Debates for the week of September 20, 2010

Most info from the website of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Statewide candidates:

Secretary of State
September 22, 2010

7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Televised on KAET
Horizon Channel 8


Legislative candidates:

LD18
Monday, September 20, 2010

6:00 PM
Phoenix Mesa Marriott Hotel
200 N Centennial Way
Mesa, AZ 85201


LD3
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

6:00 PM
Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce Conference Center
1251 Highway 95
Bullhead City, AZ 86429

LD8
September 21, 2010

6:30 PM
Kerr Cultural Center
6110 N Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85253

 
LD2
Wednesday, September 22, 2010

6:00 PM
Woodlands Radisson Hotel
1175 W Route 66
Flagstaff, AZ 86001


LD7
Thursday, September 23, 2010

6:00 PM
Appaloosa Library
City of Scottsdale
7377 E Silverstone Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85255


Scottsdale City Council candidate forum (complete community meeting notice here):

Brown Avenue Merchants City Council Debates
Monday, September 20, 2010
6:00 p.m.

City Hall Kiva Forum
3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.



Later...

This week's debate/event schedule

Most of this info is from the website of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.  They seem to be the only group that Republican candidates will pay attention to when they come calling regarding debates this year.  Maybe it has something to do with legal requirements for campaign funding.

Not that Carl Seel (R - LD6 ) cares about minor details like that, but more on that in the near future...

On to the list of debates -

Statewide race:

Superintendent of Public Instruction
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Televised on KAET
Horizon Channel 8

 
Legislative races:
 
LD11
Monday, September 13, 2010
6:00 PM
Embassy Suite Paradise Valley
4415 E Paradise Village Parkway South
Phoenix, AZ 85032


LD10
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

6:30pm
ASU West Campus, La Sala Ballroom
4701 W Thunderbird Rd
Glendale, AZ 85306

LD19
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

6:00 PM
Country Inn and Suites
6650 E Superstition Springs Blvd
Mesa, AZ 85206

LD28
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

6:00 PM
Pima Community College District Office
Community Room
4905 E Broadway
Tucson, AZ



LD23
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

6:00 PM
Holiday Inn Casa Grande
777 N Pinal Ave
Casa Grande, AZ 85122



LD9
Thursday, September 16, 2010
6:00 PM
Library
Thunderbird School of Global Management
1 Global Place
Glendale, AZ 85306


LD20
Friday, September 17, 2010

6:30 PM
ASU Research Park, Marco Technology Works Building
Room FDC #1408
7700 S River Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85284


Other events:

- Penny Kotterman, Democratic nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction, has a calendar entry on her website for "ASA Event" on Monday morning, 8:30 a.m., at Metro Tech High School, an entry that includes a "forum" component.  Not sure what it is about, since "ASA" could refer to both "Arizona School Administrators" and "Arizona Students Association" and both would work for this race and for holding events in a school.  Since the event *is* at a school, it probably isn't open to the public anyway.

- Manny Cruz is running for State Mine Inspector.  Right now, no events are listed on the calendar section of his website for this week.  However, if his campaign updates the website or sends a list of events to me, I'll update this post.

- On Wednesday, September 15, a group called "Scottsdale Residents and Business Owners for Open, Clean and Efficient Government" will be holding a forum for candidates for Scottsdale City Council at 11 a.m. in the City Hall Kiva.  The group is run for Mayor Jim Lane by R. Lamar Whitmer and is expected to craft an event that favors Lane's selected candidates.  The group was formed on August 5, 2010 as a $500 Exemption Committee by Whitmer.

- On Thursday, September 16, the Community Council of Scottsdale will hold a forum for Scottsdale City Council candidates in the Granite Reef Senior Center from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Updates as they become available (will add without noting the edits)...

Privatization of Scottsdale city services on deck

The City has posted on its website the agendas for next week's meetings of the Scottsdale City Council, and the Council will be jumping right into controversy upon its return from its summer break.

At the tail end of the agenda for next Monday's meeting is an item titled "Alternative Service Delivery Options for Residential Solid Waste Collection."  In other words, "privatizing trash pick up in Scottsdale."

The item is an 18 page analysis of the City's current solid waste collection system (the City does it all) and the possible alternatives -  outside vendors bid on the contract, outside vendors and City staff bid on the contract, and the City completely exits the waste collection business, leaving residents totally on their own.  It seems clear from the analysis the the City staffers preparing the it that they don't think this is a good idea (from page 2 of the .pdf -

"The analysis indicates that changing the means of delivering residential solid waste services would not be likely to result in an overall cost reduction."

However, the City Council majority group (Lane, Nelssen, Littlefield, and Borowsky) may have a different opinion.

Of course, there another line in the analysis that the Council will probably keep in mind when casting their votes on the matter.  Also from page 2 of the .pdf -

"There has been no community involvement in the preparation of this study."

Like Monday's agenda, the last item on Tuesday's agenda concerns privatization of a City operation.

That item is titled "Alternative Service Delivery Options for Fleet Parts Management."

Any organization as large as the City of Scottsdale has a large number of motor vehicles in use at any given time that regularly need maintenance.  For the sake of efficiency, they keep a supply of auto parts on hand.

Like the previous item relating to solid waste service privatization, there has been no community involvement with this, but it is less relevant - fleet parts management has no direct impact on private citizens.

Also like the previous item, no significant cost savings are anticipated, at least in part because any savings that would be realized would go to "enterprise" funded operations like Solid Waste and Water Resources (enterprise funded operations are funded primarily by fees, not the City's General Fund).

Also on tap for Tuesday:  a special meeting with an executive session for the purposes of "evaluating" the City Auditor (Sharron Walker) and City Clerk (Carolyn Jagger).  It's a little outside the usual period for employee evaluations - normally they're done right around the end of fiscal years.  I may be reading too much into this one, but it's worth keeping an eye on - City Clerk Jagger is the one long-time City Charter Officer who hasn't been forced out/fired since Jim Lane ascended to the Mayor's office.

Later...

Wednesday's Forum For Scottsdale City Council Candidates.

On Wednesday, August 11, five of the six candidates for Scottsdale City Council gathered in the City Hall Kiva for a forum sponsored by the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce.

The candidates in attendance were Wayne Ecton (incumbent), Linda Milhaven, Ned O'Hearn, Guy Phillips, and Dennis Robbins.

(pictured from left to right: candidates Ecton (incumbent), Milhaven, O'Hearn, Phillips, and Robbins)

The sixth candidate, incumbent Bob Littlefield, had a statement read before the forum to explain his absence.  A somewhat longer version of that statement was emailed to various members of the community, and it was forwarded to me**.  To quote, in part:

Last week Scottsdale's Channel 11 Programming Commission voted 4-3 to allow the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce to host a candidate forum on taxpayer-funded Channel 11. Although I am running for re-election in this campaign you did not see me at that forum.

You will see me at all the other forums, such as the Realtors forum and the Arizona Republic forum. You may even have already seen me at forums hosted by the Scottsdale Community Council and Scottsdale Healthcare.

But not this one.

Why? Because my participation would have condoned allowing an organization that is guilty of campaign finance law violations to promote itself at taxpayer expense on Channel 11.

Once his statement was read to the audience, the forum proceeded as these things normally do. 

The sponsoring group, the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce in this case, asks a series of questions focusing on issues near and dear to that group.

At Wednesday's event, the questions ranged from...

Scottsdale's participation in regional economic partnerships (Ecton, Milhaven, O'Hearn supported, Robbins reminded people that would-be partners are also competitors, and Phillips said that neighboring cities "want to get into our coffers")...

Through the various proposed amendments to Scottsdale's charter (Milhaven, Ecton, and O'Hearn have reservations about some of them, Robbins basically supported them all, and Phillips opposes any changes to the way that the "founding fathers" wanted the city to operate)...

To attracting new businesses to Scottsdale (Phillips - lower taxes...and that's it; everybody else was more vague, but to be fair, it's a subject that lends itself to generalities)...

To transportation issues (Phillips - privatize buses and synchronize traffic lights...and that was it; the others basically spoke about things like bus rapid transit and implementing the 2008 Transportation Master Plan)...

And so on.

Impressions: At least on the questions that the Chamber asked, candidates Ecton, Milhaven, and O'Hearn tended to have similar positions.  Robbins, while polished (as befits his status as a former member of the Council), was closer to the current Council regime (Lane, Littlefield, Nelssen, and Borowsky).  Phillips, well, to be blunt, if the name hadn't already been used, I'd label him as a "Not Ready For Prime Time Player."  His responses ranged from "the Chamber is bad" to boilerplate Republican/Libertarian ideology.  He exhibited no understanding of the issues that face Scottsdale, nor did he show any inclination to learn about those issues.  John Washington, an activist and friend of the blog*, thought that Phillips made some good points, but I respectfully disagreed. 

If anyone should have skipped "protested" the Chamber's sponsorship of the forum, it should have been Phillips, not Littlefield.  Littlefield is someone I will never vote for, but I have to give him his due - he can handle himself in the spotlight and can spout boilerplate ideological orthodoxy without *sounding* like he is spouting boilerplate ideological orthodoxy.

*John and I don't agree on much of anything politically, but we can talk civilly about it.  That's unusual in AZ these days.

** I could respect Littlefield's stand for honest and transparency and a candidate not associating with a group guilty of campaign finance violations. 

I could, if he wasn't still part of the leadership of one such group.  Littlefield is a member of the State Committee of the Arizona Republican Party.

Anybody remember Joel Fox? SCA? The 2008 election?  Profoundly sleazy ads? Huge fines?


The candidates' written responses to Chamber questions can be found here.

A video archive of the forum is here.

The City is soliciting questions from the public to be answered by the candidates with the answers broadcast on CityCable11 during September.  Details here.

The City of Scottsdale's Elections Information page can be found here.  It includes info on the various ballot questions that will be before the City's voters in November.

Upcoming candidate forums:

September 20, 2010, sponsored by the Brown Avenue Merchants Association

September 27, 2010, sponsored by the Arizona Republic

There will be others.  As info becomes available, I'll publish it here.


Later...

Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site Five-Year Review Process starting

This week, I (and presumably, most of the other households in south Scottsdale and north Tempe) received a notice from the EPA announcing the start of a Five-Year Review (FYR) of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site.  For most purposes, that areas has been divided into the North Indian Bend Wash (NIBW) site and the South Indian Bend Wash Site (SIBW).

A .pdf version of the FYR announcement is here.

The history of the site began with the discovery of groundwater and soil contamination in 1981, mostly of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) attributed to the disposal of industrial waste.  (more info available at the EPA's pages on the site, linked above).

The entire site covers approximately 13 square miles of Tempe and South Scottsdale, with Pima/Price Road serving as the eastern border, Scottsdale/Rural Road as the western border, Apache Boulevard as the southern border, and Chaparral Road as the northern border.  The NIBW/SIBW split occurs at the Salt River, north of Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe.

Anyway, the purpose of the FYR is to evaluate the effectiveness of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash site.  It is expected to be completed by September of next year (2011), and the EPA is looking for input from both people who have knowledge of the cleanup operations and members of the general public who have information and/or concerns regarding cleanup activities in the area.

If you are interested in participating in this process, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator for the site, Vicki Rosen, at 415-972-3244 or toll-free at 1-800-231-3075.  Her email is Rosen.Vicki@epamail.epa.gov.

Another point of contact regarding this site (for those who are interested) is Felicia Calderon, State Community Involvement Coordinator, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. She can be reached at 602-771-4167 or calderon.felicia@azdeq.gov.

More information on both the NIBW and SIBW can be found locally at Tempe Public Library, 3500 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ 85282 (SIBW) and Scottsdale Public Library Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (NIBW).



Have a good weekend!

Two candidates for Scottsdale City Council cite feud with C of C when backing out of debate

From the Arizona Republic -

Two candidates running for Scottsdale City Council are boycotting an upcoming forum put on by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce to show their discontent with the business group's campaign-finance policy.

Councilman Bob Littlefield and Guy Phillips said they will not participate in the Aug. 11 forum until the chamber reveals donors and pays fines associated with advertisements the group circulated before the fall 2008 city election.

The apparent conflict stems from the 2008 campaign season when the Chamber-endorsed-praised candidates mostly didn't win, and those candidates who didn't gain the Chamber's favor but won anyway have been exacting a little payback.  (More background on the matter here)

While incumbent Littlefield and candidate Phillips are portraying their "boycott" of the C of C's forum as a matter of principle, neither one was likely to earn the Chamber's endorsement - Littlefield has been railing against the C of C for years and Phillips is a Tea Party type who doesn't approve of public infrastructure.

Since this post is more about commentary than news, here are a few points -

1.  The C of C should just shut up, pay their fines, and not do it again.  Despite their protestations to the contrary, the 2008 ads *were* an attempt to influence the election.  That means that campaign finance laws apply, including disclosure of donors.  By not accepting responsibility for their actions in 2008, they've kept the issue alive for the 2010 election cycle.

2.  Littlefield and Phillips should quit the "high road" pretense.  It's an election year, and part of any office holder's (or candidate's) job is to reach out to voters.  Ditching the forum does nothing to help inform voters or allow them to compare candidates.

3.  The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce is *far* from perfect and God knows that I have my issues with their retail/tourism-centric vision for Scottsdale's economy.  However, it is still the *Scottsdale* Chamber of Commerce.  The anti-government.anti-society ideology that the likes of Littlefield, Phillips and Mayor Jim Lane are trying to foist off on the City has been crafted by Grover Norquist, Dick Armey and others to protect the interests of large interstate and international corporations.  There's absolutely no room in the "ideology" for "maintain and improve Scottsdale's quality of life."

Note:  the other candidates on the ballot, who are all scheduled to participate in the forum, are Linda Milhaven, Ned O'Hearn, Wayne Ecton (incumbent) and Dennis Robbins.

And Scottsdale wept...

Forbes.com has an article up, one discussing the movement of the wealthy around the country.

From the article -

Surprise: America's wealthy like warm weather and low taxes. That's the takeaway from IRS data, analyzed by Forbes, on moves between counties. We looked for counties that the rich are moving to in big numbers.

Topping the list: Collier County, Fla., which includes the city of Naples. Tax returns accounting for 15,150 people showed moves to Collier County from other parts of the country in 2008, the latest year for which IRS data is available. Their average reported income: $76,161 per person--equivalent to $304,644 for a family of four.

A slide show of the top 35 counties for the inflow of wealth is here.

Upshot of it all:

Even with some of the lowest taxes and nicest weather in the country, Scottsdale and Maricopa County don't make the cut.

And given that the economic development "plan" here is "find people who have made a bundle elsewhere, entice them to move here, and then to spend as much of their bundle here before they kick", something isn't working.

Something's working in Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, Texas, Montana, and Idaho, but not here.

Something is working all over the eastern seaboard, but not here.

It's even working in parts of California (now that's something that runs counter to the AZGOP's no taxes/no regulation orthodoxy), but not here.

Perhaps it's time to consider Plan B. Plan A isn't working.

Tony Nelssen's widow Marg appointed to finish out his term

...I can't say "the fix was in" (at this point in time, I don't have any evidence that tonight's events were other than above-board and honest) but her public comment before the selection process even took place sounded a lot like a victory speech.

Plus, when her name was not drawn out of the hat by City Clerk Carolyn Jagger (eliminating the candidate whose name was drawn), absolutely no one looked surprised.

It was clear from the outset that the favored candidate among the various residents of who turned out for the meeting was Marg Nelssen - ten people, including Nelssen herself, spoke in support of appointing Nelssen to the Council; none spoke in support of another candidate.

The main argument in favor of Nelssen's appointment seemed to be (I'm paraphrasing here) "Marg is Tony's wife, so she deserves it. Anything else would be disrespectful to the people who voted him into office in the first place."

Certain speakers spent some of their time and rhetoric excoriating three members of the Council (Ecton, Klapp, and McCullagh) for "playing politics." One speaker accused them of "selling their souls."

Of course, all of the speakers ignored the fact that the whole "appoint Marg" theme was a shameless political ploy by the Lane clique to regain a fourth vote, and a majority, on the Council.

In addition to that, Mayor Jim Lane not only expressed his support for Nelssen (something that he has a right to do), he ran the meeting in a way to encourage public pressure on the three Council members who opposed his moved to shoehorn Marg Nelssen onto the Council last week. The normal practice is to ask visitors to not applaud and to gavel it down whenever applause erupts. Tonight, applause was allowed to go on unchecked.

During the meaty part of the proceedings, four people were nominated to fill the vacancy -

Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky nominated Jay Petkunas, a member of the Planning Commission in Scottsdale

Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp nominated Jim Bruner, a former member of the Council and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Councilman Wayne Ecton also nominated Bruner

Councilman Bob Littlefield nominated Marg Nelssen

Councilman Ron McCullagh passed, with most observers figuring that he was on board with the Bruner nomination. He was, as votes later in the meeting proved.

Mayor Jim Lane expressed his support for the nomination of Nelssen. However, to maintain the illusion (an illusion that no one in the audience bought into, by the way) that the nomination process wasn't going to end in a 3 - 3 tie with the names of the finalist put into a hat, he nominated one Richard Acton (possible incorrect name and/or spelling there).

After a brief round of votes, the choices came down to Nelssen and Bruner, who each received three votes. Littlefield, Lane, and Borowsky supported Nelssen; Klapp, Ecton, and McCullagh supported Bruner.

However, four votes were needed to win the seat.

As such, the two remaining names were placed in a hat, with the name drawn from the hat being the candidate eliminated from consideration. When that name was announced as Jim Bruner's, the most of those assembled burst out in raucous cheers.

Nelssen will be sworn into office next week.


Nelssen may ultimately turn out to be a fine member of the Council, but I have to ask one question to the "give it to Marg! Tony's wife *should* take his place!" crowd" -

If Bill Clinton had died in office, how many of you would have argued "give it to Hillary! Bill's wife *should* take his place!"?


Later...

The melodrama continues in Scottsdale politics

When Councilman Tony Nelssen succumbed to cancer, he left a vacancy on the Scottsdale City Council.

The City Charter clearly states that the remaining members of the Council shall appoint a replacement, but no procedure for doing so is specified. As such, things can get a little creative on those occasions when an appointment is necessary.

This was seen at last Tuesday's meeting, which took place on the same day as Nelssen's memorial service. There, Mayor Jim Lane tried to use the emotions of the day to guilt the Council into immediately appointing Nelssen's widow, Marg, to fill the vacancy on the Council.

The move failed on a 3 - 3 tie vote. Lane, Bob Littlefield, and Lisa Borowsky were in favor; Suzanne Klapp, Ron McCullagh, and Wayne Ecton were opposed. That's the normal breakdown when controversial issues go before the Council, and before his death, Nelssen was the fourth vote in the Lane clique.

In the linked AZ Republic article, Lane is quoted as calling the votes of McCullagh, Klapp, and Ecton an "affront." Many of the commenters on the article agreed with that, calling McCullagh, Klapp, and Ecton "boorish," "grasping," "wankers," and more.

I know certain readers are going to disagree with me on this, but NO, not even close.

If anyone involved was "boorish" it was Lane for trying to take advantage of the genuine grief that many in the city feel over the loss of Tony Nelssen in a shameless attempt to reload the Council with a lockstep majority in his favor.

If Lane had simply waited a week, he would have appeared to be a compassionate and wise (almost statesman-like) public servant instead of a cynical political operative.

As it is, the appointment of a replacement will happen this week (Tuesday, 4 p.m., City Hall Kiva), and it will take place without the public viewing the proceedings through grief-tinged lenses.

Right now, it looks as if each remaining member of the Council will nominate someone to fill the open seat, and a series of votes will be taken. Sources expect (as do I) that when the listof candidates is winnowed down to two candidates, the Council will reach an impasse (aka - another 3 - 3 split) and the names of the two finalists will be placed in a hat with the seat going to whichever name is drawn from the hat.

Also expected (though not guaranteed): Marg Nelssen will be one of the finalists. She has expressed in interest in being one of the candidates, and after last week's very public moon shot by Lane, he is too wedded to the idea of appointing her for him to move his support to someone else.

Tuesday's meeting should be the most openly contentious one of the year, and should provide *lots* of writing material. :)

See you there...

Services set for Councilman Tony Nelssen

From the City of Scottsdale -

Memorial services to be held for Councilman Tony Nelssen

Memorial services for Councilman Tony Nelssen will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 8, at WestWorld’s Equidome, 16601 N. Pima Road.

Councilman Nelssen passed away May 26 at his home after battling cancer.

For safety purposes, those attending are being asked to dress appropriately. Temperatures are expected to exceed 110 degrees on Tuesday, and the Equidome is a shaded, outdoor, dirt-floored structure that will be cooled by swamp. If comfortable, those attending can honor Councilman Nelssen’s memory by dressing in Western attire.

Access WestWorld by either Bell or Pima roads. Follow the signs to the Equidome. Parking, including handicapped, will be available in the “H” lot. Attendees may then enter the Equidome’s west side for the services.

The program will include the reading of a poem written by Bob Frost, a former city employee and Parks and Recreation Commissioner. Eulogies will be given by Mayor
W.J. “Jim” Lane, Councilman Bob Littlefield, family friends Amy Ganley and John Washington, and Nelssen’s children, Hannah and Ian.

On Tuesday, the Scottsdale City Council will consider possible processes for filling the open seat on the Council, including the possibility of simply appointing Mayor Jim Lane's nominee Marg Nelssen, Tony Nelssen's wife. AZ Republic coverage here. Full Council agenda here.

Encouraging the use of fireworks in Arizona: Another chapter in Republican legislative brilliance

Earlier this year, the Arizona legislature passed and Jan Brewer signed HB2246, a measure that deregulated "consumer fireworks" (legislative fact sheet on the bill, including a list of consumer fireworks, here). Under limited circumstances, individual municipalities and counties can create some regulations within their jurisdictions.

However, at this point in time, none have done so.

That may change after events on Monday.

From the Arizona Republic -

Two homes were damaged Monday by a brush fire sparked by firecrackers. There were no injuries, but a dog died in the incident, said Deputy Chief Fire Marshall Jim Ford, of the Scottsdale Fire Department.

Anybody want to start a pool predicting how high the body count/acres burned totals will get before the lege takes another reexamines the wisdom of deregulating fireworks in a state so totally prone to wildfires?

My predictions: body count between 20 and 25, and acres burned between 10,000 and 20,000.

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice.

...At the federal level, both the U.S. House and Senate are on a break. They'll be back in session next week.

...Back here in Arizona...


- The Arizona Corporation Commission doesn't have any regular meetings scheduled, however they will be travelling to gather public comment on specific issues.

-- On Wednesday at 1 p.m., they will be holding a special meeting in Tucson to solicit public comments on line extension policies for Arizona utilities.

-- Later on Wednesday, they will hold two public meetings in Nogales. The first will start at 6 p.m. and will concern Rio Rico Utilities rates; the second is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will concern Valle Verde Water Company rates.

-- The ACC's hearing schedule is here. Most of this week's hearing activity involves Arizona American Water (a name near and not-so-dear to Scottsdale readers :) ).


- The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. It's a special meeting with one topic - a settlement with the Department of Labor over MCSO's forcing detention officers to work unpaid overtime. AZ Republic coverage of the matter here.


- The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will have a busy week.

-- On Tuesday at 1 p.m., there will be a meeting of the Project ADD Water group.

-- On Thursday at 9 a.m., the Board's Public Policy Committee will meet.

-- After the committee meeting, the full Board with hold a regular meeting. The highlights of this meeting will be the setting of property tax and service rates.


- The Tempe City Council isn't meeting this week; the Council Calendar of events is here.


- The Scottsdale City Council also isn't meeting this week; the City of Scottsdale's Community Meeting Notice is here.

Note: When memorial service arrangements for late Councilman Tony Nelssen are announced, an update will be posted.


Not meeting this week: Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Arizona Board of Regents

Scottsdale's election picture comes into focus

With the passage of Wednesday's deadline for submitting nomination petitions, the ballot for this fall's City Council election has been set.

There had been 10 candidates with open committees for the race for the three open seats, and six candidates will appear on the ballot.

Of the other four, incumbent Tony Nelssen passed away earlier this week, businessman Bill Crawford ended his candidacy months ago, attorney Jose Luis Penalosa, Jr. has since set his sights on the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Ed Pastor in CD4 (as "Joe Penalosa"), and Sean Shepherd..well, I don't know. He didn't turn in sigs and won't be on the ballot, otherwise I don't know anything about him.

The candidate list in Scottsdale, courtesy the City of Scottsdale's website -

Wayne Ecton
Ecton for City Council
Phone: (480) 488-1033
Email: elect@wayneecton.com
Website: www.wayneecton.com

Bob Littlefield
Vote Littlefield
Phone: (602) 288-9145
Email: bob@boblittlfield.com
Website: www.boblittlefield.com

Linda Milhaven
Milhaven for Scottsdale
Phone: (480) 295-3275
Email: Linda@MilhavenforScottsdale.com
Website: www.MilhavenforScottsdale.com

Ned O'Hearn
Committee to Elect Ned O'Hearn
Phone: (480) 661-1314
Email: Ned@NedForCouncil.com
Website: www.NedForCouncil.com

Guy Phillips
Committee to Elect Guy Phillips
Phone: (480) 560-6124
Email: guyrphillips@gmail.com
Website: www.electguy.intuitwebsites.com

Dennis Robbins
Robbins for Council 2010
Phone: (480) 994-0302
Email: azdrob@aol.com
Website: www.votedennisrobbins.com

Note: The way that I read the section of the City Charter related to the filling of a vacancy on the Council, the remaining members will vote to appoint someone to serve out the remainder of Tony Nelssen's term, which expires at the end of the year. I'm not sure who is likely to get the spot, or even likely to apply for the job, but it seems unlikely that the Council will appoint one of the current candidates for election - doing so could unfairly give that candidate an advantage this fall.

Note2: Petitions could still be challenged, so it is possible that one or more of the candidates above won't be on the fall ballot, but that seems unlikely at this point.

When candidate forums are organized and announced, the schedule will be posted here.

Tony Nelssen, Scottsdale City Councilman, passes away

From a press release on the City of Scottsdale's website -

Councilman Tony Nelssen passes away

The City of Scottsdale is deeply saddened by the passing of Councilman Tony Nelssen on Wednesday, May 26, and extends its sincere condolences and deepest sympathy to the Nelssen family. “This is a great loss for Scottsdale,” said Mayor Jim Lane. “Tony Nelssen was a passionate and dedicated citizen who was truly devoted to improving our community. He was a great colleague and friend, and he will be missed greatly.”

Councilman Nelssen began his service on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2006. He was active in civic affairs for more than two decades prior, serving on a variety of city commissions and advisory groups, as well as neighborhood and civic associations.

In 1996 he founded The Great Sonoran, a group advocating innovative, site specific and climate sensitive architecture suited to the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale derived much of its sensitive design guidelines from those developed by The Great Sonoran.
He was a member of the Scottsdale Planning Commission for two and one half years, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission for six years. On the state level, Councilman Nelssen was a member of the Arizona State Heritage Fund Public Advisory Committee.

Tony Nelssen was a strong equestrian advocate who was named Horse Hero of the year in 2002 in the Town of Cave Creek. Nelssen also taught computer graphics and digital photography at Paradise Valley Community College, and had taught courses at Arizona State University, Phoenix College and Scottsdale Community College.

He is survived by his wife Marg, son Ian and daughter Hannah.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Scottsdale Police Department’s Mounted Unit in Councilman Nelssen’s name. Donations may be made payable to the Scottsdale Police Department Mounted Unit and mailed to police headquarters at 8401 E. Indian School Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251.

I barely knew Councilman Nelssen, having met him only once or twice. While we were almost never in agreement politically, no one who met him could ever question his deep love for Scottsdale.

My condolences go out to Tony Nelssen's family and many friends.

Arizona Republic news coverage here; memorials from AZRep columnist Laurie Roberts here and AZRep editorial writer Cindy Hernandez here.

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice.

These schedule posts have become intermittent, due in part to the lack of interesting tidbits to cover, as well as election year deadlines in Arizona (sigs are due Wednesday!) cutting into available blogging time. However, this week, there will be a *lot* of budget-related action and other interesting matters up for consideration, especially in D.C. and with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Stuff that is definitely post-worthy.

On to the important stuff...

On the federal level -

- The U.S. House will be handling a number of bills this week as they get ready for the holiday break next week. The highlight this week will be H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2011 (CRS summary here). There will be a massive amount of election-year posturing over this one, whether of the "fiscal responsibility" or the "I'm a patriot" variety. Still, it's only an authorization bill, not an appropriations bill, and they all will want to make the earliest possible flights out of town on Friday. The posturing will be loud, but efficient.

Also on the agenda: Consideration of a Senate amendment to H.R. 4213, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (most current CRS summary here); H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act (CRS summary here - it's designed to limit corporate control of election campaigns); and further consideration of H.R. 5116, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (previously blocked by the House GOP when the measure came to the House floor under "suspension of the rules," requiring a 2/3 majority to pass, it's coming back in a way that will require only a simple majority to pass).

- The U.S. Senate will be doing, you know, "Senate" stuff this week. That includes a committee schedule with hearings on the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, impacts of consolidation on the airline industry, and more (lots of executive branch nominations). There will also be floor consideration of H.R. 4899, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010.

...Back here in Arizona -

- The Arizona Corporation Commission will be holding a public comment session in Prescott Valley on Tuesday. The subject will be

Public Comment in the Matter of the Application of the Commission’s, Docket No. E-00000J-10-0044, inquiry and potential rulemaking regarding line extension policies of electric utilities, including but not limited to, alternative rate designs related to apportionment and rate recovery of cost of construction and installation of electric utility line extensions, the use of free footage and/or dollar allowances in line extension tariffs, the treatment of proceeds associated with line extensions as contributions in aid of construction (CIAC) and/or revenue, and the ability for third-party vendors to contract to install line extensions for electric utilities.

The ACC will be holding a regular "Utilities" meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, agenda here.
The Commission's regular hearing schedule is here.

- The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a busy and "colorful" week on tap.

-- Monday's Informal meeting is dedicated to budget matters, including the tentative adoption of next year's budget.

-- Later on Monday, the Supes will be holding a Special meeting dedicated to a financial review of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. This one could include a contempt hearing over Sheriff Joe Arpaio's refusal to turn over financial records for the review. There is some question about the procedures for the contempt hearing, so the hearing schedule may yet be changed or be cancelled entirely. More AZ Republic coverage here. This one could be the most interesting event of the week, or it could fizzle completely.

- - On Wednesday, the Supes have a Formal meeting scheduled. The agenda is a long one.

- The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System will be holding an executive session on Monday (relating to legal matters and contracts - the agenda items are rather vague, intentionally so, I think) and a regular meeting on Wednesday (highlight: budget-related stuff). MIHS' Legislative summary will also be on the agenda. Like most of us, their primary focus is on the state's budget situation.

- The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, agenda here. It looks pretty mundane thus far, though there is an item to change the length of the terms of the Board President and Secretary from one to two years. After the regular meeting will be an executive session regarding employment of the Chancellor of the District, Rufus Glasper. There have been issues of contention between the Chancellor and certain board members, so this particular exec session could be one that most MCCCD observers wish was a public session. Look for public fallout from this meeting to reach an agenda in June.

- The City Councils of Tempe and Scottsdale aren't scheduled to hold regular meetings this week, though Tempe will hold a special meeting on Friday to accept the results from last week's election. Tempe's Council Calendar is here; Scottsdale's Community Meetings Notice is here.

Not scheduled to meet this week: Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Arizona Board of Regents, Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project

Later...

Quick update - early signature filers

Nominating petitions aren't due until next Wednesday, but they are already rolling in across the Valley and across the state.


From a phone conversation with Carolyn Jagger, City Clerk of Scottsdale, the list of candidates for city council who have submitted their petitions already -

Joe Penalosa
Bob Littlefield (incumbent)
Tony Nelssen (incumbent)
Guy Phillips
Ned O'Hearn (former councilman)


Statewide and federal offices, courtesy the AZ Secretary of State's website,

U.S. Senate - Jim Deakin and J.D. Hayworth (both Rs)

U.S. Congress, CD1 - Bradley Beauchamp (R)

CD2 - Trent Franks (R)

CD3 - Steve Moak, Ed Winkler, Jim Waring (all Rs)

CD4 - Ed Pastor (D)

CD5 - Susan Bitter Smith and David Schweikert (Rs)

CD6 - Jeff Smith (R)
\
CD7 - Ruth McClung (R)

CD8 - Jesse Kelly (R)

Arizona Governor - Terry Goddard (D), Ron Cavanagh and Bruce Olsen (Ls), Jan Brewer, John Munger and Matthew Jette (Rs)

Arizona Secretary of State - Sam Wercinski (D) and Ken Bennett (R)

Arizona Attorney General - Felecia Rotellini (D), Tom Horne and Andrew Thomas (Rs)

Arizona Treasurer - Doug Ducey, Barbara Leff, and Thayer Verschoor (Rs)

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction - Margaret Dugan and John Huppenthal (Rs)

Arizona Corporation Commission - David Bradley and Jorge Luis Garcia (Ds), Brenda Burns, Gary Pierce, and Barry Wong (Rs)


I've got an email out to the Maricopa County Elections Department inquiring after similar info for the county-wide offices up this time around (county attorney and the governing board of the Central Arizona Project), but they haven't replied as of this writing. I'll update when that info becomes available.

Later...

Municipal budget time

Most of the state's political attention is on this week's special election to raise the state's sales tax by 1 percentage point or on the latest development in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

However, folks may want to start paying a little of that attention to matters closer to home.

Specifically, the municipal budget process.

Most cities and towns in AZ are finalizing their FY2011 budgets and are holding hearings to publicize their proposed revenues and expenditures for the coming year.

- On Tuesday in Scottsdale, the City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget proposal and proposed rates and fees during its regularly scheduled meeting (full agenda here). Also on the agenda: proposed changes to the City's charter to be offered for voter approval in November. Some interesting proposals here, but I'll cover those in a separate post closer to the election. The City's budget resource webpage is here.

- On Thursday and Friday, Tempe's City Council will be holding a number of mostly budget-related meetings.

After Thursday's regularly scheduled Council meeting (agenda for that here), they will be holding a meeting of the Rio Salado Community Facilities District Board to consider the tentative budget and assessments for the district.

On Friday, the Tempe City Council will be holding a budget workshop. The agenda for that includes discussion of "budget balancing" proposals for the City's Golf Fund, Performing Arts Fund, Transportation Fund, and Transit Fund (more layoffs coming, folks) and a discussion of the City's Capital Improvement Plan follow up.

Look for similar meetings in the other cities and towns in AZ shortly, if they haven't taken place already.

While the antics of the state legislature and governor garner more press (and notice from the likes of me), what our City Councils are doing has a far more direct impact on our day-to-day lives, and deserve at least as much attention.

The coming week....

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice.

Ahhhh...the first lege-free week of the year...ahhhhhhhhhhhh


...In D.C. -

- The House looks to have a relatively quiet week this week. The agenda is very heavy on memorials and congratulations and such, while light on substantive legislation.

- The Senate will continue to consider reform of financial regulations. In addition, the Senate's committee schedule is here. The item of most interest to Arizonans could be Wednesday's hearing of the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. The topic will be "Drug Trafficking Violence in Mexico: Implications for the U.S."

Edit on 5/2 to add: The AZ Republic has an article up documenting that while nativist rhetoric about cross-border violence is up, there hasn't actually been an increase in border-related violence in Arizona.

End edit.


...Back here in Arizona...

- The Arizona Corporation Commission won't be meeting this week, but their hearing schedule is here.

- The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday. Rate-related items and the Navajo Generating Station dominate the agenda this time around. CAP's Public Policy Committee agenda (preceding the full Board meeting) is here.

- The Tempe City Council will have an active week. They will be part of a special meeting on Thursday to seek public comment on and give preliminary approval to Tempe's budget for the coming fiscal year. Budget-related coverage from the AZ Republic here. The agenda for the Council's regular meeting is here. The Council's calendar is here.

- The Scottsdale City Council will be meeting Tuesday. The agenda includes the likely hiring of the City's next future ex-City Manager. AZ Republic coverage here.

Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District.

The Coming Week - Everybody Else Edition

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, and subject to change without notice...

In DC...

...The House's agenda is here. It looks fairly quiet thus far, though H.R. 2499 (Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009) and H.R. 5013 (Implementing Management for Performance and Related Reforms to Obtain Value in Every Acquisition Act of 2010, aka IMPROVE Act) may generate some controversy.

It looks like that after the healthcare reform dust-up earlier this year, the leadership; in the House is going to take it easy on the really controversial stuff.

...Over in the Senate, much of their week will be consumed by consideration of financial regulation overhaul (S. 3217). Call me cynical, but much of the contention on this one seems to be over deciding between faux reform (Senate Ds) and no reform (Senate Rs). The Senate's committee schedule is here.


Here in Arizona...

...The Arizona Corporation Commission is holding a utilities-related meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, agenda here. On Friday, they'll be holding a special open meeting in Globe to solicit public comment on line extension policies of electric utilities.

The ACC's hearing schedule is here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is meeting this week. Their "informal" meeting on Monday has been cancelled, however, Wednesday's "formal" meeting is still on tap.

...The Citizens Clean Election Commission is meeting on Thursday. No agenda posted as yet.

...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will meet on Tuesday, with an executive session at 5:30 p.m. and the regular session at 6:30 p.m. Agenda here.

...The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System is meeting on Wednesday. The executive session agenda is here; regular session agenda here.

...The Tempe City Council isn't meeting this week. Their calendar of events is here.

...The Scottsdale City Council has a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday and a special meeting scheduled for noon on Friday to interview finalists for the City Manager's position. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.

Not meeting this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project

Turns out the reps of Joe Arpaio and Scottsdale both travel well

Had a bit of an ego boost this week.

A writer for Sun-Sentinel.com (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) linked to an old post of mine when writing about the city manager there. Turns out that George Gretsas, the city manager in question, is a finalist for the same job in Scottsdale.

After enjoying the ego boost of the link (and the increased site traffic), I read the article and the comments accompanying it.

Most of them were as expected ("Gretsas is great/lousy", "Scottsdale is lucky/screwed", etc.) and similar can be found on almost any MSM website with a similar story.

A couple of them were eye-openers, however.

From commenter Trudy -

Trust me Georgie will fit right in in Snotsdale. Toodles

"Snotsdale"? I think she may have visited AZ once or twice, because I've only heard that one from natives.

From commenter Robert Walsh (the typos/spelling errors and poor sentence construction are his) -

Scottsdale Arizonia is a beautiful City.Good luck Mr.Gretsas with this process.I have been to Scottsdale very wealthy community.Very pretty city and I.m sure you would be an assest to Scottsdale-Only one proplem if I come to visit that Sheriff out there if this is Maricopa County. that Sheriff is wacked-Anyways if he wants it I hope he gets it

"wacked"?

Be still my beating heart. I think he is talking about our own Joe Arpaio.

"Snotsdale" and "wacked", accurate criticisms from a state that can't design an understandable ballot or count ballots once they are cast.

I'd say we've hit rock bottom, but the Rs in the lege might read this, view it as a challenge, and break out their shovels.

Later...