasury Department this week to ask them for further Emergency Rental Assistance Funds for not only Tucson, but all of Pima County. Unless his request is heeded, the Emergency Rental Assistance Funds in the area are expected to be exhausted by the middle of January.