PR: Mayor Parker: Governors Need to Lead by Example

GoVernorGovernors Need to Lead by Example

Mayor Vernon Parker Says He Would Cut Governor’s Office Budget On Day One; Says Any Serious Gubernatorial Candidates Should Pledge the Same

OCTOBER 5, 2009. With the possibility of an 18 percent state-wide sales tax increase looming, one potential gubernatorial candidate not only thinks that is a bad idea, he is calling for cuts in the budget of the Governor’s Office itself.

“It is only fair to do what you are asking others to do…cut,” Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker said. Parker believes Arizona should instead be talking about phasing out corporate taxes, a remedy for growing the economy. Parker recently formed an exploratory committee to pursue the Governor’s Office in 2010. * (JLBC spending levels for Arizona Governor’s Office referenced below.)

“Many Arizonans are suffering. Many state agencies are cutting. The Governor’s Office should do the same. I will,” Parker said. “Should I be fortunate enough to be elected Governor I would make these necessary cuts on Day One.”

Parker has presided over budget cuts as Mayor of Paradise Valley. Spending has been reduced by 25 percent while the budget for Mayor and Council has been reduced by 54 percent. Parker also fought off a major effort to increase the bed and sales tax in Paradise Valley.

“Republicans willing to raise taxes will not beat a career politician like Terry Goddard. We need a fresh voice, new message and someone who can fight on Terry’s turf rather than he on ours. One career politician will not beat another,” said Parker.

Parker, 49, is the current mayor of Paradise Valley, Arizona. He has previously served as a Special Assistant to the first President Bush in The White House, and has served George W. Bush as an Assistant Secretary for the $90 billion United States Department of Agriculture. He is a lawyer and a small businessman.

Parker has the most compelling life story of any candidate emerging for governor. He has overcome many odds, and has pledged to help Arizona overcome some of its most difficult economic times since the Great Depression. “I truly believe it’s going to take someone who has defied the odds to help Arizona overcome the odds now facing it. And we can start with a Governor’s Office that believes in shared sacrifice,” Parker said.

For more information contact Jason Rose or go to www.Parker2010.com.

*NOTE: Spending levels for the Office of the Governor for fiscal year 2010 obtained from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee “Summary of Appropriate Funds,” which can be found at http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/10app/bd10.pdf.

McCain to Remake GOP in “His Own Image”

I almost gave myself a “noser” when I saw this article in the Politico.

Fresh from a humbling loss in last year’s presidential election, Sen. John McCain is working behind-the-scenes to reshape the Republican Party in his own center-right image.

In his own image?  So even with the humbling loss, John still believes that he is a “player”. Does the good senator not recall that his own center-right image cost the GOP the election?;  That his “center-right image” is nowhere to be seen in any Town-Hall or Tea Party event, nor mirrored anywhere in the 912 Project March on Washington DC earlier this year?  Has he not heard a single word that conservatives have said through-out the summer recess?

I am trying to understand from where the Senator’s thought process would originate. I can only conclude that either he,

  • A:  has become as narcissistic as the sitting president.
  • B:  is suffering from some form of dementia.
  • C:  agrees with Jimmy Carter; that this summer of Town-Hallers and Tea Party participants were a bunch of racists.

Let’s start with option A, Narcissistic:  The Politico writes:

Those close to McCain say that, as much as anything else, his burgeoning political role reflects a determination he reached shortly after the conclusion of the presidential contest[which he lost]—that he would remain a factor on Capitol Hill.

Option B, Dementia:

In McCain’s case, that means backing conservative pragmatists and moderates.  “I think he’s endorsed people with center-right politics because he has an understanding that the party is in trouble with certain demographics and wants to have a tone that would allow us to grow,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is McCain’s closest friend and ally in the Senate.

If he is listening to Lindsey Graham-nsty, it would help to clarify from where John’s self-centered hallucinations materialize.  Let us not forget the Lindsey Graham-nsty record;

  • willing to compromise on the health-care bill;
  • believes that the banks should be nationalized;
  • voted for Sotomayor after saying he was deeply troubled by her;
  • voted for amnesty for illegal aliens immigrants.

Poor company to be keeping, Senator McCain.

Or Option C, We are all racists: John Weaver, a longtime McCain friend and strategist said,

“At a time when our party is struggling and has a lot of shrill voices and aggressive voices, he’s one that can expand our party”.

McCain demonstrates that he is anything but a conservative, confirmed last week when he endorsed GOP Rep. Jerry Moran in the Kansas Senate primary campaign against the outspoken conservative, Rep. Todd Tiahrt. Later Mccain went on to host a Capitol Hill fundraiser for Moran.  (Hey John, you do know your state is Arizona, don’t you?)

John McCain was the loser in the presidential election, and in the real world, most people do not spend too much time to seek out the opinions of the guy who came in second in a race of two.  Well, no one except for the GOP.  Back to John Weaver:

“John remains the titular head of the Republican Party and he will be until there’s a new nominee”.

Wow, that’s great Mr. Weaver.  How’s that working out for you anyway?  At last count the GOP, under the “titular” leadership of John McCain has left us in charge of, well, absolutely friggin’ nothing!  The White House, the House  and the Senate are all gone.  BHO and his buds are in charge of everything now.  Having the GOP reshaped into the “right-centered image” of John McCain could be likened to;

  • Taking cooking lessons from Hannibal Lecter.
  • Taking child-rearing classes from Michael Jackson.
  • Taking wide receiver lessons from Terrell Owens.
  • Taking financial advice from Bernie Madoff.
  • Taking marriage classes from Madonna.
  • Taking work-place sensitivity classes from David Letterman.

In a recent Rasmusen poll , only 33% of Arizonans believe McCain “has done a good job representing GOP values”.   61% of Arizona Republicans think McCain has lost touch with those in his own party. (Ya think?)

Senator McCain has not only lost touch with Arizona Republicans and conservatives in general, it is apparent that he has completely lost touch with Planet Earth.  For Senator McCain to still believe that he is relevant in this current season, shows how out of touch he really has become.  His “center-right image”, as he likes to describe it, not only cost the GOP the last election, but has now helped put America on the edge of ruin at the hands of the current administration.  Come the fall of 2010,  Arizona residents need to put John McCain out to pasture.

You can let John hear your shrill voice at (202) 224-223.

New Federal Law Impacts Tenants and Foreclosures

by Judge Gerald A. Williams

North Valley Justice of the Peace

Congress recently passed, and the President recently signed, “The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009.”  12 U.S.C. § 5220.  It essentially allows good tenants at least an additional 90 days to stay in the residence after a foreclosure.  This law applies to any federally-related mortgage or deed of trust (like a VA, FHA or HUD loan).

Most Arizona homeowners technically don’t have a mortgage.  Arizona is a deed of trust jurisdiction and if a homeowner signs one, then the lender can sell the house at a trustee’s sale if the homeowner is behind in his payments, didn’t pay for property insurance or didn’t pay his property taxes.  If a homeowner is in one of these categories, then the lender can sell the home in approximately 90 days.

Under this new law, a buyer of a residence at a trustee’s sale must honor any existing lease that was signed before the notice of trustee’s sale was issued.  If the buyer purchased the house as an investment, and if the tenant has and continues to follow the terms of the lease, then the tenant can continue to live in the residence until the lease expires.

If the buyer is going to move in and will occupy the home as his primary residence, then the tenant will have to move.  However, the buyer must give the tenant a notice to vacate 90 days before an eviction action could be filed.

It is very important for everyone to understand that this law does not protect tenants who are in default.  If you are a tenant and you hear that your residence may be going into foreclosure, perhaps the worst thing you can do is stop paying rent.  Doing so will likely trigger an eviction action for nonpayment of rent, which will move a lot faster than any foreclosure proceeding.

Occasionally, tenants going through this process face a practical problem of more than one person claiming to be their landlord.  Tenants have a duty to pay rent; but obviously not twice for the same month to two different people.  If an eviction action has been filed, then a tenant can pay their rent to the court as a “litigant bond.”  At trial, the judge will determine who is the real landlord and the tenant will avoid having a judgment entered against him.

Judge Williams is the presiding justice of the peace for the Northwest Regional Court Center.  His column appears monthly in The Foothills Focus.

Sonoran Alliance on Twitter

Finally after getting the technology to work, Sonoran Alliance is finally automatically posting to Twitter. It took awhile but we finally found the application to work with our WordPress engine behind the scenes. Now if I can only get the polling feature to work!

To find us on Twitter click here.

Join the Koz!

I’m not sure if Steve Kozachik actually has ads up and running on Tucson media but even if he doesn’t, he’s definitely on YouTube. (Isn’t it great that even if you don’t have the big campaign bucks, you can still have your ads go viral online? After all, who doesn’t have a computer and has never heard of YouTube?)

YouTube Preview Image

Maybe some of our readers can tell us if this ad is up and running. Regardless, Steve’s ad is now getting exposure on Sonoran Alliance which will certainly drive traffic to his website www.VoteSteveK.com.

John Munger Enters 2010 Arizona Governor’s Race

JohnMunger2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John Munger Enters 2010 Arizona Governor’s Race

Noted Attorney Offers Real Leadership, No Excuses

(PHOENIX, AZ) – Tucson attorney and business leader John Munger officially entered the Republican primary today as a candidate for Governor of Arizona. He filed required documents at the State Capitol this morning and will formally announce his candidacy on Tuesday, October 6th in Casa Grande. A former Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Munger plans an extensive statewide campaign effort focused on his “Real Leadership…No Excuses” approach to restoring economic prosperity in Arizona.

“We’ve had far too many years of drifting government, led by professional politicians with little real

experience, responding only by crisis management,” Munger commented. “People who have followed my work and thinking know that I have a real plan to create jobs, investment and economic growth again in Arizona,” Munger added. “I also have the courage, vision and know-how to execute it.”

In his current role as Chairman of ImagineArizona, Munger is well known for his active promotion of policies that create economic growth, the empowerment of free people and limited government. He has also been consistently ranked among the most skilled and successful lawyers in Arizona. A proud military veteran, Munger has served as President of the Arizona Board of Regents, Chairman of the state’s second largest Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of the Arizona Research Park Association. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Arizona College of Law.

John Munger will make an official announcement of his candidacy at 9:00am on Tuesday, October 6 at Victory Republican Party Headquarters in Casa Grande, AZ. He will then travel throughout the state on a four-day road tour, announcing his candidacy and discussing issues of specific importance to voters in each individual location.

Tuesday, October 6

9:00am – Casa Grande: Victory Republican Party Headquarters, 400 Marshall St. Casa Grande, AZ 85122

5:00pm – Prescott: The Palace, 120 South Montezuma Prescott, AZ 86303
Wednesday, October 7

9:00am – Kingman: TBA

11:30am – Lake Havasu City: Lake Havasu Chamber of Commerce, 314 London Bridge Rd. Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

4:00pm – Yuma: TBA

Thursday, October 8

9:00am – Tucson: Pima County Republican Party Headquarters, 5447 E 5th St. Tucson, AZ 85711-2344

4:00pm – Phoenix: The University Club, University Club, 39 E. Monte Vista Rd

Friday, October 9

1:00pm – Safford: County Fair Grounds, 527 E Armory Rd. Safford, AZ 85546-2231

5:00pm – Sierra Vista: TBA

For more information and a complete schedule of campaign events, please visit www.johnmunger.com. For media inquiries, please contact Jerry Cobb jerry@johnmunger.com (602) 478-0002

Purging Bad Links

I’m going through our blogroll (on the right) and deleting any blogs which are inactive.

If you would like your blog considered for the Sonoran Alliance blogroll, email me and I’ll consider adding it.

Two liberal activist judges: Donahoe & Daughton

Judge Gary Donahoe

Judge Gary Donahoe

AZ Judges Review has done a nice job exposing Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell’s handpicking of retired judges to handle key political cases, in order to ensure a liberal outcome. Most recently, she chose retired Democrat judge Donald Daughton, who has contributed to Obama and Harry Mitchell, to handle the lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood demanding a temporary restraining order against Arizona’s newly passed abortion legislation. Of course Daughton granted it, stopping the laws from going into effect and thwarting the will of the people.

Another activist liberal judge whose high-profile biased court decisions keep popping up is Gary Donahoe. This time he has held the Sheriff’s Office in contempt for not being able to transport inmates to Court hearings on time. Problem is, it’s not their fault. The Board of Supervisors cut the Sheriff’s budget by 15%, in order to pay for the brand-new state of the art $340 million court tower which contains penthouse quarters for the judges.

In his order, Presiding Criminal Judge Gary Donahoe wrote that the sheriff’s court-security division is “chronically understaffed,” which he characterized as a consistent and conscious decision on the part of the Sheriff’s Office.

Well yes, we’ve heard that the Sheriff’s Office has been losing around 10 employees a month for the past year due to attrition, and it has not been able to replace them due to the severe budget cuts by the Supervisors. Guess Judge Donahoe forgot to put that in his memo.

Donahoe ordered the Sheriff’s Security Chief Deputy to pay $10,575 to the court, prosecutors, defendants, their attorneys, and jurors for their loss of time.  Utterly amazing. Why not just turn that money directly over to the Board of Supervisors and their Taj Mundell court tower?

This isn’t the first outrageous decision by this judge. Judge Mundell handpicked him to handle the lawsuit against the Supervisors over the court tower. Donahoe ordered the County Attorney off the case, saying there was a conflict (we’re not sure what – he never provided any reasons, even though the County Attorney had provided sworn affidavits from three ethics experts saying there were no conflicts). He ignored the obvious conflict – the Supervisors’ attorney, Tom Irvine (former attorney for the Democrat Party), was also the attorney for the Court. Donahoe’s ruling was especially offensive because it said the County Attorney had a conflict of interest in the investigation, but Donahoe didn’t even though he would have spacious new quarters in the courthouse being investigated.

This kind of judicial activism must be exposed and stopped.

Jennings TMI Czar Not Safe, Needs Schooling

by Gayle Plato

President Obama’s “safe schools czar” Kevin Jennings, is a gay man who openly counsels students and other educators regarding gay and lesbian issues, bullying. He has had a long history of up front and detailed work helping people. He’s written a book detailing  his counsel he offered to a sad, gay boy in a desperate sexual relationship, with a much older man.

“In a statement, Jennings said: “Twenty one years later I can see how I should have handled this situation differently. I should have asked for more information and consulted legal or medical authorities.”‘ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/30/obamas-safe-schools-czar-admits-bad-handling-teen-sex-case/)

Here’s the real problem with the situation. This boy was obviously reaching out and in a desperate situation as he was emotionally distraught.  I grasp the sexual activity problem, but I see other issues here.  Anyone who worked with Jennings back then can probably identify the kid, remembering the boy. Why is Jennings disclosing this? Oh and by the way, in 1988, I was working with youth-at-risk, kids doing drugs, having sex, and talking about it.  We were all trained, worked as a team to help the kids.  There were thorough guidelines in every state in the country back then, explaining the reporting of underage sexual activity. This educator broke the law- period.

My big issue screaming out is this: why was he letting this boy come in and tell such lurid stories? Was he a classroom teacher, talking 1:1 about sex with this kid?  Um HUGE RED FLAG!  Any teacher in 1988, and I was one then, would know this was wrong.  It was beat into teachers heads, even back then- do not talk alone with kids about deeply personal issues without a) telling a colleague and b) involving  a referral for therapy.  It is also very wrong to USE THE CHILD as some personal stimulus!

One of the gravest errors, truly heinous, is the adult buying in and allowing the child’s lurid story to titillate the adult. I do not buy the story that the boy kept coming in to chat about his life and pain. Not one counselor I know would let the story telling ramble on- not one.  It is the first mistake any therapist makes, and you cannot get out of grad school without nipping the tendency to let the client ramble.  Yet, it is the core problem with all therapy.  It is not the therapeutic disclosure for sake of healing, and solution-focused development.  I could go on and on as I am highly suspicious of this dude, Mr. Safe School.

The boy was also, clearly at-risk and sending up the red flags for potential suicide–I am sorry but ALL HOMOSEXUAL children in desperate relationships are high on the suicide risk scale.  That is not an opinion (http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/57).

Homosexuals live with the pain of being; it is not good, nor fair.  It hurts my heart as I am not a conservative who feels homosexuality in and of itself is evil.  I think promiscuity is the issue, not loving relationships.  But nonetheless, a gay teen, struggling, in a sexual relationship with a significantly older man is a high-risk.  This boy needed help and the guy knew it. He knew it then or he wouldn’t have let him talk so much.  He was projecting his own angst onto the kid.

What if the same story, same boy, now disclosed that the older lover was  a priest and he is going to sue Mr. Jennings for not helping him back then? Hmmm.  If I met Jennings, I would say one sentence to him, and I am dead serious in this: “When you heard the boy, thinking of his issues and problems, did you ever fantasize about having sex with the boy?”

I wouldn’t put this guy, Kevin Jennings, in charge of any child safety program, safe schools, safe nothing.  He is not qualified.