FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 7, 2012
CONTACT: Julie Lind

Tempe Candidate for Mayor and Current Tempe Mayor Praise County Attorney for Showing the Way

(Tempe, Arizona)Candidate for Tempe Mayor Michael Monti is joining Mayor Hugh Hallman in calling for gift bans and reporting requirements in Tempe. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has proposed a long list of restrictions to prevent another Fiesta Bowl scandal. Monti and Hallman believe Tempe should lead the way and adopt a strict set of rules on the municipal level. They include:

• Reporting any gifts worth more than $15 dollars
• Banning all gifts valued at more than $50
• Immediate reporting of gifts on the city website
• Penalties for officials who knowingly violate the rules
• Immediate reporting of taxpayer funded travel expenses

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman has set the standard in Tempe by refusing gifts of any kind. He has even turned down perks such as a parking space at Tempe City Hall. County Attorney Bill Montgomery has listed a set of rules that can easily be adopted at all levels of government.

Monti said, “Our Mayor has set the standard. Our County Attorney has identified the proper standards. Now it’s time for Tempe to adopt those standards so that we can lead the way in clean government. Not everyone has followed Mayor Hallman’s example.”

Michael Monti, owner of Tempe’s historic Monti’s La Casa Vieja, co-founded Local First, Arizona. He is also active in the Tempe Diablos Charities, and is the youngest inductee in the Arizona Restaurant Association’s Hall of Fame.

His campaign is based on bringing private sector ideas to government, fiscal responsibility, civic involvement, economic opportunity, and innovation. His proposals include:

• Financial incentives for city workers who save tax dollars
• The creation of the Tempe Community Corps to increase volunteerism, and aid Tempe neighborhoods Partnerships with ASU and the business community to bring more jobs to Tempe
• The creation of a public swimming beach at Tempe Town Lake, paid for by the private sector
• Partnerships with the ASU College of Nursing to aid Tempe seniors
• Encouraging businesses to embrace eco-friendly projects such as the Blink Car Charging Stations at Monti’s La Casa Vieja
• A ban on texting while driving in Tempe
• Gift bans and strict reporting requirements

Arizona leaders and organizations that have endorsed Michael Monti include:

• Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman
• Tempe Council Member Onnie Shekerjian
• Tempe’s first elected Mayor, Rudy Campbell
• The Tempe Chamber of Commerce
• Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne
• Congressman David Schweikert
• Former Tempe City Council Member ‘Hut’ Hutson
• Former State Rep. Laura Knaperek
• Tempe Democrat Carl Hayden
• Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery

To visit the Monti4 Mayor Website click here or log on to www.monti4mayor.com (@monti4mayor).

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Phoenix taxpayers recently paid almost a half a million dollars for a report that looked at city-employee compensation. The report reveals that some types of workers get paid more than the market average; some get paid less. But when you include benefits, the report found that all government workers in Phoenix are vastly better off than private sector workers.

These findings could have been obtained for a fraction of the cost, simply by surveying existing academic literature. Unlike the Goldwater Institute’s own research, which has revealed that public sector collective bargaining costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, there is little in the way of actual “news” in the new Phoenix report. In fact, the report missed an opportunity to uncover the real differences in pay and benefits between government and private workers in the City of Phoenix.

The Phoenix report omits any comparison of the hourly compensation of government versus private sector workers. It’s a big omission, particularly since the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported state and local government workers receive average hourly compensation that is 44 percent higher than private sector workers.

This failure to compare hourly compensation, despite abundant resources to do so, demonstrates that the city-funded report doesn’t present an accurate picture of the local differences in compensation between government and private sector workers. It also calls into question whether this omission was inadvertent or by design — such an analysis may have revealed that government employees receive dramatically more hourly compensation than private sector workers.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.

Stephen Slivinski is the Senior Economist with the Goldwater Institute.

Learn more:

Goldwater Institute: Save Taxpayers Tens of Billions of Dollars

City of Phoenix: Balancing Competitive Employment and Stewardship of Public Funds

Dear Arizona Taxpayer,

Today in the Senate Government Reform Committee, the majority members voted in favor of four important bills that would reform powerful government-worker unions:

SB 1484 — Paycheck Protection for Government Employees — Prohibits government employers from taking money from employee’s paychecks for union activities without express annual authorization.

SB 1485 — Prohibition on Government Collective Bargaining — Prohibits government employers from engaging in collective bargaining (including “meet and confer”) with government unions.

SB 1486 — Prohibition on Government Union Release Time — Prohibits government employers from paying employees to do union activities on the taxpayer dime.

SB 1487 — Prohibition on Withholding of Dues for Government Unions — Prohibits government employers from withholding any portion of public employee wages to pay for labor organization dues.

To send quick thank-you emails to the members of the Committee, click here. For Goldwater Institute fact sheets on the above bills, click on the bold bill titles, above.

TAKE ACTION! 

Senate Bills 1484, 1485, 1486 and 1487 will be heading soon to floor votes in the full Senate. Please help us rein in Arizona’s powerful government unions by sending an email to your state Senator in support of these bills.

To take action, simply REPLY to this email and click SEND. It will automatically send an email to your State Senator! You can also customize your message and take action by clicking here. 

To learn more about AFP-Arizona’s 2012 Legislative Agenda, click here.

Please forward this alert to your friends and family members!

For Liberty,

Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 26, 2012
CONTACT: Paul Bentz

Mayor Scott Smith announces run for second term as Mayor of Mesa

Mesa- Mayor Scott Smith today officially kicked off his bid for reelection for Mayor of Mesa. Smith announced he decision to seek a second term following his State of the City address that focused on his Building a Better Mesa initiative. Building a Better Mesa focuses on creating jobs and economic opportunity, insuring Mesa is a safe place, and being a leader throughout the region.

Mayor Smith, current Vice President of the US Conference of Mayors said, “I am excited for the opportunity to build on what we have started here in Mesa. We have some great initiatives coming up with iMesa and I hope to have the opportunity to see those through.”

Mayor Smith had never served in an elected position prior to running in 2008. He shortly proved that his background as a businessman and CPA was just what Mesa needed. Over the last four years, Mesa has had a balanced budget while streamlining operations throughout the city.

Since taking office, Mesa has been at the center of some of the largest economic developments in the state including the Air Force Research Lab, planned Gaylord Resort, Cubs Spring Training Complex, First Solar factory and many more.

Understanding the importance that Mesa plays throughout the region, Mayor Smith has forged key relationships with elected leaders throughout the valley and worked diligently on projects beyond Mesa’s borders. Smith has also brought Mesa to national light as Vice President of the US Conference of Mayors, the highest position held by an Arizona Mayor. Mayor Smith will be President of the organization in 2013.

Smith isn’t done yet though on his quest to Build a Better Mesa. Through his iMesa initiative, Mesa will soon embark on a list of community driven ideas to make Mesa a better place for those that work and live here.

Mayor Smith is a third generation Arizonan and has lived in Mesa for nearly 45 years. Prior to elected office, Smith was a successful business consultant and homebuilder, primarily focusing on companies that needed help with restructuring or expanding their business. He was a CPA and earned his MBA and Law Degrees. from Arizona State University. He and his wife Kimberly have been married for over 30 years and have three children and three grandchildren.

To learn more about Mayor Smith, you can visit his website at www.ScottSmithforMayor.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2012
CONTACT: Chad Willems

PHOENIX, AZ – The Re-Elect Joe Arpaio 2012 campaign committee released the following statement today:

“The first Democrat to file and announce his campaign for Maricopa County Sheriff, Paul Penzone, stumbled out of the gates this morning with an announcement that is riddled with errors about Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s record of service,” stated Arpaio campaign manager Chad Willems.

Penzone states in his online video that “on Sheriff Joe’s watch, more than 400 reports of sexual abuse against women and children were never investigated.”

The fact of the matter is this: the mishandling of these cases was brought to the Sheriff’s attention over four years ago, in 2007. Arpaio immediately ordered the cases re-opened and investigated. They have been brought to a conclusion.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Police Department has nearly 3,000 cases involving sex crimes and molestation that were mishandled. The PPD’s neglect in pursuing these cases surfaced only months ago, yet Penzone fails to mention his own department’s failures in these cases.

Penzone also states that the MCSO has failed to serve more than 40,000 felony warrants across the county. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of those are the responsibility of Penzone’s Phoenix Police Department.

Penzone’s tenure with the Phoenix Police Department as a sergeant offers him no experience in financial management and no decision-making power over the department’s budget.

“Penzone seemingly is a willing victim of believing the rhetoric from fringe groups that want to see Arpaio out of office. As a former spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department, Penzone should know to check his facts before making public statements. Before he gets too far down the campaign trail he might want to review the facts before he further embarrasses himself,” Willems concluded.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2012

GLENDALE, ARIZ (January 24, 2012) – City of Glendale mayoral candidate Walt Opaska calls on Mayor Scruggs and the City Council to plan for the possibility that if the Coyotes leave Glendale. Major Scruggs and City Council must start a process to find a company to manage Jobing.com arena if the Coyotes leave Glendale.

“While Glendale should try to keep the Coyotes in Glendale in a way that does not bankrupt the City, Glendale needs to plan for all eventualities. Mayor Scruggs and the City Council are neglecting their duties to the citizens of Glendale by not planning for possibility that the Coyotes leave Glendale,” stated Walt Opaska.

In September, the City Manager told Mayor Scruggs and the City Council that it would take at least three or four months to find an arena management company. “It is inconceivable that we are less than three months from the end of the hockey season and Glendale has no plans for arena management in mid-April if the Coyotes leave. Immediately, Glendale needs to begin a public process to find potential arena managers if the Coyotes leave Glendale,” says Walt Opaska. “If the City does not have a back-up arena management company in place, and a deal is not reached by the end of the Coyotes season, Jobing.com arena will sit empty. What a waste! Glendale needs needs new leadership that will plan for the future.”

To learn more about Walt Opaska, please visit www.opaskaformayor.com. Walt Opaska is the only mayoral candidate consistently opposed to taxpayer subsidies for the Coyotes.

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This was too good to pass up and I especially appreciate the creative snarkiness to it all!

Potholes, potholes, potholes. You simply cannot drive anywhere in Tucson without hitting one. But don’t get mad. Instead, embrace your favorite local pothole and share it with everyone.

We are pleased to announce a new social media website for the greater Tucson area. It’s aptly titled, Tucsonpotholes.com. You can upload your favorite pothole picture and give it a name. You can rate your pothole and other people’s potholes. Your best snarky comments are always welcome. View the Google Potholes map to see the “red dots” grow and grow. Read some of the serious commentary on the blog side, too.

The goal? To bring Tucson’s pothole plight to “center stage” and hold the Tucson City Council and the Pima County Board of Supervisors accountable for their failed leadership in keeping our streets safe and usable.

Thank you for your interest and we are looking forward to seeing your favorite pothole on Tucsonpotholes.com

The Goldwater Institute recently filed a lawsuit challenging Phoenix’s “release time” practice that sends six city police officers to work as full-time union managers, 35 to work as part-time union representatives, and one to work as a union lobbyist. Although these employees are released from city duties to perform union duties, taxpayers continue to pay the officers’ salaries and benefits.

The city and the union say this practice doesn’t waste taxpayer money because it’s police officers who pay for the release time by foregoing higher pay and benefits in exchange for release time.

But that isn’t true.

The city doesn’t consider release time a trade off for lower officer salaries – until recently the city council didn’t know release time existed. The city grants release time simply because it’s been buried in the city’s contracts with the unions since the 1970s.

And even if the city does grant release time in exchange for officers accepting lower pay, it doesn’t mean officers are funding release time. As long as the city signs the paychecks of officers doing union work, taxpayers are the ones who pay.

Officers would fare better if the city defunded release time and redirected the associated $950,000 per year to officer salaries. Then, individual officers could choose whether to keep their portion of the money or put it back into funding release time via union dues.

Of course, union bosses fear this idea — give officers direct control over the funding of release time, and they just might find that six full-time union managers and 15,000 hours of release time aren’t necessary after all.

Taylor Earl is a staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Learn more:

Goldwater Institute: Cheatham v. Gordon

Goldwater Institute: “Money for Nothing: Phoenix Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Work“

At least one Arizona city understands that the key to economic growth is more freedom and lower costs levied on businesses.

The City of El Mirage recently announced that it was abandoning “impact fees” – regulatory hurdles that hold a developer’s property rights hostage. The fees are supposed to cover the cost of the impact that new development has on city infrastructure. But in reality, they’re a surtax on economic growth that is often used to fund unnecessary luxuries like public art and theatres.

El Mirage has set a great example, but one isolated reform won’t prevent El Mirage or any other city in the U.S. from slipping back into bad habits once the good times return. Local governments still need a long-term plan for embracing freedom and prosperity-friendly policies in good times and bad.

Fortunately, a new bill sponsored by Senator Lori Klein promises to fulfill that need in Arizona.

Based on the Goldwater Institute’s research in A New Charter for America’s Cities, Senator Klein is sponsoring SB1064, which would give cities the power to adopt a “Local Liberty Charter.” Any city adopting the charter would embrace a 20-year plan for economic growth based on individual freedom and responsibility, including a prohibition on subsidies to private businesses, an end to excessive regulations, competitive contracting of services other than public safety, and the limitation of local spending to population and inflation growth.

Even if only a handful of cities adopted the charters, the contrast between them and others would eventually produce a stark difference in prosperity. Moreover, the inevitable success of what Senator Barry Goldwater called “freedom’s model” would be a crucial force in persuading cities to choose freedom.

Learn more:

Arizona Republic: “El Mirage showing that it’s ‘pro-growth’”

Arizona State Senate: Senate Bill 1064

Goldwater Institute: A New Charter for American Cities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 15th, 2011
Contact: Tyler Hudgins

Maricopa County – Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane today endorsed Steve Chucri for County Board of Supervisors.

Mayor Lane, a conservative voice on the Scottsdale City council since 2004, took his leadership to the next level in 2008 when he successfully ran for mayor.

“Steve Chucri is the right choice to move Maricopa County forward with transparent, accountable, and conservative leadership. He will end the senseless bickering and lawsuits and instead re-focus the Board on creating a climate for winning new private sector jobs,” stated Mayor Lane.

Chucri thanked the Mayor for his support: “Mayor Lane works tirelessly for the people of Scottsdale, and his commitment to the community inspires me. I am so grateful to have his support as I campaign to bring accountability and integrity to county government.”

Chucri became President & CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association (ARA) in 2002, and under his leadership and tireless work ethic, the ARA and restaurant industry in Arizona has enjoyed a substantial growth in sales in what will amount to a nine billion dollar industry in Arizona this year alone.

As President and CEO of the ARA, Chucri represents business owners and sees firsthand how the actions of local, state, and federal governments can positively or negatively impact restaurants and other small businesses in Arizona. Chucri’s experiences as a businessman, husband, and father have given him invaluable insight into the needs of his community and ensure that, as County Supervisor, he will always put people before politics.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13, 2011
CONTACT: Amy Rezzonico

PHOENIX (Tuesday, December 13, 2011) — Attorney General Tom Horne has found evidence that the Quartzsite Town Council has violated Arizona’s Open Meeting Laws (A.R.S. §§ 38-431 et. seq.) in connection with the conduct of Town Council meetings and dealings with a member of the public.

In a letter to the Quartzsite Town Attorney, Horne notes that on June 28, 2011, while addressing the Council, Quartzsite resident Jennifer Jones was removed from the meeting by a vote of the council. She had turned her back on the council and was addressing the audience, which the council reasonably could object to. Public bodies can eject members of the public for disruptive conduct, but they must first give a warning, which the council failed to do.

The second violation occurred on July 10, 2011 in which the Council convened an emergency meeting on at the Town Hall to discuss disruptions during previous meetings. The Council locked the doors to the meeting room and did not allow any member of the public to attend its meeting. Excluding the public from this meeting violated the Open Meeting Law.

In the third and related violation, the Attorney General notes that the Council did not fully comply with the posting requirements for emergency meetings. As of December 9, 2011, the minutes of the emergency meeting were not posted on the Town website.

The final violation involves the failure to comply with posting requirements for Notices and Minutes.

The Council did not post minutes for the July 10, 2011 emergency meeting. In addition, the Council failed to post minutes for a number of its meetings labeled as “work sessions.”

As a remedy, Horne is recommending that:

1. The Council will discuss the concerns listed in this letter with its legal counsel in open session during a properly noticed public meeting.
2. Each member of the Council and staff will participate in a training session with counsel from the League of Arizona Cities and Towns regarding the requirements of the Open Meeting Laws.
3. The Council will be subject to oversight by the Attorney General’s Office for a period of twelve months.

View a copy of the letter to the Town here.

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In September, my colleague Mark Flatten released an investigative report showing that Phoenix and other Arizona cities spend millions of dollars every year to pay employees to perform union work on city time. Less than three months later, we are going to court on behalf of Phoenix taxpayers to put an end to the practice of union “release time.”

Our case takes on the city’s contract with the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA), which provides an estimated $900,000 in annual release time for police union work, including lobbying. The provisions take six full-time officers off the streets – giving them full pay, benefits, and overtime for union work – in addition to providing thousands of additional release-time hours for the union to dole out at its discretion. Altogether, more than 40 police officers can be released from some or all of their law-enforcement duties by the union.

Only a few years ago, Phoenix voters agreed to raise their sales tax to hire more police officers and firefighters. Would they have done so knowing that much of the revenue would wind up as a union giveaway? Moreover, PLEA itself confesses that release-time means less money for police officer salaries.

Beyond endangering public safety, the release time is an unconstitutional subsidy. The Arizona Constitution prohibits gifts to individuals or private entities by subsidy or otherwise. In 1984, the Court upheld a school district’s release-time provision because the cost was minimal and the duties imposed were significant. Here the cost is massive and the benefits are negligible.

With cities and their taxpayers struggling in a tough economy, release time is an obvious place to save money. Union members should pay the costs of union activities — if they desire them. Passing those costs along to taxpayers is an illegal charade that should quickly end.

Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Learn More:

Goldwater Institute: Cheatham v. Gordon

Goldwater Institute: Money for Nothing: Phoenix taxpayers foot the bill for union work

Goldwater Institute: Turken v. Gordon (CityNorth subsidy case)

Arizona Supreme Court: Wistuber v. Paradise Valley School Dist.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2011
CONTACT:  Walt Opaska

GLENDALE, ARIZ (November 17, 2011)- City of Glendale mayoral candidate Walt Opaska today calls on Glendale’s city council and mayor to fire their lobbyist Gary Husk, due to his involvement in the Fiesta Bowl scandal.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Natalie Wisneski, the former Fiesta Bowl Chief Operating Officer, for filing false financial statements and illegally reimbursing Fiesta Bowl employees and their family members for campaign contributions. The Wisneki indictment details Husk’s involvement in the scandal. In addition, Husk played an extensive role in the cover-up, according to the Fiesta Bowl Special Committee’s report on the scandal.

“In light of the indictment of Wisneski, it is outrageous that Glendale continues to pay Husk $10,000 a month. He has failed to live up to the ethical standards that Glendale’s citizens deserve, and I call on the city of Glendale to immediately terminate their contract with Husk,” said Walt Opaska. “He cannot be an effective advocate for the city’s needs while under an ethical black cloud.”

Gary Husk has worked as a lobbyist for the Fiesta Bowl since 2003. In addition to being a lobbyist for the Fiesta Bowl, Husk lobbies for the city of Glendale. Glendale pays Husk $120,000 a year for his services.

To learn more about Walt Opaska, please visit www.opaskaformayor.com.

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“Rick accuses me of not telling the truth when I said my family business hadn’t taken any new cases for the City of Tucson. Of course I was telling the truth; our firm has not taken a new case from the City in the last year or two. We have given legal advice – but legal advice is not a case.”   Stated Jonathan Rothschild.

Mr. Rothschild is trying to draw a distinction between giving legal advice and taking on a new case. Regardless of semantics, Rothschild’s firm was being paid by the city. How disingenuous – not taking “cases” just taking our money and no reasonable person sees a distinction between taking on new legal matters and new legal cases.  He is intentionally deceiving the public. Our city deserves a mayor who doesn’t parse his words. When our next Mayor looks people in the eye, the people of Tucson deserve to know that he isn’t trying to trick them with word games.  We’re seeing the real Jonathan Rothschild. Our city deserves a leader who shoots straight and tells the truth. Mr. Rothschild has just proven he isn’t that person.