We need a bit more time to perfect our next Friday in-depth story, so we want to hear from you today.
As we challenge ourselves to think about politics and government outside the Arizona Capitol, we want to know: What’s happening at your local school board, city council, neighborhood associations and community organizations? And are there federal government stories that you want to see approached with an Arizona lens that you’re not getting elsewhere?
Tell us about the niche drama, the petty tyrants, the big issues they’re trying to tackle. We just might cover them someday soon.
Click to comment in the thread — we read all the comments!
Jan 20, 2023·edited Jan 20, 2023Liked by Rachel Leingang
It's not local, but he affects us all. (You did mention petty tyrants!)
John Kavanagh is in his 9th term. He defies AZ term limits by jumping around from House to Senate. As we face a water crisis, Kavanagh continues to propose bills to attack teachers and trans kids. How about an in depth look at his district, and why they keep voting for him?
The story that needs to be better understood is why did Doug Ducey failed so many of his corporate supporters and the interests of 100% of the local elected officials who designed the transportation plan from Maricopa Association of Government's Regional Council. Other than being a tax increase that would be approved by voters, prop 400 made great sense.
Congressman Andy Biggs tweeted this week that: "All illegal aliens must be deported. Period."
Is immigration reform possible with this demagoguery of political opportunists like Biggs? For a border state like Arizona, would like more insights on who is doing serious and thoughtful work to tackle this critical issue. Unfortunately for Arizona and CD-05, Biggs is neither serious nor thoughtful.
Cochise County Supervisors are supposed to have an agenda item for 1/24 (the agenda is not posted yet) to discuss paying an attorney for election supervisor Lisa Marre. In response to the board of supes actions, she had to have an outside attorney at a cost of about $30,000. Two of the supervisors, Crosby and Judd, have said they won't want to pay the bill.
One of the two supervisors, Tom Crosby, is the target of a recall campaign as a result of his refusal to send election results to the Secretary of State, among other things. The committee has 120 days to get the need 4865 signatures to force an election.
And for a second time an effort to oust supervisor Ann English from the chair has failed. Supervisor Judd refused to serve as nominated because of the ill health of her husband.
Important development from Cochise County! Tom Crosby, the election denier Supervisor in District 1 is in the process of being recalled. Anyone can help this campaign to succeed by contributing to the campaign to raise money for signs and a billboard! Here is a link, and I hope this doesn't break the rules. If it does just remove the link! THANK YOU! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lovesigns?refcode2=ab_thanks_social_facebook
Keep an eye out for a privately hosted retirement party for Senate President Fann. We attended Ken Bennett’s retirement party at Rustlers Rooste after he completed his term. He received many lavish gifts from special interests to thank him for his support. I don’t know how or if these were reported. Something similar is likely to be planned for Karen Fann.
Considering how sprawling their power is in this state (and across the country), it seems like there should be more written about how ASU and UA are funneling tons of money into sports programs that yield next to nothing in terms of profit, entertainment, nor local pride. Instead, we've got ABOR members like Fred DuVal praising president Robbins at UA for his leadership and I can't recall a single critical thing written about Crow at ASU--aside from right-wingers who bleat incessantly about CRT, pronouns, and cultural Marxism.
I say this as an ASU PhD student who keep seeing my student fees and tuition increase, in addition to hearing from friends and colleagues who are struggling to keep up with their education costs.
I’d like more coverage of student political organizations, and the initiatives they’re working on. They all had a huge influence this past campaign cycle, but they don’t get nearly enough local publicity. I think they’re doing such great and impactful work to reach all communities and underserved youth demographics. They’re our future leaders, and they need more support! I love the T y’all provide, but I think feel good stories are important, too.
A story that we need to know is Ducey's sweetheart deals--esp. with developers--to keep the water crisis hidden. Along the same lines, what sorts of kickbacks or other deals led him to choose AshBritt, of Florida, to build that "wall"?
I’d like to know what nightmares Tom Horne has in mind for our schools. I honestly can’t believe the banned by the SEC, philandering hit-and-run driver got re-elected.
Jan 20, 2023Liked by Rachel Leingang, Hank Stephenson
How about covering what's going on with some of the lower profile but still important agency posts. Like, whatever happened to Lisa Atkins at state land (who signed off on the Saudi water deal) - is she retained?
How about what's up with AZ Dept of Gaming who wrote the sweet sports betting rules gifting Bidwell, Kendrick etc. big bucks & shortchanging the state - with hardly any revenue to the state from sports betting. Is Ted Vogt still getting a paycheck? If not, is the new person going to clean up Ted's mess?
What about the Industrial Commission & their directive to ADOSH to not enforce worker safety- so much so that the DOL is proceeding with revoking AZ's delegation agreement.
I think if you check the canvas numbers from each county… Less than one percent of the registered independent/nonpartisan‘s… Voted in the Arizona primary last August. That is a fact that surprised me. Absent of their participation, 7% of all registered voters put Kari Lake on the ballot last November. Rank choice voting with an open primary is not a perfect cure for our elections… But it would sure help. I’ve got a spreadsheet if you’re interested
Jan 20, 2023Liked by Rachel Leingang, Hank Stephenson
Whenever there’s a local election and most of the information you get is self-promotional, that’s a problem. School Boards are an entry point for city councils and the state government. Knowing more about the candidates who run would help to understand their motives and intentions. Just the sort of reporting the Tempe Daily News would have covered.
Tucson Unified School District governing board just acquired a Purple Parent, Val Romero, whose belief system mirrors Ron DeSantis. The other four members are liberal-progressive-diverse. Evolution of the relationship should yield a story or two.
Jan 20, 2023Liked by Rachel Leingang, Hank Stephenson
Kind of an add-on to Patt’s previous comment. There’s no lack of chaos in Fountain Hills politics. New self-identified partisans have turned the council into a wrestling match. The Trump slash-and-burn approach has trickled down. Imagine Kavanagh and his cronies being sole reps to state government with the wholesale termination of government relations counsel.
(See link.). While carpetbagger Alan Skillicorn works hard to promote his “victories.”
Tossed out most of the sign ordinance that took 7 months of study and had chamber of commerce support. (New Councilperson Hannah Toth is a chamber employee - voted against her boss’s wishes.
Next add the evangelicals vs the independents. Republicans added prayer back to council proceedings. Watch for a pagan or Santanist to lead “prayer” at the next meeting.
Oh - and before I forget -the bloc denied paying rent to store wheelchairs and other assistive devices that are regularly loaned to residents for free. Let’s kick the wheelchair out from Granny. Maybe if she just prays…
A deep dive into the affordable housing that Chandler recently voted down could be interesting? Haven't had time to look at it myself but supposedly some of the City Council's concerns with the project were valid. Regardless, I think it still goes before the county soon.
One little nuance of the STR drama here is that, to my understanding of state law, a single family home loses its LPV percentage cap once it is used for something other than a domicile. I looked at several properties in Maricopa that became rentals and their assessed value shoots up well past the maximum percentage the following year. While cities like PV and Scottsdale loathe them, I'm guessing the spike in assessed value could prove addictive and a real hurdle should they suddenly have the ability to limit them via state law change. I don't have the investigative manpower to follow up in AZ but thought it something Hank could nerd out on.
Jan 20, 2023Liked by Rachel Leingang, Hank Stephenson
The influence of developers on the City of Phoenix is well-known, but perhaps not well understood. In-fill is a priority over sprawl, yes, but who, for example, signs off on the huge homes being built in neighborhoods around Camelback Mountain? We listened to one developer dig into the mountain for 14 months near the top of Arlington Rd. to create a garage for 12 cars.... And some HOA's have height restrictions, but non-HOA neighborhoods have no protections other than the good-will, perhaps, of their city council representatives. A second issue is the long wait for building permits. Are big developers prioritized over homeowners wanting to do small remodels?
I read recently, that the widening of I 10 between Tucson and Phoenix was turned down by the infrastructure bill funding. So many of us have pled for so long for funding for a light rail service between Tucson and Phoenix instead of widening this dangerous freeway for even more cars. What about this issue? Is the light rail option dead?
I would like to see more on the efforts of Voter Choice Arizona and Save Democracy Arizona to bring open primaries and ranked choice voting to the state. I've lived in Arizona for almost two decades and it has always bothered me that so many political races are won at the primary level, so when I go to the polls on election day I have only one person to vote for, which really means I have no choice.
Paradise Valley Schools is moving forward with their use of ALICE training for teachers in coming months. Companies like ALICE Training Institute Promote Extreme Drills That Are Not Supported by Research! Background: PVSchools was approached by PHX PD and PHX Fire to be a hub in the North East Valley for training other neighboring districts on the ALICE method. The departments says they can offer this training thanks to a donation to the United Phoenix Firefighters Charities from Phoenix Suns Charities. ALICE organizers say the training provides some basic violent incident awareness and trainees will learn different techniques when it comes to lockdown, classroom security, how to distract a potential shooter, and more. But this really runs the students through a real live school shooter scenario with assailants firing soft pellet guns instead of bullets. "Unannounced drills are harmful and misguided. And when schools focus solely on drills, it takes their attention away from the real solutions to gun violence in schools, like keeping all firearms in the home secured and passing red flag laws"- Sari Kaufman, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and a member of the Students Demand Action national advisory board. And she is correct.
So far the details of the student involvement is not widely know. The announcement came during a teacher staff meeting at one of the high schools in PV, which came as a bit of surprise to teachers. The announcement was that teachers would be trained first, with no mention of students training. but the ALICE training involves real live student training. No word if PVSchools plans to do an amended version of ALICE training - teachers only, and then teachers walk students through the steps without a live drill with guns or not.
PV Schools cut Social Emotional Learning coaches from their budget for next year. Why? Cause the district screwed up their finances and had to cut millions to make up for the accounting error. Honestly they might be the only district in Arizona, if not the nation, that came out of Covid with all the federal money flowing, in a worse position than pre-pandemic. Superintendent only took responsibility in a Governing Board meeting, after I brought up his lack of taking responsibility during public comments.
On 4 to 3 vote, the new Town Council of Fountain Hills brought prayer back to the public square. On the first agenda item of the first meeting of the year, new councilmembers voted to replace a moment of silence with an invocation at the start of each meeting. Feelings are running hot on both sides. Residents opposed to the invocation are organizing.
I'd be interested in a story on advocacy days at the capitol ~ what goes into them, who does it best, whether rallies in the Plaza are effective at changing minds and hearts... My organization has it's annual Lutheran Day at the Legislature on January 30. We bust our tails to organize and get legislators to attend, even for a few minutes, and wangle legislative appointments. Is there another, better way to raise awareness for a cause (in our case, it's anti-hunger bills)?
I'm interested in how ESAs are affecting rural schools in the state. Dillon Rosenblatt got some great data about ESA applications, but it is censored to exclude zip codes with fewer than 20 ESA applicants so it only shows a few of the more rural zip codes. It does seem to show that half of the students going to the Young public school applied for ESAs. I wrote the the superintendent of the the Young school to see his thoughts on what was happening and how things were affected, but I never got a response. I wrote about it here https://thoughtsoneducation.substack.com/p/almost-half-of-students-in-the-young
This month I gloomily celebrate the 10th anniversary of my venture into SUSD's backroom politics. It was all so simple back then. And then I realized it wasn't.
The apparent good guys turned out to be oh so very bad. Far more than willing to dupe anyone (me) into gullibly playing along. Four years into my foolish support of Pam Kirby I'd started to wonder. Just to make sure I stopped wondering a cabal of great teachers stage their intervention. Literally walked in my office in force. Rolled out the stuff that Kirby had hidden.
Kirby remains the dark sinister character in the SUSD plot. Whatever happened to her to make her so hateful (I have thoughts here), it must have been awful. After running Birdwell and Kirby out in 2017-18, she went back into her new dungeon (the AZ GOP State Party offices) where she launched her next assault.
Phase one was a test run - we know that now. She hand picked two truly lunatic fringe candidates just to see what would happen if she told Republicans to vote for them. They lost by significant margins, but smart people realized that Kirby was just testing the water. (I'm not the smart person - I had to be told - again).
2022 Kirby went all-out. Picked candidates who were photogenic. Rehearsed their agonized-scared-moms faces. And launched an incredible fund-raising effort. Her two candidates raised more money in 2022 than all the candidates put together in any SUSD election through 2020.
She also brought in the big-guns. The Resolute Group (George Khalaf and Kendra Kalama with Jake Hoffman affiliations) successfully ran Nancy Barto's campaign in 2020. George's dad was the genius behind the PAC that attributed huge dollar donations to California residents who'd never heard of the PAC and didn't donate.
And then Kirby hooked Carney and Werner up with the rest of the extremist GOP candidates. The carefully staged Mock-Shock Revelation of the so-called Greenburg Dossier (which was actually a manipulated folder that had been carefully altered for three solid months before the Big-Reveal).
Followed by the Charlie Kirk moment at the August 2021 SUSD Board Meeting
Followed by p.r./t.v. moments at protests in front of SUSD with Kari Lake, Ugenti-Rita, Joe Chaplik and a handful of other extremist candidates.
You could not watch or read the news for a few months without seeing Carney's pitiful sobbing as she cried about the Dossier, cried about masks, cried about Critical Race Theory - - - and gleefully celebrated all the free t.v. and print news time.
With all that effort and money, Carney and Werner won - but only by slim margins. Beating two traditional self managed mom and dad candidates with zero professional help and limited funds.
The Resolute Group can only claim that one victory in 2022. Same with Kirby. And it cost a shit-ton of money. So why would they do that again in 2024?
Here's the deep dark nasty plot - - 2024 can be the death knell of SUSD.
Carney and Werner played oh-so-innocent throughout their campaign. But their closely handled social mediate assault squad was awful. They went so low - so ugly - and hit so hard. Kirby participated in that assault on the other candidates and their supporters. She left no doubt that 2024 will be worse. With that kind of history fresh in their minds, who is crazy enough to run in 2024 knowing they'll be villainously victimized?
2024 is also the year that SUSD must renew its M&O Override. If Kirby jams three more DEFUND-SUSD candidates onto SUSD's Board, (all affiliated with Great Hearts), expect SUSD to be decimated. Its campuses carved up and handed off (primarily to Great Hearts). And expect SUSD's Superintendent to have walked to avoid being fired. Menzel will take his golden parachute and move on. He can get a job anywhere. He doesn't need Kirby's shit-storm.
That whole plot will play out over the next 20 months. Non-stop news worth events with Netflix Series quality characters playing the key roles. "Scamming Scottsdale" . . . we actually wrote the cold-open for that series. Think of Orange Is The New Black for some of the scenes since Birdwell is about to go to trial on her 18 count indictment along with her life partner Honeycutt.
You could make an entire sub-substack gig out of this mess. Highly entertaining for those whose kids aren't at risk and aren't teachers. And you already have a dozen of the best and key sources of information in your readership group.
Go for it. It's a possible Pulitzer. You'd look good toting one of those around.
Reporting from the the Roosevelt neighborhood in downtown Phoenix: Our longtime association treasurer, Doug Churchill, died unexpectedly over the holidays. Doug had also served on the Downtown Village Planning Committee for decades, so really was a fixture. He’ll be missed. The west Roosevelt area has been the scene of a number of shootings and murders in recent months, most recently the Scottsdale officer who was shot by a suspected rapist while a warrant was being served at the Union apartments at 1st Ave and Roosevelt. Local residents are getting a bit restless over the spate of violent gun crimes. In better news, the residential building boom continues unabated, with two projects under construction just south of the Union. A 20+ apartment tower is wrapping itself around the original McKinley Club building at 1st Ave and McKinley, and a smaller 5-story complex is going up just north of there. We expect another 20-story building to break ground shortly on 2nd Ave. just south of McKinley. Roosevelt residents have always been welcoming to more density and we welcome our new neighbors. If you’re looking for a new coffee shop, check out Cafe Vitta on McDowell Road between 5th and 7th Avenues, great place for a meeting.
My request would be something about Cathi Herrod and the out-sized impact she has on AZ politics. I'd like to know more about how her closeness with the AZ GOP has resulted in actual laws for the state. I feel as though she's really been the most dangerous force in AZ for quite some time now and I'd like to know how someone who has never been elected to anything has gained such enormous influence over us all. There has to be a fascinating, behind the scenes story there! Thanks!
Despite the 2008 ballot results, payday lenders are still making loans in AZ. They just call them “registration loans”.
It’s a loophole in the car title loan law that allows lenders to make a loan on the registration of the loan - meaning, you don’t have to own the car to take a loan out against it.
That ALSO means that there is no real security on the loan other than the borrower’s bank account. Hmmm. No security. Short term. Small loan. Triple digit APR. that’s a payday loan.
Plenty of former payday lenders just migrated their licenses into these registration loans in the last several years. Because, as I said, they are basically the same product.
Adding on to a few questions about Tom Horne and the Dept. of Ed, I would be interested in an explainer about how state testing policies are enacted. For example, Horne says he wants a statewide test for high school graduation. Similar to the old AIMS test I suppose. Would this require an act by the legislature? Or through the state Board of Ed or what? Our current system of standardized testing and school letter grades has a profound impact on how public schools operate. Horne says he wants higher test scores. But what is the democratic process involved to implement the specific tests? If educators wanted to reform the state testing system, where would they even begin?
Another education related topic. Methods used to teach reading. I've read several national stories about the science of reading and how some schools moved away from teaching phonics, but now, with reading levels down, there is a move back towards phonetic instruction. What are AZ schools doing? What is the preferred method for teaching reading? How are teachers in AZ being trained to teach reading?
School boards - the takeovers of SUSD and others, stripping curriculum, breaking public education, thus feeding a narrative that the only solution is to strip assets and privatize.
Continued vigilance, expose, and ~ quid pro quo of Ducey's sweetheart deals:
Container walls and contract to the connected GOP FL firm
LD 27 Dems are on Local School Board Meeting watch. Washington Elementary had their first school board meeting, and the business agenda item of bringing on new counselors-in-training from local universities was extensively discussed. Questions raised about the Grand Canyon University collaboration with Washington El. and their religious stands on anti LGBTQIA issues. How many other university pipelines are working with multiple school districts to fill-in where paid certified professionals aren't hired? On a different note, Deer Valley school board has a very hostile two new board members (Kim Fischer) ended a school board meeting vowing to look into everyone including the Supt. of Deer Valley (sarcasm: what a way to show cooperation and good intentions as a new board member). Deer Valley School Board meeting was a synopsis taken from another LD27 member reporting on the first new school board meeting of 2023.
I am very concerned about the troubling lack of attention upon the massive water depleting operations by Riverview cattle factory farm with 200,000 head. They also grow feed corn & alfalfa using pesticides. This 37,00 acre operation is tearing up the fragile desert ecosystem, destroying Turkey Creek, draining a prehistoric aquifer & contaminating of the water table. It is an astounding mess that also is leaving many small wells dry. This is a display approved by right wing Cochise county board of supervisors Tom Crosby & Peggy Judd as well as the troubling influence wielded during Donald Trump’s administration that continues unimpeded.
People keep dying in the Pima County jail and Laura Conover is doing nothing about it, in spite of branding herself as one of the so called “progressive prosecutors” in America today. Maybe you all have covered this already, but it’s worth continuing to follow. The families deserve answers and accountability, and Conover has made clear we won’t get those things without continuing to call attention to the human rights abuses occurring there.
Yesterday was a beautiful ceremony of investiture for our newest member of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - the largest in the federal system. Our Roopali Desai, a fabulous lawyer generous with good causes, a loyal friend, and a mom of three beautiful girls, received her robe and a warm welcome from her new colleagues. Governor Hobbs was there and members of the Arizona legislature, as well as many judges and lots of lawyers. Sprinkled in the small crowd at the federal courthouse also were activists, including Rivko Knox, now age 90, and still a dedicated marcher for civil and human rights. Roopali's mother, an Indian activist and feminist in her own right, helped Judge Desai on with her robe. Roopali's sister provided a traditional Indian blessing; her law colleagues sang her praises, and Chief Justice Mary Schroeder warned her colleagues that Judge Desai is brilliant, persuasive, and determined, despite her always polite, respectful, and friendly demeanor. Roopali's three little daughters stole the show by reciting wise words about justice. Altogether a heartwarming, lovely, and very Arizona event.
What’s going on over there? There’s also a broader discussion to be had around animal policy and so many communities’ inability to do proper trap, neuter/spay, release, etc.
We here in LD17 are still reeling from the gerrymandering that got this district created. So much for an independent commission, eh? One of the Democrats and the sole Independent were really Republicans in disguise.
It's not local, but he affects us all. (You did mention petty tyrants!)
John Kavanagh is in his 9th term. He defies AZ term limits by jumping around from House to Senate. As we face a water crisis, Kavanagh continues to propose bills to attack teachers and trans kids. How about an in depth look at his district, and why they keep voting for him?
The story that needs to be better understood is why did Doug Ducey failed so many of his corporate supporters and the interests of 100% of the local elected officials who designed the transportation plan from Maricopa Association of Government's Regional Council. Other than being a tax increase that would be approved by voters, prop 400 made great sense.
Congressman Andy Biggs tweeted this week that: "All illegal aliens must be deported. Period."
Is immigration reform possible with this demagoguery of political opportunists like Biggs? For a border state like Arizona, would like more insights on who is doing serious and thoughtful work to tackle this critical issue. Unfortunately for Arizona and CD-05, Biggs is neither serious nor thoughtful.
Cochise County Supervisors are supposed to have an agenda item for 1/24 (the agenda is not posted yet) to discuss paying an attorney for election supervisor Lisa Marre. In response to the board of supes actions, she had to have an outside attorney at a cost of about $30,000. Two of the supervisors, Crosby and Judd, have said they won't want to pay the bill.
One of the two supervisors, Tom Crosby, is the target of a recall campaign as a result of his refusal to send election results to the Secretary of State, among other things. The committee has 120 days to get the need 4865 signatures to force an election.
And for a second time an effort to oust supervisor Ann English from the chair has failed. Supervisor Judd refused to serve as nominated because of the ill health of her husband.
Important development from Cochise County! Tom Crosby, the election denier Supervisor in District 1 is in the process of being recalled. Anyone can help this campaign to succeed by contributing to the campaign to raise money for signs and a billboard! Here is a link, and I hope this doesn't break the rules. If it does just remove the link! THANK YOU! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lovesigns?refcode2=ab_thanks_social_facebook
Keep an eye out for a privately hosted retirement party for Senate President Fann. We attended Ken Bennett’s retirement party at Rustlers Rooste after he completed his term. He received many lavish gifts from special interests to thank him for his support. I don’t know how or if these were reported. Something similar is likely to be planned for Karen Fann.
Considering how sprawling their power is in this state (and across the country), it seems like there should be more written about how ASU and UA are funneling tons of money into sports programs that yield next to nothing in terms of profit, entertainment, nor local pride. Instead, we've got ABOR members like Fred DuVal praising president Robbins at UA for his leadership and I can't recall a single critical thing written about Crow at ASU--aside from right-wingers who bleat incessantly about CRT, pronouns, and cultural Marxism.
People who are curious about the sports story can find it here: https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/sports/college/2023/01/12/why-asu-ua-poured-125-5m-into-athletics-at-height-of-pandemic/10671711002/
I say this as an ASU PhD student who keep seeing my student fees and tuition increase, in addition to hearing from friends and colleagues who are struggling to keep up with their education costs.
I’d like more coverage of student political organizations, and the initiatives they’re working on. They all had a huge influence this past campaign cycle, but they don’t get nearly enough local publicity. I think they’re doing such great and impactful work to reach all communities and underserved youth demographics. They’re our future leaders, and they need more support! I love the T y’all provide, but I think feel good stories are important, too.
A story that we need to know is Ducey's sweetheart deals--esp. with developers--to keep the water crisis hidden. Along the same lines, what sorts of kickbacks or other deals led him to choose AshBritt, of Florida, to build that "wall"?
I’d like to know what nightmares Tom Horne has in mind for our schools. I honestly can’t believe the banned by the SEC, philandering hit-and-run driver got re-elected.
How about covering what's going on with some of the lower profile but still important agency posts. Like, whatever happened to Lisa Atkins at state land (who signed off on the Saudi water deal) - is she retained?
How about what's up with AZ Dept of Gaming who wrote the sweet sports betting rules gifting Bidwell, Kendrick etc. big bucks & shortchanging the state - with hardly any revenue to the state from sports betting. Is Ted Vogt still getting a paycheck? If not, is the new person going to clean up Ted's mess?
What about the Industrial Commission & their directive to ADOSH to not enforce worker safety- so much so that the DOL is proceeding with revoking AZ's delegation agreement.
Stuff like that.
I think if you check the canvas numbers from each county… Less than one percent of the registered independent/nonpartisan‘s… Voted in the Arizona primary last August. That is a fact that surprised me. Absent of their participation, 7% of all registered voters put Kari Lake on the ballot last November. Rank choice voting with an open primary is not a perfect cure for our elections… But it would sure help. I’ve got a spreadsheet if you’re interested
Whenever there’s a local election and most of the information you get is self-promotional, that’s a problem. School Boards are an entry point for city councils and the state government. Knowing more about the candidates who run would help to understand their motives and intentions. Just the sort of reporting the Tempe Daily News would have covered.
Tucson Unified School District governing board just acquired a Purple Parent, Val Romero, whose belief system mirrors Ron DeSantis. The other four members are liberal-progressive-diverse. Evolution of the relationship should yield a story or two.
Kind of an add-on to Patt’s previous comment. There’s no lack of chaos in Fountain Hills politics. New self-identified partisans have turned the council into a wrestling match. The Trump slash-and-burn approach has trickled down. Imagine Kavanagh and his cronies being sole reps to state government with the wholesale termination of government relations counsel.
(See link.). While carpetbagger Alan Skillicorn works hard to promote his “victories.”
Tossed out most of the sign ordinance that took 7 months of study and had chamber of commerce support. (New Councilperson Hannah Toth is a chamber employee - voted against her boss’s wishes.
Next add the evangelicals vs the independents. Republicans added prayer back to council proceedings. Watch for a pagan or Santanist to lead “prayer” at the next meeting.
Oh - and before I forget -the bloc denied paying rent to store wheelchairs and other assistive devices that are regularly loaned to residents for free. Let’s kick the wheelchair out from Granny. Maybe if she just prays…
https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2023/01/18/skillicorn-leads-successful-fight-to-fire-fountain-hills-lobbyist/comment-page-1/?unapproved=277728&moderation-hash=679a7b2b24707305475a38aac181ef3c&fbclid=IwAR1vG-e-7zL2xcOrmfwlngA8GpET9IsaCw9vpWXtVQzazPuqGjc3ZPCKisU&mibextid=Zxz2cZ#comment-277728
A deep dive into the affordable housing that Chandler recently voted down could be interesting? Haven't had time to look at it myself but supposedly some of the City Council's concerns with the project were valid. Regardless, I think it still goes before the county soon.
One little nuance of the STR drama here is that, to my understanding of state law, a single family home loses its LPV percentage cap once it is used for something other than a domicile. I looked at several properties in Maricopa that became rentals and their assessed value shoots up well past the maximum percentage the following year. While cities like PV and Scottsdale loathe them, I'm guessing the spike in assessed value could prove addictive and a real hurdle should they suddenly have the ability to limit them via state law change. I don't have the investigative manpower to follow up in AZ but thought it something Hank could nerd out on.
The influence of developers on the City of Phoenix is well-known, but perhaps not well understood. In-fill is a priority over sprawl, yes, but who, for example, signs off on the huge homes being built in neighborhoods around Camelback Mountain? We listened to one developer dig into the mountain for 14 months near the top of Arlington Rd. to create a garage for 12 cars.... And some HOA's have height restrictions, but non-HOA neighborhoods have no protections other than the good-will, perhaps, of their city council representatives. A second issue is the long wait for building permits. Are big developers prioritized over homeowners wanting to do small remodels?
I read recently, that the widening of I 10 between Tucson and Phoenix was turned down by the infrastructure bill funding. So many of us have pled for so long for funding for a light rail service between Tucson and Phoenix instead of widening this dangerous freeway for even more cars. What about this issue? Is the light rail option dead?
Too many voters must not have been aware of Tom Horne’s narrow view of education not to mention his unethical behaviors.
I like to see some good research given to Mr Horne explaining the need to educate the whole child
Physical, intellectual, emotional and social needs all need to be addressed to have children be successful.
He also needs to be educated on the benefits of bi-lingual education.
I would like to see more on the efforts of Voter Choice Arizona and Save Democracy Arizona to bring open primaries and ranked choice voting to the state. I've lived in Arizona for almost two decades and it has always bothered me that so many political races are won at the primary level, so when I go to the polls on election day I have only one person to vote for, which really means I have no choice.
Paradise Valley Schools is moving forward with their use of ALICE training for teachers in coming months. Companies like ALICE Training Institute Promote Extreme Drills That Are Not Supported by Research! Background: PVSchools was approached by PHX PD and PHX Fire to be a hub in the North East Valley for training other neighboring districts on the ALICE method. The departments says they can offer this training thanks to a donation to the United Phoenix Firefighters Charities from Phoenix Suns Charities. ALICE organizers say the training provides some basic violent incident awareness and trainees will learn different techniques when it comes to lockdown, classroom security, how to distract a potential shooter, and more. But this really runs the students through a real live school shooter scenario with assailants firing soft pellet guns instead of bullets. "Unannounced drills are harmful and misguided. And when schools focus solely on drills, it takes their attention away from the real solutions to gun violence in schools, like keeping all firearms in the home secured and passing red flag laws"- Sari Kaufman, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and a member of the Students Demand Action national advisory board. And she is correct.
So far the details of the student involvement is not widely know. The announcement came during a teacher staff meeting at one of the high schools in PV, which came as a bit of surprise to teachers. The announcement was that teachers would be trained first, with no mention of students training. but the ALICE training involves real live student training. No word if PVSchools plans to do an amended version of ALICE training - teachers only, and then teachers walk students through the steps without a live drill with guns or not.
PV Schools cut Social Emotional Learning coaches from their budget for next year. Why? Cause the district screwed up their finances and had to cut millions to make up for the accounting error. Honestly they might be the only district in Arizona, if not the nation, that came out of Covid with all the federal money flowing, in a worse position than pre-pandemic. Superintendent only took responsibility in a Governing Board meeting, after I brought up his lack of taking responsibility during public comments.
On 4 to 3 vote, the new Town Council of Fountain Hills brought prayer back to the public square. On the first agenda item of the first meeting of the year, new councilmembers voted to replace a moment of silence with an invocation at the start of each meeting. Feelings are running hot on both sides. Residents opposed to the invocation are organizing.
I'd be interested in a story on advocacy days at the capitol ~ what goes into them, who does it best, whether rallies in the Plaza are effective at changing minds and hearts... My organization has it's annual Lutheran Day at the Legislature on January 30. We bust our tails to organize and get legislators to attend, even for a few minutes, and wangle legislative appointments. Is there another, better way to raise awareness for a cause (in our case, it's anti-hunger bills)?
I'm interested in how ESAs are affecting rural schools in the state. Dillon Rosenblatt got some great data about ESA applications, but it is censored to exclude zip codes with fewer than 20 ESA applicants so it only shows a few of the more rural zip codes. It does seem to show that half of the students going to the Young public school applied for ESAs. I wrote the the superintendent of the the Young school to see his thoughts on what was happening and how things were affected, but I never got a response. I wrote about it here https://thoughtsoneducation.substack.com/p/almost-half-of-students-in-the-young
This month I gloomily celebrate the 10th anniversary of my venture into SUSD's backroom politics. It was all so simple back then. And then I realized it wasn't.
The apparent good guys turned out to be oh so very bad. Far more than willing to dupe anyone (me) into gullibly playing along. Four years into my foolish support of Pam Kirby I'd started to wonder. Just to make sure I stopped wondering a cabal of great teachers stage their intervention. Literally walked in my office in force. Rolled out the stuff that Kirby had hidden.
Kirby remains the dark sinister character in the SUSD plot. Whatever happened to her to make her so hateful (I have thoughts here), it must have been awful. After running Birdwell and Kirby out in 2017-18, she went back into her new dungeon (the AZ GOP State Party offices) where she launched her next assault.
Phase one was a test run - we know that now. She hand picked two truly lunatic fringe candidates just to see what would happen if she told Republicans to vote for them. They lost by significant margins, but smart people realized that Kirby was just testing the water. (I'm not the smart person - I had to be told - again).
2022 Kirby went all-out. Picked candidates who were photogenic. Rehearsed their agonized-scared-moms faces. And launched an incredible fund-raising effort. Her two candidates raised more money in 2022 than all the candidates put together in any SUSD election through 2020.
She also brought in the big-guns. The Resolute Group (George Khalaf and Kendra Kalama with Jake Hoffman affiliations) successfully ran Nancy Barto's campaign in 2020. George's dad was the genius behind the PAC that attributed huge dollar donations to California residents who'd never heard of the PAC and didn't donate.
And then Kirby hooked Carney and Werner up with the rest of the extremist GOP candidates. The carefully staged Mock-Shock Revelation of the so-called Greenburg Dossier (which was actually a manipulated folder that had been carefully altered for three solid months before the Big-Reveal).
Followed by the Charlie Kirk moment at the August 2021 SUSD Board Meeting
Followed by p.r./t.v. moments at protests in front of SUSD with Kari Lake, Ugenti-Rita, Joe Chaplik and a handful of other extremist candidates.
You could not watch or read the news for a few months without seeing Carney's pitiful sobbing as she cried about the Dossier, cried about masks, cried about Critical Race Theory - - - and gleefully celebrated all the free t.v. and print news time.
With all that effort and money, Carney and Werner won - but only by slim margins. Beating two traditional self managed mom and dad candidates with zero professional help and limited funds.
The Resolute Group can only claim that one victory in 2022. Same with Kirby. And it cost a shit-ton of money. So why would they do that again in 2024?
Here's the deep dark nasty plot - - 2024 can be the death knell of SUSD.
Carney and Werner played oh-so-innocent throughout their campaign. But their closely handled social mediate assault squad was awful. They went so low - so ugly - and hit so hard. Kirby participated in that assault on the other candidates and their supporters. She left no doubt that 2024 will be worse. With that kind of history fresh in their minds, who is crazy enough to run in 2024 knowing they'll be villainously victimized?
2024 is also the year that SUSD must renew its M&O Override. If Kirby jams three more DEFUND-SUSD candidates onto SUSD's Board, (all affiliated with Great Hearts), expect SUSD to be decimated. Its campuses carved up and handed off (primarily to Great Hearts). And expect SUSD's Superintendent to have walked to avoid being fired. Menzel will take his golden parachute and move on. He can get a job anywhere. He doesn't need Kirby's shit-storm.
That whole plot will play out over the next 20 months. Non-stop news worth events with Netflix Series quality characters playing the key roles. "Scamming Scottsdale" . . . we actually wrote the cold-open for that series. Think of Orange Is The New Black for some of the scenes since Birdwell is about to go to trial on her 18 count indictment along with her life partner Honeycutt.
You could make an entire sub-substack gig out of this mess. Highly entertaining for those whose kids aren't at risk and aren't teachers. And you already have a dozen of the best and key sources of information in your readership group.
Go for it. It's a possible Pulitzer. You'd look good toting one of those around.
I liked Will Humble’s suggestions. I have all kinds of questions but can’t give any direction. Good luck. Will keep thinking.
Reporting from the the Roosevelt neighborhood in downtown Phoenix: Our longtime association treasurer, Doug Churchill, died unexpectedly over the holidays. Doug had also served on the Downtown Village Planning Committee for decades, so really was a fixture. He’ll be missed. The west Roosevelt area has been the scene of a number of shootings and murders in recent months, most recently the Scottsdale officer who was shot by a suspected rapist while a warrant was being served at the Union apartments at 1st Ave and Roosevelt. Local residents are getting a bit restless over the spate of violent gun crimes. In better news, the residential building boom continues unabated, with two projects under construction just south of the Union. A 20+ apartment tower is wrapping itself around the original McKinley Club building at 1st Ave and McKinley, and a smaller 5-story complex is going up just north of there. We expect another 20-story building to break ground shortly on 2nd Ave. just south of McKinley. Roosevelt residents have always been welcoming to more density and we welcome our new neighbors. If you’re looking for a new coffee shop, check out Cafe Vitta on McDowell Road between 5th and 7th Avenues, great place for a meeting.
My request would be something about Cathi Herrod and the out-sized impact she has on AZ politics. I'd like to know more about how her closeness with the AZ GOP has resulted in actual laws for the state. I feel as though she's really been the most dangerous force in AZ for quite some time now and I'd like to know how someone who has never been elected to anything has gained such enormous influence over us all. There has to be a fascinating, behind the scenes story there! Thanks!
Despite the 2008 ballot results, payday lenders are still making loans in AZ. They just call them “registration loans”.
It’s a loophole in the car title loan law that allows lenders to make a loan on the registration of the loan - meaning, you don’t have to own the car to take a loan out against it.
That ALSO means that there is no real security on the loan other than the borrower’s bank account. Hmmm. No security. Short term. Small loan. Triple digit APR. that’s a payday loan.
Plenty of former payday lenders just migrated their licenses into these registration loans in the last several years. Because, as I said, they are basically the same product.
Ben Toma doing the Lord’s Work by bringing back the House Lounge soda machine, originally installed by Bob Robson, removed by Rusty Bowers.
Adding on to a few questions about Tom Horne and the Dept. of Ed, I would be interested in an explainer about how state testing policies are enacted. For example, Horne says he wants a statewide test for high school graduation. Similar to the old AIMS test I suppose. Would this require an act by the legislature? Or through the state Board of Ed or what? Our current system of standardized testing and school letter grades has a profound impact on how public schools operate. Horne says he wants higher test scores. But what is the democratic process involved to implement the specific tests? If educators wanted to reform the state testing system, where would they even begin?
Another education related topic. Methods used to teach reading. I've read several national stories about the science of reading and how some schools moved away from teaching phonics, but now, with reading levels down, there is a move back towards phonetic instruction. What are AZ schools doing? What is the preferred method for teaching reading? How are teachers in AZ being trained to teach reading?
School boards - the takeovers of SUSD and others, stripping curriculum, breaking public education, thus feeding a narrative that the only solution is to strip assets and privatize.
Continued vigilance, expose, and ~ quid pro quo of Ducey's sweetheart deals:
Container walls and contract to the connected GOP FL firm
Saudi water
West Valley water
Free sports betting licenses
Desalinization water to hand-selected firm
$100M for patio heaters
DOC privatization
Vouchers, and that money sink
LD 27 Dems are on Local School Board Meeting watch. Washington Elementary had their first school board meeting, and the business agenda item of bringing on new counselors-in-training from local universities was extensively discussed. Questions raised about the Grand Canyon University collaboration with Washington El. and their religious stands on anti LGBTQIA issues. How many other university pipelines are working with multiple school districts to fill-in where paid certified professionals aren't hired? On a different note, Deer Valley school board has a very hostile two new board members (Kim Fischer) ended a school board meeting vowing to look into everyone including the Supt. of Deer Valley (sarcasm: what a way to show cooperation and good intentions as a new board member). Deer Valley School Board meeting was a synopsis taken from another LD27 member reporting on the first new school board meeting of 2023.
I am very concerned about the troubling lack of attention upon the massive water depleting operations by Riverview cattle factory farm with 200,000 head. They also grow feed corn & alfalfa using pesticides. This 37,00 acre operation is tearing up the fragile desert ecosystem, destroying Turkey Creek, draining a prehistoric aquifer & contaminating of the water table. It is an astounding mess that also is leaving many small wells dry. This is a display approved by right wing Cochise county board of supervisors Tom Crosby & Peggy Judd as well as the troubling influence wielded during Donald Trump’s administration that continues unimpeded.
People keep dying in the Pima County jail and Laura Conover is doing nothing about it, in spite of branding herself as one of the so called “progressive prosecutors” in America today. Maybe you all have covered this already, but it’s worth continuing to follow. The families deserve answers and accountability, and Conover has made clear we won’t get those things without continuing to call attention to the human rights abuses occurring there.
Yesterday was a beautiful ceremony of investiture for our newest member of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - the largest in the federal system. Our Roopali Desai, a fabulous lawyer generous with good causes, a loyal friend, and a mom of three beautiful girls, received her robe and a warm welcome from her new colleagues. Governor Hobbs was there and members of the Arizona legislature, as well as many judges and lots of lawyers. Sprinkled in the small crowd at the federal courthouse also were activists, including Rivko Knox, now age 90, and still a dedicated marcher for civil and human rights. Roopali's mother, an Indian activist and feminist in her own right, helped Judge Desai on with her robe. Roopali's sister provided a traditional Indian blessing; her law colleagues sang her praises, and Chief Justice Mary Schroeder warned her colleagues that Judge Desai is brilliant, persuasive, and determined, despite her always polite, respectful, and friendly demeanor. Roopali's three little daughters stole the show by reciting wise words about justice. Altogether a heartwarming, lovely, and very Arizona event.
I haven’t heard an announcement of Kate Brophy McGee’s death. Not in the Republic, Capitol Times, anywhere. Did I miss that?
A lot’s been going on at Maricopa County animal shelters. Had a distemper outbreak. Hubbub over potential uptick in euthanizations, even before said outbreak. Change in leadership. https://www.change.org/p/demand-reform-for-maricopa-county-animal-care-and-control-in-phoenix-arizona
What’s going on over there? There’s also a broader discussion to be had around animal policy and so many communities’ inability to do proper trap, neuter/spay, release, etc.
I'm curious to hear more on Zach Yentzer, running for mayor of Tucson.
How are his priorities different from Regina Romero's? What power does mayor of Tucson have, and what could somebody do with it?
I just found this string...
We here in LD17 are still reeling from the gerrymandering that got this district created. So much for an independent commission, eh? One of the Democrats and the sole Independent were really Republicans in disguise.