CD5 Republican Debate Tuesday in Mesa

Normally, I don't bother with the primary debates on the Republican side of the ballot, but because I believe that the Republican primaries in CD5 (Kirk Adams, Matt Salmon) and CD4 (Ron Gould, Paul Gosar), and the Democratic primary in CD9 (David Schapira, Kyrsten Sinema, Andrei Cherny) are going to be absolute knock-down drag-outs, I'm going to cover those as much as possible.

Having said that, this came through in an email today -

What: Congressional District 5 Republican Candidates are squaring off before the August 28 primary election. Question topics will include immigration, healthcare, tax policy, government regulation, economic and industrial development for our region, and more.

When: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 6 pm.

Where: Jack E. Shell Auditorium of the East Valley Institute of Technology.1601 W. Main St. Mesa, AZ 85201

Who: Veteran Congressman Matt Salmon and former State House Speaker Kirk Adams come together to debate the issues at a public forum presented by the East Valley Chambers of Commerce. The Master of Ceremonies will be Russel Smolden of sponsor Salt River Project and the moderator will be Ginger Lamb of the Arizona Capitol Times. Aside from the Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Mesa Chambers and the East Valley Partnership, sponsors include Salt River Project, the East Valley Institute of Technology, CenturyLink and JacksonWhite, Attorneys at Law.

Tickets: A limited number of free tickets may be available on a first-come, first-serve basis to voters living in Congressional District 5 and other interested members of the public. Ticket requests can be made by calling the Mesa Chamber of Commerce at (480) 969-1307, Ext. 16.

I'll try to attend, but given that I don't live in the new CD5 and I don't have oodles of cash to contribute to Republican candidates (and if I had oodles of cash, the contributions wouldn't go to Republicans anyway :) ), odds are the sponsors won't put a priority on letting me have a ticket.

What's next up Russell Pearce's sleeve? Fluffy bunny slippers?

Hat tip to David Safier at Blog for Arizona for noticing this, and in turn, to Randy Parraz of Citizens For A Better Arizona for publicizing it enough to bring it to the attention of Dave...

Apparently, the Pearce political machine in Mesa has decided that the lesson in Russell's embarrassing loss in last November's recall election isn't that a public official shouldn't be arrogant and bigoted.

Nope.  Apparently they think that stuff is OK, so long as you can dredge up a "smiley, happy" pic to slap on brightly-colored campaign flyers.

Like David before me, I'm loathe to publish the entire promotional flyer here (no need to give them free advertising), but a couple of pics from the flyer tell the whole story -

Cute baby, eh?  Pretty sure it isn't his - not enough tats

Nice kid-friendly color scheme.  Won't keep Russell from being the featured player in the nightmares of Arizona's children, but I suppose it was worth a shot

I mock, but if this gambit is even succeeds a little bit in rehabilitating Russell Pearce's image, look for similar moves. 

Like maybe campaign trail footwear like this -

Pic courtesy knittycrochety.blogspot.com








Still, if he goes for the fluffy bunny slippers as his campaign footwear, he'd best not wear them while he is sponging off hitting up NRA lobbyists for campaign contributions.

Remember...

Pic courtesy MSNBC.com




On Friday, Vice-President Joe Biden spoke to a large group of survivors of military casualties.  The normally plain-spoken Biden was true to form, showing an emotional, personal side, something that usually isn't shown by politicians.

The video of his short but intensely heartfelt speech can be found here, at Huffington Post; good news coverage of the event can be found here, courtesy the National Journal/Govexec.com.

A national moment of silence/remembrance will take place at 3 p.m. local time.

Candidate petitions starting to roll in

Politically speaking, the coming week will be marked by a flurry of activity at the offices of the AZ Secretary of State and the recorders' offices in the various counties.  Literally hundreds of candidates will be submitting thousands of nominating petitions in their efforts to gain a spot on the ballot in August or November.

Most candidates submit their petitions as late as possible in order to maximize the number of signatures, but a few do so earlier. 

Among the most interesting of those:

- Doug Quelland, a former Republican state representative who was removed from office and still owes fines because of some campaign finance violations, is making a run for the state senate in the new LD20 as an independent (filed directly for the November ballot).

Note: Quelland may be found to be ineligible for the ballot under a new law that bars candidates from the ballot if they have campaign-related fines that they haven't paid.  That law is still subject to review by the US Department of Justice before it becomes effective.

- In the race for the Democratic nomination for state senate in LD24, Rep. Katie Hobbs and former state senator Ken Cheuvront each filed 931 signatures in support of their candidacies.  The fact that they filed the same number of sigs isn't significant, but filing the exact same number of sigs?  Meaningless, but cool, in a numbers geek sort of way (full list of primary filers here)

- In the race for the Republican nomination for the new CD9. one Jeff Thompson has filed 795 signatures.  It was a bit of a surprise to many observers, including me, because there aren't any filings for an Arizona candidate named Thompson on the FEC's website.

He could be the first candidate to run into legal troubles (not counting Quelland's ongoing issues, because those started years ago), because federal law and FEC rules/guidelines require that candidates register with the FEC once they reach certain financial thresholds or they engage in "campaign activities."

Among the activities they consider to be "campaign activities"?

Taking "action to qualify for the ballot."

Gathering and submitting nomination signatures qualifies as such action.

It will be interesting to see how, or even if, the other Rs in the CD9 race react to the apparent entrance of a newbie.

On the plus side for candidate Thompson:  even though it isn't a legal requirement, Thompson appears to live in CD9, unlike most of the other candidates (based on his filer address on the AZSOS' website, which tracks back to a house in Ahwatukee).

The list of Maricopa County candidates who have filed sigs is here.

Early speculation time: 2014 Governor's race - Part Two

A few days ago, I posted a snark-filled piece full of speculation on possible Republican candidates for governor in 2014.

Out of a sense of fairness, I'm now doing one on potential Democratic candidates.

Out of a sense of partisanship, it will be less snarky...at least, less snarky toward the Democratic candidates. :)

As with the prior post, no actual discussions with the potential candidates took place in the production of this post.  In no way does a mention in this post indicate that someone is planning or interested in running for governor of Arizona, nor does lack of a mention in this post indicate that someone is *not* planning or interested in running for governor of Arizona.

As with the previous post on this topic, the names mentioned are those who have held office previously or who have otherwise made an impact on the metaphorical public square.

On to the speculation:

Terry Goddard, former attorney general and candidate for governor:
- Con: has run for governor and lost, twice.
- Pro: both of the ultimate victors of the races for governor (Fife Symington, Jan Brewer) that he was in have brought great national ridicule down upon Arizona.  The voters may finally be ready to choose competence over ideological blathering.
- Con2:  This is Arizona.  Don't hold your breath.

Janet Napolitano, former governor:
- Con: she resigned as governor in 2009 to take a position in President Barack Obama's cabinet, leaving Arizona fading in her rear-view mirror.
- Pro: regardless of the outcome of the 2012 presidential election, she may be interested in moving on - - if the Rs win, a whole new cabinet will be brought in to DC; if Obama wins, pretty much the same will happen.  Second term presidential cabinets are usually very different than the cabinets for the first term of the same president.  And three-plus years of "Governor Jan Brewer" have only served to increase the amount of respect people have for Napolitano.
- Con2: as Secretary of Homeland Security, Napolitano has only had to deal with terrorists, spies, and grave threats to America.  As governor, she might not be willing to again deal with scourges upon society like the Arizona legislature, the Goldwater Institute, and the Center for Arizona Policy.

Gabrielle Giffords, former member of Congress:
- Con: still recovering from a horrific assassination attempt that took the lives of six people, including a small child, and injured more than a dozen other people.
- Pro: if her recovery, already nothing short of miraculous, progresses well enough for her to handle the rigors of the job, and she actually wants the job, the election will be less a contest than a walk-over.

Harry Mitchell, former member of Congress:
- Con: after nearly five decades of public service, he may have reached the point of his life where he is ready to leave the "top of the ballot" stuff - walking precincts and making appearances on the rubber chicken circuit to those with younger legs and digestive tracts.
- Pro: one of the most respected people in Arizona politics, and one of the few left where the respect genuinely crosses partisan lines.

Phil Gordon, former mayor of Phoenix -
- Pro: still has an effective organization and base of support in what is the largest city and county in the state.
- Con: the Rs despise him, and he is far from popular with grassroots Ds, even in Maricopa County, outside of Phoenix.

Greg Stanton, current mayor of Phoenix -
- Pro: also has an effective organization and base of support in what is the largest city and county in the state.  In addition, he is so new that he hasn't had time to tick off grassroots Ds.
- Con: the Rs despise him, despite knowing next to nothing about him (other than that he isn't one of them), and he is young by political standards.
- Pro2: he may be too young/new for an effective run in 2014, but 2018 and 2022 are well within the realm of realistic possibility.

Felecia Rotellini, 2010 candidate for attorney general -
- Pro: while she didn't win in 2010, she had the best performance of any D candidate during that cycle and garnered a lot of respect across the political spectrum.  She's smart, energetic, and universally well-liked among Democrats.  It helps that the guy who won the 2010 election, Tom Horne, is widely considered to be a sleazeball and is under federal investigation for campaign finance violations.
Con - while she's been a public servant before, she has never actually held elected office.  Like Napolitano before her, a term as AG might be necessary to elevate her name recognition among the general public before running for the top spot.

Sandra Kennedy, current member of the Arizona Corporation Commission -
- Pro: intelligent, experienced and one of only two Democrats to hold statewide elected office.
- Con: as with Brenda Burns in the previous post, the ACC isn't the highest-profile perch from which to launch a run at a high-profile job.  Unlike Burns however, Kennedy actually does some good work for the people of AZ, and as such, she doesn't have access to scads of corporate money.

Other names that may come up in conversation:

Rep. Chad Campbell, House minority leader: smart but young enough that like Stanton above, 2014 may be too soon; Kyrsten Sinema, former state legislator and current candidate for Congress: also young, and has her sights set much higher than the 9th floor of the Executive Tower; Steve Gallardo, state legislator: could go for it in 2014, but young enough to wait until 2018/2022 and use the time to both consolidate and expand his base of support; Ruben Gallego, state legislator:  if the others are young by political standards, he's a bambino.  A bambino with ambition, however.  2014 is too soon, and 2018/2022 may also be too soon, but after that...?; Neil Giuliano, former Republican and former mayor of Tempe:  made noises about a run in 2010, but was pretty much unknown outside of Tempe.  Would need to elevate his name rec among the general public.

A couple of wildcards:

Sue Gerard and Kris Mayes, the former head of the state Department of Health Services and chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission, respectively.  They're Republicans who have actually done good work for the people of Arizona.  As such, they'd never get through a Republican primary in the current political environment.  Not likely to even consider becoming Democrats, but given the amount of respect that people have for them, they could make things interesting.

Later...

AZ's electeds holding their collective breath

The USDOJ filed a motion in their case against Rep. Ben Arredondo, one Arredondo agreed with, to keep records of the investigation secret in order to protect some ongoing investigations.

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Gary Grado -

...A motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court by DOJ attorney Monique Abrishami asks Judge Fredrick Martone to issue a protective order for “all discovery materials provided in this matter.”

“If this information were to be disclosed, such disclosure might impede those investigations which are ongoing and/or impair the privacy rights of third parties whose conduct is or was at one time under investigation,” Abrishami wrote.

The motion sort of confirms what I've heard - that the feds aren't done with AZ's electeds, not by a long shot.  One person I spoke with, a Capitol insider, thought more indictments were possible, and if they happen, they may reach beyond the legislative level of government.

Given that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is under investigation, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is under investigation, and a number of legislators and lobbyists were named in the report on the Fiesta Bowl scandal (while they almost certainly won't be indicted for any activities documented in the report, the behavior documented therein is the kind that continues until the voters or the courts put a stop to it), those expectations shouldn't be surprising.

And those are just the investigations/allegations that have gained public notice.

The saying "where there's smoke, there's fire" takes on a special meaning in Arizona, especially in the summer.  Most summers, that saying just warns people to be on the lookout for forest fires.

This summer, however, it serves as a warning to keep an eye out on people and situations who have some metaphorical smoke swirling around them.

Will the next USDOJ moves be in the area of the mess in Quartzsite?  Will they step into Colorado City and do the things that need to be done but that are blocked by some suspiciously intransigent Arizona legislators?  Will they finally catch up to a certain somebody who is known for skating on the fine line between behavior that is unethical but legal and behavior that is simply unethical?

My guess is that a number of AZ's electeds, from town/city councils on up, are praying that the bright spotlight of a federal investigation isn't turned their way.  For possible clues as to who might be next on the feds' hit parade, watch the turning in of nominating petitions next week for any "big names" (i.e. - somebody like Russell Pearce, who has had smoke swirling around him for years) who surprise by *not* submitting petitions.

Arizona Republic coverage is here.  It isn't good as Grado's as it is mostly a rehash of the indictment with little insight into the current motion before the court, but there is no telling when the Cap Times will put their story behind a subscriber firewall.

Early speculation time: 2014 Governor's race

What with Governor Jan Brewer looking to weasel her way into a run for a third term and AZ Secretary of State Ken Bennett trying to clear the primary field for his run for governor (he has since backed off a little, but look for more moves like his attempt to knock President Obama off of the ballot), it's time to start talking about who might be running for governor in 2014.

Yes, it is early, but since at this point of this year's election cycle, it's "hurry up and wait" time until we see which candidates become known as candidates who couldn't get their signature in... :)

Also, this list is limited to those folks who have held office already or have made a serious impression in the metaphorical public square; rich people who believe that they can just buy the seat (yes that's you, Buz Mills) aren't included, mostly because I don't know their names.

On to the speculation, Republican candidates first (and it's just that - no actual persons were spoken to for this post.  I don't know the actual plans or wishes of the people mentioned in the post) -

Jan Brewer, current governor -
- Pro: probably has the highest name recognition among Republicans, other than perhaps Joe Arpaio.
- Con: that pesky Arizona Constitution.

Tom Horne, current attorney general -
- Pro: he hasn't been indicted or disbarred yet.
- Con: it's still early.

Ken Bennett, current secretary of state -
- Pro: until the last week, he was considered to be one of the few sane Republicans in Arizona politics
- Con: the events of the last week.  Turns out that kissing up to the birthers quickly moves one into the "batshit crazy" category.

John Huppenthal, current superintendent of public instruction -
- Pro (at least as far as R primary voters are concerned): hates people with brown skin, hates public education, and hates education for people with brown skin.
- Con: in a general election, people with brown skin, educated people, and educated people with brown skin can and do vote.

Doug Ducey, current state treasurer -
- Pro: no one knows who he is, and given that you only know any treasurer's name when the police and prosecutors get involved, that's a good thing.
- Con: no one knows who he is, and given that being a down-ballot candidate in a Republican wave year (2010) is very different than being a top-of-the-ballot candidate in what looks to be a tough year, that's not such a good thing.

Steve Pierce, current president of the state senate -
- Pro: hey, he's a rural kind of guy, yeehaw!, and he's more civil than his predecessor.
- Con: Prescott, in northern AZ, may not provide the strongest power base for a statewide run.  Most of the state's population is in the central and southern parts of the state.

Andy Tobin, current speaker of the state house of representatives -
- Pro: hey, he's a rural kind of guy, yeehaw!, and he's...a rural kind of guy.  Yeehaw. :)
- Con: his base of operations is near Prescott, only smaller.  And he's a Yankees fan.

Brenda Burns, current member of the corporation commission -
- Pro: a darling of ALEC (former president of it), has access to scads of corporate money.
- Con: an ACC slot may be a statewide office, but it's so low-profile that only hardcore political junkies and lobbyists can name them.  And with the murder of Trayvon Martin, rationalized by Florida's ALEC/NRA-pushed kill at will "stand your ground" law, the ALEC connections may not be so fruitful for the next few years.

Joe Arpaio, current sheriff of Maricopa County -
- Pro: highest name recognition among AZ's Republicans.  Everybody has heard of him and has an opinion of him.
- Con: not all of those opinions are positive.  Not hardly.  If he hasn't been indicted by then, he'll publicly flirt with a run (he does every four years), but even he knows that he wouldn't last in a job with serious scrutiny from the media and the public.  Note:  there is a big difference between "scrutiny" and "mindless adoration".

Other names that might come up in conversation:

- Hugh Hallman, soon to be former mayor of Tempe - wants it, but in a statewide race, would have trouble winning even his own home town.

- Jay Tibshraeny and Scott Smith - the mayors of Chandler and Mesa respectively.  Thoroughly conservative, but have still been able to do some good work for their municipalities.  Given that current R orthodoxy calls for contempt for actual public servants, they could never get through a primary (and there *will* be one in 2014).

- John Shadegg, former member of Congress.  Last seen in some kind of role with the Goldwater Institute; not sure if he would take a job with less influence at the Capitol.


When I get bored again (a couple of days), I'll do a post on possible Democratic candidates.  It won't be as snarky. :))

Ken Bennett learning lessons at Mitt Romney's knee

...And so crappie season begins...

Mitt Romney is renowned for his penchant to change his position on an issue, any issue, when he thinks it may be politically expedient.

He may be the consummate flip-flopper in American politics today.

Now Ken Bennett, Arizona's Secretary of State and Romney's campaign co-chair in AZ, is flip-flopping on a fundamental issue for his own political expediency.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who oversees state elections, reversed his stance on endorsing candidates this election cycle, saying detractors would still criticize him based on endorsements he made years ago.

During a televised debate with his Democratic opponent in 2010, Bennett, a Republican, told the audience it was improper for elections officials to weigh in on partisan issues.

Bennett is now co-chairman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Arizona campaign.

"I do not feel it's appropriate that I take a position on either the propositions that the voters will be voting on, or endorsing candidates in elections," Bennett said.

Bennett has gone far beyond merely flip-flopping on the issue by endorsing Romney; he has crossed a serious ethical line by using his office to attempt to remove President Obama from the Arizona ballot to ensure that his candidate, Romney, has a clear path to Arizona's 10 electoral votes.

He truly deserves to be removed from office for abusing it so, but that is beyond my power as an individual.  That will be up to the voters in 2014 (maybe sooner if his arrogance in office inspires a recall drive).

Still, I can only award him the first Crappie Award of 2012 for the flip-flop.

For his shamelessly acrobatic flip-flop, Ken Bennett wins the most (not) cherished award of the election season - The Crappie...

Hey, at least Bennett and the rest of the birthers shouldn't have reason to whine about this particular type of crappie - this particular breed of crappie is called the "white crappie."

John Washington for mayor of Scottsdale

Even before the mayoral candidate forum held on Thursday night, I was leaning toward supporting John Washington for Mayor of Scottsdale. 


Thursday's forum confirmed and strengthened that support.

One candidate, Jim Lane, is the incumbent.  He has a track record of kowtowing to lobbying group the Goldwater Institute to the point of ignoring neighborhood interests and desires in favor of implementing GI's preferred policies.

Another candidate, Drew Bernhardt, seems to be less about substance and more about trying to tap the vein of nostalgia that runs deep in a certain segment of Scottsdale's population.

To be fair, that tactic may have been effective with Thursday's audience, which was skewed heavily toward the Medicare/Social Security-eligible, "why can't Scottsdale be like it was when it had 2000 people, 200 hitching rails and 2 paved roads?" demographic.

However, it was grating to hear him constantly refer to Scottsdale as a "town".

In fact, Scottsdale hasn't been a town in decades.  According to the City's own website, by 1970, the city's population had reached nearly 68,000, the size of a small city, but a city nonetheless.

According to the last federal census, it has more than 217,000 residents.

That's not a small town, that's a small big city.

In short, Bernhardt is a north Scottsdale newbie who is hoping that the voters south of Shea Boulevard will vote for him while ignoring the fact that he offers them nothing beyond nostalgic but empty rhetoric.

On the other hand, John Washington has cut his political teeth by working at the grassroots level for the protection and betterment of Scottsdale's neighborhoods and Scottsdale as a whole.

His love of Scottsdale isn't a revelation timed for campaign season.  I've been writing this blog for more than six years.  I met him at the first community meeting that I covered in 2006, and he was active in the community long before that.

Then as now, he talks *to* (and listens to) and works *with* people, in contrast to many electeds/candidates, who talk *at* and work *around* people.  Even when disagreeing with people, he is civil and genuinely friendly; he doesn't turn disagreement into personal animosity.

Washington (seated), before the forum began Thursday night








Unlike say, the current mayor, who had Washington removed from Scottsdale's Airport Advisory Commission when Washington expressed concerns, and continued expressions of concern even after being told to "sit down and shut up", over the mayor's (and the city council's) repeated approvals of high-density residential projects that encroach upon Scottsdale's airport.

In terms of personal political ideology, he's more of libertarian than anything else (not sure of his actual registration however - he may be Libertarian, Republican, or Independent), but local politics is practical politics.  It's about getting good things done for the city and its residents, something that Lane has forgotten (if he ever knew it in the first place) and that Bernhardt doesn't seem to even care to know.

To be clear, when (OK, *if* :) ) he becomes mayor, many of Washington's positions will drive me nuts (libertarian that he is :) ).

However, while we may disagree on how best to protect and improve Scottsdale, we agree on the ultimate objective.

That alone makes John Washington the best candidate to be the next mayor of Scottsdale.

And when you add in the genuine friendliness and deep affection for Scottsdale? 

Washington becames the best candidate to be the next great mayor of Scottsdale.



If you're interested, information on helping Washington get on the ballot, donating to his campaign, or just contacting him can be found here.

Ken Bennett sews up wingnut vote in 2014 R primary by jumping on the birther bandwagon

From AZCentral.com, written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has asked government officials in Hawaii to verify that Barack Obama was born in the island state for the president's name to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Bennett, who is exploring a 2014 gubernatorial run, told The Republic on Friday that he made the request on behalf of a constituent who was unable to make the request himself. Bennett said Hawaii statute provides for out-of-state government officials to request such information, but prohibits residents from obtaining it.

Bennett, who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Arizona campaign co-chairman, asked that Hawaii officials provide "verification" of Obama's birth in lieu of a certified copy of the president's birth certificate.

Bennett is "exploring" a run for governor in 2014 (Jan Brewer will be termed out as governor and Bennett will be termed out as SOS).

Looks like he has learned the lesson from Brewer's 2010  campaign.  Bennett may not have an "SB1070" up his sleeve to use to clear the GOP field for him, but a little birther-motivated election rigging should go a long way toward accomplishing that goal.

Yes, it's election-rigging.  What else can it be called when one candidate's campaign co-chair abuses his position of public trust to try to knock his candidate's opponent off of the ballot?

If this doesn't work well enough, maybe Bennett can see a UFO or become a 9-11 "truther".  That should get him the votes of former governor Fife Symington and former state senate Karen Johnson.

For the record:

Scottsdale Mayoral Forum

For those of you who thought the mayor's race in Tempe was the end of campaign season...oh, who am I kidding?  If you're reading this blog, you already know better.  :)

The Community Council of Scottsdale held a forum for the three candidates for mayor in Scottsdale on Thursday evening in the Granite Reef Senior Center.

The candidates are incumbent Jim Lane and challengers Drew Bernhardt and John Washington.

I don't have the time (or the notes) for a full write up, but I do have one major observation about politics in Scottsdale -

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

- All three candidates were asked their positions on the possibility of the construction of a light rail line in Scottsdale.

All three candidates oppose the idea.

All three candidate ignored the fact that the possibility of light rail in Scottsdale was nixed nearly a decade ago.

Edit on 5/18 - Thanks to candidate John Washington to spotting the error in the above statement (see comment below).  One candidate, Jim Lane, did say that the light rail issue has already been decided.  The point is still valid though - light rail in Scottsdale is dead and has been dead for a decade, but it is still being fought over, to the detriment of attention to issues that Scottsdale actually faces.

End edit...

- Also brought up at the forum:  firing the city manager.  It must be an even-numbered year thing.  For the record:  Bernhardt and Washington support the idea, Lane demurred, citing confidentiality concerns or something similar.  The upshot:  Scottsdale will have an opening in it city manager's office within a few months.  Interested applicants should adjust their salary requirements based on the expected brief tenure (in other words, make 'em pay through the nose.  It pains me as a taxpayer to say that, but it's the way it has to be.)

A few pics from the forum -

Candidate John Washington introducing himself to the audience

Current Councilman Ron McCullagh was in attendance

Washington making a point.  Bernhardt is on the left side of the pic.

An audience member asks a question.  On stage, from left to right:  Lane, Bernhardt, Washington.

The audience breaking up after the forum

The three candidates being introduced by Jerry, the head of the Community Council of Scottsdale.

Tempe Election Update: Mitchell ahead by 139 votes and wins!

On Tuesday evening, the preliminary returns from Tempe's election for mayor were disheartening, to say the least.

Initially, restaurant owner Michael Monti was ahead of City Council member Mark Mitchell by more than 200 votes.

Yesterday, after some provisional ballots and early ballots turned in at the polls were counted, the margin dropped to less than 150, in favor of Monti.

Today, after more provisionals and drop offs were counted, the margin is now 139, in favor of Mitchell.

Final results will be released on Friday, so stay tuned...

Update:  Apparently, today's numbers *are* the final results, except for three more provisional ballots.  Congrats to Mayor-elect Mark Mitchell!

State Representative Ben Arredondo indicted in FBI sting

On Wednesday, a federal indictment of State Representative Ben Arredondo was released. 

It alleges that Arredondo accepted slightly less than $6300 in tickets to sporting events and charity events in exchange for influence used on behalf of the givers of the largesse, FBI agents working undercover as representatives of a fake company seeking to do business in Tempe.

The matter is still unfolding, and more news will break before it is over.

Arredondo will have his day in court, and as someone who knows and likes him, I hope he is innocent and fends this off.  However, if he's guilty, he should face the appropriate penalty.

Senate Minority Leader David Schapira, from Tempe, like Arredondo, has called for Arredondo's resignation, while House Minority Leader Chad Campbell of Phoenix expressed both shock at the charges and that Arredondo should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Having said all that, I've got a few thoughts on this:

- While if the allegations in the indictment are proven true it will be more than a little disappointing, it won't be all that surprising.  Arredondo was one of a number of elected officials named in the report from the Fiesta Bowl organization concerning its scandal.  The elected officials received trips and tickets to college football games prior to voting on matters that affected the Fiesta Bowl.

- Speaking of the Fiesta Bowl scandal, most or all of the electeds named in that report are probably finding that their digestive systems have turned into masonry production systems (aka "they're $hitting bricks") right about now.  Wednesday's indictment may not be related to the Fiesta Bowl scandal, but the behavior cited in it is very similar.  Just a guess here, but many of them

- The next elected on the feds' menu may not even be a state legislator.  They're still going "round 'n round" with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an investigation of Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne relating to some interesting campaign finance activity, and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is the subject of an investigation into allegations that he had some PCSO employees do campaign work, for his now-abandoned run for Congress, while they were on the job.

- Assuming that there is merit to the feds' allegations, the question will become "who's next, and for what?"  After the Fiesta Bowl scandal broke, a number of bills were introduced by the Democrats in the legislature to tighten the ethics rules on gifts, etc. from people with an interest in matters before the lege.

Turns out some of the other legislators *really* like their freebies - the Republicans killed each and every attempt to clean up the legislature.

In other words, it's not "if" but "when" there will be a next time.

Romney may be the king of flip flops, but he is consistent about one thing: his endless supply of contempt for people who work for a living

Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on pretty much every issue under the political sun, usually changing his positions based on the audience he was/is trying to tailor his message to.

However, one thing he has been completely consistent about is his utter disregard for people who work for a living. 

When he ran Bain Capital, Bain's business MO (modus operandi) was to acquire successful companies cheap and run them into the ground in the way most profitable to Mitt and his cronies.

That way always included cutting the pay and benefits of the workers who made those companies successful before Mitt et. al. came along.

Mitt may not be "in business" any longer, at least officially, but his attitude toward people who work for a living hasn't changed one bit.

From Govexec.com (a publication of the National Journal) -

"We will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve," Romney said.

One of the great right-wing talking points is that federal workers, indeed all government workers, are paid more than private sector workers in the same fields. 

There is some debate on the subject, but there is one thing that Mitt's (and the Republicans') talking point blithely ignores -

Any "pay gap" between the public and private sectors is due, at least in part, to the stagnation and diminution of the compensation of private sector workers, not to a skyrocketing of government worker compensation.

Romney is already setting up his rationalization for gut-punching the one sector of the American middle class that has held up relatively well during the attack on the overall middle class over the last few decades.

By contrast, President Obama shows a healthy respect for people who work for a living.

From the American Society for Public Administration -

Each day, our country benefits from the efforts of dedicated federal, state and local government employees who do their jobs with pride and passion. So many of these men and women work tirelesly on behalf of their fellow citizens to confront the challenges impacting our communities and our nation. During Public Service Recognition Week, we recognize these committed civil servants and honor their efforts to ensure a brighter future for the next generation.

President Obama isn't perfect (who is?), but he understands that there is a difference between being a leader working to restore American economic vitality and being a vampire sucking the economic life out of the American middle class for personal profit..

Romney Economics: Bankruptcy and Bailouts at GST Steel

And before any Republican readers of this blog (yes, there are a few :) ) whine about "class warfare" or some such claptrap, I would remind you of observations of one Newt Gingrich, hardly a champion of the middle class -

Gingrich has maintained that negative and false ads launched by Romney supporters dragged his campaign down from a onetime frontrunner late last year.

He said Romney is a Massachusetts moderate “would be pretty good at managing the decay of Washington” with little hope of changing the culture of American politics.

Mitt Romney's business career isn't the epitome of economic capitalism, it's the epitome of economic cannibalism.