Arizona behaving badly and otherwise

[Slim Cognito]

I guess she can't pull a trump and make everyone "Acting?"

[raison de arizona]

I guess she can't pull a trump and make everyone "Acting?"

She's making everyone "Executive Directors," which is apparently A Thing, much to the Senate's considerable chagrin.

Edit: Oops, should have been "executive deputy director"

[raison de arizona]

Well this upcoming election may be a shit show.

A 'dire' situation: Report finds Arizona hit hard by turnover of election officials

Arizona has been hit hardest among Western states by election official turnover since 2020, according to a new report from Issue One.

About 98% of Arizona voters will see their elections run by someone new next year, the research shows. Twelve of the state's 15 counties have seen at least one of its chief election officials — its county recorder or elections director — change since 2020, according to Issue One.

Issue One is a nonpartisan reform group that aims to bolster election operations, increase government transparency and strengthen governmental ethics and accountability.

Of Arizona's six most populous counties, four — Pima, Pinal, Yavapai and Yuma — have welcomed both a new recorder and a new elections director.

The exodus of Arizona election officials isn't new news. A wave of election staffers across the state called it quits in response to harassment over the results of the 2020 presidential election — especially in heavily Republican counties where Donald Trump won the popular vote, like Yuma and Yavapai counties.

But the situation is becoming increasingly "dire," said Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who is also part of an Issue One campaign to win federal funding for locally-administered elections and increase trust in the electoral system.

"How many canaries need to die in this coal mine before people start paying attention to the fact that the election denialism is destroying our democracy?" Fontes wondered. "It's these MAGA fascists who continue on with the lies that are driving good people away from the jobs that we need them to do."

The stark numbers of the report lay bare that Arizona counties need help, Fontes said. And some other elected officials aren't stepping up with needed aid, according to Fontes, who has said since the state budget was approved in May that lawmakers are underfunding his office and, in doing so, risking democracy.

"If our country falls to authoritarianism or we have an election that we can't administer, there is no second chance," he said. "There is no make-up."

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/po ... 936427007/

[Slim Cognito]

"If our country falls to authoritarianism or we have an election that we can't administer, there is no second chance," he said. "There is no make-up."

That's the plan, amirite?

Too early to call in the UN?

[sugar magnolia]

I guess she can't pull a trump and make everyone "Acting?"

She's making everyone "Executive Directors," which is apparently A Thing, much to the Senate's considerable chagrin.

Executive or Deputy?
I think the title makes a difference in the authority.

[raison de arizona]

I guess she can't pull a trump and make everyone "Acting?"

She's making everyone "Executive Directors," which is apparently A Thing, much to the Senate's considerable chagrin.

Executive or Deputy?
I think the title makes a difference in the authority.

Good catch, it's actually both: "executive deputy director"

[raison de arizona]

Naughty AZGOP caught funneling the little money it has to a QAnon group.

Why is the AZGOP paying a company tied to a QAnon singer?
The party, which is cash-strapped, has reported spending $13,000 for consulting work

The Arizona Republican Party has paid at least $13,000 to a company connected to a legislative district chairwoman who is a full-throated QAnon evangelist, even as the party is struggling so badly to raise money that it can’t pay its bills.

It’s unclear why the AZGOP is writing $1,000 checks twice a month to Conservative Communication Strategies LLC. The payments are listed as being for “strategic consulting,” but the party did not respond to detailed questions about what services the firm is providing.

The party must list an address for every vendor it pays, and the address it disclosed for Conservative Communication Strategies LLC is a single-family home in north Peoria.

That address is the same used by Arizona Christian Patriots LLC, a company formed in 2021 by Lori Bango, who rents the house and lives there with her family, according to public records searches.

https://www.azmirror.com/2023/09/25/why ... on-singer/

[raison de arizona]

It's a mystery. No one can figure this deficit out.
https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/ ... 48941?s=20

Three years after @DougDucey signed largest tax cut in state history, Arizona is projected to have a $400 million deficit.

Change of fortune: Legislative budget officials say the state will end the budget year in June with a $400m deficit, reversing estimates of a $10m surplus. The main reason: lower income tax collections due to the flat income tax. Individual income tax collections down 27.4%

[Ben-Prime]

It's a mystery. No one can figure this deficit out.
https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/ ... 48941?s=20

Three years after @DougDucey signed largest tax cut in state history, Arizona is projected to have a $400 million deficit.

Change of fortune: Legislative budget officials say the state will end the budget year in June with a $400m deficit, reversing estimates of a $10m surplus. The main reason: lower income tax collections due to the flat income tax. Individual income tax collections down 27.4%

If only some great and powerful economic genius like Art Laffer or someone would explain this strange and unexpected magic to comfort us.

[RTH10260]

It's a mystery. No one can figure this deficit out.
https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/ ... 48941?s=20

Three years after @DougDucey signed largest tax cut in state history, Arizona is projected to have a $400 million deficit.

If only some great and powerful economic genius like Art Laffer Peter Navarro or someone would explain this strange and unexpected magic to comfort us.

FIFY

[Gregg]

It's a mystery. No one can figure this deficit out.
https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/ ... 48941?s=20

If only some great and powerful economic genius like Art Laffer Peter Navarro or someone would explain this strange and unexpected magic to comfort us.

FIFY

LSE called me and are demanding my diploma back for even reading that.

[poplove]

Republican Activist Steven Alembik Shoots Wife, Kills Self At Delray Beach BurgerFi
https://bocanewsnow.com/2023/10/13/repu ... -burgerfi/

Some background on Alembik:
New racial controversy batters DeSantis
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/ ... ues-830726

ETA: I mistakenly posted this in the wrong thread. I will clean my glasses and repost in Republicans Behaving Badly.

[raison de arizona]

He sounds delightful, and not only just racist, but an all around bad guy.

[RTH10260]

Attorney general investigating whether Tempe used taxpayer money to spy on citizens

By Dennis Welch
Published: Oct. 14, 2023 at 3:47 AM CEST

TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - The attorney general is investigating what was going on behind the scenes at Tempe City Hall as the mayor and others tried to convince voters to approve a massive sports and entertainment complex on Tempe Town Lake.

Tempe voters rejected the proposal by a wide margin back in May. Now, the attorney general is looking into whether the city used taxpayer money to spy on its citizens during the process. But six months before the election, Tempe inked a deal with a political supporter and campaign contributor to Mayor Corey Woods.

The 5-page contract signed by the former Tempe city manager paid a political consultant $10,000 a month in part to watch opponents of the proposed hockey arena. Among those tasks, the city wanted the consultant to identify social media pages and groups, analyze individuals, and determine where they lived.

Mayor Woods declined an on-camera interview and, through a spokesperson, says he cannot comment on a pending investigation. The city issued a statement acknowledging the investigation, saying, “We intend to cooperate fully with Attorney General Kris Mayes, and we look forward to the full truth coming out.”

“Isn’t that the craziest thing you can imagine,” said Gayle Shanks, a longtime Tempe business owner who helped lead the opposition against the proposed Coyotes arena. “I’m really appalled ... in fact, they did hire somebody,” Shanks said that she’s been a past supporter of some city council members. She’s now disappointed and says she feels like she’s living in a surveillance state.

The contract signed to keep track of opponents was for six months, but it was canceled after three months. In total, the city spent about $30,000 to surveil its own residents.


https://www.azfamily.com/2023/10/14/att ... -citizens/

[bob]

Per AZ Law, SCOAZ sanctions Hamadeh $55k.

[raison de arizona]

Hamadeh has got a new groove: AZ-8 Rep. This is my district. My annoying R Rep., Debbie Lesko, announced a surprise retirement. Hamadeh is apparently going for the seat. Despite not living in AZ-8, damn carpetbagger. Rogers doesn't live in her district either, FWIW. She pretends to though, at least.

[pipistrelle]

Pro-Trump comes first.

[Gregg]

In Ohio, and several states, you don't have to live in District to represent it.

I'm sure it has something to do with The Constitution not saying anything about it and might make sense in that districts change mid career now that Congress is a 40 year career sometimes.

[RTH10260]

Pressure builds after ABC15 investigation into Phoenix detective

ABC15 Arizona
3 Nov 2023

A defense attorney has filed a new motion asking a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to re-examine whether a recently retired Phoenix homicide detective should be compelled to testify about her past cases and mistakes.

[raison de arizona]

I can confirm @MaricopaVote is, in fact, verifying signatures for this election.

I know this because I may have signed my ballot a bit differently than normal.

I was called and told I must go to a Vote Center, re-sign and re-vote.

So yeah. System is working.

[raison de arizona]

He was raping his 5-year old daughter, the church said nothing. Then he moved on to raping another daughter, 6 weeks old. The church said nothing and allowed the abuse to continue. FOR SEVEN YEARS until New Zealand authorities tracked him down through the videos of the abuse he was posting to the internet. And it would happen again today.

An Arizona child is raped. The clergy stays silent. Then comes the truly shocking part
Opinion: A bishop stays silent for seven years while a little girl is being raped. Arizona law allowed him to say nothing

A creeper confesses to his bishop. He’s raping his 5-year-old daughter.

For seven years, the bishop tells no one outside his church — remaining silent, as a church lawyer advises him to do — and the abuse continues. Then the creeper starts raping another daughter, just 6 weeks old.

Last week, a Cochise County judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by several of the creeper's children against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It’s galling, though not surprising, that a judge would decline to hold the church responsible. While Arizona has a mandatory reporting law for teachers and doctors and such, members of the clergy are not required to report a confession that a child is being abused.

What is shocking — stunning, really — is that a key state legislator won’t even consider changing the law to carve out an exemption that might have protected that 5-year-old girl, her sister and God only knows how many other children.

Rapist's rights trump those of his victim

► Show Spoiler

“The seal of confession is a sacred, sacred part of the Catholic church,” Rep. Quang Nguyen, who is Catholic, recently told Capitol Media Services Howard Fischer.

Put another way, a rapist’s sacred religious rights trump a child’s sacred right to be protected from a sexual predator? Really, sir?

This horror story was brought to light last year, the result of an Associated Press investigation into the Latter-day Saints’ handling of child sexual abuse cases.

Paul Adams, of Bisbee, a father of six, admitted during a counseling session with his bishop that he was raping his then-5-year-old daughter.

According to court records, Bishop John Herrod called the church’s helpline, which is used by bishops to report child sex abuse to church officials in Salt Lake City, and was advised by attorney not to call the police or alert anyone outside the church.

According to the AP, which based its report on court records, attorney Merrill Nelson advised Herrod and his eventual replacement, Bishop Robert “Kim” Mauzy, over a two-year span not to report Adams.

So they didn’t — instead trying to convince Adams to seek help — and the rest, as they say, is horrifying history.

Church's silence let abuse to go on for years

The abuse went on for another seven years until finally in 2017 Adams was arrested. It seems he videoed his perverted attacks of his children and posted them on the internet.

Authorities in New Zealand and the U.S. traced one of the videos to Adams, who later died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial.

Three of Adams’ six children sued the church, the bishops and other church officials in 2021, accusing them of negligence and conspiring to cover up child sex abuse to avoid “costly lawsuits” and protect the church’s reputation.

In a Nov. 3 ruling, Cochise County Superior Court Judge Timothy Dickerson threw out the lawsuit, saying the church had no legal duty to report that a child was being raped.

“Church defendants were not required under the Mandatory Reporting Statute to report the abuse of Jane Doe 1 by her father because their knowledge of the abuse came from confidential communications which fall within the clergy-penitent exception,” Dickerson wrote.

Lawmaker thwarts bill for clergy to report abuse

Church officials, who apparently sleep quite well at night, pronounced themselves “pleased” with the decision.

“Contrary to some news reports and exaggerated allegations, the court found that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its clergy handled this matter consistent with Arizona law,” the church said in a prepared statement.

Which bring us back to Arizona law and the people who make it at the state Capitol.

Rep. Stacey Travers, D-Phoenix, introduced a bill this year to require a member of the clergy to report abuse learned about during a confession or confidential communication “if there is a reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue or may be a threat to other minors.”

It didn’t even rate a hearing. Didn’t even get assigned to a committee.

His rationale: Victims can turn to others for help

And, apparently, it won’t go anywhere next year either, as Rep. Quang Nguyen, the Prescott Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, says he won’t give the bill a hearing. (He did say he would at least speak to Travers, so I guess there’s that.)

Nguyen, in his interview with Capitol Media Services, said he believes the bill “is an attack on the church” and he questioned why members of the clergy would need to call the police or state Department of Child Services.

“The victim has the parents, the victim has the teachers, the victim has friends, the victim has relatives that he or she is close to,’’ Nguyen said. “So, it doesn’t need a priest to be able to go to court and testify.’’

Tell that to the 5-year-old Bisbee girl who would endure seven years of assaults while devout daddy’s bishops stayed silent.

“They just let it keep happening,” the girl told the AP last year. “They just said, ‘Hey, let’s excommunicate her father.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Let’s have them do therapy.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Hey, let’s forgive and forget and all this will go away.’ It didn’t go away.”

For her, it likely never will.

Perhaps Rep. Nguyen can explain to her that her father’s rights were sacred.

“The seal of confession is never to be broken,” he said. “And priests will go to jail for it.”

And children will live in hell because of it.

For shame, Rep. Nguyen.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion ... 532639007/

[neeneko]

Yeah.. in general going to others in such communities doesn't help much. Family? Other members of the church? School officials who are likely part of the same community? Yeah.. chances are the kids will simply be told it is their fault, or they are disrespecting their father, pretty much anything to deflect away from the abuser.

Which is why people like Nguyen are so fond of that cop-out.. they know it sounds good, but cements how few options victims really have, and they like it that way.

[raison de arizona]

As, Ernie Anastos would say... Well, you know.

Arizona — AG @AZAGMayes warns ruby-red Mohave Co against moving forward with approving ballot hand counts: “Before you take that vote, I want to make sure you know that a “yes” vote would direct your Elections Department to violate the law.”

[raison de arizona]

look here comes your consequence!

BREAKING @AZAGMayes announces indictment of 2 Cochise County Board supervisors - Peggy Judd & Tom Crosby - on felony charges of interference with an election officer and conspiracy.
Judd & Crosby refused to certify midterm election by deadline & pushed for ballot hand-count.

The indictment: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/file ... 112923.pdf

[Slim Cognito]

That make me break out into a big grin.