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Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ Power Grab

September 18, 2008 By 4 Comments

Back when the Board of Supervisors appointed a replacement for Treasurer David Schweikert, they pulled the new guy, Charles ”Hos” Hoskins, aside and told him they would only appoint him if he went along with their grand plan to consolidate the Treasurer’s Office with the Office of Enterprise Technology (OET). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and County Manager, David Smith, worked behind the scenes to move in quickly during the vacuum in the Treasurer’s Office in order to bring the assets of another elected office under their authority. They were ultimately successful and moments after the plan was approved, they approved the new Treasurer, Charles “Hos” Hoskins.

Now, Treasurer Hoskins has realized what he was really schnookered into – another BOS power grab – and he’s suing the Board as he should. Here is a copy of the complaint.

The East Valley Tribune did a good job in summarizing this story today when it wrote,

The board also ordered the seizure of equipment, information and other items that Hoskins claims is necessary to run his office, according to the suit. The treasurer, which is an elected position, oversees $10 billion in public monies.

Hoskins wants the board to immediately return his technology staff, any items seized, and to pay attorney fees. In addition, Hoskins wants protections to keep the board from similar attempts to take over his operations.

Hoskins has even found a friend in the County Attorney’s Office which stated,

The county attorney’s office agrees with Hoskins, stating in a legal opinion issued in July that it was a “scheme” by the board to “effectively eliminate the Treasurer’s Office.”

However, the County Attorney has asked the Treasurer’s Office not to make comments to the media. But that doesn’t stop this blog from covering the situation given our unique perspective and connections.

If this fiasco sounds familiar, it is. For several years, the Board of Supervisors have sought to consolidate power from a number of elected offices. The Superintendent of Schools was the first to fall when they seized the Pappas schools. Now they’re after the Treasurer’s Office and we’re watching the saga unfold all over again.

Filed Under: County Government

Harry Mitchell on the take.

September 18, 2008 By 2 Comments

The Gila Courier and Harry Mitchell Watch blogs have been looking into who is funding Harry Mitchell. Turns out that the well connected and accounting-challenged Charles Rangel of New York has channeled almost $30,000 into Mitchell’s coffers. Mitchell made a big deal about who was funding JD Hayworth’s campaign in 2006. It will be interesting to see if anyone on the left calls for Mitchell to return the cash from the tax-code inept Rangel.

Congressman Rangel is Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and works on writing the tax code. Maybe he should read his own work. Even the New Your Times has called for Rangel to step down from his position.

The 2006 ad attacking Hayworth stated that he was under investigation. Espresso Pundit wrote about the fact that the investigation of Hayworth turned up no evidence of wrongdoing despite the press’ efforts to smear him.

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Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

Black Thursday? Market Bleeds Out to a Red October

September 18, 2008 By 10 Comments

-by Gayle Plato-Besley
 
Like a drug addled teen stealing Mom’s wallet, the multi-country public financing of corporate bail outs grabs our money without thought or remorse.  Today we hear it’s The U.S. Government, China, Japan, and nearly all central banking groups of the free world market. As stated at FOX Business website,

The European Central Bank said that it had joined with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank to pump more short-term dollar liquidity into the financial system.”

Will this be Black Thursday?  There’s an uptick of futures for the open in less than an hour of this post, but that is not it.  According to Stuart Varney of FOX News,

Overnight the lending markets seized up… this week the US Treasury sold 40 billion in to fund the Reserve.”

Realize this, $370 Billion was dumped into the world markets this week.  What does this mean? No one will be borrowing money and there is no amount of bail out to save this.  The World Market is like that drug addict kid- you love him and want him to get though it all, but until he stops taking and using… You know he must stop or he might not make it.  It’s tough love time. Unfortunately, the trickle down to all of us, might be a flash flood this time.
 
It’s about loans and no one can get one.  It’s about the psychological effect and how your job at your company might be pink slipped.  Heck your company might be pinked.  Now, can we really afford absolute market killers of more taxes?  Can each one of us take on the flood of growing central government, charging the bill to us?
 
So as President Bush prepares to speak today after clearing his schedule to deal with the economy woes, get yourself educated real quickly as to how liquid you are.  Is your wallet half full or half empty?  Think it’s all gloom and doom?
 
How’s your house value compared to 18 months ago–heck even 3 months ago?  Your greatest asset is your home and the biggest loan most of us  have is the mortgage.  Are you ready to pay in full if it were called?  Hmmm.
  
Keep hope alive.  Reform… Change…
 
Personally, I want more than some Change in my wallet.  It may not be Black Thursday, but whether today or tomorrow, it is Red and the financial lifeblood is bleeding out.

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi is blaming the President and John McCain for the financial crisis while Mr. Barack Obama pulls economic advice out of the brains of former Fannie and Freddie heads. Comment by John McCain:“ ‘He talks a tough game on the financial crisis, but the facts tell a different story,’ McCain said at a rally in Vienna, Ohio. ‘Senator Obama took more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than anyone but the chairman of the committee they answer to. And he put Fannie Mae’s CEO, who helped create this problem, in charge of finding his vice president. That’s not change, that’s what’s broken in Washington.’(Boston Globe)

Filed Under: Economics, Federal Budget