Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas, filed two legal challenges today against the Board of Supervisors in regard to the Boards’ recent decision to remove Thomas as legal counsel to the Board on civil suits against the county.

Thomas also named Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, as co-plaintiff in the suit.

Sonoran Alliance received the following press release from MCAO spokesman, Michael Scerbo:

The County Attorney’s Office has filed two lawsuits today, one in which the Sheriff’s Office is a co-plaintiff, as to complaints related to recent activities by the Board of Supervisors. Copies are attached.

The County Attorney’s Office has also responded to the letter by attorney Thomas Irvine, dated 12/26/08, which was provided to some of the news media last week. The County Attorney’s Office is treating this document as privileged because it was sent to the Board of Supervisors and the acting county manager. For a copy you would need to contact the Board of Supervisors or acting county manager and request that they release it to you.

Here are the attached documents:

MCAO Declaratory Complaint
MCAO Petition

I was stunned by the statements made by Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush at the press conference conducted by embittered and disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich. During the press conference, in which Blagojevich named Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama, Rush arose from the audience and injected a statement. Congressman Rush made the following comments:

There are no African-Americans in the U.S. Senate. And I don’t think any U.S. senator who’s sitting in the Senate right now wants to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate

I would ask you to not hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer and separate the appointee from the appointer.

Don’t misunderstand me. Roland Burris is probably highly qualified to fill this vacancy but am I missing something? I was under the impression that the election of Barack Obama put the politics of race behind us. Language like this only seems to reignite issues of race.

Sonoran Alliance is excited to welcome to the Arizona blog scene, Noble Thinking.

If you know anyone or anything about politics in Arizona, you’ll know the name of this blog is derived from none other than Sean Noble, the former Chief of Staff to Congressman John Shadegg.

Sean knows more about Arizona politics and the machinations of campaigns better than anyone I know and is well respected amongst political colleagues.

We look forward to reading Sean’s blog and hope you will also make it part of your daily required reading list.

Looks like Detroit’s auto teams are not the only teams in decline.

The Detroit Lions finished their season 0-16 today losing to the Green Bay Packers, 31-21, and making it the only NFL team to lose the greatest number of games in a season. They have also been outscored 551-281.

What this says about Detroit is only symbolic but it may inspire the owner of the Lions to ask Congress for a bailout.

On behalf of the writers of Sonoran Alliance, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas! May God richly bless you and yours during this holy of times.

The feud between the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and Board of Supervisors is really heating up.

Today, the full Board of Supervisors voted to break with statute and hire outside counsel on civil matters instead of using the County Attorney’s Office as required by state statute. In a unanimous vote, the Board decided to direct the County Manager’s Office to hire outside legal counsel. This allows County Manager David Smith to hire former County Attorney Rick Romley as legal counsel on county civil matters. (Neither the Special Meeting agenda nor the meeting results were available online via the Clerk of the Board’s website.)

Today’s action appears to fly in the face of Arizona Revised Statutes under Title 11, Chapter 3, Article 6. According to section 532,A:

A. The county attorney is the public prosecutor of the county and shall:

4. Draw indictments and informations, defend actions brought against the county and prosecute actions to recover recognizances forfeited in courts of record and actions for recovery of debts, fines, penalties and forfeitures accruing to the state or county.

and

7. When required, give a written opinion to county officers on matters relating to the duties of their offices.

and

9. Act as the legal advisor to the board of supervisors, attend its meetings and oppose claims against the county which the county attorney deems unjust or illegal.

So why would the Board of Supervisors vote to break state law?

It’s no secret that Romley despises Andrew Thomas, his immediate successor and even actively campaigned for Thomas’ oppenent, Tim Nelson, in the General Election. (Nelson is the former ACLU lawyer who worked for Governor Napolitano.)

During the meeting, Romley argued that the Board of Supervisors have the ability to strip the County Attorney of any decision making power regarding lawsuits against Maricopa County. Yet to be determined is whether or not the Board will also disallow the County Attorney’s Office from providing legal advice to other County agencies.

Essentially, the Board of Supervisors are attempting to politically isolate the County Attorney and render the Office of County Attorney irrelevant to their practices. By hiring Romley, the Board of Supervisors is usurping the will of the voters by creating its own unelected unaccountable County Attorney in Rick Romley.

Sonoran Alliance was first to break the story that County Supervisor Don Stapley was indicted by a grand jury on 118 counts on November 20th. County Attorney Andrew Thomas, alongside Sheriff Joe Arpaio, made the announcement on December 2nd in a joint press conference in which they detailed Stapley’s arrest and the corruption charges against him.

Thomas sees the Board’s latest move as retailiation against the indictement against Stapley. In today’s vote, Stapley participated in the vote against Thomas instead of recusing himself.

Thomas’ office issued the following statement:

Recent events have shown that defendant Don Stapley, a powerful politician, has friends in high places who will try to thwart an ongoing investigation and criminal case against him,” Thomas said in a written statement after the meeting. “However, we are not intimidated and we intend to fully root out the corruption we have found.

The East Valley Tribune also reported on today’s meeting stating that:

The action Tuesday comes as a result of a long festering conflict over Thomas’ responsiveness to the board, Romley said. The indictment of Stapley brought the issue to a head, he said, adding Stapley could not get legal advice as a supervisor from the agency that is prosecuting him.

Romley’s statement obviously begs the question why would Don Stapley seek personal legal advice from the County Attorney on a criminal matter against him in the first place? Don Stapley, the accused, would best be served by hiring outside legal counsel to represent him in his own corruption criminal matter.

What further makes this County feud all the more interesting is that Don Stapley likely sought leniency in who would oversee his judicial proceedings. County insiders believe Stapley sought the help of presiding Superior Court Judge Barbara Rodriguez-Mundell Judge Fields who recruited out of retirement and appointed Judge Kenneth Fields to Stapley’s case.

As reported here on Sonoran Alliance, County Attorney Andrew Thomas publically objected to the appointment of Judge Fields to the case citing judical bias and even producing an affidavit by a county employee who blew the whistle on Judge Fields’ bias and animosity directed toward Thomas.

Today’s vote against complying with ARS 11-532 and the rejection of County legal representation not only makes matters worse for Stapley, it now involves the other Supervisors and opens the full Board to consitutional and legal problems.

During economically desperate times like these when Maricopa County is seeking to cut its budget, it may be in its best interest to cut its political and legal losses.

Yes, Sonoran Alliance is now officially on Facebook as a “Group” if you care to join.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DECEMBER 23, 2008
CONTACT: KIM SABOW

Brewer Names Deputy Chiefs of Staff for Finance and Operations
Secretary of State announces more senior staff appointments as she prepares for transition to Governor’s Office

PHOENIX – Secretary of State Jan Brewer today announced two more Gubernatorial senior staff appointments, naming Tom Manos as Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance and Brian C. McNeil as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

“I am honored to have such qualified individuals join my team.  Mr. Manos and Mr. McNeil have extensive backgrounds in the field of finance and operations that will serve Arizona well during these difficult economic times.  I have every confidence that they will guide us in our efforts to restore efficiency and fiscal responsibility,” stated Brewer.

Manos has served as Maricopa County’s Chief Financial Officer for the last ten years, and has been with the County since 1984.  During this time, he had responsibility for the County’s Real Estate, Procurement, Risk Management and Parks departments as well as the Maricopa County Stadium District.  Mr. Manos also served as Executive Director of the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority which has provided financing for over 400 projects, including financings for affordable housing, hospitals and other non-profit borrowers.

Mr. Manos is former President of the Local Government Auditors Association and has been a board member of the YMCA.  He is a native of Arizona and graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance.

Brian McNeil has served as Executive Director of the Arizona Corporation Commission since 1999.  Prior to joining the Commission, he was the Deputy Director for Budget and Policy Development at the Arizona Department of Health Services.

McNeil has previously served as a gubernatorial policy advisor, as Director of Operations and Economic Advisor at the Arizona State Senate, as a Principal Forecast Planner for Saudi Arabian Parsons, Limited and as a Fiscal Analyst at the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

He is an Arizona native and holds a Master of Public Administration as well as a Bachelor of Science in Economics, both from Arizona State University.  McNeil serves as the Executive Officer of the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve.  He has deployed twice to serve in Iraq.

The long soap opera in LD4 appears to be over, as former LD4 Chairman Lyle Tuttle won election to a two-year term, once again as chairman of LD4.  Outgoing Chairman Bob Burges was also a candidate, but the race was won by a comfortable margin by Tuttle.

The Organizational Meeting went off without a hitch and the crowd of nearly 70 people seemed pleased at the pace and organization of the meeting itself.  Credit goes to MCRC Chairman Tom Husband and his crew for the job they did.

Self-declared Chairman Phil Corbell did not make an appearance, but several of Corbell’s “officers” did, and they participated in the process without objection.  There has been no public objection or rejection by Corbell of the evening’s results, so all appears to finally be quiet in LD4, at least until February, when they will meet to elect the rest of their officers.

The Governor of New York is about to unleash the power of taxation on the citizens of New York. To make up for a $15.4 Billion budget deficit, Governor David Patterson is proposing 88 new taxes on everything from iPod downloads to movie theatres, cigars to non-diet soft drinks, defibrillators to fuel cells, massages to security guard training and vehicle registration to asbestos removal. The list is endless but moreover, it illustrates how liberals seek to solve fiscal problems – by taxing anything taxable.

Here’s one I’d like to suggest to the Governor. How about a tax on abortion? That’s right, the ultimate sin tax.

The State of New York has already codified the provisions of the notorious Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade which allows for abortion for any reason or no reason at all. It’s not as if abortion is going away any time soon in the State of New York and even if the High Court overturned Roe the states would have to decide this issue on their own turf. New York already has.

Liberals, who overwhelmingly tend to embrace taxes and abortion, should also embrace this policy proposal. The tax revenue could even be used to fund programs for women who choose to have their babies, women who need assistance to raise the next generation of hopefully, taxpayers.

New York’s Department of Vital Statistics latest data on abortion indicates that there were 121,278 abortions performed in 2006. If a $100 fee was assessed on every abortion performed, the State of New York would have over $12 million for programs that help women deciding to give birth.

Of course, this will never happen because those writing the laws in New York (liberals), want the taxpayers to pay for abortions for poor women while making it as easy as possible to get an abortion.

Ultimately, this situation is the perfect “Catch 22.” The Governor wants more tax money and is willing to tax everything that falls under his definition of “sinful behavior” but when it comes to taxing the “sacred rite of abortion,” this will be one area where death and taxes will never cross paths.

(I actually oppose the idea of taxing abortion because it ensures that government remains committed to the practice for the revenue but for the sake of the argument that you tax things you want less of and don’t tax things you want more of, I’ll make the proposal.)