Ultimately, the leadership in the lege will choose four members (2 Ds and 2 Rs) and those four will select the fifth member, an Independent, who will serve as chair.
On Monday, the Appellate Court Appointments commission set up the process for their part in the process - they eliminated a number of applicants, mostly on the grounds that they didn't meet the legal requirements for membership on the redistricting commission (i.e. - they'd changed their party registrations within the last three years).
The list of applicants who made the "shorter list" will be interviewed at a meeting in December and a "short list" for the legislative leaders to choose from will be constituted.
The 40 who made the first cut, from Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic (typos left unchanged, but links to the applicants' public applications added) -
The Republicans:
Jim Bruner, Scottsdale
Louis Armando De Leon, Phoenix
Scott Day Freeman, Phoenix
Christopher Mark Gleason, Tucson
Patrick McWhortor, Cave Creek
Jeffrey D. Miller, Tucson
Micahel Reddick Perry, Phoenix
Crystal A. Russell, Gilbert
Mark Edward Schnepf, Gilbert
Leslie Ann Schwalbe, Tempe
Susan Fried Shultz, Paradise Valley
Stephen J. Sossaman, Queen Creek
Richard Stertz, Tucson
Lynn Werner, Tempe
Benny E. White, Tucson
The Democrats:
Marcia J. Busching, Phoenix
Robert Lawrence Cannon, Phoenix
Frances Baker Dickman, Phoenix
Luis Armando Gonzales, Tucson
Eric Bruce Henderson, Holbrook
José Manuel Herrera, Phoenix
Michael Kuby, Tempe
Linda C. McNulty, Tucson
Lawrence Charles Mohrweis, Flagstaff
William Garfitt Roe, Tucson
Mark David Rubin, Tucson
S.L. "Si" Schoor, Tucson
Jimmie Dee Smith, Yuma
Marshall A. Worden, Tucson
The independents (not a D or an R)
Paul Bender, Phoenix
Raymond Frank Bladine, Phoenix
Doug Campos-Outcalt, Phoenix
Catherine Castle, Laveen
Adolfo P. Echeveste, Tempe
Kimber Layne Lanning, Phoenix
Coleen Coyle Mathis, Tucson
Timothy Warren Overton, Avondale
Margarita Silva, Laveen
Linda Spears, Tempe
Eliminated in the first round was David Harowitz, a Republican lawyer and Rep. Steve Yarbrough's business partner. The business relationship alone may or may not have been enough to disqualify Harowitz, but the fact that he tried to conceal that relationship...?
Making the first cut was Paul Bender, a highly esteemed ASU law professor. The Republicans, in the person of blogger Greg Patterson, tried to smear him as "ACLU," "liberal," and as violating the bar against members holding public office because he is involved with various tribal courts.
Of course, left out of his screed were the facts that the ACLU is non-partisan, that "liberal" is a label that doesn't denote partisan affiliation, and that the tribal courts are parts of sovereign nations and don't qualify as public offices in Arizona (state, county, municipal, etc.)
It also didn't help that even Patterson conceded that "Bender is qualified and he's a brilliant guy. He was my Arizona Constitutional Law Professor, so I know him well. "
Note: I don't know Bender. I was seated behind him at the meeting. He was sitting in the back row when I arrived a few minutes late for the meeting. I stood against the back tables with the other late arrivals (all the seats we filled) until building staff brought in another dozen or so seats.
Even though the meeting was held in the Arizona Courts Building, roughly a quarter mile from the legislature, it was like it was in a completely different world -
The meeting actually started at the posted time, 10 a.m.
After covering the legislature for four years, I'm not used to that happening down there. :)
The interview meeting (and some may be conducted telephonically) is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8.
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