Friday, September 01, 2006

A change of pace post - the AZ Treasurer race

It’s time for a bit of a break from the Chronicles of Harry and JD.

While JD Hayworth is a never-ending source of subject material, after a while, even he gets boring.

In addition to JD becoming boring after a while, I think he has contributed to a bit of laziness on my part. I haven’t had to go looking for topics to write about, because he provides two or three good ones every week.

It’s time for a bit of a stretch, writing-wise. Time to write on a topic that I don’t know much about, and have to do some research about.

Hence, this post is going to be about one of the races on the undercard in November, the race to replace the disgraced David Petersen as Arizona State Treasurer.


I was sort of ignoring this race, mostly because in a race like this it's almost a reflex for me, and for most people, to vote the party line. However, that kind of blind party loyalty is how we get people like David Petersen (and George Bush) in office. Therefore, this race is deserving of analysis.

Rano Singh is the Democratic candidate for the position, and Dean Martin is the Republican candidate. They are both unopposed for the primary on September 12th and will face off in the general election on November 7th.

A look at their campaign websites quickly reaffirmed my initial inclination to vote for Mrs. Singh.

Dean Martin's website highlights his legislative career. It does not mention that he is running for Arizona Treasurer.

It contains little tidbits like his definitions of some terms (click on 'Soundbites) -



“The people have spoken” - Refers to a voter-passed tax or spending program.

“The people did not understand” - Refers to a voter-passed limit on government.

“Institutional Knowledge” - A state of physical and mental being held by those who have been around so long they have become institutionalized. (See “The people did not understand”) Term used by Term-limited politicians who want to remove term limits.

“Bipartisan” or “Bipartisanship” - Republicans caving into Democrats.

“Partisanship” - Standing on principle. Also known as “unwilling to compromise”. (See “Bipartisanship”)

“It's for the children” - It's really expensive.

There are others, but you get the idea.

His "Press Release" page has four entries...from 2001.

In my research, I discovered one shining example of his idea of sound fiscal practices.

He wants everyone to pay their federal taxes, but to send the money to the state government to dole out to the feds after the state has taken its share to pay any costs that it deems to be related to illegal immigration. Source: Lou Dobbs Tonight, February 14, 2006.

I did find one place on the site that does mention his campaign for Treasurer.

The contribution page. And "mention" is all it does.

On Rano Singh's website, at the very top of the main page, she tells you what office she is running for...

What a radical concept!

Also on the main page is a link to her "issues" document.

Her quotes include -



My top priority will be to restore stability and trust to the office.

I am not a politician. I will always place competence first.

The Treasurer must protect the taxpayer’s dollars through transparency and disclosure of all activity within the Treasurer’s office and the State of Arizona Local Government Investment Pools.

*She's* actually put some thought into the job she's running for...

What a radical concept! #2

They do have some similarities in their respective backgrounds.

He is married and educated (degree in Small Business Management/Entrepeneurship.)

She is married and educationed (degrees in Education and Organizational Management.)

He has experience in government and civic organizations (State Senate since 2001 and active in Republican groups.)

She has experience in government and civic and cultural organizations (no elective offices, but a member of state finance-related commissions under governors Hull and Napolitano.)

They both own small businesses.

He owns Digital Print Design, and his wife owns Grassroots Programs, a consulting firm.

She is co-owner and president of DPS Biotech Southwest Inc.

More on this later. This info leads to some verrrry interesting places.

The Arizona State Treasurer is the "chief financial officer" of the state. The constitutional requirements for eligibility are limited (from Article 5, Section 2 of the Arizona State Constitution) -


No person shall be eligible to any of the offices mentioned in section 1 of this article except a person of the age of not less than twenty-five years, who shall have been for ten years next preceding his election a citizen of the United States, and for five years next preceding his election a citizen of Arizona.
However, given the nature of the position, an ideal candidate should possess some other qualities.

He/She has some knowledge of finance, investments and/or accounting.

Both candidates have knowledge in this area.

And he/she will be someone who places a premium on professionalism, not partisanship.

In this area, there's no doubt that Rano Singh is the far more qualified of the two candidates.

She has the education, the work experience in both the private and public spheres, and the professionalism that the position cries out for. She has worked successfully with and for Republicans and Democrats, and has strong ties to the community.

Dean Martin brings a contempt for Democrats, for professional government employees (see the quotes above), and responsible fiscal management.

In other words, he's David Petersen all over again.

Even stopping right here, there's far more than enough evidence to support Rano Singh as the best candidate.

He might spruce up his website a little, provide a few soundbites that are more on point for a financial professional instead of a partisan hack, but it's too late. He's been running since February and the cat's out of the bag.

But wait, there's more.

Lots more.

Remember those two companies that are owned by the Martins? Digital Print Design and Grassroots Solutions?

Those companies are two of the biggest recipients of paid campaign work for candidate Dean Martin.

Over the last four years or so, he has funnelled over $25,000 of his campaign funds to those companies through his various committees, with a majority going to DPD.

In addition, he has taken a lot of contributions through the years from lobbyists like Stan Barnes and from the finance, banking, and accounting industries directly. [Mrs. Singh is running as a Clean Elections candidate.]

The industries that would most want to influence the man who oversees the investment, and the fees associated with that investment, of the State of Arizona's money.

As far as I can tell, nothing about these activities is illegal (at least, he hasn't been prosecuted for them), just deceptive.

But do we really want someone this practiced at deception in a high position of fiduciary trust and responsibility, like the Arizona State Treasurer's office?

Anybody who reads this blog regularly knows that I don't usually have a very high opinion of the Republican Party, but I have NEVER said it was run by stupid people.

I'm think I have to re-assess that position, though.

In an election year where they are getting their asses kicked all over the country due to ethics issues.

In an election year where they are trying to find a replacement for an unethical and unprofessional officeholder.

WhywhywhyWHY?!? are they running a candidate who's just as ethically challenged as the guy who is all but getting run out of office?

Do they have that much contempt for the voters, or have I overestimated their intelligence?

On edit: After reading this, I realize that those options are not mutually exclusive. Never mind. :)
End edit.

Note: The Clean Elections Commission has scheduled a debate between the candidates for 6 - 8 p.m. on October 4th at the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce. Check with the campaigns and the Clean Elections website for details.

Note2 - In the giving credit where it's due department, during my research for this post, I came across a number of comments on the AZCentral.com site from Bob Haran (read the 4th comment down - it's pretty much everything that I found, with much greater detail) that pointed me in the right direction on the research into the Martins' companies. Mr. Haran and I disagree on pretty much everything else politics-wise, but we both despise corrupt public officials of any party affiliation.




1 comment:

Michael Bryan said...

Nice post. Martin's self-enrichment is certainly unethical in my view, but it's not illegal as long as the transactions are legit. You'd be surprised how many candidates do this sort of thing.

The best reason to vote for Rano and not Dean is that the later is a fatuous, blowhard ideologue. Simple as that.