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Raisin’ Cain

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Arizona 2012 Project is delighted to announce that Herman Cain will be their guest of honor at their February 21st evening fundraising reception, “Raisin’ Cain on Mummy Mountain”, from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.

Celebrity auctioner Letitia Frye will accept bids for a 7-day, all expenses paid (including round-trip airfare and hotel), double occupancy cruise to the Bahamas.  Among many other items at silent auction, the final offer of the evening will be the hat off Herman Cain’s head, autographed in person, with a personal photo of the winner with Mr. Cain.

 

Valet parking is provided.  For event security, the Paradise Valley venue address will be provided via return eMail acknowledgement.  Due to the exclusive mountainside location (with a superb view of city lights and distant peaks) attendance is limited; advance reservations are accepted online only.

 

Tickets are $125 per person, only at www.FightingBack.us .  
 
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Filed Under: Uncategorized

Maricopa County better not settle expensive lawsuits of cronies

February 3, 2012 By 35 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Friday, February 3, 2012

Maricopa County manager David Smith proposing to settle million dollar lawsuits of cronies      

Greedy county officials should be forced to litigate their claims fully to reveal how worthless they are, instead of receiving million dollar settlements

 Maricopa County manager David Smith, the hatchet man for the County Supervisors, is proposing that the county settle the million dollar lawsuits filed by the Supervisors’ cronies against Maricopa County and its taxpayers for amounts of several hundred thousand dollars up to $15 million each. This is a bad, bad idea that will end up very costly to taxpayers. The greedy county bureacrats, who are suing the county over nothing more than “stress” from being prosecuted by Sheriff Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, should be forced to plead their cases in a court of law, so taxpayers can see how sketchy their lawsuits are.

The Supervisors better do the right thing and not award their cronies million dollar settlements. Two of the lawsuits are from their fellow Supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley! This is a blatant conflict of interest for them to award them huge amounts of money.

The Supervisors have already paid Judge Fields $100,000 of your taxpayer dollars for his lawsuit against the county. He received that money for his claims that he was stressed over Arpaio and Thomas attempting to prosecute him. That prosecution went nowhere since he was able to thwart it.  None of his assertions of stress were ever heard and tried in a court of law, the county simply $100,000 at him in a settlement.

Next, Judge Baca received a $100,00 settlement for her stress over being sued by Arpaio and Thomas. Stephen Wetzel, the county director of IT, received an undisclosed settlement amount.

This is not right. These officials should be forced to go through the regular court system like the rest of us. They should not be awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars for “stress” based on their claims that they were wrongly prosecuted. We will never know if they were wrongly prosecuted, because they were able to successfully thwart Arpaio’s and Thomas’s attempts to prosecute them. It is despicable that they they are being awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars for successfully avoiding prosecution!!! David Smith claims that the county is saving money by settling the claims, but the claims are so groundless the county would end up not paying any money if they were fully litigated. He knows this but wants to guarantee his cronies are vindicated, which in turn vindicates his legal attacks against Arpaio and Thomas. This sets a bad, bad precedent for future bureaucrats down the road to sue over “stress” and receive millions of dollars too.

If the greedy bureaucrats are awarded these lavish amounts of money, taxpayers will consider a citizens’ lawsuit against them. Tea Parties and organizations like the Goldwater Institute and Americans for Prosperity have grounds to sue them based on abuse of our tax dollars.

 The Arizona Republic has coverage.

ACTION ITEM:

Contact the Supervisors who will be deciding whether or not to award these outrageous settlements and let them know that you disapprove of them awarding large settlements to the other two supervisors and their cronies. Tell them these speculative claims need to be heard in a court of law where they will inevitably be DISMISSED.

Supervisor Andrew Kunasek
(602) 506-7562
akunasek@mail.maricopa.gov

Supervisor Max Wilson
(602) 506-7642
mwwilson@mail.maricopa.gov

Supervisor Fulton Brock
(602) 506-1776
fbrock@mail.maricopa.gov
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Ethics, Spending, Taxation

Arizona 2012 Project opens new offices

February 2, 2012 By 13 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Wednesday,February 2, 2012

The Arizona 2012 Project opened new offices at 3375 E. Shea Boulevard this week to an overflow attendance.  The comfortable meeting facilities include a huge meeting area with seating for more than eighty persons that can be quickly converted to work space for volunteers. Included in the floor plan is ample room for campaign training sessions to come.  A formal Open House is planned for later in the month.

Later, speaking for the Arizona 2012 Project, Chairman Ron Ludders reacted to Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock’s withdrawal from the race to re-election saying, “We have been encouraging Councilman Brock to make a decision to take some personal time away from the political grind.  Unburdened from having to scrape together a campaign in the face of growing grassroots political pressure, Fulton will be able to focus on his more immediate personal needs. We wish him every success.”

Asked about that pressure, Ludders reminded, “It is obvious that Conservatives in general and the Tea Party movement in particular have awakened.  We’re no longer content with simply voting for the lesser of two evils and are learning how to use our numbers to affect policy, legislation, and candidate selection.  Look at the last two G.O.P. mandatory meetings in Phoenix.  At the county meeting, the ‘Tea Party’ slate won with a first ballot victory boasting vote margins of almost 3 to 1 over the entrenched ruling class Republicans.  The state meeting echoed growing Tea power by handily electing Chairman Morrissey’s slate while rejecting that ticket’s Third Vice-Chairman candidate, John Rhodes, who is known for his antipathy toward the Tea Party movement.”

Continuing his comments, Ludders informed, “The Arizona 2012 Project is becoming known as ‘The Tea Party A-Team’ because we recruit serious people who want to get deep into the political weeds as activists and advocates.  That effort is paying off with a new legion of dedicated Conservatives working more closely with their legislators both publicly and behind the scenes.”

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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Conservatives, Press Release

Regarding that “scathing” Dept of Justice report

January 31, 2012 By 32 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Regarding that “scathing” Dept of Justice report being used as a club against Sheriff Arpaio, isn’t this the Dept of Justice, under Eric Holder, who attacked SB1070 before he had even read the bill?
 
Isn’t Eric Holder under investigation for Fast and Furious for deliberately allowing guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels, and that resulted in the death of Arizona Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry?
 
Isn’t the Civil Rights Division, under Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, the same one that has been sanctioned for more than $4 million for frivolous lawsuits and misconduct?
 
Thomas Perez once served as president of Casa de Maryland, a radical open borders group that encourages ILLEGAL aliens not to speak with the police and urges local governments not to enforce federal fugitive warrants against them.
 
Thomas Perez fought to mandate that Mexican ID be recognized as valid photo ID in the United States, even though two thirds of Mexico’s states and districts don’t accept them because they are so rife with fraud.
 
It was Thomas Perez who demanded the dismissal of charges of voter intimidation against the New Black Panthers, despite videotape evidence and documented testimony from Bartle Bull, a civil rights activist who supported Robert Kennedy.
 
Thomas Perez’s Voting Section suppressed the military vote in 2010 by dragging its feet, so that many of our fighting men and women overseas don’t have a place to register to vote, and don’t get their ballots in time for their votes to be counted.
 
The barrage of “investigations” against Arpaio began 49 days after Barack Obama was inaugurated, and you don’t think these attacks are politically motivated?  Do you believe that the DOJ cares about the Civil Rights of US citizens?  I think it spends most of its time subverting our country’s immigration and voting laws.
 
Thanks,
Anita Christy
1173 E Constitution Dr
Gilbert, AZ 85296

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Crime and Punishment, Federal Government, Illegal Immigration

Arizona 2012 Tea Party Endorses Bill Montgomery

January 28, 2012 By 6 Comments

A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N S E N S E , in Arizona
Saturday, January 28, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Arizona 2012 Project Unanimously Endorses the Candidacy of Bill Montgomery for Maricopa County Attorney, through its Political Action Committee, “Saving Arizonas Future.”

Phoenix, AZ – Jan. 24, 2012 – Officers and the Steering Committee of The Arizona 2012 Project voted yesterday to wholeheartely support the efforts of current Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and to endorse his candidacy for re-election.

Mr. Montgomery exemplifies the dedication to the Law and to the citizens of Maricopa county that the position demands. We find his actions to be consistent with the principles enunciated in our Federal and State Constitutions and trust him to continue as our County Attorney.

Contact:

Ron Ludders

lemonsplash1@gmail.com

602.677.1496
 
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections, Conservatives, County Government, Press Release

Quayle’s Silver Lining Around IRC Cloud

January 25, 2012 By 5 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Quayle’s Silver Lining Around IRC Cloud

The political operatives in the inaptly-named Independent Redistricting Commission may very well have maneuvered themselves into a dilemma of unintended consequences with their boundary shifting chicanery.

When gerrymandering the Congressional District lines, the five-member Commission made the mistake of drawing Congressman Ben Quayle into the new CD9.  Faced with the choice of running a primary contest against the well financed, Tea Party supported incumbent David Schweickert in CD6 or opposing in the general election a Democrat and communist sympathizing Kirsten Synema, it’s a no brainer.  Arizona simply cannot afford (literally) to send an avowed Leftist to Washington and thus Ben Quayle will emerge a hero for defeating her.

Quayle is guaranteed a high-profile race with national media attention, a situation that makes most politicians salavate in anticipation. Because the Maricopa County Republican Party is dominated – yes, owned – by Tea Party conservatives, he is likely to win with very respectable numbers.  His current incumbency – albeit in the old district – is a plus, as is his connection to campaign financial resources.

Word on the street is that the Republican National Committee wants Quayle and CD9 in the red column together next November.  Is there any doubt that Quayle will be positioned well for his future national political ambitions with this victory in his back pocket and a Tea Party feather in his cap?

The only remaing question is whether Ben Quayle will announce in time to head off a primary challenge from other rumored formidable contenders.

Tick tock.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Campaigns & Elections

State GOP Chair Tom Morrissey endorses Pearce for 1st Vice-Chair

January 24, 2012 By

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

On Saturday, January 28, Arizona State Republican Committeemen will elect their officers for the next two years. Those offices are First Vice-Chair, Second Vice-Chair, Third Vice-Chair, Assistant Secretary, Assistant Treasurer, Sergeant-At-Arms and Assistant Sergeant-At-Arms.

The Honorable Russell Pearce, author of the nationally emulated SB 1070, is running for First Vice Chair. Pearce has the strong endorsement of State Party Chairman, Tom Morrissey.

The position of First Vice Chair is vital to the party structure because that person is key to the successful administration of the chairman, facilitating a smooth, coordinated team effort. Pearce’s favorable contacts, earned over years, will enhance the chairman’s efforts in this vital election year.

Pearce and Morrissey have worked closely together in advocating the conservative agenda along with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Pearce’s challenger lacks comparable credentials on the national, as well as the local scene.

The choice is clear.

Reprinted from Seeing Red AZ.

Check out Russell Pearce’s new radio show Ban Amnesty NOW, Tuesday nights from 7-8pm on KPNX 1100am. Beginning a week from tonight.
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Elected Officials, Endorsements

SB 1070 rally at the State Capitol Monday

January 22, 2012 By 86 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Need a show of support for SB 1070       

Sen. Gallardo will be holding a press conference to announce his bill to repeal SB 1070

RALLY AT STATE CAPITOL MONDAY AT NOON (ARRIVE AT 11:30AM)

 

ALERT!!! – SUPPORTERS OF SB1070 NEED TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT THIS MONDAY AT OUR CAPITOL!!!

                                                                                                                                          Sen. Sylvia Allen and Arizona Border Security Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Border Security State Sovereignty will be responding to a public Press Conference being held this Monday, at the Arizona State Capitol approximately 12noon.

Sen. Allen will be responding to Sen. Gallardo (Friend of Randy Parazz)who is a publicly proclaimed advocate for Open Borders and severely opposesthe development of the Arizona State Guard to secure Arizona’s Border, and provide protection to the citizens of Arizona who continue to fight off the assault of illegal’s and drugs coming into Arizona.

Sen. Allen is requesting citizen support from fellow Arizonans who are willing to stand for a secure border. Arizonans willing to stand with Sen. Allen, Sen. Stevens, Sen. Griffin, Sen. Antenori, and Sen. Melvin.

 

Please show your public support for these elected officials who are willing to stand and fight the good fight to preserve the welfare of Arizona.

 

Come to the Arizona State Capitol this Monday by 11:30am. Come and bring your voices and your determination to preserve our Great Grand Canyon State

 

 
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Border, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Employment, Illegal Immigration, Legislation, Liberals, Special Event

Explosive new evidence AZ judge ruling is illegal

January 19, 2012 By 36 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Anthony Martin

Conservative Examiner

In a stunning development that could potentially send the nation into a Constitutional crisis, an astute attorney who is well-versed in Constitutional law states that the ruling against the state of Arizona by Judge Susan Bolton concerning its new immigration law is illegal.

The attorney in question submitted her assertion in a special article in the Canada Free Press. Her argument states in part, “Does anyone read the U.S. Constitution these days? American lawyers don’t read it. Federal Judge Susan R. Bolton apparently has never read it. Same goes for our illustrious Attorney General Eric Holder. But this lawyer has read it and she is going to show you something in Our Constitution which is as plain as the nose on your face.

“Article III, Sec. 2, clause 2 says: “In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction.”

In other words, the Judge in the Arizona case has absolutely no Constitutional jurisdiction over the matter upon which she ruled. As the Constitution makes abundantly clear, only the U.S. Supreme Court can issue rulings that involve a state. This means that neither Judge Bolton nor the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, to which the case is being appealed, have any legal standing whatsoever to rule on the issue.

Thus, U.S. Attorney-General Eric Holder filed the federal government’s lawsuit against the state of Arizona in a court that has no authority to hear the case. The attorney whose heads-up thinking concerning the Constitution provides the legal remedy for dealing with this blatant disregard for Constitutional law in the article at Canada Free Press, which can be accessed at the link above.

In a related development, another explosive discovery was made by those who actually take the Constitution seriously. The Constitution specifically allows an individual state to wage war against a neighboring country in the event of an invasion, should there be a dangerous delay or inaction on the part of the federal government. This information was cited by United Patriots of America.

From Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, we find these words: “No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” No one who is actually familiar with the crisis at the southern border can deny that Arizona is endangered by the relentless assault of lawless Mexican invaders who ignore our laws, inundate our schools and medical facilities with unpaid bills, and even endanger the very lives of citizens with criminal drug cartels that engage in kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, and other mayhem, including aiming missile and grenade launchers directly at U.S. border cities from just across the Mexican border. This is every bit as much of an invasion as the nation of Iran sending in a fleet of warships to the Port of Charleston.

The Constitution that forms the basis of the rule of law in this country says that Arizona has legal right to protect itself in the case of inaction or delay on the part of the federal government, including waging war in its self-defense. This, when coupled with the clear Constitutional mandate that only the Supreme Court hear cases involving the states, should be ample legal basis for attorneys representing Arizona to go after the federal government with a vengeance. Governor Jan Brewer and the stalwart members of the Arizona legislature have ample legal reason to stand firm against the illegal bullying of an arrogant, lawless federal government.

 
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Border, Constitutional Law, Crime and Punishment, Guest Opinion, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigration

Republic writer hints that court tower investigation was vindicated

December 15, 2011 By 10 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Sheriff Arpaio and County Attorney Thomas “were on to something with all their talk of county corruption”      

Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts changes her mind on county corruption by the Supervisors

We were pleasantly surprised to see that Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts has finally seen the light and realizes that yes, there was corruption going on at the county under the Supervisors and in the construction of the Taj Mahal court tower. Contractors were giving employees kickbacks in exchange for favorable treatment getting contracts to work on the court tower. 11 employees have now been fired or suspended. We’ve known all along there was something funny about a $347 million  court tower being build in the middle of a recession, paid for immediately with CASH from us taxpayers, not bonding, with some of the priciest materials on the market – travertine, porcelain, wooden floors, penthouse quarters for the judges with private robing rooms. We wonder how far up the chain the corruption goes. County Supervisor Don “The Don” Stapley spent $70,000 received in campaign contributions for a race where he had no opponent on personal luxury items for himself and his family, including three family vacations, massages, and $4000 in expensive stereo equipment. Would not surprise us if he received some pretty sweet kickbacks.

Some excerpts from Roberts’ article, entitled County is proving corruption to be true:

After reading the report on how things work in the county’s Facilities Management Department, I’m thinking maybe Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his sidekick, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, were on to something with all their talk of county corruption.

Eleven county employees have now been put on paid leave, the result of an internal investigation that started when one of the workers began having second thoughts about taking freebies after seeing so many of his concert-going colleagues in the skybox of a company that makes millions off its county contracts.

Meanwhile, Assistant City Manager Kenny Harris, who oversees Facilities, was fired this week. Though Harris was reportedly fired over an unrelated matter, the investigation found that he played in several golf tournaments as the guest of county vendors, including both the project manager and the builder of the county’s $340 million court tower — a construction project that he was supervising.

Yeah, that would be the court-tower construction project that Arpaio and Thomas were nosing around.

The investigative report outlines a culture in which freebies were routinely handed out to county employees who thought nothing of settling themselves into the luxury suites of the companies whose contracts they played a role in overseeing.

The king of the freebies was Dick Carr, who manages county construction projects. According to the report, Carr was treated to roughly 20 concerts over three years and a $4,000 trip in which he was helicoptered in to British Columbia, courtesy of a vendor. No doubt he was the biggest catch of the trip.

What they should do is simply outlaw all gifts to public employees. Period.

Nobody would be happier than the lobbyists, who tell me they are routinely hit up for freebies. At the Capitol and, apparently, at the county.

Where just a few months ago, we were scoffing at the idea of corruption.
Arizona Republic article
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Ethics

High-level county employee managing court tower project fired

December 14, 2011 By 9 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Suspicious circumstances surrounding firing of high-level Assistant County Manager     

What does the terminated employee know about the court tower?

The Arizona Republic reported today that Kenny Harris, a top engineer and assistant county manager assigned to supervising the court tower project, has been fired by the Supervisors’ hatchet man, county manager David Smith. The circumstances surrounding the firing are extremely suspicious. Harris was fired over using county funds to pay membership dues to his fraternity. Harris’s finance manager had APPROVED the payments, and his previous employers had paid the dues. When Smith told Harris he disapproved of the county paying the dues, Harris reimbursed the county for the full cost. Smith still went and fired Harris, didn’t even offer him a suspension or lesser penalty.

Harris was not one of the employees disciplined for accepting expensive gifts from contractors working on the court tower. However, he likely knows what really went on since his name shows up in reports. Harris is now filing a lawsuit against the county for wrongful termination. Sources tell us that he will expose a lot of the corruption that took place within the court tower construction. We’ve also heard that there may have been some racism involved, which wouldn’t be surprising since his punishment was so draconian. We also hear that anyone who does not bow down to hatchet man David Smith risks losing their job. It’s about time this all comes out. The Supervisors have been able to stop Sheriff Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas from investigating their corruption. It is unfair what has been done to this man in order to protect the corrupt Supervisors. How much do county taxpayers have to shell out to pay for the Supervisors fighting everyone in order to protect themselves from investigation?

Arizona Republic article
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Ethics

County employees accepted free gifts from companies awarded Court Tower contracts

December 12, 2011 By 68 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Monday, December 12, 2011

County employees suspended and terminated over illegal activity    

Arpaio and Thomas gradually being vindicated for investigation of corrupt Court Tower project

The Arizona Republic is reporting that 11 Maricopa County employees have been caught accepting bribes from county contractors in exchange for sweet contracting deals. Employees who gave business to contractors like Evans Overhead Door received expensive gifts like concert and sports event tickets in return. It got so bad that Rob Evans, a partner with Evans Overhead Door, said county employees would pressure him for gifts.

“Once they knew you were in possession of a suite … they would come and ask you for tickets — that’s the way it’s always been,” he said. “You feel like you’re put on the spot. You almost feel like you’re obligated to do it because they hire you to work. They’d run into you, call you. You feel like you get taken advantage of. It’s kind of a catch-22. In your mind, you feel if you don’t, there are so many politics downtown, you’re always trying to do the right thing so people don’t get upset.”

The Republic writes this about the Court Tower bribe, “In another, an employee accepted gratuities from companies that were awarded tens of millions of dollars in public money for construction of the new court tower in downtown Phoenix.”

We wonder how far up the chain this will go. Knowing the long history of unethical behavior by the Supervisors and their hatchet man County Manager David Smith, we suspect they have received free tickets too. At a minimum, how could they have let this corruption go on for years? They squelched the Court Tower investigation and are now trying to disbar Andrew Thomas over his attempt to investigate it. We smell a rat. We will keep you updated.

Full Arizona Republic article
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Ethics

Supervisors award cronies large settlements from taxpayers

November 25, 2011 By 67 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Supervisors, their employees and judges filed large lawsuits against county over Arpaio, Thomas   

Supervisors are in charge of defending against those same lawsuits; award more generous settlements to their cronies

County IT Director Stephen Wetzel

This is so unethical it is unbelievable. The corrupt Maricopa County Supervisors, their high-level employees, and several judges have filed million dollar lawsuits against the county. Over what? Being investigated and prosecuted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. We all know what they were prosecuted for, things they have gotten away with years since they threaten anyone who stands in their way of corruption. Maricopa County has become another Cook County.

Incredulously, the Supervisors control these lawsuits and those of their employees and judges. First they awarded $100,000 to Judge Fields on September 3. For what? Stress over being investigated and prosecuted. Fields was a retired liberal judge that former presiding Superior Court judge Barbara Mundell would handpick out of retirement to handle political cases to ensure a liberal resolution, such as cases involving Sheriff Arpaio.

This past week the Supervisors awarded more generous settlements to their cronies. Their handpicked head of county IT, Stephen Wetzel, settled his multimillion dollar lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Arpaio had investigated him for his assistance helping the Supervisors do a sweep for bugs in order to thwart Arpaio from criminally investigating them.

Judge Baca’s $4.75 million dollar lawsuit against the county was settled for $100,000. Baca was one of the defendants in the racketeering case Arpaio and Thomas filed.

It comes as no surprise why these million dollar lawsuits are all being settled. The Supervisors know they wouldn’t stand a chance in court.

Taxpayers want to know: why are the defendants in charge of these lawsuits? An independent adjudicator should have been appointed. It is like the fox guarding the henhouse. It is appalling that that the Arizona Republic will not report the full story. Taxpayers are paying for this expensive cronyism.
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Family, Spending

County Supervisors’ fat cat highest paid employees

November 18, 2011 By 36 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Friday, November 18, 2011

We were pretty disgusted to see how much the Maricopa County Supervisors are paying their favorite county employees. While other county agencies are laying off employees and haven’t given out raises in years, the County Supervisors continue to give their overpaid pet employees raises. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK! You know what to do, vote them OUT in 2012 when they are all up for reelection.

David Smith, the Supervisors’ hired gun who is behind a lot of the Supervisors’ attacks on Sheriff Arpaio and other county agencies, is THE HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEE IN THE COUNTY. We are paying this skunk an exorbitant salary during a recession to go after Sheriff Arpaio???

Wade Swanson is a young attorney the Supervisors appointed to take over civil legal work when they stole the County Attorney’s Office away from Andrew Thomas. The Supervisors were ordered by the court to return it. Why is Wade Swanson still employed? And why is his salary higher than the County Attorney, who only makes $123,678? He also makes more than a Superior Court judge. Several of the other highest-paid attorneys, below, were lured away from the County Attorney’s Office to the Supervisors by offering them higher salaries. Why are they still there? They make more than almost every single employee at the County Attorney’s Office. It is brutally unfair to the hard working attorneys at the County Attorney’s Office that they are paid less money than those Supervisor cronies listed below.

All of the following employees are under the Supervisors and were put there by them and report directly or indirectly to them. These are some of the top paid employees in the county:

David Smith, County Manager $227,198
Stephen Wetzel, Director of Office of Enterprise Tech $194,480
Sandy Wilson, Deputy County Manager $193,440
Welton Harris, Assistant County Manager $175,240
Wade Swanson, Director of General Litigation $174,990
Augustin Alvarez, IT Consultant $138,694
Maria Brandon, Special Litigation $134,243
Christopher Bradley, Deputy Director of Budget $131,789
Brian Hushek, Deputy Director of Budget $131,144
Richard Stewart, Special Litigation $130,000
Thomas Gendron, IT consultant $129,501
Mary Cronin, General Litigation $124,821
Sherle Flaggman, General Litigation $124,821
Randall Garczynski, General Litigation $124,821
Brad Keogh, General Litigation $124,821

The Supervisors know how to pay off their cronies for loyalty using YOUR tax dollars. Remember this when election time rolls around next year!
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, County Government, Elected Officials, Ethics, Government Reform, Spending, Taxation

Supervisors adopt UN Agenda 21 bankrupt solar and green programs

November 5, 2011 By 17 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Solar companies like Solyndra are going bankrupt after billion dollar bailouts by the federal government, and are now under investigation. “Sustainability” has been exposed as a disguised word for the UN program Agenda 21 that seeks to undermine US authority and implement radical environmentalism that will crush our freedom and liberties.  The UN is making agreements at the local level with city councils, county supervisors, and other local boards. Our local communities must put a stop to this.

Yet the Maricopa County Supervisors are not listening and have gone ahead and made agreements with the UN subverting our authority to these agreements, and are actively implementing solar energy even though these companies are under investigation. Is this troubled Tempe-based solar company, one of two largest solar companies in the US, the company the Supervisors have contracted with? Read more from the Arizona Republic article:

Maricopa County pushes going green

3 years after program launch, 103 sustainable measures in effect

by Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Oct. 22, 2011
The Arizona Republic

The buzz word in Maricopa County government is “green.”

Maricopa County adopted its “Green Government” program more than three years ago with the idea that energy and resource conservation is good not only for the environment but also for residents and for the county’s bottom line.

“Everything we do, we’re going to do with an eye to reducing our carbon footprint,” said county Supervisor Don Stapley, who spurred the county’s sustainability initiatives in 2008. “If the county does that, and sets that example, I think the citizens of this county will also embrace and follow that leadership.”

The three-pronged approach to sustainability is a growing national trend, experts say. As budgets tighten, more local governments have adopted sustainability as a money-saving measure.

Maricopa County officials identified 144 sustainability measures that they deemed plausible. Since the program began in June 2008, county officials say, 103 measures have been successfully implemented, 31 have been launched and the remaining 10 have not been started.

“It’s important to know that sustainability . . . really is a three-legged stool. One of those things is economics. If things don’t make sense economically, we’re not going to do them, just because that’s a crucial component of sustainability,” said Jonce Walker, Maricopa County sustainability manager.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this week approved an agreement with Arizona Public Service Co. to install solar panels on the roofs of three county buildings, the latest step in the county’s solar-panel installation process.

Among the projects the county has completed in recent years: installing solar panels on jail buildings to heat the showers and at the county-owned Buckeye Hills Regional Park to power the park complex, including a shooting range.

Adding solar panels

Earlier this year, 228 solar panels mounted atop the county’s White Tank Branch Library and Nature Center generated excess energy. The excess energy was credited to the county’s account, then directed to the APS electrical grid for other customers to use.

The county’s green initiatives run the gamut.

For road projects, the Maricopa County Department of Transportation uses rubberized asphalt recycled from old tires that would have been thrown away in landfills or stored on the ground, posing potential fire threats.Four county buildings have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification: the downtown justice center, Estrella Mountain Regional Park, the former Santa Fe Freight Depot site that recently reopened as a satellite site for the Assessor’s Office, and the White Tank facility.

The U.S. Green Building Council issues LEED certification to projects that meet certain energy-conservation criteria.

Maricopa County’s green policy is comprehensive, especially because county officials did an inventory to establish an energy-consumption baseline, implemented a wide range of measures and tracks its progress closely, said Don Knapp, spokesman for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, an international association of cities and towns that works toward sustainability, clean energy and climate action.

Knapp said local governments across the country are recognizing that going green increases efficiency in government operations, creates jobs and saves money for taxpayers.

“In these tough economic times, you need to look at initiatives that have multiple benefits,” Knapp said. “It’s really a no-brainer.”

One of the challenges facing Maricopa County officials is changing the culture of employees and residents. The Valley is not known as a hot spot for green activism.

“If sustainability is going to work here, it can work anywhere in the world, I think – at least the country. We’re not a Portland, we’re not a Seattle. We’re not a San Francisco, New York. We have our own very unique challenges,” Walker said.

For example, the Valley since 2006 has experienced rapid growth in population – and, consequently, in waste. Maricopa County has the fourth-largest population among U.S. counties, with 3.8 million residents. That means there is a lot of waste that can be reduced, both within county departments and among residents in the community.

 

 
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Filed Under: County Government, Economic Development, Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Government, Spending

Judge dismisses county officials’ lawsuits against Arpaio and Thomas

November 1, 2011 By 7 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Judge said lawsuits were full of melodramatic “press release” language, not actual allegations
Million dollar lawsuits filed by Supervisors Wilcox & Stapley, their co-workers and several judges against County taxpayers all thrown out 

This comes as no surprise to those of us who have been following the antics going on at the County closely. Even liberal Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini has denounced the million dollar lawsuits county officials filed against Arpaio and Thomas that taxpayers would be forced to pay for, referring to the greedy officials as “‘Servants’ who would be kings (and queens).”

Here are some excerpts from the article in the Arizona Republic today:

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed all of the civil lawsuits filed by Maricopa County officials and Superior Court judges against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Judge Neil Wake on Friday gave the plaintiffs — retired judges Gary Donahoe, Barbara Rodriguez Mundell and Anna Baca; Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox; and county employees Susan Schuerman, Sandi Wilson and Gary Wetzel — the opportunity to rewrite their complaints. But he warned them that he will not tolerate the melodrama and imprecise accusations that have characterized the political battles from which the lawsuits were generated.

“The parties are admonished that future pleadings shall be limited to concise recitations of relevant facts and law,” Wake wrote. “Language that is irrelevant, inflammatory, or included for an improper purpose will be stricken from future pleadings.”

A single complaint against Arpaio and Thomas by developer Conley Wolfswinkel was allowed to stand.

In response to documents filed by Thomas and Arpaio, Wake also noted that Thomas is most likely immune from litigation over actions he took as a prosecutor. In other words, Wake wrote in his order, Thomas may be immune from criminal charges he filed against Stapley, Wilcox and Donahoe.

Similarly, in the Wolfswinkel case, because the complaint has to do with a search warrant executed without probable cause, Thomas and Arpaio were acting more as law-enforcement officers than prosecutors, Wake wrote, and thus will not be awarded prosecutorial immunity.

Wake also put an attorney for Maricopa County on notice that the county will not be able to push the responsibility for paying damages onto Thomas and Arpaio personally. Because the potential damages arise from actions they took as county officials, the county will have to pick up the tab.

The ruling was not unexpected. In September, when all of the parties appeared before Wake, he spoke his mind in characterizing the manner in which the lawsuits were written.

“When the complaints are written with an eye to the press, instead of the requirements of the court, it puts a burden on the defendants,” Wake said in open court.

He said that the complaints — except for Wolfswinkel’s — had “too much of what is not necessary and not enough of what is necessary.”

“Some of the language is indecorous,” he said.

 

Arrogantly, and without regard for the taxpayers of Maricopa County, the county officials are intending to refile their lawsuits. Read the full article here. 
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Filed Under: Arizona Politics, County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Ethics, Spending

Supervisors continue to fire more lawyers from defending Andrew Thomas

October 29, 2011 By 28 Comments

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Supervisors trying to fix outcome of Bar trial against Thomas by repeatedly firing his attorneys
State Bar has spent $426,984 on political witchhunt against Thomas that they have dragged out for over a year, yet Thomas is not allowed equivalent legal representation

From an article in the Arizona RepublicOnce again, the county is refusing to pay all of Thomas’ attorneys, effectively firing two of them midhearing.

The county is legally obligated to provide legal counsel for county officials and employees in litigation that arises from their work.

The county controls the purse strings and has repeatedly fired attorneys retained by Thomas, Aubuchon and Arpaio, citing cost or misconduct as reasons.

FIRED AND UNPAID ATTORNEYS

- Ernest Calderon, who was vocal in Thomas’ defense, was fired from Thomas’ legal team by the county sometime between March and June 2010.

- Kris Kobach, who helped write Arizona’s immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, and was consulting with the Sheriff’s Office, was fired by interim County Attorney Rick Romley in June 2010. At that time, county officials were also trying to figure out how Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Driscoll, who represented Arpaio in a racketeering suit against county officials and judges, was paid $155,000 from a fund reserved for racketeering investigations. Driscoll testified in the ethics hearing Thursday.

- The law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC. which represented Thomas in his state Bar hearings and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in numerous matters, was fired by the county in September 2010 after being accused of billing irregularities. The firm is still owed $1.1 million, but the county wants auditors to examine $5 million in billings first.

- Mark Goldman and the law firm of Wilenchik & Bartness PC, which represented Aubuchon, were fired in October 2010, with the accusation that their billings were exorbitant. The county paid them more than $263,000 before the state Bar complaint was filed.
In February 2010, the county agreed to pay for Aubuchon’s and Thomas’ defenses but set a low cap of $100,000 for each. Aubuchon’s attorneys announced that they would work pro bono rather than abide by the cost restriction.

Thomas’ team had neared the $100,000 limit by this June, and Wilson, the former lead attorney, threatened to withdraw when the county balked at paying more money. The county, working through County Attorney Bill Montgomery, agreed to renegotiate, and Wilson and his team stayed on.

“Bar counsel has had five lawyers working full time,” Wilson said. “And they had a year-plus head start on us.”

Those attorneys are paid by the state Bar, which is a quasi-governmental body supported by attorneys’ membership dues.

According to Bar spokesman Rick DeBruhl, the costs of the investigation, the hearing panelists and the attorneys amounted to $426,984 as of September.

Thomas has been represented by a team of four attorneys since before the hearing began.

But Don Wilson, Thomas’ lead attorney, said he was notified last week that the county would not pay for “multiple attorneys at depositions and hearings.”

Wilson declined to give details other than that. According to an Oct. 20 memo from the county’s risk-management department, Thomas was allowed only two attorneys at a time at depositions or hearings.

Maricopa County officials would not answer any questions about the decision not to pay all his attorneys.
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Filed Under: County Government, Crime and Punishment, Elected Officials, Ethics, Judicial
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