Archive for the 'Arizona government' Category
November 6th, 2009, 4:30 pm by Le Templar
 Stephen Colbert It’s almost not fair anymore to point out when a popular comedy show takes another shot at Arizona state government. With a budget deficit of more than 20 percent (and perhaps double that for the next fiscal year), there are only bad choices and worse options for the governor and state Legislature. Someone is bound to poke some fun, no matter what they do.
But Stephen Colbert’s “The Word” has to be the best regular feature of any comedy show out there. The segment is a parody of Bill O’Reilly’s “Talking Points” commentary on The O’Reilly Factor. Between Colbert’s conservative persona, what he’s actually saying and the running counterpoint in words on the right of the TV screen, there will be two, three or even four levels of humor on display at the same time. Pure hilarity.
So I must call your attention to Tuesday’s “The Word,” when Colbert took on Arizona’s plan to sell nearly all of its prisons for cash to help balance the budget. While I’m not as troubled as other people by the concept of private prisons, I do understand their concerns. And Colbert’s final line really is a classic.
The segment is long at 4.5 minutes, but definitely worth your time.
Hat tip to Jim Nintzel at Tucson Weekly for writing about this first.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Arizona state budget • Bill O'Reilly • The Colbert Nation | Post a Comment »
November 3rd, 2009, 3:14 pm by Le Templar
 Sen. Pamela Gorman Gov. Jan Brewer is trying to reach a deal with the top two legislative leaders to call budget special session this month and reduce at least some of the projected $2 billion deficit. While everyone else waits, some key players are positioning themselves for what comes next.
Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, has decided to publicly defend her colleagues from accusations that the Legislature refuses to address the budget crisis. Gorman took offense at a recent media column that suggested lawmakers have been sitting on their hands while the deficit climbs.
She fired both barrels at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson (a popular target among Republicans). But the Daily Star apparently just linked to a column from Mark Evans at the Tucson Citizen web site, who referred to a “chicken Legislature.” However, Gorman’s underlying point still applies: Just because a journalist doesn’t like the strategies used by the GOP majority shouldn’t be a license to claim the Legislature has done nothing.
The Legislature adopted a budget twice that its analysts said were balanced (with revenue estimates that turned out to be too optimistic), but Brewer’s various vetoes kept adding more spending to the bottom line.
Of course, Gorman was blamed in various corners for those vetoes, as she was one of two Republicans who refused to join their colleagues in supporting Brewer’s call for an election on a temporary sales tax increase. That opposition was just enough to block the election proposal, which could have balanced out many of the proposed budget cuts the governor later vetoed.
Meanwhile, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, has re-emphasized his willingness to champion a sales tax election again. Burns was careful not to say he supports a sales tax increase. But reading between the lines, he seems to believe an election is the only route to closing the huge political divide in the Legislature that has made budget solutions so difficult to obtain. Whether a sales tax passes or fails, the voters would give some clear guidance to lawmakers about what they want to happen.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Pamela Gorman • state budget | 1 Comment »
October 29th, 2009, 2:26 pm by Le Templar
Metadata (met-uh day-ta): Data about data. Metadata describes how and when and by whom a particular set of data was collected, and how the data is formatted. Metadata is essential for understanding information stored in data warehouses and has become increasingly important in XML-based Web applications. (www.webopedia.com)
The Arizona Supreme Court has blazed new ground today for government transparency and access to public records in a case about information that’s created as part of electronic records but often is not seen when those records are printed out.
In Lake v. the city of Phoenix, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that metadata should be treated just like the underlying document and is covered by Arizona’s open records law. This means government agencies won’t be able to withhold key details about an electronic file, such as when it was created, who had access to the record and if there’s any hidden information used by government officials that “disappears” when you click the print button.
The lawsuit is about Phoenix police officer David Lake, who claims he was wrongly demoted by the city. Among the evidence produced in the case are some personnel evaluations that reflect poorly on Lake’s performance. Lake suspects the evaluations were written after his demotion and were falsely backdated.
Since the evaluations were written on city computers using a standard word-processing program, Lake’s lawyers demanded to see the electronic originals including the metadata that would show when the documents were first created, if they were ever changed, and who might have edited them over time. You can type any date you want at the top of a letter, and you can go back and edit that letter weeks or months later to completely change its message. But only a few computer experts can hack into word-processing programs and change the metadata to hide their tracks.
Phoenix lawyers denied Lake’s request, and argued in court that the open records law only applied to parts of a document typed in by a city official that could be printed off. Since metadata often is automatically created by the software outside of the user’s control, it can’t be considered a public record, the city also argued.
A trial judge and the Arizona Court of Appeals agreed with Phoenix’s position. That’s when several media/freedom of information groups took an interest in the case, including the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona. Full disclosure: I’m on the coalition’s board of directors.
Lake and Phoenix were arguing over several issues in different stages of their appeals, and the First Amendment Coalition worried that the fundamental, open government concern involving metadata wouldn’t receive the proper attention before the Supreme Court. So the coalition’s lawyer, Dan Barr, filed a “friend of the court” brief to explain how metadata works and why that information shouldn’t be viewed differently from other parts of a public document.
Part of that presentation came from Steve Doig, a journalism professor at Arizona State University who previously participated in Pulitzer Prize winning investigations with the Miami Herald. Doig explained in writing for the Supreme Court how there are times when you can’t even make sense of an electronic file (especially if it’s created in a spreadsheet like Excel) unless you have the corresponding metadata.
The Supreme Court agreed with the arguments from Lake and the media groups. The court even recognized that governments can avoid the time-consuming hassle of isolating and printing off metadata by simply turning over the original electronic file (usually referred as its “native format”). That’s what most people seeking public records from computers want these days anyway.
But a lot of Arizona governments refuse to release the electronic version of records, claiming state law doesn’t require them to do so. Typically, governments insist on printouts to discourage public record seekers or to limit what they will get to review.
This Supreme Court decision should provide a new incentive for governments to release complete public records in a manner consistent with 21st century technology.
Posted in: Arizona State University • Arizona government • Courts • Freedom of Information • Public records • Arizona First Amendment Coalition • Arizona Supreme Court • Dan Barr • Steve Doig | 2 Comments »
October 22nd, 2009, 10:34 am by Le Templar
The Phoenix Business Journal created some buzz yesterday with an online story that Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, is being considered by Gov. Jan Brewer to be the next director of the state Department of Public Safety. Pearce told KFYI radio talk show host J.D. Hayworth that he hadn’t spoken with Brewer about an appointment, but he would “seriously consider it.”
Pearce technically would be qualified to run DPS, considering his stellar career as a sheriff’s deputy and as the former director of the Motor Vehicle Division. But I’m surprised Pearce, as a former justice of the peace and an experienced lawmaker, failed to remember that he’s legally barred from the appointment.
The Arizona Constitution — Article 4, Part 2, Section 5 — says no lawmaker can take another public office until his or her current term expires. The only exceptions are for school teachers and school board members. The specific wording means the prohibition still applies even if a lawmaker resigns from office before trying to take another government job.
So, Pearce couldn’t become DPS director until January 2011 at the earliest. The six-year term of the current director, Roger Vanderpool, expires in three months. Brewer isn’t going to wait a year to bring Pearce on board, even if she presumed she would win the November 2010 election.
Just for confirmation, the Arizona Guardian reached a similar conclusion this morning in its “Guardian Angel” column.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Arizona Constutition • Arizona Department of Public Safety • Jan Brewer • Roger Vanderpool • Russell Pearce | 11 Comments »
October 20th, 2009, 11:33 am by Le Templar
 Kevin Tyne, right, the governor's chief of staff will leave the office in three weeks after intense, behind-the-scenes criticism of his management style/Capitol Media Serices file photo. Gov. Jan Brewer has finally given in to the growing political pressure to replace her closest adviser. Chief of staff Kevin Tyne will leave the state Capitol in three weeks to take a post with the Republican Governors Administration, Brewer announced on her Facebook page this morning. (Various media outlets starting blogging and tweeting about Tyne’s pending departure an hour earlier.) His replacement will be deputy chief of staff Eileen Klein. Brewer’s announcement came a few hours before Brewer is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, and Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, to plan a possible November special session to address a $1.5 billion budget deficit.
Tyne has been at Brewer’s side for years, going back to her days as a Maricopa County supervisor. He was quite as effective as her deputy when Brewer was secretary of state. So he was the natural choice to take on the day-to-day chores of managing Brewer’s administration when she became governor in January.
But Tyne has been a focus of lots of criticism behind-the-scenes this year. As the Arizona Guardian recently reported (story is subscription-only), Tyne has received much of the blame for Brewer’s challenges in dealing with a Legislature controlled by her own party. Lawmakers claimed they were frequently blindsided by Brewer’s positions and maneuvering on budget issues.
As I read the complaints (and I have heard my share from Capitol sources), Tyne became a target partly because Brewer was once an accomplished state senator. Many political insiders can’t imagine she has forgotten that much since her time in the legislative halls. So if Brewer’s administration can’t get things done, it must be Tyne’s fault as her right hand, so the thinking seems to go. That’s point of view gets a boost with Klein moving up. She is a former chief of staff for the state House who has her own reputation for being tough but is among the most knowledgeable anywhere about the details of the state budget.
But Brewer is loyal to her friends and allies. Until today, she gave every indication she was going to keep Tyne despite the private efforts to push him out. It’s possible that Tyne is being a good soldier and he volunteered to step aside to help Brewer repair her relations with Republican lawmakers.
There’s also been some speculation this is a sign that Brewer will run for election next year. I wouldn’t go that far. Brewer has done almost nothing to prepare for a tough statewide primary, and she’s quickly running out of time to get a campaign organization off the ground.
UPDATE: Jan Brewer’s longtime public relations firm and campaign managers at HighGround of Phoenix have issued a statement coming to Kevin Tyne’s defense. Key quote: “It shouldn’t be a surprise today that politicos will attempt to assign blame to Kevin Tyne, but the reality is that Kevin was an equal to any Chief of Staff who has served any previous Arizona Governor.”
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Election issues • Governor • Eileen Klein • Jan Brewer • Kevin Tyne • Republican Governors Association • state budget | 1 Comment »
October 19th, 2009, 11:09 am by Le Templar
Cox Communications will offer a different take on state politics Tuesday by combining the immediacy and authority of the Internet with the personal connection of television. Cox is inviting Arizonans to watch two prominent political bloggers debate the state budget, and to offer their own thoughts at the same time.
The blogger forum/public chat is an outgrowth of InnovateAZ, a year-old page on Facebook that’s intended to let anyone discuss the future of government policies affecting the Internet and related technologies in Arizona, in Washington, and around the world. Of course, Cox has a strong interest in the topic as a leading provider of Internet access here in the Valley. (Full disclosure: I use Cox as my home Internet-cable provider).
Greg Ensell, Cox’s manager of government relations and public affairs, said his company wanted to harness some of the energy that emerges during discussions at InnovateAZ and invest it in other community issues.
So Cox will experiment with livestreaming a blogger forum on the Web.
The forum itself should be lively, as it will feature two of the Valley’s most active political bloggers: liberal Donna Gratehouse from The Democratic Diva and Shane Wikfors of the Sonoran Alliance (a conservative/Republican site).
Today, Cox is inviting people to record on video a question for Gratehouse and Wikfors (and post it at the Facebook page), or to submit a written question. The 30-minute forum will be taped during the day Tuesday.
Then, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Cox will replay the forum here. Next to the replay screen will be a chat board where viewers can react to what they are watching. Ensell said Cox also was seeking to arrange for Gratehouse and/or Wikfors to join the chat live. Maybe they will toss in some of the arguments they didn’t get to make earlier in the day.
For the political junkies among us who make “Horizon” and “Sunday Square off” two of the better watched local news shows, this is a chance to join directly in the debate instead of just screaming at your television screen.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the blogger forum would be broadcast on cable television. The forum will be webcast only.
Posted in: Arizona government • Cox Communications • Democratic Diva • Donna Gratehouse • Shane Wilkfors • Sonoran Alliance • state budget | Post a Comment »
October 9th, 2009, 2:32 pm by Le Templar
 John Munger of Tucson (right), a Republican candidate for governor, speaks with reporters Thursday night about his endorsement from former Gov. Fife Symington (left)/Photo by Capitol Media Services. A common trait in people who run for public office is a high level of self-confidence. Those who pull it off well act as leaders; those who don’t just act with arrogance. I’m still trying to figure out which camp John Munger belongs to a few hours after he told me this:
“If I had been governor last year, we would not have a budget deficit today.”
Munger, a Tucson lawyer and co-founder of the Commerce Bank of Arizona, was wrapping up a weeklong tour of the state after formally entering the Republican primary for governor in 2010. He was kind enough to stop by the Tribune office for about 45 minutes this morning to speak face-to-face about his candidacy. Clearly energized by the endorsement Thursday night from former Gov. Fife Symington, Munger said he could quickly resolve the state’s spending problems without the sales tax proposal from the current governor, Jan Brewer, and without “below the bone” budget cuts that would seem to be required if taxes aren’t raised.
In short, Munger is convinced the governor and state Legislature could kick-start the economy and thus rebuild the state treasury. He wants to pursue initiatives that conservatives and libertarians should love, including:
- Tear down the regulatory burdens that prevent businesses from expanding or relocating here. Munger’s promise: Most projects would receive state approval within 30 days. “I have clients in my little law firm that could create 500 to 1,000 jobs overnight if they just could get their projects approved.”
- Lower the corporate income tax and wipe out the property tax on business personal property. “Those aren’t a big part of the budget, but they are important to businesses who are making decisions about the future.”
- Get new highway construction underway with privately funded but state-owned toll roads. “We could get a $20 billion investment just for (an expanded) freeway from Phoenix to Flagstaff.”
Those are all fine ideas, great even. But they couldn’t possibly overcome a $3 billion to $4 billion budget deficit in the near future, could they? Munger insists they would, but most people at the state Capitol can’t imagine that because they are career politicians with too little experience in the business world. “It’s doable if we harness the power of the free enterprise system.”
Munger has a wealth of concrete ideas about what Arizona should be doing to address immediate problems and long-term challenges. I was impressed with his recent suggestions for state-based health care reform. He wants to convince investors to build a desalinization plant off of the Sea of Cortez to pipe water into the state. He wants to decentralize the state K-12 education by empowering school principals to make most budget decisions, getting rid of school district administrators, and using the savings to dramatically raise salaries for quality teachers.
Munger is probably right that current political trends in the state Legislature means he would have a Republican majority eager to embrace his agenda. But he has to get elected first.
On that subject, Munger says he’s clearly the best candidate for Republicans to send against Terry Goddard or any other Democratic candidate. Munger boldly predicted his four decades in Tucson would translate into more votes than Goddard in Pima County (usually viewed as tilting Democrat), and he would easily rally Republican voters in Maricopa County (where 58 percent of Arizona’s electorate live). “It’s my race to lose.”
Like I said, Munger is either a real leader, or is really arrogant. I can’t wait to find out which is true.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Election issues • Governor • 2010 elections • Jan Brewer • John Munger • Sea of Cortez • state budget | 3 Comments »
October 6th, 2009, 4:28 pm by Le Templar
 Kris Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission chairwoman, finds herself trying to manage a budget meltdown while lawmakers feud with the governor (Tribune file photo). I’ve been watching from afar the pending crash of the Arizona Corporation Commission because it doesn’t have the necessary funds to keep operating as intended. It’s baffles me, because Republican state lawmakers have been chanting loudly that the best economic stimulus would be to create a climate that attracts new businesses and creates more jobs. But without budget fix soon for the corporation commission, requests to do business in the state will be delayed for months. That’s a jobs killer, not a jobs creator.
So what’s up with GOP lawmakers refusing to come to the Capitol to again adopt a relatively simple solution that passed before, but was blocked by a budget veto from Gov. Jan Brewer that targeted another issue?
I keep circling back to a statement first made by House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, on the day that Brewer issued this veto. Adams said the governor had the discretion to use federal stimulus money to cover funding shortfalls at the corporation commission and several other state agencies, rather than expecting lawmakers to come back in special session to address it.
Adams’ implied message: Brewer created the problem, so it’s up to her to fix it or to take the blame for any fiscal meltdowns.
The challenge for Brewer is if she acts as Adams’ suggests, she will look as if she cares more about business lobbyists, tax collectors and lottery players, than she does for education, health care and public safety (areas where the lion’s share of stimulus money is likely to be spent).
Just this week, lawmakers finally are talking about another budget special session because this year’s deficit now appears to be $1.5 billion. But any action could be a month or two away, and the corporation commission will slow down the wheels of business creation long before then.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Economic development • Governor • Arizona Corportation Commission • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • Kris Mayes • state budget | Post a Comment »
October 5th, 2009, 5:06 pm by Le Templar
 Jason Rose (right) is the public relations specialist/political strategist who is in charge of attracting public attention to the likely campaign for governor of Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker (left). Now that Republican Vernon Parker is in the race for governor (almost), we in the media received today the first of what could be daily missives from his press agent, Scottsdale political provocateur Jason Rose. Typically, a candidate or business hires Rose’s PR firm to make a big public splash and then to keep the spotlight burning, as Rose and Co. specialize in attention-grabbing headlines and other tactics almost guaranteed to generate publicity — even though some of it makes the intended audience go “what the heck?” or “Ewwww!”
But what Rose is really good at is framing talking points and campaign slogans with instant emotional appeal that might, or might not, stand up to critical examination.
Today’s news release is an example of this. Parker (via Rose) wants to tap into widespread Republican opposition to Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposed temporary sales tax increase. Parker’s statement says Brewer wants to raise this tax before even reducing her own staff:
“Many Arizonans are suffering. Many state agencies are cutting. The Governor’s Office should do the same. I will,” Parker said. “Should I be fortunate enough to be elected Governor I would make these necessary cuts on Day One.”
Parker goes on to say, as Paradise Valley mayor, he has cut the town’s spending by 25 percent and the budget for mayor and Town Council by 54 percent. What Parker doesn’t mention is any reference to what those cuts were or how they might translate to the governor’s office. It’s important to note that the Paradise Valley mayor and council combined spent $83,108 last year and will spend $50,175 this year, a far cry from the $7.6 million set aside for the governor’s office this year.
Also, Parker’s math is a little fuzzy. Paradise Valley’s tax revenues are projected to be down by 25 percent from when Parker became mayor in June 2008 ($21.9 million to $16.3 million). But town operations will spend 16.4 percent less ($19.5 million to $16.3 million). The spending-to-revenue gap of nearly 9 percent will be filled with cash-on-hand saved from past tax collections. A similar savings account for the state was drained dry in January.
Parker also doesn’t mention a single position in the governor’s office that he would eliminate or any specific cost savings he would pursue.
Oddly enough, Parker (via Rose) could have made a stronger statement simply by highlighting the budget numbers for the governor’s office, which have risen by nearly $210,000 from last year as explained by the Legislature’s official budget summary. This stands in contrast with the state agencies that Brewer oversees, which have undergone at least three rounds of budget reductions and have been asked to prepare for another 15 to 20 percent in cuts mid-year. Parker’s news release includes a web link to the governor’s office budget, but fails to note the increase in spending.
UPDATE: Brewer’s press secretary, Paul Senseman, told me by email Wednesday morning that the governor’s office needed additional staffing so far this year to comply with tracking and auditing requirements for use of federal stimulus funds. But Senseman added Brewer plans to include mid-year cuts to her office when she sends new budget proposals to the Legislature in the near future.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Election issues • Governor • Jan Brewer • Jason Rose • Vernon Parker | 2 Comments »
September 29th, 2009, 10:10 am by Le Templar
Everyone in Arizona knows the state faces an immediate operating budget deficit of nearly $1 billion, and a long-range or “structural” deficit of $3 billion to $4 billion. The situation is so dire that Gov. Jan Brewer has asked state agencies to deliver proposals for scaling back by yet another 15 to 20 percent in mid-year spending cuts. So what should those state agencies be considering in proposals for the next budget year, which are due in the governor’s office by Thursday?
The Arizona Board of Regents has decided to demand more money, a lot more money, as in a 46 percent increase.
At the Board of Regents monthly meeting last week (held in Flagstaff), there was widespread frustration with the state budget situation and how it is affecting the state’s three public universities. The university presidents point out the state hasn’t raised funding to match the record growth in student enrollment, and hasn’t provided enough cash for building construction or major maintenance.
The Board of Regents’ staff had prepared an agenda item that offered to raise state university funding from $1.04 billion to $1.36 billion*, or a 15 percent increase. That alone seems rather lofty.
But a few regents asked the three presidents to hastily come up with a new proposal that reflects the “true cost” of public university education. Arizona State University President Michael Crow clearly was eager to do so. He boldly accused state lawmakers of violating the state constitution because they haven’t raised taxes to give his school more money, as you can see in the video below from the regents’ meeting:
The new budget proposal would raise state funding for universities to $1.459 billion or a $459.1 million increase. For about 30 minutes, the regents debated whether to send both budget choices to the governor’s office, or just the massively more expensive option, as board President Ernest Calderon explained:
The board deadlocked at 5-5 on the motion that would have sent both budget choices to Brewer and lawmakers. Then, the board voted 7-3 to submit the 46 percent increase.
If you watch the whole video, you will see that regent Fred Boice of Tucson is the only person who injects any sort of common sense:
“I think, consciously or subconsciously, we have taken a step into a different world. And that for us to go to (lawmakers) and hand them a bill for $(459) million, knowing full well they can’t balance their current budget, that is a bit inappropriate.”
It’s too bad Boice’s comments came after the last vote.
Most of the discussion on the video suggests the regents are taking a brave, new stance in defense of university education. But, in fact, the universities and board regents have a recent track record of being completely unrealistic in budget matters.
In the spring of 2008, the universities convinced then-Gov. Janet Napolitano to push for $1.4 billion in new building construction, even though the details of the state’s budget woes already were starting to emerge. The universities’ pitch was the construction would be a state economic stimulus, as if that somehow would be popular in this politically conservative state.
The Legislature reluctantly went along with last year’s request, and then delayed the funding because of the growing budget problems.* This year’s proposal will be laughed right out the door.
But this is no laughing matter. Pushing for a showdown with such absurd budget numbers will seriously damage the Board of Regents’ credibility with lawmakers, while creating false hope among the thousands of university employees who are far more likely to be laid off in the coming months.
*NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the fact that the Legislature approved a version of last year’s university construction stimulus plan, formally known as SPEED. The original post incorrectly said the Legislature rejected it. As updated, the post explains the plan was later delayed because of budget issues. Also, a decimal error in one of the proposed budget numbers has been corrected.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona State University • Arizona government • Governor • Arizona Board of Regents • Ernest Calderon • Jan Brewer • Michael Crow • state budget | 2 Comments »
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