Archive for October, 2008
October 15th, 2008, 12:24 pm by Le Templar
MESA MAYOR SCOTT SMITH
When Scott Smith took the mayor’s office in July, he had a goodly amount of optimism about what he could accomplish. He had a new council to work with and, despite the city’s fiscal challenges, some real opportunities ranging from the Riverview/Waveyard region to what’s on the horizon for Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The new council quickly agreed to a scaled-down version of a bond package and new property tax before city voters on Nov. 4. And he announced several promising changes in the business climate to launch his administration including expansion of Catepiller dealer Southwest Empire and a new Gaylord luxury resort.
What Smith couldn’t count on what the nationwide freeze in the credit markets in mid-September that put an even bigger brake on the national economy. Combined with already struggling Arizona situation, government tax revenues are taking a nose dive at state and local levels.
So Mesa’s on-going budget problems are going to move the forefront again, and likely will shape whatever legacy that Smith will leave the city. Tribune East Valley editor Patti Epler reported today that Police Chief George Gascon and other city department heads are sounding huge red alarms about coming budget cuts, and Smith only stoked the fire with his comments.
“We’re trying to get everybody in the mindset of not only where can we cut, but how do we do business and what services do we provide and where do we go from here,” Smith said. “We may have to make some basic changes in how we approach things. We need to at least start thinking that way. We don’t want to be caught off guard.”
Epler wasn’t able to learn any details about how big the budget cuts might be. But we can get a sense of what’s going on from neighboring Phoenix, where the City Council could be forced to shrink the general operating budget by more than 20 percent — after already making smaller spending reductions earlier this year.
By this time in 2009, Mesa’s city government could look a lot different, and be a lot smaller, than it is now.
Posted in: Arizona government • Mesa • Phoenix • economic meltdown • Mesa • Phoenix • Scott Smith | 8 Comments »
October 9th, 2008, 10:37 am by Le Templar
GEN. DAVID RATACZAK (Photo courtesy of the Arizona National Guard)
Unlike the federal military services, the Arizona National Guard has a single person who commands all of the state military branches called the adjutant general. The man who has held that post since 1999, David Rataczak, announced this morning that he will retire in December after 43 years in the military.
A combat helicopter pilot from the Vietnam War, Rataczak was appointed to his post by then-Gov. Jane Dee Hull, a Republican. But he has been a faithful and able commander during the administration of Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. Rataczak has managed Army and Air branches that have grown quite rapidly (by 60 percent) in terms of troops, armories and other buildings, and missions. The Air National Guard became a lead military agency to test and deploy the Predator combat drone, which has been used in nonviolent patrol missions along the Mexican border and in a variety of combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Rataczak has seen a fair share of controversy during this tenure. In 2000, Tribune investigative reporter Mark Flatten disclosed evidence that the Arizona National Guard was keeping the name of soliders on its books for months after they had left service in order to draw in more federal funding. The “ghost soldiers” series sparked some criticism, particulary within the military community. But the issue disappeared after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as federal funding jumped for the various state national guards in exchange for participating heavily in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rataczak also found himself in a political showdown in the past two years with Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, that nearly cost Rataczak his job. Harper was angry that Rataczak had previously refused to back the senator’s proposals for using National Guard troops in direct border patrol operations and potential detention of illegal immigrants. Operation Jump Start, which was funded by the Pentagon, relied on National Guard troops from Arizona and other states in a supporting role for the civilian Border Patrol. Harper used his position as a committee chairman to block Rataczak’s reappointment as adjutant general, and Harper relented only under enormous pressure.
I got to know Rataczak just a little bit when I was covering Napolitano a few years ago. The governor had traveled to Yuma for a regional military conference, so she was allowed to use a National Guard plane to make the trip. I was invited along, and it turned out Rataczak was Napolitano’s host for the day. The general admitted during a quiet moment that he was using the daylong trip to speak one-on-one with Napolitano about some of his ideas for the National Guard and about a couple of funding requests. Since the two have continued to work well together, I always assumed that Napolitano was pleased with what Rataczak had to say.
Posted in: Arizona government • Arizona National Guard • Gen. David Rataczak • Gov. Janet Napolitano • Jack Harper • Operation Jump Start | 2 Comments »
October 7th, 2008, 8:04 pm by Le Templar
 (AP Photo)
If John McCain goes on to win this election, I believe pundits will point to tonight’s town-hall style debate as the starting point of his come-from-behind drive. McCain made from a huge jump up from the first debate in that he was more personable and human, serious when he needed to be, but he ably worked in some humor at several points. McCain also knew when to break the debate rules for a good cause, such as when he interrupted Tom Brokaw to quickly point out that Barack Obama had failed to address McCain’s earlier challenge of spelling out the financial penalties for failing to buy insurance under Obama’s health care plan.
On the other hand, Obama seemed to repeatedly break the rules simply to ramble on past the time limits, even after being indirectly admonished by Brokaw. Now, I will say Obama was more impressive tonight than I expected. He was generally comfortable in this format and eloquent. When Brokaw wouldn’t let Obama get in follow-up response during a discussion on tax policies, he effectively worked his thoughts in anyway as part of his answer to the next question about Social Security and Medicare.
But Obama spent much of the 90 minutes repeating the same phrases and attacks on McCain that Obama used in the last debate and in recent weeks on the campaign trail. McCain stood out a little more because he had several fresh things to say. He probably gave heart attacks to more than a few conservative Republicans when he opened with a commitment for the federal government to buy up every individual bad home mortgage in the country. But at least it was something different from the previous debate for viewers to chew on.
I thought McCain generally improved his performance on the economic crisis and other domestic matters. He sounded more thoughtful, instead of constantly repeating talking points. And he was darn impressive during the 20 or so minutes on foreign policy issues (Although, I would urge him to come up with new material when he talks about Russia’s Vladamir Putin).
Obama didn’t make any mistakes, so tonight’s debate might not make any difference in the election. But McCain gave undecided voters a slightly improved view than they’ve seen before, while Obama looked pretty much the same. That could make a difference if the election turns out to be close.
Posted in: Presidential campaign • Barack Obama • John McCain • Presidential debate | 4 Comments »
October 6th, 2008, 1:20 pm by Le Templar
The Arizona Motor Vehicle Division can’t avoid it any more. The agency has to starting issues special license plates for people who oppose abortion, as the state already does for causes such as spraying and neutering pets and to support fallen police officers.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused this morning to consider an decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that says abortion opponents have a First Amendment right to their own specialty license plate.
“Life-affirming expression is constitutionally protected just like any other speech,” said Peter Gentala, attorney for the Arizona Life Coalition, which requested the “Choose Life” plate in a news release today. “The Arizona Life Coalition’s message has been censored for over six years. Now it’s time for the License Plate Commission to act quickly to approve the plates so they can go into production as the law requires.”
It’s probably hard for some people to wrap their heads around, but I wrote more than a year ago that Arizona was discriminating against pro-life groups by refusing to issue such a plate after had patiently followed all of the rules. Now, the state has to start selling the plates, or get out of the business of these specialty issue plates. The Tribune Editorial Board has called for the latter option, but I doubt that will happen.
Posted in: Arizona government • Courts • Arizona Life Coalition • Arizona MVD • Choose Life • Supreme Court | 8 Comments »
October 3rd, 2008, 4:50 pm by Le Templar
I was stunned to hear a campaign advertisement from Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., this afternoon taking credit for fighting the $700 billion bailout package and standing up to President Bush on the issue. The ad doesn’t appear on his campaign Web site, but I heard it on KFYI (550AM) just after 2 p.m. today. It’s an obvious reference to Shadegg’s vote Monday against an earlier version of the bailout, which the House did reject. The radio ad’s language invoked an ongoing campaign theme as Shadegg the reformer who challenges the Washington establishment.
The ad was a complete surprise because it aired a couple of hours after Shadegg voted with a House majority to approve the latest version of the bailout and send it on for Bush to sign into law. The second half of the ad did include some thoughts similar to what’s in that news release about reforms such as increasing the federally insured amount for individual banking accounts and easing the rules on “mark-to-market,” or how banks and other lenders must value the physical assets used as collateral on loans. But the overall tone of the ad was the $700 billion bailout was bad for America and Shadegg stood by his constituents when he worked against it.
This would be a ready-made attack ad for Shadegg’s election opponent, Democrat Bob Lord. “He was against it before he was for it.” Only, Lord did the exact same thing, through his public statements, since he couldn’t vote on the measure.
Posted in: Congress • Election issues • $700 billion bailout • Bob Lord • John Shadegg | Post a Comment »
October 2nd, 2008, 4:15 pm by Le Templar
  
From upper left: SARAH PALIN (www.johnmccain2008.com), GWEN IFILL (AP photo) and JOE BIDEN (AP photo).
Gov. Sarah Palin will safely exceed expectations by coming up with some original answers to at least a couple of questions, and probably a good ‘zinger or two. Voters will like her again, like they did after her convention speech. But it will be obvious when she’s forced to retreat to talking points.
Sen. Joe Biden will work hard to avoid any stupid gaffes, which means he won’t be as passionate as he can be in a stump speech. Don’t look for recycled talking points, but all of Biden’s hard punches will be directed at John McCain as the head of the ticket, not Palin.
Moderator Gwen Ifill will ignore the tempest in the teapot of the past couple of days and do her typically efficient job of managing the debate. The McCain camp attacking Ifill doesn’t make sense to me because Ifill never tries to make this type of forum about her. She’s not going to try to embarrass Palin or Biden, but give both candidates an equal opportunity to make their best case for the voters.
Posted in: Election issues • Presidential campaign • Uncategorized • Gwen Ifill • Joe Biden • Sarah Palin • Vice Presidential Debate | Post a Comment »
October 2nd, 2008, 3:15 pm by Le Templar
 
JOHN SHADEGG BOB LORD
The candidates for the 3rd Congressional District have been firing back and forth this week over the $700 billion bailout package, in part because of this blog.
The campaign of Republican incumbent John Shadegg began the tussle with a news release Wednesday referring to my post Monday about Lord, the Democratic challenger, sending out a strong statement opposing the bailout package as the House vote already was going against it. Shadegg’s campaign picked up on the fact that Lord spoke out only after the bill already was doomed.
“What courage it must have taken for Bob Lord to decide he was against the bailout bill after the vote was taken,” Shadegg campaign manager Sean Noble said. ”I can see him now: With C-SPAN on the TV, a press release supporting the bill in one hand, another press release opposing the bill in the other, Bob courageously decided to issue the release opposing the bill after the vote. I can’t imagine the pressure he was feeling.”
Noble’s quote is a somewhat subtle reference to this story from the Associated Press on Monday, which implied Arizona Democrats Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords were prepared to vote either way, depending on whether their votes would help House leaders push the measure to passage (In the end, they both voted no).
Lord shot back today with a news release referring to a comment by him published Sept. 23 in the Phoenix Business Journal raising questions about a lack of oversight in the Bush administration’s original proposal.
“When you vote with President Bush’s House leadership 98 percent of the time, maybe you even pick up Bush’s bad habits, like not reading the newspaper,” said Andrew Eldredge-Martin, Lord’s campaign manager. “The American economy cannot afford more of the same failed Bush economic policies that got us into this financial crisis, and Arizona cannot afford John Shadegg’s blind support of Bush’s economic agenda. Arizona deserves better.”
I hadn’t seen Lord’s original quote, but he didn’t appear to be opposing the $700 billion bailout as a concept. His comment at the time focuses solely on who would be watching how the Treasury secretary uses the money. That’s reinforced by Lord’s new willingness to support the bailout in the latest version approved by the Senate Wednesday night.
“It’s clear we need to take action, I think the plan now before the House has improved and will provide needed economic stimulus,” Lord said in a second news release today. “However, our job is not done yet. We have to be vigilant with oversight of the Treasury and serious about accountability on Wall Street. We have to keep people in their homes. Most of all we need to end the disastrous Bush economic policies that got us here in the first place.”
Of course, Shadegg could wind up supporting the package as well, considering how far the stock market droppped Monday when the House rejected the earlier version. Principled public opposition appears to be eroding as people realize what happens on Wall Street affects the pension funds and retirement plans for millions of Americans.
Posted in: Congress • Election issues • Uncategorized • $700 billion bailout • Bob Lord • Gabrielle Giffords • Harry Mitchell • John Shadegg | 4 Comments »
October 2nd, 2008, 12:17 pm by Le Templar
Forget what’s happening in Washington. Arizonans should be more focused on the escalating budget crisis right in our own backyard. Gov. Janet Napolitano is hoping (praying? tossing pennies into wishing wells?) that the funding shortfall for the 3-month-old fiscal year will be only $320 million, but is willing to consider a worst-case scenario of $850 milllion. That’s after Napolitano and the Legislature adopted a budget in late June that erased a shortfall predicted at the time to be $1.9 billion.
However, state lawmakers were told Tuesday during a special briefing that tax revenues appear to coming in at about $100 million less than state spending every month. That means the potential deficit will surge past Napolitano’s optimistic projection by, oh, well, this Monday.
Unlike a year ago, Napolitano appears to understand the scope and the depth of the budget crisis. She sounds like she’s riding hard on state agencies to limit expenses, although it would easier to see that if her budget office could produce some detailed numbers to demonstrate concrete savings. She’s also working on some rather inventive ideas, such as selling or leasing the Arizona Lottery to a private operator and accepting a chunk of cash from tobacco companies now, in exchange for reducing their overall payments under the 1999 master tobacco settlement.
But those solutions are temporary at best, providing only a one-time infusion of cash. The whole purpose of Wednesday’s special meeting for lawmakers and legislative candidates was to drive home the point that as bad as things are right now, they probably will get worse in 2009. Private economist Elliott Pollack repeated his recent presentation to state business leaders with a blizzard of facts about the economic slowdown and he predicted a real recovery won’t reach Arizona probably until 2011.
The real challenge, according to top legislative budget analyst Richard Stavneak, is Napolitano and the Legislature have crafted a $10.7 billion general fund budget, but the economy seems to be able to only support spending on a stable basis at $8.7 billlion.
The state has $120 million in savings, and then the money tree is pretty close to leafless for this year and next. And more than half of the budget (primarily K-12 education and health care spending) can’t be touched by lawmakers because they are protected by voter-approved formulas and spending mandates. If lawmakers immediately adopted a 20 percent budget cut for every state agency that they do have say over, it would save only $400 million, Stavneak said. And such cuts would have to include state prisons, the Department of Public Safety, universities and community colleges.
That’s why Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, said Wednesday the Legislature should be looking at a special statewide election as soon as January to ask voters for relief from the mandates. Lawmakers likely would seek permission to temporarily cut back on state spending for school districts and to benefits provided by AHCCCS.
The only other route out of the crisis would be higher taxes. It’s pretty much guaranteed that the temporary suspension of the business personal property tax will be allowed to expire — bringing in $250 million a year starting in 2010. But there likely won’t be any other serious tax proposals, despite complaints from some Democrats and special interest groups, unless or until Napolitano decides to throw her political capital behind such an unpopular move.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Schools • Uncategorized • Arizona budget • Elliott Pollack • Gov. Janet Napolitano • Thayer Verschoor | Post a Comment »
|
|
Twitter