Charles "Hos" Hoskins

An escalating clash of wills and politics now grips Maricopa County government, as a new lawsuit challenging the Board of Supervisors seems to be filed every day, a number of elected officials are now gunning to get County Manager David Smith fired, and the sheriff seems to be investigating just about everyone else.

One of two new lawsuits revealed yesterday involves county Treasurer Charles Hoskins, who claims Smith and the Board of Supervisors have cut his budget and are interfering with his management decisions to the point that he can’t carry out his constitutional duties. He wants the courts to raise his funding from $2.6 million to $3.4 million and allow him to fill several vacant staff positions.

Arizona’s rich history probably doesn’t include fighting of this intensity between county elected officials. So the courts might need to look to Texas for guidance how to mediate these disputes. When I worked there in the late 1990s, conflicts between the Texan equivalent of a Board of Supervisors and other elected officials was a common, and sometimes comical, feature. In Wichita County, the county treasurer sued the county board twice in five years for failing to fund her office adequately and for meddling with her ability to do her job. The treasurer won both times.

Arizona courts have been somewhat less willing to intercede in what they consider to be political disputes. So Hoskins might not get the relief he seeks. But he could have a case if he can show exactcly how the Board of Supervisors’ actions have disrupted his office.