Terry Goddard just hired Greg Stanton away from his elected position as Phoenix City Councilman for a $119,000 lobbying gig at the Attorney General’s Office instead. This at a time when the state is in the worst budget fiscal crisis ever. The Attorney General’s Office laid off 20 employees this month, including seasoned prosecutors like Gail Thackeray, a national expert in computer crimes. The office has scheduled another round of layoffs for March. Another statewide layoff is planned for October.

The question is, why is Goddard laying off seasoned employees and hiring an overpriced politician to lobby, who didn’t need a job and should be serving the people he was elected to serve? Four support staff positions could have been saved instead of hiring Stanton. Or two attorney positions.

The reason is apparent to us. Goddard is helping Stanton run for Attorney General, because Stanton currently has no legal background. Goddard is using our government – our tax dollars – to ensure that his favorite politician gets elected in two years, at the expense of retaining experienced prosecutors.

We wonder how Gail Thackeray feels about the importance of hiring Stanton for the office.