Democrat and Pinal County Sheriff Chris Vasquez has a serious problem in the “ethics department.”
According to the East Valley Tribune, ”Pinal County Sheriff Chris Vasquez has plagiarized more than a dozen times in his monthly letters since taking office three years ago, lifting text from numerous Web sites, journalists, lawmakers and even President Bush.”
The Tribune continues, “The plagiarism is extensive. And in many cases, the text is copied verbatim and unattributed with copied material that ranges in size from a few sentences to entire speeches.”
In one case, Sheriff Vasquez copied a speech in entirety of Oregon Governor, Ted Kulongoski with the only change to the speech being the word Oregon replaced by the word Arizona.
A few days after the Tribune reported on Vasquez’s plagiarism, it ran an editorial and even noted possible problems on the Arizona Peace Officer Standard and Training Board, ”Vasquez told Biscobing that he and others on the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board found the subject amusing and a non-issue. If that indeed is the case, then the entire AZPOST board should be scrutinized.”
The day after the Tribune’s editorial, Sheriff Vasquez responded with an open letter in which he admitted to his ethics problem of plagiarizing. ”If by the definition through the letters I committed plagiarism, then I apologize to all who are offended,” he wrote. Some apology huh?
Governor Janet Napolitano apparently likes Chris Vasquez so much that she appointed him to the Constable Ethics Standards and Training Board and endorsed him in his re-election bid.
But if ethics problems were not a big enough problem for Sheriff Chris Vasquez, he now finds himself being challenged by Republican Paul Babeu, a Major in the Arizona Army National Guard. On Babeu’s website he clearly brings up the issue of integrity:
We will end the good old boy system that has existed in Pinal County, which has compromised the integrity of our sworn profession. Fairness in promotions, training for all staff and an even hand in discipline will be implemented. Leaders will be held to a higher standard of performance and accountability. Imagine an atmosphere where all employees are respected and treated with fairness. Imagine the improved moral and enhanced work performance that will follow. It starts with the top leaders and I will lead by setting a good example of high integrity, demand for excellence in my work and all those who serve the public.
As Pinal County continues to grows, Democrats are losing their political stronghold on County government. That, in addition to ethic problems which have plagued Pinal County government over the last few years, may bring a change in leadership. Major Paul Babeu hopes to be one individual who will bring that change and leadership.
