Horne and Patterson: Electeds behaving badly

It was a rather eventful day for a couple of Arizona's elected officials, and not a good kind of "eventful" -

- News broke that Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is under investigation by the FBI.

From Arizona Public Media, written by Fernanda Echavarri -

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is under investigation for allegations of campaign finance violations and unethical conduct.

A complaint filed with the secretary of state’s office says Horne, his brother-in-law, a political consultant and a former representative of an independent expenditure committee violated state and federal campaign laws.

According to an Arizona Republic article written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, some of the other people involved were Richard Newman (the "brother-in-law" in the quoted passage, Nathan Sproul (a political consultant, and a rather infamous one at that) and Kathleen Winn (the director of the independent expediture committee and later a highly-paid employee of Horne's office).

The investigation is ongoing, and more details are sure to come out in the coming weeks, and while an investigation is hardly a conviction, is anybody really surprised that a guy who received a lifetime securities trading ban from the SEC, lied on legal documents about going through a bankruptcy, and hired a woman who is a close friend to a lucrative job with the AG's office that for which she apparently wasn't qualified could have done something like violate campaign finance laws?

- While the investigation into Horne is far from over and more info is sure to come out, the report from the investigation into the actions of State Rep. Daniel Patterson was released to the public today, and it documents behavior that ranges from simply "colorful" thru "unprofessional" to possibly "criminal."

From the Tucson Weekly, written by Hank Stephenson -

The ethics investigation into Rep. Daniel Patterson has culminated in a lengthy and damning report (complete with extensive footnotes) recommending Patterson's expulsion from the House of Representatives.

The expulsion recommendation in the report, prepared by Stinson Moris Hecker LLP and delivered to the Ethics Committee and Patterson over the weekend and made public today, is based on a long list of ethical, moral and possibly legal breaches by Patterson, including, but not limited to:

• A broad-based distrust and fear of him by members and staff

• A legacy of ignoring House rules, decorum and professionalism

• Verbal abuse and harassment and physical threats of those who disagree with him

• Past and continued violation of court orders

• Lying about bills

• Frequent marijuana use

• Manipulation of his former campaign manager and girlfriend Georgette Escobar

• Seeking sex from a lobbyist in exchange for his vote

It's clear that Patterson has issues that go deeper than his penchant for assaulting the women in his life, as damning as that alone would be.

The report has re-energized calls for Patterson to resign, including that of House Democratic leader Rep. Chad Campbell.

And mine. 

It's long past time for Patterson to step down and deal with the personal issues he needs to deal with, and if he won't do it on his own,  the rest of the House membership should show him the door.



The full report is here, courtesy Arizona Public Media.

CD5's Democrats select their delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention

On Saturday, Democrats from all over Arizona's 5th Congressional District gathered at the Pecos Community Center in Phoenix to select their representatives to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

CD5's Democrats, showing that they are perhaps the most active in the state, had the most delegate candidates in the state -

After a few hours of speeches, campaigning, and voting, six candidates were elected -

(L-R) Janie Hydrick, Chase Williams, Laura Copple, Jerry Gettinger, Lauren Kuby

Congratulations to the delegates and thanks all of the candidates.for all that they do (and they do a LOT).

On to Charlotte!

The coming week...

As usual, all agendas and calendars are subject to change without notice. 

And given that the lege is expected to end its session within the next few weeks, things could start getting crazy down there...well, crazier than usual, anyway. :)

...On the House side of the Capitol -

No House committee agendas have been posted as yet, but the agenda for a House Rules committee from Thursday, March 29 should serve as a good preview of floor activity this week. 

That agenda included gems such as SB1083, creating the Arizona Special Missions Unit, a state government sanctioned anti-immigrant vigilante force and SB1104, appropriating nearly $300K to the Republicans' Joint Border Security Advisory Committee.

Monday's Third Read Calendar (final approval) includes SB1311, which would raise the limit on small claims court actions heard by justice courts from $10K to $15K (has constitutional issues); and SB1259, reconsideration of a measure from Sen. Rich Crandall (that failed Thursday with bipartisan support and opposition) that would mandate that public schools allow students to enroll in online courses, with the subsequent redirection of public school funding to the providers, presumably private, of the online courses (Crandall has ties to, and isn't above using his elected office to promote, a private company in the online education business).

Other bills that could be seen on the House floor this week (and this isn't meant to be a comprehensive list):  SB1449, weakening the state's recall election law; SB1507, barring the state, its agencies, and any counties, municipalities, or other political subdivisions from doing anything to implement the UN's Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (appears to be an ALEC/Koch Brothers special);  and SB1359, immunizing doctors from civil liability related any failure to inform patients of a fetus' genetic defects or other medical issues (it's meant to allow doctors to misinform patients if their purpose is too prevent people from choosing an abortion).


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

- Rules is scheduled to meet Monday at 1 p.m. in Caucus Room 1.

The following committees are meeting to consider executive nominations:

- Judiciary, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR1 (one to watch - the appointments under consideration are for county trial court appointment boards and the state commission on judicial conduct; in other words, this one is all about the future of the state's judiciary)
- Veterans, Military, and Government Affairs, Tuesday, upon adjournment of the meeting of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), SHR3
- Government Reform, Tuesday, 1 p.m., SHR1
- Commerce and Energy, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109
- Water, Land Use, and Rural Development, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3
- Finance, Thursday, 9 a.m., SHR109
- Natural Resources and Transportation, Thursday, 9:30 a.m., SHR109


Monday's Third Read calendar includes HB2557, Sen. Frank Antenori's attack on municipal use of photo radar to enforce traffic laws (basically, he's sick of getting tickets); Committee of the Whole (COW) includes HB2071, an anti-protester bill that would make passive resistance of (aka failure to actively cooperate with) an arrest a class 1 misdemeanor; HB2503, increasing protections for corporations from product liability lawsuits; HB2826, mandating that all elections in AZ, with the exception of certain special elections, be held in even numbered years on an August/November schedule.

Not on Monday's calendar as of this writing, but almost certain to make an appearance this week, is HB2625, Debbie Lesko's anti-contraception bull bill.  It was defeated last week, but Sen. Nancy Barto moved to reconsider, or bring back, the measure, and that motion passed. 

The lege's calendar of events at the Capitol this week is here; the Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.

Congressman wears hoodie in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, kicked out of House chamber

I truly wish Harry Mitchell was still my representative in Congress, and truly hope that David Schapira becomes my representative there next year. 

It was great to have a representative in Congress who was worthy of respect like Harry was, not least because of his respect for his constituents.

David will be worthy of the same respect, for much the same reason.

However, for now, for a day, the representative who is most worthy of my respect isn't from Arizona (and certainly isn't from Fountain Hills) -

Pic courtesy AP via KSL.com








Congressman Bobby Rush was removed from the floor of the House for wearing a hoodie to bring attention to the murder of Trayon Martin and the subsequent free pass given to the killer by the police in Florida.

For having the heart and backbone (and yes, the sense of theatrics) to stand up, for today anyway, Rep. Rush is my Congressman.

There must be something in the water...

There must be some kind of contamination in the "water" that the Republicans at the lege drink at their tea party meetings, ALEC bribe-fests "educational meetings" and country club cocktail meetings. 

Many of them seem to be suffering from bouts of diarrhea of the keyboard and the mouth.

...Just a guess here, but it seems that Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) got his jealousy on after seeing most of the progressive blogosphere show its "love" for Sen. Frank Antenori (R-"Don't Make Me Mad").  He apparently started this week with the goal of regaining his spot at the top of the "moron" list.

He may have already succeeded in returning to the top of that list, and accomplished that task by Monday.

Channel 15 has the story here and 12News posted a pic of an email exchange that Harper had with a woman who wrote to the entire lege regarding AZ's status as a national laughingstock due to .

The pic -

Yes, that's our Jack.  He's normally incapable of actual civic discourse, but this is over the top even for him.


...State Rep. Brenda Barton (R-Safford) had a similar response for someone who took to Facebook to criticize one of her pet bills, insulting the reading ability and intelligence of someone who objected to language (full exchange here, courtesy Lisa Kerr).


These were just diarrhea of the keyboard; the symptoms can be relieved simply revoking the internet privileges of the legislators involved.

However, former state senator Russell Pearce, perhaps showing the kind of coordination that made him president of the state senate...and the first sitting legislator in AZ history to be recalled and ousted from office, he is exhibiting the symptoms of both diarrhea of the keyboard and of the mouth.

First up, the keyboard -

Yes, Pearce wrote that anybody who opposes him or just simply reports the facts about him is "evil."

Ummm...if his sensibilities are so tender that he can't handle disagreement or public examination of his positions and actions, perhaps he should reconsider his chosen path in life as a candidate/office holder - politics is all about disagreement, and running for and holding office is all about being in the public spotlight.

Just sayin'...

Next up, the mouth -

Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times has the story of Pearce's repeated lies about how his church supports his nativist agenda.

When a man is so duplicitous as to mislead others about his faith, what does it say about his character?

The question is more complicated in the case of former state Senate President Russell Pearce, because he's been caught fibbing about his religion before, during his failed effort to win in last year's recall election.

{snip}

At a packed meeting of Legislative District 18 Republicans last year, Pearce told his most politically damaging lie yet, claiming that the LDS church had green-lighted his breathing-while-brown legislation, Arizona Senate Bill 1070.

"I got hold of the church headquarters in Salt Lake," Pearce avowed. "And they said they absolutely do not oppose what Arizona is doing."

When video showing Pearce making this statement surfaced, the LDS church smacked down Pearce — hard.

Contacted by Channel 12's Brahm Resnik for comment, LDS spokesman Michael Purdy said that the church had not taken a stand "on any specific immigration legislation in Arizona."

Purdy also said, "We have made our position on immigration clear. The church believes that an enforcement-only approach is inadequate."

But this message meant nothing to Pearce. One week before the announcement of his LD 25 run, Pearce repeated the canard when confronted by a caller on his Monday-night radio show on KFNX 1100 AM, sponsored by the nativist organization Ban Amnesty Now, of which Pearce is president.

"I called [the church's] PR room personally," Pearce contended. "They said they were not opposed to Senate Bill 1070."

Ummm2...maybe lying about the LDS church and its position on a specific issue isn't the best way to win over an LDS-heavy district.

Just sayin'2...


Maybe their "friends" at ALEC and elsewhere should consider adding a little Kaopectate to the cocktails andtea that are served to the R legislators.

The coming week...

As usual, all committee agendas and floor calendars are subject to change without notice...

At the Arizona legislature, the coming week will look a lot like the past week, except less so. :)

It also going to be a "keep your eyes open" kind of week, as many things will happen/bills will move on short notice.


On the House side -

Appropriations is scheduled to meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1 to complete a recessed meeting.  They've already gone through much of the agenda. 

As of right now, this is the only non-Rules Committee meeting scheduled for the week, on either side of the Capitol, but that is sure to change.  Look for Appropriations meetings on Tuesday (Senate) and Wednesday (House)

Speaking of Rules, House Rules is scheduled to meet Monday in HHR4 at 1 p.m; Senate Rules is scheduled to meet Monday in Senate Caucus Room 1 upon the adjournment of the floor session.  While Monday is the usual day for Rules committee meetings, but they aren't limited to Mondays.  Last week, there was a meeting of House Rules on Thursday, so expect more Rules meetings as they try to move as many bills as possible toward floor consideration.

Monday's House Third Read (final approval) Calendar is posted here; the most controversial bill is SB1197.  As originally written, it would have mandated changes to overtime rules for law enforcement officers, who currently receive OT for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a given work week.  The original bill would have changed the OT threshold from >40 in one week to >80 hours in a 2-week period.  It's been changed with a House floor amendment, but I'm not sure of the real impact of the amendment to the new bill.

Monday's House Committee of the Whole (COW) session is here.  COW is where they accept committee amendments to a bill (usually a rubber stamp) and consider any floor amendments to a bill (usually reject amendments proposed by Democrats and accept amendments from Republicans).

Monday's Senate Third Read Calendar is here.  Some of the more controversial bills:  HB2103 (attacking public sector employees and public sector employee unions); HB2626, expanding Steve Yarbrough's profits the school voucher program that runs funds through school tuition organizations (STOs) like Yarbrough's; HB2807, making the voter-enacted Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) subject to the provisions of the state's open meeting law.  May run into legal issues because the AIRC is part of constitutional language, not statutory language.  May run into hypocrisy issues because the lege has exempted itself from the same open meeting law.

Monday's Senate COW Calendar is here.


All House committee agendas can be found here; Senate committee agendas here.

Floor calendars can be found here.

The lege's Capitol Events calendar is here; the Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.

Thomas-watch: April 10, 2012, Findings to be announced

Announced by the Arizona Judicial Branch -

Presiding Disciplinary Judge William O'Neil has set a hearing for the Thomas, Aubuchon, Alexander Attorney Discipline Matter.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at 9 am at the Arizona State Courts Building, located at 1501 West Washington, in the Supreme Court Courtroom. The hearing is expected to last approximately 30 minutes.

The Discipline Hearing Panel will release their findings in the Discipline Matter and read a summary from the bench. The full order will be available immediately following the hearing and will be emailed to the media and available on the court's web site.

I believe the proceeding will be open to the public, but even if it is, there isn't a lot of seating availability in the Supreme Court Courtroom, so the best option for viewing may be the live streaming option that will be available on the Court's website.

There's another reason to prefer watching the live stream over being there - the court being the court (you know, stuffy concerned about maintaining decorum), the probably wouldn't be amused by audience members giving a big "Whoo Whoo!!" when the findings are read.

Short Attention Span Musing: "What They Shouldn't Have Said" Edition

AKA "The Dumb, The Bad, and The Ugly"...

...First up: The Dumb -

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Evan Wyloge -

One of Andrei Cherny’s top campaign volunteers took to Twitter on Thursday to criticize the Democratic congressional hopeful’s opponents for running in a district where they don’t live.

From the Twitter feed of Dennis Kavanagh, a Cherny campaign co-chair -

The problem?  Kavanagh's candidate, Cherny, is like Parker, Sinema, and most of the major candidates in CD9.  With the exception of State Sen. David Schapira (D-Tempe), none of the major candidates, and few of the minor candidates, actually live in the district.

Oopsie.


...Still, that one is only "dumb".  Falling well into the "ugly" category is State Rep. Debbie Lesko's assertion that the religious values of people who own businesses carry more weight than the civil rights of people who don't.  It's not a direct quote, but it's the end result of her anti-contraception bill in the lege and her statements and efforts in support of it.

From AP, via the Arizona Republic, written Michelle L. Price -

A state representative who introduced legislation that would let more Arizona employers drop coverage for contraceptives defended her proposal at a rally Friday in Phoenix, responding to critics who say it intrudes on women's private lives.

Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko says her bill protects the religious rights of employers who do not wish to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives because it violates their religious or moral beliefs.

"I am proud to stand up and fight for the millions of Catholics and other faiths across this nation to protect our religious freedoms," Lesko said at the rally.

Lesko's bill, HB2625, would allow employers to refuse to pay for contraceptive medication/medical procedures that are intended to be contraceptive in effect.

It also requires employees to inform to inform their employers why the employee is receiving contraceptive-related medical treatment.  I'm not a lawyer, but I'm guessing that there's a HIPAA violation in there somewhere.

That's just a guess though. 

Of course, the cynic in me wonders if Lesko's game is less about protecting the religious freedom of a few and more about protecting the ability of those few to impose their personal religious beliefs on others.


...However, Fox News' Geraldo Rivera has claimed the Ugly category all for himself.

From Media Matters for America, written by Solange Uwimana -

Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera is standing by remarks he made today regarding the killing of 17-year-old black teen Trayvon Martin. On Fox & Friends this morning, Rivera claimed that "the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman."

An unarmed kid who wasn't threatening anybody is gunned down by a self-appointed vigilante, and all Rivera can do is blame the victim?  Rivera has always been more of a performer than a journalist, but he never seemed to be evil.

Apparently however, he's been drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid for too long.

However2, the effects of that Kool-Aid don't seem to be genetic - even his own son is "ashamed" of Rivera's remarks.

Still, I can almost understand Rivera's attitude.  There have been documented instances of some rather scary people wearing hoodies -

This pic is rather popular on the internet right now.  Not sure who originally had it, but it's a perfect illustration of the ludicrous nature of Rivera's attitude.

Frank Antenori: just serving it up

Southern AZ bloggers have been needling state Sen. Frank "Don't Make Me Mad" Antenori over his efforts to outlaw photo radar traffic enforcement in light of his penchant for getting caught by photo radar cameras committing one or another violation.

Michael Bryan at Blog for Arizona has one jab here, and Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion has a jab here, and here, and here.  OK, that last one isn't about photo radar or Antenori's driving, but it is metaphorically about radar, and it's definitely a needle.  Tedski's been on a roll.  :)

Anyway, I was going to pass on this one, content to let my colleagues from southern AZ work their magic on one of their own (Antenori represents part of Tucson), but after watching a little video, I saw that Antenori has been bringing his scofflaw ways to my part of the desert, Scottsdale.

The Tucson Weekly has video of Antenori consciously running a red light in Scottsdale ("consciously" because he slowed down at the intersection, saw the other stopped traffic, and rolled right through the intersection).

Antenori exhibits a pattern of disregard for the traffic laws that apply to the rest of us, a pattern that goes far beyond his running of a red light in Scottsdale (the above video).

...He just "cleared up" a photo radar speeding ticket in the Pima County justice court system.  He failed to appear, resulting in the Court ordering the suspension of his driver's license.  However, the state Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) claimed that they were never notified and so never suspended the license. 

They say it was an honest mistake, but the cynic in me wonders if it is more an exercise is spineless geography - the judge's office is 100+ miles and a couple of hours away from MVD; Antenori's office is 100+ steps and a couple of minutes away from MVD.

And Antenori exercises some influence over their budget.

I've been told I'm being too cynical on this one, that this sort of thing happens far more often than it should, but I don't believe in coincidence.

Anyway, I digress...

...He also has the ticket from the violation documented in the linked video, pending in Scottsdale Municipal Court (R-0751-PR-2012005658)

...In 2006, he received a parking ticket in Tucson (Tucson Municipal Court, M-1041-PK-400661180)

...In 2007, he received a traffic ticket in Tucson (Tucson Municipal Court, M-1041-TR-7054839), and cleared it with a defensive driving course

...In 2008, he received another traffic ticket in Tucson (Tucson Municipal Court, M-1041-TR-8041742), and paid a fine

That's what I could find with a quick online search.  Many courts in AZ and elsewhere don't have an online presence, but even this is more than enough to establish the pattern.

Frank Antenori is running for Congress, and apparently he puts "scofflaw" in the job description for his senior campaign staff.

He's hired Brett Mecum, the disgraced former executive director of the AZGOP, for his campaign staff.

Mecum is the one who was arrested at AZGOP headquarters after photo radar caught him driving more than 40 mph over the speed limit on a Phoenix freeway (I think that mug shot photographers hone their skills by taking driver's license photos) 






Mecum also ran into trouble for his use of the GOP's "Voter Vault" (info on registered voters to aid in targeted campaigning) to find out information about a woman he was stalking.

...Given all this, will anybody really be surprised if Antenori makes the song "Working on the Chain Gang" his campaign theme song?  Now, the estate of Sam Cooke may object, but that's never stopped R candidates from ripping off musical artists...

Republican War On Women: AZ Republicans hijack Democratic press conference

Apparently feeling the pressure of the nationwide criticism over her "employers get to decide whether or not women have access to birth control" bill, a clearly agitated State Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-The Dark Ages), with her Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy handler/ally in tow, hijacked a Democratic press conference that was critical of her bill.

From the AZCentral.com's Political Insider, written by Alia Beard Rau -

A Democratic news conference to decry legislation allowing employers to opt out of providing contraception degraded into name-calling from both parties Wednesday morning.

Democrat lawmakers from both the House and Senate organized the news conference to talk about House Bill 2625.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, called the bill "asinine" and described Republican lawmakers supporting the bill as "Rush Limbaugh Republicans" with "fundamentalist, Taliban-like religious beliefs."

"Tea party Republicans are launching an all-out attack on women's health and women's rights," Lopez said. "We need to quit wasting time legislating their version of morality."

{snip}

"The most disturbing part of this is having to get permission and give personal medical information to your employer," said Rep. Matt Heinz, D-Tucson, a physician.

But bill sponsor Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, standing at the back of the news conference, called them "liars."

After the Democrats were done with their media conference, Lesko and Center for Arizona Policy attorney Deborah Sheasby hijacked the microphone. The Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative lobby and education group, is behind the bill.

I don't have much to add to this (face it, nothing I write can top the sheer insanity that *is* the Republican caucus in the Arizona legislature), but a friend who is wiser than I am made a suggestion:

If this bill becomes law, someone from her district should make a request to see her medical records to find out if she is using any sort of birth control and if so, verify that it isn't being taken to prevent pregnancy.

They'll (meaning the Rs) will argue about it, but the bottom line is that they are hired/fired by their constituents, they are paid out of their constituents' (and all of our) tax money, and their authority to make laws is derived from their constituents' consent.  The bottom line is that state legislators work for their constituents, whether or not they choose to acknowledge that fact after taking office.

Of course, they could argue that they are above the laws that apply to the rest of society.

Which might be even more fun than watching them and their law getting slapped down in court.

Channel 12 video of the presser is here.

The bill in question is HB2625, and the section of the bill that has created the national uproar is thus -

A corporation, employer, sponsor, issuer or other entity offering the plan may state religious beliefs or moral convictions in its affidavit that require the subscriber to first pay for the prescription and then submit a claim to the corporation along with evidence that the prescription is not in whole or in part for a purpose covered by the objection. A corporation may charge an administrative fee for handling these claims.

Lesko, CATP, and the other Rs have been saying that Democrats and the media have been lying about the bill and what it does.  Read the text and use your own judgement.

Romney campaign already planning ahead for the general election

I freely admit, I'm not someone who holds it against an elected official/candidate who changes his (or her) position on an issue...when that change is due to learning new facts related to the issue or something similar, and the elected/candidate has the spine and the principle to stand up in front of people and stand by the change.

Pandering to a specific audience, espousing one position in front of one crowd and then espousing a different, even opposing, position in front of a different crowd is both unprincipled and spineless.

Announcing to the world that the candidate is going to flip-flop on positions months ahead of time, and just because the candidate will be tailoring his message to a different audience is manna from heaven for each of that candidate's opponents.

And making that announcement in a way that lends itself to visuals is manna from heaven for wiseasses with access to computers.

First, the quote from Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior advisor to Mitt Romney, uttered during an interview on CNN.  It is all over the internet, but I have to pick one source.

From Taegan Goddard's PoliticalWire -

"Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."

Some of the visuals, found on the internet (OK, mostly on my Facebook feed) (and none of the images is meant to imply the endorsement of Etch-A-Sketch, its manufacturer, its retailers, or Romney himself) -

Not an exact quote, but it sure as hell makes a good paraphrase.

 Just one in a long line of flip flops...

Straight to the point...

Romney's day, summarized

 The Real Romney

Programs! Get yer programs here! Ya can't tell the candidates without a program!

The last couple of days have seen some significant shakeups in the fields of candidates for some of the offices up for election this fall.

...In the new LD25 (East and Central Mesa), Russell Pearce, the recently ousted former senate president, surprised almost no one by announcing that he will run for the Senate again.  What did surprise a few people was how quickly Sen. Rich Crandall announced that he would not run (he lives in the new LD25) and threw his support behind newcomer Bob Worsley, a businessman who is highly regarded in Mesa and the Mormon Church.

...In the old CD8/new CD2, Ron Barber announced that he will run for a full term in the new CD2.  This came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to the Democrats who cleared the field so he could run to serve out the remainder of Giffords' term in the current CD8.  Of the "name" Democrats who were candidates for the new CD2 under the understanding that Barber was just running in CD8 as a sentimental placeholder, State Sen. Paula Aboud and State Rep.Matt Heinz have basically said that they will be staying in, Rep. Steve Farley has already dropped his bid for Congress and will be running for the state senate, and Nan Walden, a former US Senate staffer (and lots of other well-connected things) has announced that she won't be running.

...Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that Vernon Parker, a former mayor of Paradise Valley and an also-ran in the 2010 primary in CD3, is going to run in CD9, and that Lisa Borowsky, currently a member of the Scottsdale City Council is looking into the race. Borowsky had been rumored to be interested in a run at the mayor's job in Scottsdale.

Parker won a seat on the PV Town Council last week, but resign to run doesn't apply because I think that positions on the PV council are unpaid.

...Former Scottsdale City Council member and Democrat David Ortega has entered the race for the District 2 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.  The "big" name in that race right now is Lester Pearce, currently the embatttled Justice of the Peace for North Mesa and brother to former senator (and always bigoted) Russell Pearce.

Arizona graded as below average in the area of legislative integrity? Color me as not shocked.

From a story in the Arizona Daily Star, written by Wayne Parry of the AP -

State governments lack transparency and accountability to citizens, and remain at high risk for corruption, according to a new study of all 50 statehouses.

Not a single state received an A in the State Integrity Investigation ranking, a product of the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity.

Arizona received a D-plus.

The actual study is available here, but the upshot is that grades were issued in a number of sub-areas, and combined into an overall grade, and that the areas with the highest grades were those that have the least legislative influence.  The report card -

Yes, you read that report card correctly.  The only "A" grade is in an area that the lege has no real control over, redistricting, an area that the voters kicked the lege out of more than a decade ago when it created the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

And the lege has been trying to usurp the AIRC and the will of the voters ever since.

...In a bit of (apparently) fortuitous timing, at the same time this report on legislative integrity is making the rounds, so is the story of how Sen. Frank "Don't Make Me Mad" Antenori had his driver's license suspended by a Pima County justice court but MVD (Motor Vehicle Division) claims that it never was notified and therefore hasn't actually suspended Antenori's license.

Not saying there is anything untoward going on here, but MVD's HQ is a short golf shot away from the Senate building, and there have been occasions in the past when political influence swayed the way that MVD did its job...

Short Attention Span Musing...

OK, so this one is mostly about picking on AZ Republicans...mostly.

...In case one was sure that the Rs in the lege hadn't regressed to a third-grade mentality, what with their recent fascination with/fear of "girl parts", comes a mature and intellectually incisive tweet from your favorite and mine, Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) -

"Arlene"??  Time to grow up Jack.

...Remember Jerry Walker?  The former member of the Maricopa County Community College District was well-known for his bigoted comments, arrogant attitude, and his bullying demeanor in office before he was defeated in 2010.

He's basically Russell Pearce without the pretense of affability, a man so extreme in his worldview and absolutely sure of his rightness that he frightens even other Republicans.

Well, he's baaaaaaaaack...

He's formed a committee to run for the North Mesa Justice of the Peace office.  Not sure if he has been hand-picked by Lester Pearce, the incumbent who is looking at a run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors, but he may be the one candidate who could burnish Pearce's legacy as JP.

Pearce is known as pretty extreme himself (going around the country lecturing that women's suffrage, aka right to vote, is a violation of states' rights, will earn that reputation), but compared to Walker, he's a voice of enlightened reason.

...Former state senator Jonathan Paton is making another run at a seat in Congress.  I won't say he is *completely* in the pocket of the payday loan/legalized loan shark industry, but I admit to being a little surprised that his campaign paperwork didn't list his campaign bank accounts as being at The National Money Store or similar operation (he reports his bank as the Bank of Tucson).

...Normally the Twitter feed for GS Elevator Gossip (GS = Goldman Sachs) documents a fount of 1% arrogance, but it turns out that even the GSers get one right on occasion -

I don't know if the Congressional pension plan is quite that good, but it is much better than that offered to members of the armed services, and that's not right.

Period.

Road Closures In North and Northeastern AZ

Due to the brief visit by winter to our state, there are road closures affecting much of the state.  They'll probably be lifted as the storm passes, but be careful - another storm system is forecasted for the state later today.

Edit on 3/19 to add: 

Based on emails from ADOT and various news reports, most major roads seem to be re-opened.  However, call ahead to learn about specific destinations and areas.

Some of the remaining road closures (courtesy Channel 12) -

Eastbound Interstate 40 closed between the SR 89 junction (near Ash Fork) and Williams. Westbound I-40 is open to traffic.

A 30-mile stretch of State Route 87 closed in both directions north of Payson.
...
Tire chains are required along State Route between Star Valley and Heber (an area east of Payson).

US 180 closed northwest of the Snow Bowl turnoff to the State Route 64 junction.

End edit...

From an email from ADOT (Arizona Department of Transportation) -

Update 10:40 a.m. - Westbound Interstate 40 has reopened at Winslow. Eastbound I-40 remains closed at US 93, as tractor trailers are backed up at Ash Fork Hill west of Flagstaff. Northbound Interstate 17 remains closed at the junction of SR 179, though crews are making progress on clearing the snow and ice from the roadway. Southbound Interstate 17 remains open from Flagstaff.

Update 10:15 a.m. – State Route 87 is closed from the junction of State Route 260 at Cinch Hook Hill (milepost 278) to Winslow (milepost 341) State Route 260 is closed from east of Camp Verde (milepost 228) to State Route 87.

Update 9:40 a.m. - State Route 87 is closed from Clint’s Well (milepost 285) to Winslow (milepost 341).

Arizona Department of Transportation crews are fully deployed in response to the winter storm that developed overnight. Heavy snow is still falling from Flagstaff to the White Mountains, causing hazardous driving conditions.

The following closures are in place as of 8 a.m.

Northbound Interstate-17 is closed at the junction of State Route 179. I-17 southbound remains open at this time.

Interstate-40 is closed in both directions from US 93 to Winslow.

US 180 is closed north of the Arizona Snowbowl to State Route 64 at Valle.

State Route 87 is closed north of Pine near Clint’s Well.