Short Attention Span Musing...

...Some people just didn't get the message from Tuesday's recall vote in LD18.

- Recalled state senator Russell Pearce wrote a rather delusional op-ed published by the Arizona Capitol Times.  Aside from the expected self-pitying and self-righteous blathering (the recall was all about his anti-immigrant positions and he did nothing wrong.  His opponenets made up his misuse and abuse of office and his meanness and arrogance toward the people of his district), he dropped some whoppers that weren't directly related to the recall election.  My favorite:

...we lead the nation in many areas, such as economic recovery, safer neighborhoods, job creation, quality education...

Either Pearce is completely clueless about the realities of life in Arizona, or he's trying out for a spot on Faux News.

Or both.

- State Senator Sylvia Allen, not recalled but a close friend of Pearce's, issued a press release that blamed everyone but Pearce for the recall.  Like Pearce above, she hasn't heard the message, or she has and is lying about it.

“Recalls have never and were never meant to be used against lawmakers whose sole fault was they disagreed with you on the issues. They’re designed to target people who may have committed crimes or were guilty of gross misconduct in office,” says Senator Sylvia Allen, President Pro Tem of the Senate.

So, is Allen saying that things like her friend's ordering the unlawful arrests of people who dissent from his extreme positions, protectiing a domestic abuser like Sen. Scott Bundgaard from answering for his crimes, and accepting "gifts" from the Fiesta Bowl and having the arrogance to say that he didn't have to report them or pay them back (before he quietly did so) aren't gross misconduct?

Or is she saying that violating free speech protections, ignoring domestic violence laws, and ignoring the ethical standards for elected officials are just "issues" where Pearce (and Allen) simply finds himself in disagreement with civil society?


...In other news, Governor Jan Brewer and her handlers are looking to strike while the iron is hot (read: before the AZ Supreme Court rules on her partisan interference with the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission).  Steve at Arizona Eagletarian has posted the text of a letter she sent to the rest of the AIRC.

She's demanding that they scrap the draft maps completely and come up with districts that are more to her (and that of Marilyn Quayle).  Without using the specific words, it's evident that she wants the AIRC to protect one "community of interest" above all others -

Arizona's community of Republican elected officials.

Even if the voters don't want incumbents interests served at the expense of Arizona's interests.

...The Republican members of the state senate have selected Senator Steve Pierce to be the president of the state senate.  Like his predecessor (Pearce) and his colleague (Allen), he doesn't have a clue about what happened Tuesday.

From the Arizona Republic article linked above -

"We're going to continue the good things that Russell started," Pierce said. "He did a wonderful job. He did not deserve what happened to him."

Russell Pearce was drunk with power and contemptuous of his constituents and Arizonans as a whole (unless they lined his pockets with "gift" and "campaign contributions"), and he lost an election as a result.

That's what is *supposed* to happen, and he deserved every bit of it.

...From the "has even less of a clue than Pearce, Pierce, and Allen" department - Sen. Scott "Fists of Fury" Bundgaard has formed a reelection committee for the 2012 cycle.  I won't predict that he can't make it through an R primary (made that mistake with Ben Quayle last year.  Never again will make the mistake of overestimating the standards of R primary voters.  However, his presence on a general election ballot could turn a safe R district into a D upset.


...In a long-rumored development, Richard Carmona, a former US Surgeon General, has entered the race for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate seat currently held by Jon Kyl.  He joins Don Bivens, an attorney and former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, in the race.

Obviously, it is still early, and other candidates may yet enter the race, but I have to say this -

I hope there *is* a primary.  As long as it is clean, a primary is a good thing.  Especially since neither of the announced candidates has ever run for office before (so far as I can find). 

Arizona Democrats have a history of "clearing the field" for well-meaning but inexperienced candidates for high office, only to watch them get buried at the polls.  A robust primary will not only remedy the "inexperience" problem, it will generate media and public attention for the Democratic candidates, something that has been sorely lacking during the last few election cycles.

In addition, like their predecessors, both are bound to have highly-paid professional "consultants" on their campaign staffs who will tell each to run as "Republican-lite" candidates.

This highly-unpaid amateur is telling each candidate (and any others who may also jump into the race) -

Run as "sincere" candidates who focus more on the needs and concerns of Arizonans (even if that ticks off a few of the loud and proud screamers in the electorate) than on "triangulating" positions that are calculated to completely alienate the smallest number of voters (but leave a vague bad taste in the mouths of *all* voters).

Pandering to the fringe Rs even though you will never get their votes may not cost you the votes of the Democratic base (it's not like they'll vote for Jeff Flake), but it will cost you something almost as valuable - their energy.  A successful candidate doesn't just need votes, but also needs feet on the ground.

What those professional consultants won't tell you, in fact are afraid to tell you because they are worried about their next paying gig, is that most successful campaigns are more about the energy of the volunteers than they are about perfectly crafted and completely meaningless positions on issues.

Remember that.

Jack Harper wants the taxpayers to give Russell Pearce a quarter-milliion dollar going away gift

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -
State Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) is God's gift to writers.  And I don't mean that in a good way...

The outlook for the post-Pearce era in Arizona politics is slowly coming into focus, and over the near term at least, it looks a lot like it did when Pearce was in the Senate.  In other words, the Republicans are looking to siphon a lot of taxpayer money into their pockets, and not to benefit the people of Arizona.

From the East Valley Tribune, written by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services -

Arizona voters may not be quite done with Russell Pearce.


Questions of Pearce’s political future aside, a little-known provision of the Arizona Constitution requires the Legislature to act to reimburse any recalled public official his or her “reasonable special election campaign expenses."

State Rep. Jack Harper has jumped all over this idea.  From his Twitter feed -

 
 
 
 
 
Now, while vague, there *is* a section of the Arizona Constitution that seems relevant.
 
From Article 8, Part 1, Section 6 -

The general election laws shall apply to recall elections in so far as applicable. Laws necessary to facilitate the operation of the provisions of this article shall be enacted, including provision for payment by the public treasury of the reasonable special election campaign expenses of such officer.

As the article linked above notes, this has never happened before, so no one, not even Ken Bennett, the Arizona Secretary of State, knows exactly what "reasonable" means in this context.
 
In addition, no one is quite sure who would be reimbursed.  Pearce spent what will end up being more than $250K, but it was all other people's money.  Harper's push on Pearce's behalf could end up directing taxpayer money into the coffers of Freeport McMoran, Pinnacle West, and other corporations whose PACs funded Pearce's failed campaign.
 
However, Harper, Pearce, and all concerned seem to be ignoring the other part of this clause in the AZ Constitution, the part about general election law applying to recall elections.
 
Under Arizona law, if someone spends money on a political activity (such as an election campaign), it has to be reported, in this case both as an expense and a personal contribution.
 
From Pearce's Pre-Recall Election Report, filed with the AZSOS, covering the period ending October 19, 2011 -
 
 

 

 
 
 
Pearce has documented no direct contributions or loans to his campaign, and none of the "in-kind" expenses totalled above were from Pearce himself.
 
In other words, either Pearce hasn't directly incurred any personal expenses related to the recall or he has failed to report campaign contributions and expenses.
 
In other words2, there's nothing to reimburse and there's no record to indicate that there is.  And the "magical" appearance of any such records as evidence of reimbursable expenses will also constitute evidence of violations of campaign finance laws.
 
Probably not something that someone who is likely to run for some office somewhere next year wants hanging over his head...

Historic night in Arizona...

For the first time in Arizona history, a sitting state legislator, the President of the Senate no less, has been removed from office mid-term by the voters.

Congratulations to Randy Parraz and all of the volunteers at Citizens for a Better Arizona for making this possible, and to Jerry Lewis...*Senator* Jerry Lewis...and his team for turning that possibility into a reality.

Elections night open thread

...The Maricopa County Recorder's election results web page can be found here, but don't expect any returns to be posted before 8 p.m.

...Lewis on TV declaring victory in LD18!  Whoooo hooooo!  Hard to believe, but civility has a chance, even in Arizona...

...Gullett concedes!  Stanton wins!  Congratulations to the new mayor of Phoenix!

...16 of 16 precincts reporting, Lewis has 10816 votes, Pearce has 9188!

...Fourth posting of LD18 results show Lewis up by more than 1400 votes (14 of 16 precincts reporting)

...Third posting of LD18 results show Lewis up by more than 1300 votes (11 of 16 precincts reporting)

...Second posting of results show that Lewis is maintaining his lead, 10 of 16 precincts counted..

- First returns in LD18 (mostly early ballots) show Jerry Lewis leading incumbent Russell Pearce by more than 1000 votes, 53% to 47%.

- In the City of Phoenix elections, early returns show Greg Stanton up solidly over lobbyist Wes Gullett in the race for mayor, and show Thelda Williams and Daniel Valenzuela ahead of tea party types in their races for city council seats...

...Grain of salt time: exit polling has Lewis ahead.  The source is Examiner.com, so make it a BIG grain of salt...

....It looks like Ohio's Issue 2, the Republican move to take away collective bargaining rights from public sector workers is going down in flames...

...Pre-election polling seems to be holding true,  as Mississippi's anti-choice/birth control/women in general proposed amendment also seems to be going down to defeat, though not by as wide a margin as Issue 2 in OH...

Brief update on redistricting mess...

Steve at the Arizona Eagletarian has a far more comprehensive rundown here, but I like brevity, so here is mine...

Regarding the court filings seeking to stay and overturn the removal of Colleen Mathis, the independent chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) by Governor Jan Brewer and the Republicans caucus in the state senate, the pertinent dates/deadlines (from an email press release) -

Monday, 11/7 at 5 pm – Responses due for Motion to Stay Removal and Motion to Intervene

Tuesday, 11/8 at Noon – Reply to responses for Motion to Stay Removal and Motion to Intervene

Tuesday, 11/8 in the afternoon – Court will consider Motion to Stay Removal (no hearing) and a decision expected in Motion to Stay Removal.

Friday, 11/11 at 5 pm – Responses to petition for special action and any amicus briefs due

Monday, 11/14 at 5 pm – Reply to responses to petition for special action and amicus briefs

Thursday, 11/17 at 2 pm – Potential Oral Arguments on merits of petition for special action (25 mins per side.)

So to sum up, the state supreme court will (probably) decide tomorrow to grant or deny a stay of the removal, and will (probably) decide by the end of next week whether or not to overturn the removal in its entirety.

- Steve at the Arizona Eagletarian has linked to a couple of the court filings uploaded as Google docs, but let me summarize:  Lisa Hauser, writing for the governor: "We can do what we want, when we want, to who we want, and our victims (the AIRC and the voters) can't say squat about it."

The response from Mathis and Linda McNulty and Jose Herrera, the Democratic members of the AIRC: "Wanna bet?"

- The Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments has reopened applications for the position of independent chair of the AIRC.  The deadline for submitting applications is next Tuesday, November 15, at 5 p.m.

General info for applicants is here.

The application is here (note to applicants: while one of the Republican members of the AIRC lied on his application concerning tax liens, among other things, you shouldn't expect to get away with it if you do.  Of course, even if you don't lie, the Rs will say you did...unless you're actually an R plant.  Then they'll get on their knees in the middle of Washington Street and kiss your butt, even if you've committed violent crimes.  See Bundgaard, Scott.).
Stay tuned...

Pearce camp digging deep into bag of dirty tricks as recall election draws near

On Tuesday, voters in Mesa's LD18 will decide the political fate of State Sen. Russell Pearce, and in the light of recent polls that show him in a dead heat with or even behind his challenger, Jerry Lewis, Pearce and his followers are getting desperate.

After running a sham candidate, Olivia Cortes, in an attempt to siphon votes from Lewis, only to see her withdraw from the race, they are now running a robocall targeted at Latino voters. 

Note:  The animation is not part of the robocall, just the audio.

The call, with an actor using a Hispanic accent and trying to sound like a Democrat, is trying to suppress the anti-Pearce vote by announcing that Pearce and Lewis are Republicans (true) and that Democrats can effectively protest the lack of a Democratic candidate on the ballot by writing in another name, any other name (not true - under AZ law, such votes are meaningless unless the write-in candidate has previously registered with the AZ Secretary of State).

Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times has complete coverage here.

The political committee behind the robocalls is Safeguard Arizona's Future, SOS info here.  It is chaired by Ronald Ludders, a tea party type and an employee of the Arizona Corporation Commission (according to his Facebook page).  So far this cycle, they've reported almost no activity and only $327 cash on hand.  My guess is that the robocalls cost more than that, so there should be some activity reported in the next filing.

Regardless of how Tuesday's election turns out, expect the dirty tricks to continue next year - Ludders formed a new committee just last week, Arizona Project.  Given his tea party and ACC connections, one can guess where he will find money to spend/launder for R candidates.

Because while some pundits have declared that Pearce's political career is on the line Tuesday, I believe that he is arrogant enough that if he loses, he will A) fight to overturn the election results in court, and B) will not take the hint and go away.  No matter what, he will be running for some office next year.

Still, better that he does that as a challenger than as an incumbent.  

The Lewis campaign and Citizens for a Better Arizona have big GOTV efforts planned; contact either to volunteer to help out.

Redistricting-related meeting on Monday

At 1 p.m Monday., the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments will hold an emergency meeting to discuss how they will nominate three Independents to be considered as replacements for Colleen Mathis, who was ousted as chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission this past week.

Note to anyone who plans to attend the meeting: it will be held in the Arizona State Courts Building at 1501 W. Washington in Phoenix (directly east of the state capitol, with Wesley Bolin Plaza in between) and will chaired by Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch.  If she is running true to form, that means the meeting will start a 1 p.m. sharp, not "around 1", not "within a few minutes of 1", and not "1-ish", so plan accordingly.

Like most meetings of public bodies in Arizona (but unlike the closed meeting of the Republican caucus of the Senate last week where they wrangled votes for their kangaroo court of Mathis), public comments can be submitted to the Commission, whether in person, via snail mail, or via email.

Since I have to work Monday, I submitted a comment via email (jnc@courts.az.gov) -

Chief Justice Berch and Commissioners,

Regarding the discussion of a nominating process to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC):

Ideally, you would wait until any and all court petitions pertaining to the removal of AIRC chair Colleen Mathis have been adjudicated before starting the nomination process to fill any vacancy (if that is the end result of the court actions), but redistricting is a time sensitive matter and it is only prudent to make appropriate preparations.

With that time sensitivity in mind, the simplest and perhaps fairest process would be to contact the original finalists for the Independent member slot, perhaps in the order of the number of votes they received during the original process, and ask each if they are still interested in serving as chair of the AIRC.

Those original nominees have been through the full vetting and nomination process. If any or all of the original nominees are still interested, it would greatly reduce any delay in the redistricting process.

In addition, even an abbreviated search process for new applicants runs the risk of opening up more opportunities for the sort of mischief that has been evident over the last few months, culminating in last week's removal of Mathis.

Having said all that, I wish upon you the best of good luck - the Arizona Supreme Court may yet make any preparations moot.

I also wish upon you the deepest patience - the Court may make your preparations absolutely necessary, at which point this commission will become the focus of the same extraordinary political pressures that have been directed at the AIRC.

Thank you for your consideration and service.

Regards,

Craig McDermott

Scottsdale

Representing myself

P.S. - My first instinct in writing this was to recommend that you send the Governor and State Senate a letter that says simply "Be careful what you wish for..." and then forward a list of three names for the Independent member of the AIRC - "Paul Bender", "Paul Bender", and "Paul Bender". After careful consideration, I opted for a more tactful approach. Especially since I don't know if Professor Bender is still even interested in the rather thankless job of Chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

...Not the most eloquent thing ever written, but I really did have to rein it in, as indicated in the "P.S.", which in and of itself reined in.  I actually wanted to suggest that the members of the Appellate Court Appointments Commission go to the roof of the Courts Building, walk over to the side closest to the Capitol, turn around, and moon the Governor and Senate.

I also wanted to include this pic -

 

Arizona has its own Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland-style) - Governor Jan Brewer.  Pic courtesy Lauren Kuby

















However, since I wanted my comment to be taken seriously... :))

Email spammers follow current events. Who knew?

Like most people, my email inbox receives at least a few dozen purely "spam" emails every day (to be fair, I probably receive a few more than average because my email address is on the sidebar of the blog).  Most of the time, I completely ignore them.

On those few occasions when I do take note of them, it's because of discordant, almost mutually exclusive, subjects of the subject headings of emails in close proximity to each other, like when there are messages promising to help me enlarge my breasts right after the ones hawking pills to help with penis enlargement.  Or when messages advertising Christian dating services are next to ones offering to help me find Mormon singles in my area while still others tout access to Jewish singles.

When looking at the subjects in my inbox, I wonder briefly who is more confused, the person(s) sending out the messages or the person(s) they work on.

After a quick chuckle, I delete them without reading the actual message.

On rare days however, one spam message come through that I just *have* to read...and today was one of those days.

From my email inbox, with the subject line "Greeting from Libyian Mamman Gaddafi Son's school friend." (copied and pasted - any typos or spelling or grammatical errors are the original writer's) -

Good day,


I am personal assistant to Mr. Seif al-Islam Gaddafi Son to Ex-President Mr.Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

Because of the recent resolution by The International community for immediateseizure of the assets of the late president Mr. Muammar Gaddafi both in cashand properties around the world and Mr. Seif Al Islam Al Gaddafi been thechairman of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) beenin a hideout have asked me to urgently look for an international investmentpartner to assist with moving and investment of $6.9 Million US Dollars whichis in cash and is stashed in a secure Finance house some where to be disclosedto you there after you shown interest.

This cash can be moved directly to you in your country on a good arrangementand once you receive it you will help us to safe guard it or invest the moneyin a lucrative business based on the instruction. Please note that this is avery confidential transaction and should not be mentioned to a third party. Wewill be willing to give you 20% of the total cash for your help in thistransaction. If you accept the offer we want things to be donesoonest because of time due to the instability in Libya at the moment. Pleaseif you agree to help, you should not worry about your safety as we havelogistics in place to move the cash to you, but will want to have your interestfirst and devotion to abide with us and maintain confidentiality over the wholetransaction for security reasons. No risk attached, the transaction will bebacked up with legal documents.

If this interest you, kindly send me the following details:

1. Your full name

2. Your telephone and mobile number

3. Your age

4. Your sex

5. Your occupations

6. Your full contact address including city, state and country

Awaiting your urgent response.

May God bless you as you assist my family?

Yours faithfully,

Mr.Ibrahim Abdulaziz..Reply to this email : [DELETED]

 
Yes, it's the Nigerian scam updated into a Libyan scam.

Anybody want to make a bet on how long it is before Jan Brewer, Russell Pearce, and the rest of the gang are the stars of their own spam?

Dearest Friend,

I am the cousin of the neighbor of the cleaning lady of the lawyer for the cellmate of Mr. Ex-Senate President Russell K. Pearce.  Because of the recent incarceration of Mr. Pearce and Ms. deposed Governor Jan Brewer, I have been contracted to move the treasury of Arizona, Mr. Pearce's priceless collection of toupees and many years of Fiesta Bowl swag, and a warehouse full of remainder copies of Ms. Brewer's book "Scorpions For Breakfast" to a safe location, .  We need the help of a few trusting trustworthy saps people for this move.  If you send us your money, your self respect, and your soul, we'll only take your money and self respect.

...You can write the rest.

:)

AIRC hearing in Scottsdale

Thursday evening, well over 200 people gathered at the Granite Reef Senior Citizen Center in Scottsdale for one of the hearings held by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

The room was so crowded that building staff had to put out dozens of extra chairs and there were still people stand around the sides of the room and outside where they still listen to the goings-on.

A couple of us made jokes that the Rs in the legislature weren't going to have time to completely shut down the meeting because the fire department would beat them to it. 

However, the mayor of Scottsdale, Jim Lane, was in the audience, so the Scottsdale Fire Department was nowhere around.

Lane testifying











Steve at Arizona Eagletarian has a full write-up here, but I have a few observations about the meeting, the R talking points (and the early part of the hearing was an R propaganda-fest) -

- Commissioner Rick Stertz, the commissioner present at the hearing (and Russell Pearce's appointee), gave preference to elected officials, letting them speak first.  Apparently, that has been the practice all along, even before the lege moved to usurp the "independence" in the independent redistricting process.

However, the average citizen had only two minutes to speak, where the electeds spoke for as long as they wanted to. 

Apparently in Arizona, not only do alleged public servants not understand the concept of *public" service, they don't even acknowledge (or maybe simply don't understand) the concepts of basic courtesy, as in "hit the high points, submit the rest in writing, and get out of the way - a lot of other people have the right to be heard too".

- Republican State Rep. John Kavanagh was one of the electeds who testified at the hearing.  In the interests of brevity, I won't rehash all of it (it was itself a rehash of the report generated by the GOPers kangaroo court...errr..."Joint Committee On Redistricting"), but suffice to say if Kavanagh or any of his associates choose to stand up and repeat that BS in court, they should bring a good defense attorney with them (hint: not Lisa Hauser; her involvement with this mess may cause her to need a defense attorney, but it doesn't make her one).

And they should bring a good toothbrush with them, in case the good defense attorney just isn't good enough and the judge is one that takes a dim view of perjury.  Ya just don't know where that prison-issued toothbrush has been...

- Other than the generic R talking points excoriating the AIRC for failing to kiss R butt, there was a pattern to specific suggestions that the Rs made to the AIRC.

They want Fountain Hills to be placed in the same district(s) as Scottsdale.  They consider Scottsdale and Fountain Hills to be an unbreakable "community of interest".  One woman testified that placing the two areas in separate districts was unacceptable because while she lives in Fountain Hills, she likes to shop in Scottsdale.

I only *wish* I was making that part up, but alas, my imagination just isn't that creative.

Anyway, the mentality exhibited seemed to be less that district boundaries are lines on a map and more that they walls across streets.

Not the truth, but the truth and intellectual honesty was in short supply during the early part of the meeting.

One thing I'd say to the woman who conflated shopping and district lines if I could - the merchants of north Scottsdale don't care about what district (or state, or country) their customers are from, so long as they leave a lot of money here when they visit.

The other consistent map-specific talking point was that the AIRC should change the lines to include south Scottsdale in the same districts as north Scottsdale.

I haven't heard such professions of solidarity with south Scottsdale from the denizens of north Scottsdale since...

...the last round of redistricting.

The rest of the time, north Scottsdale has as much regard for south Scottsdale as it does for Tempe, Mesa, or a pile of dog poop on the sidewalk.

And after the maps are finalized, and regardless of how the lines turn out, their attitude will return to the normal not-so-benign contempt (gee, can ya tell I live in south Scottsdale?  :) ).

Note: Scottsdale City Councilman Bob Littlefield was there and while he is from north Scottsdale, he is an exception to that observation.  Actually, among Scottsdale's "power elite", he is *the* exception.

- As mentioned earlier, most of the early part of the meeting was Republicans tag-teaming to shovel the same pile of BS.

However, later in the evening, the speakers tended toward being Independents or Democrats, all of whom supported the independence of the AIRC and competitive districts.

Many of them spoke eloquently and passionately, many spoke bluntly and passionately.

However, the best line of the night went to Doris Freeman -

"You think you are living in a Republican state?  You don't.  You live in a banana republic."

Freeman testifying












While the video of the meeting isn't up yet, when it is it will be available here, and it's worth a view...if you need to elevate your blood pressure.

Some pics from the meeting -

The crowd

Kavanagh lying "testifying"

Steve Muratore of the Arizona Eagletarian (seated) and Kavanagh.  Check out the skeptical look from Muratore.

Commission Rick Stertz (seated center), AIRC Republican counsel Joe Kanefield (right) and a representative from Strategic Telemetry whose name I can't spell (left)

Independent Eric Kurland testifying

Jan and her clan waging open war on democracy in Arizona...

Started this post last night, but was far too outraged to write sensibly.  Still pissed off, but am now back to my usual snarky self... :)

Arizona's Republican Governor, Jan Brewer, and her accomplices in the Republican caucus of the state senate have dropped all pretense of respect for the will of the voters.

After spending the days leading up to Tuesday's special session wrangling enough votes to pull this off (strangely, doing so behind closed doors, something they accused the chair of the AIRC doing so they could rationalize removing her from the AIRC),  Brewer called the legislature into a special session to remove Independent Colleen Mathis from the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

Shortly thereafter, the Senate Republicans held a political necktie party and voted to remove Mathis from the AIRC.

Needless to say (but I'm still going to say it :) ), this is going to end up in court, starting with the Arizona Supreme Court, but probably moving to the federal judiciary before long.

Interestingly, and I'm not sure how it will affect deliberations, but with the Chief Justice's recusal from the case (because of her part in screening the applicants for the AIRC), that leaves Vice-Chief Justice David Hurwitz to preside over the case.  The interesting part is that Hurwitz has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Barack Obama.

That leaves Hurwitz open to pressure from Arizona's US Senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, who can block his nomination from even reaching the floor of the Senate if the Arizona Supreme Court doesn't rule the way that they prefer.

And the Republican members of Arizona's Congressional delegation are among those who are most upset by the independence of the redistricting commission and put a lot of pressure on Brewer to do something to intimidate the AIRC.
Many Democrats and Independents (and even a few Republicans, the ones who realize how Tuesday contemptible act by Jan and her clan could come back to bite them in the ass next year at the polls, or next week in Russell Pearce's case, are outraged.

From State Sen. David Schapira (D-Tempe), the Senate Democratic leader, via Bloomberg (written by Amanda Crawford) -

“There is no basis for this removal other than pure partisan politics,” said Senate Minority Leader David Schapira of Tempe. There were no findings of fact proving misconduct, Schapira and other Democrats said.

From Andrei Cherny, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (same source as above) -

“Governor Brewer’s power grab is a clear abuse of the powers of her office,” Andrei Cherny, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, said in a statement.

From Sara Presler, mayor of Flagstaff, via the Arizona Daily Sun -

"This is nuts. The governor went to New York to sell her book and the state is 'Home Alone.'"

Just as predictably, the Republicans are gloating.

From the Facebook page of Sen. Ron Gould (R-The Confederacy Will Rise Again!) (Check out Rep. Doris Goodale's comments) -

Rep. Jack Harper is, of course, being his usual self.  From his Twitter feed (I don't even need to add the snark here; there is nothing that I can write that can top the ridiculousness that is our Jack) -

Possibly the most interesting comment came from Sen. Al Melvin.  It isn't related directly to the AIRC or the Republicans' scheme to blow up the process because there are too many competitive districts, but since it highlights their hypocrisy AND it was posted during or near the time of the Senate's floor vote -

The fun/frustrating part was watching KAET's Horizon tonight with Schapira and Sen. Steve Pierce.  Pierce kept talking about the testimony before the Republican kangaroo court Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting.  Pierce said that the testimony formed the foundation of the reasons that the Rs used to rationalize removing Mathis.

What Pierce didn't say, in fact couldn't say, is that their "indictment" of Mathis, as spurious as it is, was based on *sworn* testimony, the same way as real indictments in real courts.

Because it wasn't.

Go to the lege's video archive page and watch any (or all) of the meetings.

It was mostly an unsworn and unsubstantiated echo chamber (and the Rs bullied any members of the public who dared to go off script).

Also, contrast the Republican high-speed railroad that is aimed at Mathis (and also the Democratic members of the AIRC, but mostly at Mathis) with the painstaking regard for the "proprieties" in the ethics investigation of Republican Sen. Scott Bungaard over his violent assault on his then-girlfriend by the side of a Phoenix freeway..

With Mathis, they have is unsubstantiated allegations supported only by unsworn testimony, yet they scrambled to politically lynch her this week (perhaps worried that they'll be losing Senate President Russell Pearce's vote after next week's recall election?).

With Bundgaard, there are police reports, eye witness accounts, and even court decisions. 

All sworn.  All documented.

They can claim that they aren't motivated by partisanship, but their own behavior gives lie to their denials.

And it flies directly in the face of the voters' will, expressed when they created the independent redistricting process.

No anti-AIRC special session for now, but don't relax yet

OK.  The situation is a little fluid, so everything I'm about to write could change in a minute, but here goes -

As of right now, there probably won't be a special session of the legislature on Tuesday, and it is looking less likely that there will one at all. 

As recently as Monday morning, the Arizona Capitol Tmes was reporting that Republican Governor Jan Brewer would call a special session for Tuesday to remove the members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission for not producing district maps that are lopsided enough in favor of the Republicans.

However, by Monday evening, the Cap Times had posted a story saying that there definitely will NOT be a special session Tuesday.  (Subscription required for both stories)

On the other hand, Steve Muratore at The Arizona Eagletarian is reporting (from KPNX's Brahm Resnick) that GOP senators have been advised to be at the Capitol for a closed caucus meeting at 12:30 p.m.

In other words, keep an eye on this.  It is very possible that the GOPers are planning to try a sneak attack to remove the Commissioners on no real notice (note:  the legislature long ago exempted itself from open meeting requirements including a notice period for meetings) so that there isn't enough time for opposition to organize at the Capitol.

There may yet be a "Day of the Long Knives", wielded by the Governor and lege and targeting the AIRC.

Stay tuned...

The upcoming week - Special session (maybe), special meetings, and more

...The biggest meeting of the week is only a rumor at this point, but it is a rather persistent one.  There is a strong rumor going around that Republican Governor Jan Brewer is going to call a special session of the legislature to remove the Independent and Democratic members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).  One of the rumors going around was that the special session would be on Monday, but that seems to be off of the table.  It may have been R posturing, or it may have been due to an inability to line up enough votes to do the deed on Monday (they need 20 of the 21 Rs in the Senate to be in attendance and on board to pull this off, if they go the special session route.

Details if/when they become available.

...In a perhaps related development, the AIRC has scheduled a business meeting for Monday at 6:20 p.m.  at the Adams House in Phoenix (1100 W. Washington Street).  The one action item on the agenda:

Legal advice, direction to counsel, discussion and possible action regarding actions relating to letter from Governor Brewer concerning Commission conduct. Commission may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and providing direction to counsel (A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A) (3) and (4)).

...The AIRC has a full slate of public hearings scheduled for the week - Phoenix on Tuesday, Cottonwood on Wednesday, Scottsdale on Thursday, Marana on Friday, and Casa Grande and Green Valley on Saturday.

However, stay tuned - if the Governor and her associates in the legislature go through with their craven scheme to ignore the will of the voters and blow up the independent redistricting process, that schedule of public hearings on the new lines for Congressional and legislative districts will change to a schedule of court appearances, dates and times TBA.

- Also on Monday, the Joint Republican "Legislative" Committee on Messing With The Redistricting process and Commission is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. in HHR4.


...In other areas of interest...

- The Arizona Corporation Commission's hearing schedule is here.  In addition to the hearings, they are holding two special open meetings for Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday.

- The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is meeting Monday and Wednesday.

- The Scottsdale City Council is meeting Tuesday, both in a special meeting for appointments to City boards and commissions and a regular meeting.  One item of interest to political geeks: an item to remove John Washington from the City's Airport Advisory Commission.  Recently, the Council has OK the building of well more than 1000 apartments near the Scottsdale Airport, something that Washington thinks is ill-advised and more importantly, a violation of some agreements with the FAA that the Scottsdale airport operates under.  Washington has contacted the FAA directly, and because of that contact, Mayor Jim Lane has agendized a motion to remove Washington from the Commission.  I can't say for certain how the vote will turn out, but whatever happens Tuesday, don't be shocked if Washington runs for Council or Mayor next year.

- The Tempe City Council is meeting Thursday.


Early notice:  On Wednesday, December 7, the Community Involvement Group of the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.  More details as the date gets closer.

"Republicans moralizing about deficits. That's like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety"

Vice-President Joe Biden is a man known for his directness and bluntness, rare qualities in a place like D.C.  Occasionally, that can result in an embarrassing moment, especially if there is an open mic within range.

OK, it's more often than "occasionally"... :)

However, every so often, Biden's directness is spot on and appropriate.

From the Orlando Sentinel, h/t to Taegen Goddard's Political Wire for spotting this (emphasis added) -

Vice President Joe Biden turned a dinner speech to Florida Democrats at Walt Disney World into a pep rally Friday night, blasting Republicans as obstructionists with whom he said the administration can no longer work.


{snip}

"That's what I find absolutely bizarre: Republicans moralizing about deficits. That's like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety," he said. "These guys have zero credibility."

Later...

AZ Republicans taking the "3 Bs"* approach to redistricting

* = "Bluster, Bully, and Bullshit"

Arizona's Republicans, led by their officeholders, are crying "foul" over the independent redistricting process.

They've whined about all sorts of alleged misdeeds and wrongdoing on the part of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), but mostly they're upset over the fact that, unlike the last incarnation of the AIRC, this Commission is actually living up to the "Independent" part of their name.

They started their attacks with "bluster", ranging from busing scads of "grass roots" Republicans to AIRC hearings and meetings all over the state, many of whom read, with voices filled with self-righteous indignation, from a script of fabricated talking points (seriously, many of them walked up to the microphone script in hand and read the same text over and over) to press releases denouncing the AIRC as partisan and not in keeping with the wishes of Arizona's voters.

They then added "bully" to their repertoire, first with threats from people like Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, a scam artist of long renown, ginning up an "investigation" of the Commission to the current kangaroo court conducted by the members of the Republican majority in the legislature where people like Republican state senator Andy Biggs has bullied and ridiculed members of the public who don't drink the Kool-Aid and follow the script of "independent redistricting really bad, Republican officeholders really good" (check out the video archive here; as of this writing, there are archives of four of the meetings of the Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting.  Each of them contains many examples of this behavior.  Also, Steve at Arizona Eagletarian has reporting here and here).

Note:  While I was writing this post, word came down that Horne has been disqualified from investigating the AIRC.

Also, Jan Brewer, Arizona's Republican governor is threatening to call a special session of the Arizona Senate in order to remove the commissioners for what she calls "gross misconduct" and I call "living up to the 'Independent' in 'Independent Redistricting Commission'."

As for the "bullshit" part of the "3 Bs", well, that's been an integral part of the game plan all along.

Whether it was the assertion that renowned Constitutional scholar Paul Bender was unqualified to even be nominated to the AIRC and suing to have him removed from the list of nominees, the claims that Colleen Mathis, selected as the independent chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission was actually a Democrat, the assertions that the AIRC has been too secretive in its operations and deliberations crafting the draft maps that have the Republicans so upset, or more, the Rs have been flinging bullshit against the AIRC's wall for months hoping that some of it sticks.

So far, their efforts have only left the Rs with stinky hands, but that hasn't made them less determined to undermine the AIRC and the will of the voters, who created the AIRC specifically to remove elected officials from the redistricting process.

A few facts:

The AIRC has held dozens of public meetings and hearings and accepted *hundreds* of hours of public input on the maps and the factors that should be considered when laying out the new legislative and Congressional districts.

Colleen Mathis *is* an Independent.  The issue of her husband's support for a Democratic candidate in one election ignores the fact that her husband has also supported Republican candidates, attending a Bush inauguration ball with her.

Professor Paul Bender, a true Independent (more liberal than the Rs or Ds) is so qualified that the members of  Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, most of whom are accomplished in their fields, enthusiastically supported his nomination when screening the applicants for the AIRC (except for Doug Cole, Chuck Coughlin's plant on the commission,  Cole was like Mikey of Life Cereal fame - he hates everything...that doesn't result in increased power and profits for him, Coughlin, and their clients at HighGround).

Another thing area that has sparked Republican complaints is that the draft maps have resulted in incumbents such as Congressmen David Schweikert and Ben Quayle facing off in a primary.

What they don't mention in their complaints is that both Schweikert and Quayle have freely chosen to run in a district that they don't live in (Schweikert lives in draft CD4, Quayle in draft CD9, but both would rather run in north Scottsdale, which is in draft CD6).  Something that is allowed under the US Constitution, but it is rather cynical for them to make that choice and then complain about the unfairness of the AIRC.

Note:  The draft CD9 is competitive, leaning slightly R, while both the draft CD4 and draft CD6 are overwhelmingly R.  Draft CD4 has a strong rural component though, and Schweikert is most definitely not an "honorary judge of cow milking contests at 4-H fairs" kind of guy.

As for the whining that the AIRC has sacrificed "communities of interest" to bolster "competitiveness" -

The AIRC's competitiveness analysis of the draft maps are here (legislative) and here (Congressional).

Based on the voter registration numbers, only one of the 30 legislative districts is truly competitive and maybe four others have a realistic chance of breaking that way.  Otherwise, 18 LDs will be solidly R and seven will be solidly D.  Even if all five of the competitive and quasi-competitive districts go Democratic (possible, but not likely), that would result in 18-12 and 36-24 splits (favoring the Rs) in the AZ Senate and House respectively.  Not exactly leading to a positive change in AZ there.

Also based on the registration numbers, the Congressional districts wouldn't be much better.  Two of the nine Congressional districts would be competitive, while four would be solidly R and three would be solidly D (one of the D districts would be poachable by the Rs, but it would be an uphill battle).

Based on the numbers, about the only real "community of interest" whose interests have been sacrificed  is the community called "Arizona", which stands to gain the most from having districts competitive enough to force candidates and officeholders to actually represent their constituents, not just their friends at country club cocktail parties and tea party "Kool-Aid" drinking sessions.

Of course, the draft maps *do*protect the "community of interest" that least needs protection -

Republican officeholders.

And that fact won't change no matter how much they whine about things in an attempt to intimidate the AIRC into making the maps even less competitive than they are already.

The second round of hearings is winding down, but there is still time to add your voice in support of an increased number of truly competitive districts.

The AIRC will travel to places like Yuma, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Marana, Casa Grande and Cottonwood in the next week.  Make plans to be at one or more (if possible) hearings.  If that isn't feasible, the AIRC accepts public input via phone, email, or through their website.

...In a related matter, some pics from the AIRC hearing held in Mesa on Wednesday evening (note - the overall turnout was light, but out of two dozen speakers, only one or two came out against competitive districts):

Commissioner Scott Freeman, the commissioner in attendance Wednesday

Korinne Kubena Belock of Strategic Telemetry giving a overview of the redistricting process

Tempe Democratic activist  Lauren Kuby speaking in support of competitive districts

State Rep. Lynne Pancrazi, advocating for keeping Yuma and La Paz counties together, and out of a Maricopa County-dominated LD

Jay Schlum, mayor of Fountain Hills, testifying in favor of changing the maps to put FH together with other northeast valley communities like Rio Verde.  Other local elected officials there, from places like Queen Creek, Apache Junction, Gilbert, Chandler, and more similarly spoke on behalf of issue relevent to their particular communities.

AIRC hearing in Mesa Wednesday evening

It's fairly short notice, because it wasn't on the original list of the second round of hearings announced by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), but on Wednesday (tomorrow as I write this, "today" as many of you read it), the AIRC will hold a meeting to solicit public input on their draft maps for the next decade's Congressional and legislative districts.

Details:

Time - 6 p.m.

Place - Mesa Convention Center, Palo Verde I Building B Main Campus, 263 North Center St., Mesa, AZ 85201

If you are travelling to Mesa from the west, the easiest route is Loop 202 east to Country Club/SR87, turn right/south on Country Club to University.  Turn left/east on University, travelling to Center St.  Turn right/south on Center, travelling approximately 1/10 of a mile to #263.

Less easy (but not difficult) is US60 east to Country Club, turn left/north on Country Club.  Travel to Broadway, turning right/east on Broadway.  Travel east to Center, turning left/north on Center.  Travel to #263 (approximately .9 miles).

Or you can just use the GPS system in your car or on your phone.  :)

However you get there though, it's worth a couple of hours of your time.