Former Tucson City Councilman Steve Leal dead at 76

Former Tucson City Councilman Steve Leal died on Tuesday, July 2. He was 76.

Leal, who served two decades on the Tucson City Council from 1989 to 2009, pushed to form new neighborhood associations and expanded community centers in Ward 5 on the South Side. He advocated for increased public support for job-training programs and park improvements, was a strong supporter of Tucson’s big box ordinance that limited the location of 24-hour mega-retailers such as Walmart, and voted to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.

“I have been given an opportunity and privilege few can truly imagine,” Leal said in a statement when he announced his plans to retire from the Council. “Now I need to do some things for my family and myself at this time.”

"He leaves behind a powerful legacy of pursuing social justice and repairing our world," said a statement posted on his Facebook profile Wednesday afternoon. "May his memory be for a blessing and a lesson on how we may live our lives."

Born in San Leandro, Calif., and raised in nearby Oakland, Leal signed up at age 20 for a three-year stint in the Navy during the Vietnam War. When he left the service, he earned a degree in political science at University of California, Santa Cruz.

He came to Tucson in 1977 to pursue a master's in political science at the UA. While he never earned the degree, he worked in various construction and mechanical jobs and began building his political career through the nascent neighborhood movement. In 1989, Leal knocked off incumbent Republican Roy Laos in Ward 5.

While serving on the Council, Leal had an administrative job at the Pima County Jail ,and one time made headlines for locking himself inside a cell in a vacant section of the facility while doing an inspection.

Leal hosted a political radio show and podcast and worked in community outreach at the Sunnyside School District after leaving the Council. He had a heart attack in 2017.

Leal is survived by his wife, Martha McGrath. Services are pending.