MCDP candidate for Secretary - Todd Phillips

From an email from the Maricopa County Democratic Party -

Dear PC,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. I am Todd Phillips, and I am running to be your next Secretary of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

During this past election cycle I was Field Director for Ed Hermes's campaign for County Supervisor in Supervisorial District 1, and also worked in field for Gabrielle Giffords's first Congressional race in 2006 and a Tucson city council race in 2005, before I moved to Tempe. I've been involved in political campaigns since before I could vote. I am currently an honors student at Arizona State University majoring in Economics and Political Science where I am a committed member of the Young Democrats. In fact, I used to be Secretary!

I am running for several reasons:

Having run Ed's field campaign, I understand what support campaigns need from their county party, and I would like to give them this support in the next election cycle.

In this off year for (most) elections, I feel that the party needs to work on outreach to Maricopa's citizens to explain exactly what being a Democrat means. In fact, I've been crafting a media strategy for the county party that I would like to see implemented even if I am not elected for this position.

I am young, and I believe that the youth need representation in our county party. My generation is the future of this county, and I understand how to conduct effective outreach to my peers. Along with my previous point, I believe we need to teach the youth what it means to be a Democrat, not just what it means to support Barack Obama.

I also wish to keep all interested Democrats in the loop about what the county party is accomplishing and how they can get involved.

With this in mind, I would like you to vote for me at the Maricopa County Re-Organization Meeting this upcoming Saturday. If you'd like more information about me, my positions, or my plans, please feel free to call or email me. My number is {contact MCDP}, my email is {contact MCDP}

Thank you very much for your support, and I hope to see you Saturday!

Todd Phillips
Candidate, Secretary Maricopa County Democratic Party

As with the other candidate information posts, this post is informational only and does not constitute an endorsement.

More to come...

MCDP candidate for Treasurer - Catherine Miller

Courtesy an email from the Maricopa County Democratic Party -

Dear Fellow Maricopa County Democratic Party PC,

I am asking for your support as I seek the Office of Treasurer of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. I am eager to be a part of building towards more Democratic successes in Maricopa County.

We have been fortunate to see a large increase in the number of elected Democratic Precinct Committeepersons for Maricopa County which presents us with a wonderful opportunity to grow into a stronger organization ready to elect Democrats to office at every level in our county.

As your Treasurer, I will be committed to maintaining the timely filing of required public disclosures, and will invest considerable time in coordinating between the various elements responsible for ensuring a well maintained MCDP Treasury.

I also give you my commitment to involve myself with fund-raising activities and to participate and coordinate with the Finance Sub-Committee, at the discretion of its Chair.

Thank you for your consideration and I hope to have your vote on Saturday.

Sincerely,
Catherine Miller,
Notary Public
Elected PC: LD17, Tempe 48

Other parts of Catherine's background, also from the email -

Catherine (Ladybug) Miller is involved in the Democratic Party as a Precinct and State Committeeperson and has served as an Officer at the district (LD22 Chair) and county level (MCDP Assistant Chair). In 1992 she served on the North Alabama Steering Committee to elect Bill Clinton. She was an Area Coordinator with the Arizona Dean Campaign who went on to found and Chair the local DFA group. She was also instrumental in the formation GEMDEMS. In 2005, Ms. Miller was nominated for Arizona's "Democrat of the Year" by her fellow party activists. Most recently, she served on the Arizona Steering Committee of Bill Richardson for President and served as a professional consultant to two winning statewide races for Corporation Commission.

Note: all candidate emails from the Maricopa County Democratic Party are informational only and are not an endorsement of any kind. Also, the fact that the information is posted here is also not an endorsement.

More candidate summaries/campaign statements to come...

And the first one out of the gate is...

More than a month before the next session of the AZ lege starts and legislators are already starting to drop bills.

The "honor" of the first bill with a number goes to Sen. Jim Waring's SB1001, a bill to compel all levels of government and schools in AZ to purchase web and video conferencing software.

Umm...pardon my cynicism, but it may be appropriate to check into Waring's ties to vendors of web and video conferencing software.

Waring also has a few other gems among the first bills assigned numbers - SB1002 would bar elected officials from using public funds in communications campaigns that refer to themselves or their employees; SB1003 amends the state's DUI laws. Current law has an exemption for certain lawfully prescribed medicines. Waring's bill would create an exemption to the exemption for methadone.

I don't know the chemical properties of methadone so there may be a valid reason for this, but this could just be a way to attack recovering addicts in a socially acceptable manner (socially responsible for Republicans, anyway).

Waring has a couple of other bills up already (he wants to shorten the period between primary elections and general elections), but the capper thus far isn't one of Waring's bills, it's one of Sen. Jack Harper's (R-the man who would be SOS).

In the face of what is considered the worst budget shortfall in the country, he has proposed to...wait for it...just a little longer...

Cut state revenues.

Of course.

His SB1007 would repeal the state equalization property tax, $250 million dollar source of revenue dedicated to funding education.

So not only does Harper get to claim that he is a tax-cutter (appealing to the Club for Growth wing of the Republican Party), he gets to hamstring public education in the process (appealing to social conservative wing of his party.) While officially he is only "exploring" a 2010 run for Secretary of State, moves like this show that the exploratory part of his campaign committee is only a sham - he is already starting his campaign for statewide office.

And yes, Harper is already staking out his spot as a contender for the annual Legislative Loon award, to be given out in late January.

Thus far, the House doesn't have any bills up on its website, but that should change in a few days.

Later...

Illinois Governor Blagojevich Busted...

...and if the charges against him are even remotely true, GOOD.

From AP via Yahoo! News -

Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.

Blagojevich has long had a aura of corruption surrounding him (I don't normally cite Wikipedia entries, but Blagojevich's contains a good library of articles documenting this), so today's arrest isn't exactly a big surprise, but some of the things recorded on wiretaps are shocking even to some of the seasoned FBI agents involved in the case (or dyed-in-the-wool cynics like me).

From the DOJ press release, via the Chicago Tribune -

On October 8, Blagojevich told Individual A that he wanted to obtain a $50,000 contribution from Hospital Executive 1, the chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, which had recently received a commitment of $8 million in state funds. When the contribution was not forthcoming, Blagojevich discussed with Deputy Governor A the feasibility of rescinding the funding.

Shaking down a children's hospital??? There's a special place in hell reserved for people who do that.

The front office.


I may be as partisan a partisan hack as there is in the AZ blogosphere, but even I believe that whether the corrupt public official in question is a Democrat like Blagojevich or soon-to-be-ex-Congressman William Jefferson or a Republican such as soon-to-be-ex-Congressman Rick Renzi, Sen. Ted Stevens, or Tom Delay (or Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Don Stapley, Scooter Libby, Ralph Reed, etc...), they deserve only a fair trial, a fair conviction, and a fair (and long!) prison term.

And while I expect that the Rep side of the blogosphere in AZ is going to jump all over this, I would remind the AZers of the cliche about the hazards of residents of glass houses who throw stones.

We live in a state that like Illinois has had two consecutive elected governors indicted while in office (Evan Mecham and Fife Symington, anyone?).

However, one should remember, as Pico at Wild Chihuahuas has done, that there are some interesting ramifications of the timing of this arrest. And in case one might believe that the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice are above manufacturing, manipulating or shading an investigation for political purposes, just remember the case of Don Siegelman, the Democratic former governor of Alabama.

The Bush Administration, in the person of Karl Rove, pushed for Siegelman's indictment, conviction, and imprisonment in order to get a Republican into the governor's office there.

Personally, I have little doubt of Blagojevich's guilt - he's been surrounded by the stench of corruption for years. His corruption doesn't preclude the possibility that the Bushies who pushed this to come down right now aren't dirty too.

The closest local analogy that I can think of would be the Don Stapley/Andrew Thomas ongoing legal two-step.

More later...

Congratulations to the Arizona Cardinals

...on clinching their first division title and the right to host a playoff game since 1947, when they were the *Chicago* Cardinals.

I've picked on them many times in the past (and expect to do so many times in the future :) ), but they've earned this with an explosive offense and stout, opportunistic defense. They achieved this with a team of solid players whose names, outside of two-time (soon to be three-time?) NFL MVP Kurt Warner, are known only by their mothers (OK, fantasy football aficionados know all about WRs Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald, but that's it :) ).

The Arizona Cardinals - 2008 NFC West Champions.

Savor it for a moment.

Now get ready for the playoffs. L))

Best and worst bargains - 2008 elections

Edit on 12/8 to update County numbers, below...

Post-General Election campaign finance reports are in, and normally this would be the time to do a really geeky and dry post listing figures for contributions, expenditures, cash on hand, etc. However, since the election results are in, I'm going to do something a little different.

Still geeky and dry, but different. :))

Today's post will list the best bargains (based on lowest expenditures per vote for election victors) and the worst bargains (based on highest expenditures per vote for election losers.)

The expenditure figures taken from the cycle-to-date boxes of the campaigns' post-general reports; vote totals taken from the appropriate reporting authority, either the AZ Secretary of State or the Maricopa County Recorder.

Best Bargain - AZ Congressional races

Republican Trent Franks was easily the leader here, spending $400,019.59 to receive 200,914 votes, or $1.99/vote. Republican Jeff Flake was the second most frugal victor, spending $3.76/vote. By contrast, the victor who spent the *most* per vote was another Republican, John Shadegg. Shadegg spent $17.85/vote ($2,656,692.67 spent, 200914 votes received).

Worst Bargain - AZ Congressional races

Democrat Bob Lord, Shadegg's opponent in CD3, "won" this dubious distinction, spending $1,745,210.41 to receive 115,759 votes, for a $17.85/vote pace. The only losing candidate who spent at a pace that was even close to Lord's was Republican Tim Bee. Bee spent 13.25/vote in his failed campaign to unseat Gabrielle Giffords in CD8.

Giffords and Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) each spent more than $15/vote, but since they won their races (rather handily at that), the money spent was a good deal.

Note: Challengers Don Karg (R-CD4), Rebecca Schneider (D-CD6), and Joe Sweeney (R-CD7 [I think]) haven't filed post-general reports that I could find, but I doubt that any of them spent enough money to challenge Lord for the 'Worst Bargain' status.


The comparison of county campaigns was more difficult, because both major candidates for county attorney, Andrew Thomas and Tim Nelson, as well as supervisor candidates Fulton Brock, Joel Sinclaire, and Max Wilson haven't filed post-general reports yet. (Note: with Joel Sinclaire's passing, his committee has been suspended/terminated. I'm not sure if/when a final campaign finance report will be filed.)

Brock, Thomas, Nelson, and Wilson all have reports up on the County Recorder's website, and according to the time/date stamps on the forms, all reports were submitted on time.

However, I don't want it to be said that I'm not able to form conclusions based on incomplete information. :)))

Best Bargain - Maricopa County races

Right now, Don Stapley is the clear winner in this category, but that could change once his legal expenses are added in. At this point, however, the Republican incumbent spent $9933.45 to receive 164,381 votes, or $0.29/vote to retain his seat in SD2.

Note: Stapley was a little creative in filling out his report, neglecting to fill out the "cycle-to-date" column. The expenditure number listed in this post is a total of the "cycle-to-date" number from his pre-general report and the "current period" number from his post-general report.

Worst Bargain - Maricopa County races

Ed Hermes, the Democratic candidate in Supervisor District 1, "led" this category, spending $112,026.14 to garner 119,971 votes, for a $0.93/vote pace. While for the purposes of this post, this campaign qualifies as the "worst" bargain among the county races, I expect Ed to take the lessons of this cycle and apply them to another campaign, one that he may very well win.

Tim Nelson challenged for this one, spending over $438K in his unsuccessful campaign for County Attorney. However, while he spent nearly 4 times as much as Hermes, his countywide race garnered him more than 4 times the votes, dropping his dollars per vote number to $0.80.

One item of interest from Fulton Brock's post-general report were contributions from a couple in Oro Valley, which is in Pima County. The twosome share a name with some of the people involved in the Stapley indictment. On October 16, 2008, Jason and Kris Wolfswinkel each gave $390 (the maximum allowed individual contribution) to Brock's campaign.

Stapley's failure to report his involvement with some Wolfswinkel family businesses is at the heart of his legal travails.

Wouldn't it be sweet if Brock's name was added to the list of indicted Republicans? Yeah, I know it probably won't happen, but one has to wonder why some Pima County residents care enough about a Maricopa County supervisor's race to fork over the max contribution to his campaign.

Both of these could change once all reports are in, plus the numbers don't include the "independent" expenditures that benefitted Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas. However, they both won their races, no matter how unethically, so they don't qualify for "worst bargain" under the guidelines of this post.


I was going to do one of the comparisons for some of the ballot initiatives, but there were a couple of hurdles there - too many of the committees haven't filed reports, and in many cases, there are multiple committees in support/opposition of a given prop.


Comparison purposes -

To put some of these numbers in perspective, in 2004, then-Congressman JD Hayworth spent $7.58/vote to retain his seat. However, that was nearly 180 times the rate of his opponent, Elizabeth Rogers. She spent roughly $0.04 per vote.

Compare this to 2006, when both spent more per vote in their races. Hayworth spent $31.12/vote to lose to Harry Mitchell in CD5; Rogers spent $0.06/vote to win the Kyrene Justice of the Peace race.

OK, that's not really relevant to the rest of the post, but it should give pause to those who would support a speculated-upon Hayworth gubernortorial candidacy. It should also give hope to candidates like Rebecca Schneider and Marilyn Fox, who ran strong campaigns on limited budgets.

There is life after losing an election.

Let's see what happens in two years before considering them and others like them, to be electoral afterthoughts.

Other campaign and campaign finance news -

...According to the Secretary of State's website, the first official candidate committee for 2010 has been formed by Michelle Reagan, Republican State Representative from north Scottsdale. It's an exploratory committee and doesn't list the office that she is "exploring." My guess is State Senate, though Corporation Commission or State Treasurer are possibilities.

...Jim McAllister, an AZCentral.com Plugged In blogger, notes that victorious candidates Jim Lane (Scottsdale Mayor) and Lisa Borowsky (Scottsdale City Council) already have their hands out to developers, seeking contributions to retire their campaign debts.

Apparently, they don't read the news reports about indicted and convicted public officials.

...The AZ Republic has a story that current Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne will be forming a committee to explore a run for State Attorney General in 2010.

Ummm....yeah. Horne has spent most of two terms making the public education system in AZ one of the worst in the country, and now he wants us to set him loose on the legal system?

Later...

December 7, 1941

Pics courtesy the website of the National Park Service's USS Arizona Memorial.

The John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award

This one was easy... :))

By now, most people in the Valley of the Sun have heard about how the Maricopa County Attorney successfully sought a 118-count indictment against Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley. The supes turned around and hired an outside attorney to seek an opinion on whether the prosecution of a county supervisor creates a conflict of interest with the County Attorney's office.

As could be expected, County Attorney Andrew Thomas immediately criticized the move, saying that the only attorney that the supes could consult on any issue is the County Attorney. He says that hiring outside attorneys is illegal.

Such concern for legal niceties (or even for responsible use of taxpayer money) is laudable.

Too bad such concerns are almost unheard-of from our County Attorney.

From the Phoenix New Times (June 15, 2006) -

Maricopa County paid more than $326,000 over the past year to a private law firm that employed Andrew Thomas immediately before his election as county attorney.

The county payments to Wilenchik & Bartness began in May 2005, four months after Thomas took office in January 2005, county records reveal.

Yes, Thomas is criticizing the supes for hiring outside counsel when he has spent hundreds of thousands on that exact thing.

As such, for this week's brazen exercise in the "do as I say, not as I do" flip-flopping strain of hypocrisy dressed up as public policy, Andrew Thomas reels in the latest John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award.

...A couple of quick points - on this one, I *really* hope both sides lose - Thomas and his saddle partner, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, are prime examples of political bullies, but the supes aren't much better. They turned from being elected public servants into being elected enablers.

Also, I originally thought that Thomas did Stapley a favor by holding off on the indictment until after the election season. However, a growing possiblity is that Thomas is using the indictment to keep the other supes away from his and Arpaio's offices and budgets, especially during this period of dwindling county revenues.

Mail Call - MCDP reorg division

Next weekend (Saturday, December 13, to be precise) the Maricopa County Democrats will be holding their reorganization meeting for the next cycle. It will be held in the Multipurpose Room at the Royal Palm Middle School, 8520 N 19th Ave., Phoenix (Please park along Butler Dr.).

Mark Manoil, the current county chair, is not running for reelection so the politicking for the job has started in earnest.

Earlier today, Ann Wallack sent out an email asking folks for their support for her candidacy for county chair.

She's a businesswoman, wife, community activist, mom, and former candidate for state senate in LD11.

The text of her email (with [my name] edited out) -

Dear [your name here],

I am asking for you to support me as the next Chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. I want to serve you, work with you and represent you as we promote our Democratic values of education, healthcare and economic opportunities for all.

We are in a good position to achieve our over-riding goal of electing Democrats to public offices. There are more registered Democrats in Maricopa County than ever before. We have a huge number of new volunteers who were introduced to the political process in their enthusiasm to elect Barack Obama. And, we have a group of newly-elected District Chairs who are enthusiastic and ready to work.

My pledge to you is that I will work hard and use the experience and skills I've acquired from other organizations and apply them to our County Party in order to help us grow bigger and stronger. As your County Chair I would work with you to develop short and long term goals, ensure that our office staff is responsive to candidates, District Chairs and PC's, establish and achieve fundraising goals and make it easy and fun to register new voters.

I am asking for your vote at the Maricopa County Re-organization meeting on Saturday, December 13th. With your support we can all be ready for success in 2010!

Please call or email me if you have any questions!

Thank You,

Ann

Please note: This post is not an endorsement and should not be taken as one. I have never met Ann, nor do I know anything about her beside what is in her email and on her campaign website. If any other candidates for county or state party leadership positions email or otherwise contact PCs, those will be posted here, too.

Later!

Short Attention Span Musing

From the "who says I don't pick on Democrats when they deserve it" file...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) ignored his staff and spouted off about the fragrance of tourists visiting the Capitol.

From The Hill -

Reid’s comment came as he noted the long lines of tourists who come to visit the Capitol during the bitter cold of winter and sweltering heat of a Washington summer. By constructing the CVC, lawmakers hoped to provide a more comfortable and educational introduction to the Capitol with tighter security measures.

"Tourists line up in summer and winter," said Reid. "In the summertime, because of the high humidity and how hot it gets here, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol."

Like other high-profile Democratic senators before him (John Kerry, anyone?), Reid simply cannot tell a joke.

He *really* should have listened to his staff.

Of course, compared to Governor Ed Rendell's (D-Foot in Mouth Disease) gaffe, Reid was positively eloquent.

From AZCentral.com -

Rendell made the comment Tuesday at a meeting of the National Governors Association in Philadelphia that featured President-elect Barack Obama.

Rendell said Napolitano is "perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it."

He has since apologized (sort of) for his comment that disparaged Napolitano's single status, but the damage has been done. He has ticked off single people (and many married ones) all across the country.

...From the "PleasepleasepleasepleasePUHLEEZE" department...

There are some rumors going around that John McCain will face a primary challenge in 2010 from none other than everybody's favorite loudmouthed nativist, JD Hayworth (Paul Giblin at the EV Tribune).

The idea has AZ's rightwing blogosphere all breathlessly aflutter at the thought of their darling Hayworth taking on McCain, but like Tedski at R-Cubed, I don't think it will happen. McCain has earned respect from all over AZ (misplaced though I may think that respect may be, it does exist) while Hayworth doesn't have any respect from anybody outside of his own nativist wing of the Republican Party.

That demographic fits a slot on radio, not in the senior chamber of Congress.

On the other hand, if Hayworth does go for it, maybe we can talk Harry Mitchell into running for the Senate seat.

Just for the sheer joy of watching JD's head explode at the mere possiblity of losing to Mitchell yet again. :)

For the record, I don't think Mitchell would be even remotely interested in a Senate run, even if Hayworth does run. For that matter, if it looks like a pure ideologue such as Hayworth will end up as the Rep nominee, Democrats from all over AZ will be elbowing each other hard for a shot at the seat.

...And from the "can we root for both of them to lose" department...

From AP -

WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Thursday took the first step toward a run for governor, setting the stage for a contentious challenge in 2010 against fellow Republican Rick Perry, the longest-serving leader in state history.

Let's see...Rick Perry is best known for his perfectly-coiffed hair (Molly Ivins nicknamed him "Governor Goodhair") and Hutchinson is best known as a Bush cheerleader of Kyl-esque proportions.

Maybe Kinky Friedman can run again. He's not perfect, but he's more interesting than either of those two.

Later!

False reporting - maybe the Reps hold training sessions on it or something

First Don Stapley's indictment was announced yesterday, and now this.

From The Hill -

Nevada Republicans suffered a serious blow Wednesday when their first announced challenger to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was indicted on four counts of misappropriation and falsification of public records.

The charges, handed down by a Clark County grand jury, accuse Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki of committing the crimes when he he was state treasurer. Krolicki's then-chief of staff, Kathryn Besser, was also indicted in the case.

Desert Beacon's take on the indictment here; Las Vegas Gleaner has a pithy report here.

Congratulations to the new leadership team in LD8

On Tuesday evening, the torch of leadership of north Scottsdale's (and Fountain Hills') Democrats was passed from outgoing chair (but she's still going to be *very* active) Margaret Hogan to new chair (and current vice-chair) Laura Copple.

The meeting started with Margaret Hogan thanking a number of people for their efforts during this year's campaign. She also took a moment to reminisce about Joel Sinclaire, the candidate for county supervisor who passed away suddenly.

After that, and before she chair the part of the meeting where her successor was elected, she received a standing ovation from the assembled PCs in gratitude for her years of hard work and leadership (she also got a kick-ass cake, but don't tell Doug Mings, the outgoing chair of D17 chair. He'll get jealous. :)) ).

By the time the meeting ended, the LD 8 Democrats had elected Laura Copple as Chair, Chris Brown and Stephanie Rimmer as 1st and 2nd Vice Chairs, respectively, Jeff Jameson as Secretary, and Eddie Lopez as Treasurer.

They also elected 15 representatives to the Democratic State Committee, but I couldn't take notes fast enough to get all of the names down. :)

Again, thanks go out to the outgoing officers - Margaret Hogan, Jerry Gettinger, Tim Ackley, and Susan Fletcher - and congratulations go out the incoming officers.

Have a good night...

Republican County Supervisor Don Stapley Indicted...

...on 118 counts of perjury, forgery, and a variety of financial disclosure violations.

From the AZ Republic -

Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has been indicted on 118 counts of failure to disclose to the public his involvement in a wide variety of land deals, business associations and business assets. The felonies and misdemeanors span more than a decade and involve at least one convicted felon.

The indictment was returned Nov. 20.

A Maricopa County grand jury accused Stapley of perjury, forgery, false swearing and filing an incomplete or false financial disclosure statement for offenses between 1994 and 2008.

As is the norm in such things, Stapley has proclaimed that he is innocent of all charges and that he is "shocked and disappointed" about the indictment.

So...should I post a poll on how many readers think that Republican County Attorney Andrew Thomas delayed the investigation's culmination until after the election so that if Stapley has to leave office, the other supes get to appoint another Republican in his place? Or that he will tank the case now that it has been brought forward?

Or should the poll just be on whether I have too much cynicism, not enough cynicism, or just the right amount?

Oh, and the really disappointing part of all this? I was scooped by the Republican blog Sonoran Alliance on this one.

That's what I get for not being leashed to my computer. :))

AZFamily.com has a press release about the indictment from the Maricopa County Attorney's office here.

More updates as they become available...

D17's Rep. Ed Ableser quoted in the Washington Post

Too bad it was about some sad news.

From the WaPo article about possible replacements from New York for Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate (and, obviously, ramifications of Obama's other cabinet appointments in other states) -

In Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano, nominee for secretary of homeland security, will be replaced by Secretary of State Jan Brewer (R). Arizona has no lieutenant governor.

Arizona state Rep. Ed Ableser (D) said losing a Democratic governor to a Republican one will change politics considerably, given the overwhelmingly GOP legislature. He compared it to a hockey team losing its goalie.

"It's somewhat frustrating that we're already hearing talk about cutting education, health care and vital programs to the needy," Ableser said. "It's sad knowing Governor Napolitano won't be there to help us with these fights."

Later!

Scottsdale TCE update - permit renewal? for General Dynamics

Earlier today, I took a walk near my home in south Scottsdale. During that walk, I happened to pass by a post with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper attached to it. Curious, I approached it.

Turns out it was a public notice of a permit/permit renewal (it's not really made clear in the notice) for the emission of "Volatile Organic Compounds, Products of Combustion" at the General Dynamics facility at 8201 E. McDowell Rd. in Scottsdale (south side of McDowell between Hayden and Granite Reef).

TCE is a 'Volatile Organic Compound' and in fact, TCE contamination in the groundwater of south Scottsdale emanating from the GD (formerly Motorola) site is the main reason the that North Indian Bend Superfund site exists.

This notice is not an exact copy of the one posted, but the information is basically the same.

The notice calls for public comment due within 30 days of the first day of publication of the notice, which is either November 6th (the date at the top of the linked notice) or November 12th (listed as the "Public Notice Start Date").

I don't have enough information at this time to support or oppose the permit/permit renewal, so I'll contact the Maricopa County Air Quality Department tomorrow to gather more info.

However, what I found interesting was the apparent attempt to low-profile this - not only was the so-called "public posting" almost inconspicuous (I've driven by that spot dozens of times over the past few weeks and never seen the notice), the legal notice of this permit process was published in two outlets that most people in the affected area don't read, The Record Reporter (page 26 here) and the Arizona Business Gazette (couldn't locate the notice in their online archive). In addition, I haven't seen any neighborhood outreach (door hangers, etc.) from the applicant (General Dynamics) or the County on this matter.

In addition to contacting the County tomorrow and doing some research on whether or not other, more locally-oriented, community activists were aware of the permit, I'll upload some pics of the posted public notice that so piqued my interest.

This may be much ado about nothing, but one would think that in an area that is already a Superfund site, both the County and GD would show a little more concern for keeping the residents in the area more "in the loop" instead of trying to sneak this past people while they are preoccupied with the aftermath of the November elections and preparations for the holiday season.

After all, it's only been a year since the contentious meeting of the NIBW's Community Involvement Group when attendees were informed of a failure at one of the treatment facilities (which upset people) and that Arizona American Water took a month to start telling people about it (which really pissed off people).

More tomorrow...

Edit on 12/2 to add pics...

The pic at the top of the post is a close up of the public notice. Click on it to make it readable.

These pics illustrate why I thought the notice was almost totally inconspicuous.

From a few feet away at normal magnification, this is the notice at the SE corner of McDowell and 82nd Pl. in Scottsdale.

The above pic was taken at 4X mag, from the SW corner of the intersection.

This pic is of a City of Scottsdale public notice situation on the NW corner of the same intersection, taken from the SW corner at 4X magnification.

After speaking to a couple of people at the Maricopa County Air Quality Department, it seems that the posting of the public notice of the permit renewal/revision is well within the rules.

Legal, but borderline useless.

Also according to those same folks, the requested revisions to the permit are minor, and based on what was described to me over the phone, they are minor. However, I will probably be in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, and if I have time, I'll stop by their office and look at the actual docs. I'll have to if I want a look - the docs aren't online. :((

More tomorrow!

End edit...