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.

...This should be the last "busy" week of the year as most political bodies try to get a month's work into the first two weeks of that month.


...In the U.S. House, the agenda includes the as-yet-unnumbered Tax Extenders of 2009 act some info here; it looks to be a bill to extend some tax relief for charitable contributions, alternative fuels development and more. Also on the agenda is H.R. 4173, The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. CBO summary here. House Rules hearing on Tuesday.

This will pass the House but the Republicans will absolutely hate it, and enough Senate Dems (Baucus, Schumer, Lincoln, etc.) could cross over on this one and block it from passing the Senate or at least balk enough to remove any teeth from this bill.

...The Senate will continue to consider health care reform. They have hundreds of obstructions amendments proposed by the Rs to slog through. Other than that, the Senate's committee schedule is here. Perhaps of greatest interest to Arizonans is Wednesday's hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. There, they will consider a number of executive branch nominations, including that of Phoenix's P. David Lopez as general counsel (chief lawyer) for the EEOC. Lopez' statement from a November hearing is here. Lopez is an ASU alum and has worked for the EEOC since 1994, primarily as a trial attorney.

...Back here in Arizona, the Legislature's makework schedule is abating somewhat.

- On Monday, Sen. Sylvia "6000 years" Allen's Ad Hoc Committee on Mining Regulations will meet at 9 a.m. in HHR1.

- Also on Monday, the Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Regulations will meet at 1 p.m. in HHR1.

Look for these to be industry lobby-fests, and nothing more.

- Still on Monday, the Senate's Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastucture, and Public Debt will meet at 2:30 p.m. in SHR109 to discuss the state of the state's finances with JLBC and State Treasurer Dean Martin.

Look for this to be a combination bashfest (blaming Democrats for everything) and stump speech/posturing by unofficial candidate for governor Martin.

- In other lege news, House Democrats is inviting the public to legislative issue and advocacy forums in Tucson (Monday), Yuma (Tuesday), and Sierra Vista (Wednesday.) There will be more opportunities to meet with legislators about the state's budget issues and learn how to make their voices heard on West Washington.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission is scheduled to hold a special open meeting on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday concerning resource planning/rulemaking and APS' permanent rates. ACC's complete hearing schedule is here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has special meetings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

Monday's agenda is devoted hearing a presentation on the issues facing the County in the next five years and strategic planning.

Tuesday's agenda isn't posted yet, but an executive session regarding the latest litigation spawned by Joe Arpaio and Andy Thomas is well within the realm of possibility.


,,,The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System will hold a special meeting Monday afternoon. The agenda includes both executive and open session components regarding assignment of contracts from MedPro to the newly-formed District Medical Group.


...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will meet on Tuesday. The agenda includes an executive session at 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. The current agenda looks to be pretty mundane, though there will be special meetings on Wednesday (5:00 p.m.) and next Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) and officer elections in January, all of which promise to be interesting.


...The Tempe City Council will meet on Thursday. The Council's Calendar is here.


...The Scottsdale City Council will meet on Tuesday. The regular meeting agenda includes the appointment of a new City Attorney while the agenda for the executive session (planned for 2 p.m.) includes items regarding discussion of and legal advice pertaining to the acquisition of real property, including assets of Arizona American Water within Scottsdale. More on that last in a later post.

Scottsdale's Community Meeting Notice is here.


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

Hypocrisy, Double Standards, and Guilt By Association: Jim Lane's Scottsdale

By now, most folks who care know that at Tuesday's meeting of the Scottsdale City Council, the Council voted 4-3 to withdraw from the Partner Council of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. The vote was taken allegedly in response to a ruling that the C of C violated campaign finance laws during last year's elections and would have to pay some fines.

This particular dust-up has been going on since last year's election cycle when the C of C sent out some mailers that looked to endorse the former mayor, Mary Manross, and three candidates for Council, Ron McCullagh, Betty Drake, and Suzanne Klapp. The mailers purported only to discuss the "pro-business" and "pro-Scottsdale" qualifications of the candidates. The C of C claimed that the mailers (and some related TV spots) weren't "political" because they didn't ask anyone to vote for the candidates.

Complaints were filed by some of the non-endorsed candidates, including eventual mayoral victor Jim Lane. Various legal opinions followed that disagreed with the C of C's position, including one in late November from a state administrative law judge.

During the process and since the latest ruling. there have both been calls for the City to withdraw any support it provides to the Chamber as well as sustained withering criticism of then-candidates Klapp and McCullagh for not resigning their positions in the C of C.

None of this should be much of a surprise, because as Greg at Espresso Pundit notes, when the C of C tried to influence the election, they should have made sure that their candidate won.

In politics, retribution is far more frequent than is forgiveness. Lane's vengeance for the Chamber's lack of support for him was fully expected.

Still, the payback theme of the meetings of this year's Council has overwhelmed almost everything else, including common sense, fairness, and ethical consistency.

During the meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Lane pontificated that the City should withdraw from the Chamber because he didn't think that the City should be associated with any organization that breaks the law, in this case, violations of campaign finance laws.

The money quote; the fact that the City and some members of the Council are involved with the C of C "implies that the City itself participated in this."

Hmmm...where could I find "hypocrisy" and "double standards" there, and perhaps an opportunity to apply a little "guilt by association" here?

The sarcastic cynic in me (which I *never* give free rein to...OK, almost never :) ) thinks that this is all merely retribution from Lane because the C of C didn't support him in last year's election and that his moral outrage is of the "faux and one-sided" variety.

However, it is possible that Lane truly respects organizations that follow the law and simply doesn't want the City, the Council, or any of its members associated with an organization that ever breaks laws.

As Mayor, he has to be concerned for the image of the Council and the City, and doesn't want even the appearance of impropriety to sully that image.

The months-long witch hunt against former City Manager John Little notwithstanding.

Which I could accept, except for the fact that the Mayor and at least five of the six members of the Council are Republicans (Lane freely admits that he is one, Borowsky is a member of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women, Klapp, Littlefield, and McCullagh are members of the AZGOP's State Committee representing LD8, and Tony Nelssen is considered to be a Republican's Republican. I'm not sure about Wayne Ecton's registration - based on the few conversationsI think he is an R, but I cannot find independent verification of that right at this moment.)

So, in light of the fact that during the same election cycle, the AZGOP accepted illegal contributions that were earmarked to fund some of the sleaziest ads in recent memory, for the sake of consistency, they've all resigned their positions within the Arizona Republican Party and barred any organs of the AZGOP from using City facilities, so as not to associate the City with illegal activities...in this case, violations of campaign finance laws.

Right?

OK, so I don't expect them to really resign from the GOP, nor do I think that they should, and unless they were directly involved with campaign contribution laundering scheme with Arpaio, Fox, Pullen, and the rest, it shouldn't even be a matter for discussion. As sleazy as the ads and those campaign violations were, they are the responsibility of the people involved, not all Republicans.

By the same token, unless Lane, his followers on the Council (Borowsky, Littlefield, and Nelssen), and his friends/advisers masquerading as outraged "independent" residents of Scottsdale (Whitmer, Fernandez, et. al.) can show that McCullagh and Klapp were directly involved in the C of C's ad campaign, they should give it a rest, lest the same tactics are applied to them.

I don't expect them to learn that lesson, and neither should any readers -

So far, the scheming, back-biting, and hypocrisy have worked for Lane et. al., and they have no reason to stop until their tactics cease to work.

Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic has a pro-Council, anti-C of C view here.

Later...

Tempe recognized by EPA

From the EPA -

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson today recognized Tempe and three other diverse communities that are models of how to grow in ways that protect our nation’s air, land, and water; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; provide safe and affordable housing; and strengthen local economies.

{snip}

For Smart Growth and Green Building, the City of Tempe is being honored for the Tempe Transportation Center. The Tempe Transportation Center is a model for sustainable design, a vibrant, mixed-use regional transportation hub that incorporates innovative and green building elements tailored to the Southwest desert environment. The Tempe Transportation Center is a true multi-modal facility that integrates a light rail stop, the main city bus station, and paths for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The city of Tempe designed the Tempe Transportation Center as a multi-use green
facility that is not only a transportation hub, but also a gathering spot for the community. The center, which replaced a 2.7-acre surface parking lot, provides much-needed public amenities, including a community room and a shaded public plaza. Additional uses include a transit store, a café, shops, and offices, including the city of Tempe’s Transportation Division. Also notable, the center does not provide any automobile parking beyond spaces reserved for persons with disabilities.

From Congressman Harry Mitchell -

"As both a lifelong resident and former Mayor of Tempe, I am proud that Tempe has been recognized for its commitment to being a green and environmentally sustainable community," said Mitchell. "I want to congratulate Tempe city staff and the City Council for their vision and leadership in earning this award, and I hope that my hometown will continue to serve as an example of the possibilities of sustainable design.

Ground was broken on the Transportation Center in 2001 when Congressman Mitchell was the State Senator representing Tempe in the lege and Neil Giuliano was the Mayor of Tempe.

More on Tempe's Green Programs can be found here.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism is just lazy and contemptible

Eric Wnuck, one of the Republicans contending/pretending in their primary race to go up against Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell next year, has released a new web ad, available at Republican blog Gila Courier here.

GC calls the spot "interesting," notes a couple of possible gaffes (no "paid for by" boilerplate, for example), and pushes folks toward Wnuck's campaign website.

What GC didn't talk about, however, was the spot's dearth of originality.

From the Facebook page of Seth Scott, friend, law student, and former staffer for Congressman Mitchell (hence his knowledge of a particularly relevent fact) (emphasis his) -

Arizona newcomer Eric Wnuck is running in the AZ-05 Republican primary, and earlier today released an I’m-an-everyman-themed Web ad. It features lots of folks saying, “I’m Eric Wnuck,” and attempts to leave viewers with the impression that he’ll a strong voice for all of us in Washington.

It’s a brilliant idea for an ad. But I liked it much better when I saw it three years ago, when it was aired by Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill.

Wnuck plagiarized his new spot, but not from a random party. Nope. This bright bulb lifted material directly from Mitchell’s own advisers.

Adelstein Liston, the firm that has produced all of Mitchell’s television spots, also produced the “I’m Melissa Bean” ad that Wnuck loved so much.

Wnuck's spot can be found here; the original spot from Melissa Bean can be found here. It should be noted that the Bean campaign was professional enough to include the required "paid for by" line.

Further update - NIBW

Yeah, it's just a "copy and paste" post, but the info is important to the residents of South Scottsdale.

From an email from Rachel Loftin, a Project Manager with the EPA -

Dear NIBW Community Involvement Group -

I am sending this additional information as an update to last Friday's e-mail about a release of untreated water which occurred on Monday, November 23rd, from a drain pipe which is connected to the groundwater extraction and treatment system of the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

Here's the additional information EPA has learned from the City of Scottsdale:

Again, and most importantly, we want to emphasize that this release did not impact the drinking water supplied by the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

On Monday, November 23rd, a release of untreated water occurred when Well 75 was turned back on after being off for a couple of weeks while construction work was being conducted. The release was observed by operations staff within 10 minutes of turning Well 75 back on. There was not an alarm or electronic system notification, however CGTF personnel are always onsite during the start-up of the facility to handle any problems or emergency events. The well and CGTF were shut down within 10 minutes of the release.

The release originated at a drain pipe resulting in an overflow of between 500-900 gallons of water onto a grassy area in front of the south gate of the CGTF. The City cordoned off the spill area and collected a soil and groundwater sample. The soil results indicate non-detectable concentrations of TCE and PCE, and the groundwater results from the spill area are 9 micrograms per liter (ug/l) of TCE and 1 ug/l of PCE. These concentrations are quite low.

The data indicate that the public was not impacted by the release because of the short duration of the spill, low volume of water released, and the low detections of TCE and PCE in the spill area. The City returned the CGTF to service last Wednesday, November 25th, after repairs were made and the soil sample results were received.

The City found that 3 automatic valves which were supposed to be closed, were improperly wired and left in the open position. The staff then tried to close the drain pipe using the manual valves, but the manual valves would not shut properly. The personnel on-site shut down the well and the CGTF to stop the spill. As of last Monday (Nov. 23), the City fixed the automatic valve wiring and is in the process of replacing the manual valves.

The City responded promptly to:

- Shut off the well and CGTF to stop the spill;
- Cordon off the spill area in the park;
- Collect a water and soil sample at the spill location;
- Obtain expedited sampling results,
- Wire the automatic valves properly, and
- Replace the 2 manual valves that would not shut/seal properly. This work is in progress.

What Happens Next?

The City is compiling an incident report with photo documentation and recommendations for next steps which will be submitted to EPA by the end of this week. I will share this report with all of you when I receive it.

Vicki, ADEQ, and I will be contacting you in early January to being planning for the annual community meeting to be held early next year.

Please contact me at 415/972-3253 or by e-mail if you have any questions regarding this information. Enjoy the holiday season! I look forward to meeting you all in person early next year.

Best,

Rachel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel Loftin
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA, Region 9
Superfund Division, SFD-6-2
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
E-mail: Loftin.Rachel@epa.gov
Phone: 415/972-3253
Fax: 415/947-3528

As more info becomes available, including the time and location of the next meeting of the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site Community Involvement Group, I'll post it here.

Later...

PSA time - a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate health care reform proposals

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has put together a side-by-side comparison of the health care reform, available here.

It shows that while there are some significant differences between the two, there are also some strong similarities.

...Thanks to correspondent Gary B. for the heads-up on the comparison...

Later...

Decisions, investigations, and lawsuits

It's early in the week, but it has already been an eventful week for legal issues in the Valley of the Sun. And not surprisingly, most of the issues involve Joe Arpaio.

- The same Arizona administrative law judge who found that State Rep. Doug Quelland should forfeit his office for Clean Elections violations found that the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce violated campaign laws with a series of ads during last year's municipal election season.

Certain members of the Scottsdale community (like the member who sits in the Mayor's seat during City Council meetings) will tout this as a victory against the influence of third-party money in local elections.

Any such claims are a lie. The decision is a victory only against third-party money that doesn't go in the mayor's direction. There are still plenty of "independent" committees working to buy Scottsdale's elections.

Most of them are dedicated to supporting Jim Lane and his coterie of followers or opposing Lane's adversaries.

- Maricopa County's resident would-be jerkwater despots, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas were slapped down in a judge's (Encanto JP C. Steven McMurry) ruling that they (actually, the County's taxpayers) have to pay the legal fees of people arrested at a meeting of the County Supervisors last December. The people were there to speak against Arpaio and his anti-immigrant policies.

Snippets from the judge's decision -

In the audio recording of Ms. Theilen immediately after she was arrested, one can hear her, between her sobs, describing, and the actions of the arresting officer, Deputy Acritelli, as those of a “fascist”.

This Court was so startled to read in its post-trial memorandum the County Attorney’s written description of the proceedings before the Board of Supervisors that it went back and reviewed anew all the recordings submitted in this action in their entirety. The Court now sadly concludes that Ms. Theilen’s description of the events is more balanced and objectively accurate than that of the County Attorney.
{snip}

...Deputy Acritelli disrupted the meeting by moving through the audience, pointing at people who were sitting down with their hands in their laps, and insisting that they were being disorderly and had to leave. In virtually the same moment the arrests started. It is simply false to say that these arrests came after "repeated" warnings; they are surprising and disturbing arrests. The ironic moment then came when the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors called Kristy Theilen to the podium. One can hear Deputy Acritelli saying to Ms. Theilen "You're not speaking, you're leaving." Defendant Monica Sandschaeffer suffered the same fate when the Chairman called upon her...

{snip}

...Moreover, it is important to note the message constantly being telegraphed by Deputy Acritelli by his words and manner at both the Supervisor's meeting and his courtroom appearance. Deputy Acritelli communicates that he believes that it is his role to make uncomfortable anyone who express views that disagree with the Sheriff. Were he to be candid, he would probably acknowledge being somewhat proud of it. (1)

[(1) =] On the stand Deputy Acritelli characterized the ruling of another judge who had dismissed similar charges a mistake, and insisted he would make the same arrests again if given the opportunity.

{snip}

...The best basis for an award of the Defendants’ attorney’s fees, however, is probably the “private attorney general” doctrine recognized in Arnold v. Arizona Department of Health Services, 160 Ariz. 593, 609, 775 P.2d 521 (1989). This is such an extreme case, with Sheriff’s Deputies trampling on the First Amendment and being aided and abetted by the County Attorney. It has to stop.

That language, while dry and wordy, is pretty blunt for judge-speak. While Arpaio, Thomas, and most of the Republican blogosphere will denounce Judge McMurry as an "activist judge" or worse, McMurry (as well as most of the county's judges be they Dems or Reps) is a stickler for the law who wants nothing more than to maintain a low profile and do his job.

Today, his job has called for finding fault with the actions of Joe Arpaio, Andrew Thomas, and some of their subordinates.

...In the "OK, the timing of this probably isn't a coincidence" Department: Arpaio and Thomas have filed a federal lawsuit against a laundry list of county officials, judges, and attorneys accusing them of conspiring to hinder the Nativist Twins' investigations into various county officials, judges, and attorneys.

...One of Arpaio's subordinates, Adam Stoddard, has refused a judge's order to apologize for rifling through an attorney's briefcase and removing documents from it without permission.

Arpaio states that Stoddard will serve time in jail per the judge's contempt of court ruling, but refuses to state which Valley resort hotelcounty jail facility Stoddard will be held in.

Guess we'll have to wait for a full audit of MCSO's books to find out. Which should happen during the next millenium or so...


...Just an average couple of days in the three-ring circus known as "Maricopa County Politics."

The John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award

Last year, this award was created as the Sunday Morning Crappie Award to recognize that week's most egregious example of political flip-floppery. Shortly after creating it, I noticed that Arizona's senior U.S. Senator was winning the Award or was one of the leading contenders every single week.

In the interests of giving every (usually) Republican elected hypocrite their moment in the glare of the spotlight, at that time I named the Award after Senator McCain and deemed him ineligible for future Awards.

However, from time to time Sen. McCain does or says something so outrageously hypocritical that he merits receipt of this eponymous award.

Today is one such time.

Yesterday, McCain introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill in the Senate that would remove any cuts to Medicare funding (the current proposal calls for $500 million in cuts - remember that number)

Sounds like he cares about seniors, or at least that he figures GOP seniors are more frightened of any changes to Medicare than they are of immigrants (giving him a leg up in next year's primary battle versus JD Hayworth), right?

Not so much.

During last year's campaign, McCain proffered his own plan for health care "reform".

At that point in time, he was so concerned with protecting Medicare, his proposal called for $1.3 trillion in cuts.

For this reverse inward twisting 2 1/2 somersault of an expedient political flip flop, the John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award goes to...

John Sydney McCain.


Note: It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see more flip flops and position triangulations from McCain in the coming months - he's got fewer fundraisers since they started getting busted for racketeering and fraud. Whether the biggest threat to his job security comes from within the GOP in the rather loud and blustery form of Hayworth or from the Democrats in the rather tall form of Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, McCain is going to have to work hard, on the issues and on the ground, to gain re-election this time around.

Note2: According to the FEC, the Florida attorney cited in the linked "racketeering" article raised or donated over $100K for McCain's presidential run last year.

Coverage from...

...The New Republic here.

...Tedski at R-Cubed here.

...Washington Monthly here.

...TPMMuckraker here.

Later...

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...

This will be a brief post due to other pressing matters, but I'll try to hit the high points.


In the U.S. House of Representatives, they'll be reconvening after their holiday recess on Tuesday. Much of the week's agenda will be taken up with post office namings and the like, but one highlight will be consideration of H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009. From the CRS summary -

Repeals provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) eliminating the tax on estates and generation-skipping transfers and the step-up in basis provisions for property acquired from a decedent for estates of decedents dying after 2009. Declares that the sunset provision (general terminating date of December 10, 2010) of EGTRRA shall not apply to title V of such Act (Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Provisions).

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a $3.5 million estate tax exclusion and a reduction in the maximum estate and gift tax rate to 45% after 2009.

Yup, there will be serious controversy over this one.

Oh yeah...

...The most interesting week should be in the U.S. Senate - they'll be holding floor debate on health care reform. Because of the cloture vote taken on November 21, there will be limits on the debate (though there will still be a lot of it). As such, expect Republican obstructionists to whine that there won't be "enough time" to properly consider all of the ramifications of health care reform.

That's crap.

The Senate's committee schedule is here.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a securities meeting on Monday; the ACC's hearing schedule is here.

...The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday and Friday at U of A. The agenda is here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will meet in "informal" session on Monday and *formal* session on Wednesday.

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a regular meeting on Thursday.

...The Tempe City Council isn't scheduled to meet this week, but the Council Calendar is here.

...The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. At 2 p.m., they will hold an executive session to interview three candidates for the vacant City Attorney job. At 5 p.m., they will hold a regular meeting. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.

Later...

North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site update: small spill

From an email from Rachel Loftin, the EPA's Project Manager -

Dear NIBW Community Involvement Group -

I am sending this to let you know of a release of untreated water which occurred on Monday, November 23rd, from a drain pipe which is connected to the groundwater extraction and treatment system of the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

Here's what EPA has learned from the City of Scottsdale:

First, and most importantly, we want you to know that the release did not impact the drinking water supplied by the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

On Monday, November 23rd, a release of untreated water was noticed within 10 minutes of turning on well 75. The well and CGTF were shut down as quickly as possible. The release originated at a drain pipe. Between 500-1000 gallons of water was released resulting in an overflow into a retention basin at the adjacent park. The City cordoned off the spill area in the park and collected a soil and groundwater sample. Preliminary groundwater results are 9 micrograms per liter (ug/l) of TCE and 1 ug/l of PCE. These concentrations are quite low.

Because of the short duration of the spill, low volume of water released, and the low detections of TCE and PCE in the spill area, the preliminary data indicates that the public was not impacted by the release.


What happens next?

The City is gathering additional facts and sampling results, and will provide them to EPA early next week. In turn, I will provide the additional information to all of you early next week as well. The City is also developing an incident report with recommendations for next steps which I will pass on to all of you when I receive it.

Please contact me at 415/972-3253 or by e-mail if you should have any questions. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Best,

Rachel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel Loftin
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA, Region 9 Superfund Division, SFD-6-2
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
E-mail: Loftin.Rachel@epa.gov
Phone: 415/972-3253
Fax: 415/947-3528

Because the email came through so late on a Friday, I won't be able to follow up on this until Monday at the earliest, and since I have stuff on my schedule already, perhaps not even then.

Anyway, have a good weekend...

The political prognostication thing is easy...

Earlier today, I posted about how Sen. Chuck Gray (R-Pearce's saddle partner) was going to forego a re-election run next year in favor of pursuing "business opportunities."

Contained in that post was the prediction that Republican Rich Crandall, one of LD19's state reps, would pursue the spot in the Senate.

Turns out that prediction was spot on.

From the AZ Rep's Political Insider -

Rep. Rich Crandall is likely to contend for the state Senate seat from east Mesa that Chuck Gray is vacating.

Crandall announced a Senate exploratory committee, noting that Gray does not intend to seek re-election.

{snip}

Crandall is in his second term in the House and chairs the House Education Committee. A move to the Senate is tempting, especially since the Senate Education Committee chairmanship will be open after 2010, as current chairman John Huppenthal is term-limited.

As of this writing, the AZSOS' office hasn't posted any info regarding a Crandall exploratory committee, and Gray's committee is still official "active" (according to his most recent financial report, which is a year old, , he still has over $14K in the committee's treasury). Expect those facts to change within a week or so.

Chuck Gray (R-LD19) not seeking reelection next year

Chuck Gray, the winger state senator from East Mesa (with Russell Pearce covering West Mesa, Mesa is represented in the State Senate by all sorts of nutty), has announced that he won't be running for re-election next year in order to pursue as yet unspecified "business opportunities."

Not being a Republican, much less an East Mesa Republican, I don't have any insight into who is going to step forward as candidates to replace Gray as the third member of the R slate in LD19. However, my best guess is that they will be contending for a House seat, as State Rep. Rich Crandall will probably try to move over to the Senate.

He was rumored to be interested in the Superintendent of Public Instruction spot, but that primary is already a cattle call on the Republican side (five candidate committees and counting). In addition to that, Crandall's seatmate in the House is Republican Kirk Adams, the Speaker of the House.

Something tells me that Adams isn't likely to want to go from the top position in one chamber to a rank-and-file position in the other (OK, assuming he successfully made the transition, he'd probably rate at least a committee chair). At least, not until he is forced to do so by term limits.

As such, Crandall seems likely to be the one to try to move to the Senate, possibly to help set up a statewide run of some sort in 2014.

Look for more such announcements, from both sides of the aisle and in both chambers, as the turn of the year approaches.

Later...

Barnes: the transcript

Well, apparently the staff at the lege was in a hurry to wrap up before the holiday, so the video archives from yesterday's session of the House is already posted on the website. Click on the "video" link for "11/23/2009 - House Third Reading - Special Session 11/23/09".

Here's the "unofficial" transcript, "unofficial" meaning "transcribed by a blogger with a newfound respect for court reporters" (note: it's not perfect, I left out a lot of the umms and pauses and the like) (Note2: "B" = Barnes, "A" = House Speaker Kirk Adams, and "S" = Representative Kyrsten Sinema):

[37:35 mark]

B: My light is lit, sir.

A: Please explain your vote.

Thank you mr. speaker. there's a couple of things...when I walked in here the first thing that I heard was that there weren't any Republicans that were against this thing...and..umm...I think maybe the other side should learn to count, Maybe it will help them with their budget problems.

As far as I could see, all the Republicans were there. The second thing that bothered me was when Mr. Ableser said that there was no bipartisanship here. I guess he forgot that he's a member of the Environment Committee and that I've helped push his bills through...I've helped push Representative McGuire's bills through and it has nothing to do with the fact that they're Democrats that I did it and it has nothing to do with the fact that other people are Republicans that I do that.

If it's a good bill, it goes, if it's not a good bill it doesn't go.

And this is the same thing with this. If it's good, it goes.

Now is this the best? No, it's far from the best.

[Start of the juicy stuff at the 38:45 mark]

And you say that "well you can't touch education".

When I went to school, we had the superintendant of schools and that was it. and then, for the school itself, it was the principal and the assistant principal was the English teacher, and when the principal wasn't there a substitute came in and took the English teacher's place and she became the principal.

[volume rising]

Now, you have the superintendant, the deputy superintendant, the superintendant of communications, the superintendant of sports, the superintendant of government affairs.

Ya got the principal, the assistant principal, the assistant to the assistant principal, the principal of recess, the principal of discipline, the principal of sports, and I'm sure unless we got a bisexual teacher somewhere, there's probably a principal of the girls restrooms and a principal of the boys restrooms.

[39:38]

And that bothers me, because I'm telling you that's not...[muffled]...padding the books...

[interrupted for a point of order from Rep. Sinema]

A: Mr. Barnes, point of order. Ms.Sinema, your point.

S: Impugning. I think, lack of decorum. Something inappropriate. Please keep your comments to the bill and not to people's orientation. Thank you.

B: I'm sorry, I didn't hear what she said sir.

A: Mr. Barnes, she would like you to keep your comments to the bill. Please proceed.

B: She wanted me to keep what?

A: Your comments to the bill.

B: I think this IS THE COMMENTS TO THE BILL! IS THERE NOT ANYTHING IN THERE ABOUT EDUCATION CUTS?!? WHAT'S THE MATTER? DON'T YOU READ THE BILLS BEFORE YOU START VOTING ON THEM?!?

It is a part of the bill. And now I'll tell you something, it's gonna happen again and it's gonna happen again and it's gonna happen again and I don't know where it's gonna stop. But you think it's in trouble now, you wait! Because if we don't solve all of the problems this year, which I doubt if we will, we got three times as many next year.

Somewhere, somewhere down the line, that thing is going to break. and then...I tell ya, one of the school districts came in and talked to me and said {mocking tone} "you can't vote against the school problems because we need the budgets, we can't solve them."

And I says "lookit", I says "quit putting pressure on me, I got enough pressure, I'm not against education. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for education."

And he says "but we can't take any cuts." I says "now wait a minute." I says
"I tell you what". "why don't we just let the state go bankrupt and let a trustee come in that's not...you can't vote on a trustee...the trustee comes in and he decides who's gonna take the cuts.

"Oh no no no, you can't do that!"

I says "yes we can, and maybe we should."

The transcript doesn't really capture the nuance and flavor of Barnes' rant. I heartily recommend that those who are interested view the video for themselves.

Those that don't live in AZ's LD7 will find themselves laughing their butts off and having something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving holiday; those that live in Barnes' district will find themselves crying this holiday.

BTW - Le Templar at the EV Tribune points out here that Barnes' bankruptcy scheme isn't feasible or even legal here.

Update - The AZ Capitol Times has posted the video on YouTube.

Ray Barnes: making Sylvia Allen look like an intellectual stalwart

The video isn't up yet, but the reports are (Tedski at R-Cubed here; Jen at Mindless Mumblings of a Martyr Mom here).

State Representative Ray Barnes (R-LD7) had a meltdown of epic proportions during Monday's meeting of the House of Representatives.

He started by talking about how during the good ol' days when he went to school and there was just a principal, with an English teacher serving as assistant principal. Now, there are vice prinicipals of discipline and gym class and whatever, including separate vice principals for the boys and girls' restrooms, separate unless they've found a bisexual principal, then that person could supervise both restrooms.

None of this is an exact quote (and won't be until the video of the meeting is posted), but I'm not making this up.

Barnes' rant was jaw-droppingly ignorant to the point of embarassing me as an Arizonan.

He actually has made State Senator Sylvia Allen of "the Earth is 6000 years old" fame look like a member of the intellectual elites.

A somewhat surprising accomplishment for someone heretofore best known for some rather Neanderthal attitudes toward women.

Live blogging the House special session

3:17 - House sets up sine die committee to inform Senate that its work is done. House in recess.

3:16 - Bill passes 51 -4.

3:16 - Barnes going now. He may be what Antenori looks like in 30 years or so.

3:15 - Antenori still going.

3:13 - Antenori going after the Tucson City Council over Rio Nuevo. What does this have to do with anything?

3:09 - Getting Democratic support on this one. The few "no" votes seem to be from Rs.

3:07 - SB1003 up.

3:06 - Farley says Dems ready to negotiate and work with Rs, just as soon as Rs are actually ready to work with the Ds.

3:05 - Speaker Adams criticizes Dems for not supporting "cuts-only." Bill passes 35 - 20.

3:02 - Carl Seel offers to "re-educate" the House on how much money K-12 has to spare. Nice choice of words there, Comrade Carl. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)) )

3:01 - They're still at it on SB1002.

2:49 - SB1002 up.

2:47 - Barnes states that unless there is a bisexual teacher somewhere, schools now have separate principals for both the boys restrooms and the girls restrooms.

He's yelling now.

I seriously believe that he may have had a beer or two at lunch. Or maybe three or four. :)

OK, I think that he's sloshed.

Drunk or sober though, he's definitely the most entertaining member of the House today.

2:45 -Passes with 35 votes. Ray Barnes excoriates Ed Ableser for saying that bipartisanship doesn't exist in the lege.

2;43 - Murphy states that tax cuts aren't the problem, and fewer tax cuts would have made the deficit worse. Newspeak, Republican-style.

2:42 - Still at it.

2:33 - Blathering still continuing. Antenori at bat now. Wants to cut taxes on business to raise revenue.

2:28 - Rep. Lesko is bemoaning the fact that Dems haven't supported any budget cuts, blaming them the lack of bipartisanship.

2:25 - OK, he's covering it at length. :)

2:23 - Now Rep. Farley is covering the same ground.

2:20 - Rep. Sinema calls "cuts-only" approach "foolhardy".

2:18 - SB1001 substituted for HB2001. Not going to be unanimous.

2:17 - Passes 53 - 0. Bill conveyed back to the Senate.

2:16 - This is going to pass unanimously, but they are still gabbing.

2:14 - Approps chair Kavanagh says that the fix will come up during the next regular session.

2:11 - Had to step away for a few minutes. Substituting the measures that the Senate passed for the identical House measures. Currently on SB1004, repealing the anti-deficiency statutes. (An actual fix is tentatively planned for the next special session.)