Insider trading on the supposedly non-partisan Phoenix City Council

Scott Wong, writing for the daily, exposes some of the shenanigans that went on during the recent city council meeting when Phoenix attorney Bill Gates, a Republican,  was selected to fill the vacancy created by the skedaddling of short-termer Maria Baier.

The supposedly non-partisan council and mayor were engaging in high-stakes partisan gamesmanship, intended to ensure a much different result to the composition of the left-leaning council. Mayor Phil Gordon, who has made an art-form of underhanded duplicity, is a liberal of longstanding and his hand-picked choice Tom Milton was flagging — causing Gordon to decide to deal from the bottom of the deck. Fortunately, Gordon was blocked in his ruse by an objection from Councilman Michael Johnson who pointed out the violation of rules and City Attorney Gary Verburg who ultimately put a stop to the maneuver.

Remember this exposé by Wong when the term-limited and shifty Phil Gordon decides to throw his hat in the ring for higher office.

Thomas, Arpaio to receive enforcement funding from the state

It is being reported that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will accept $1.4 million in enforcement funds after all.

Last week, a motion to accept the money died in a 2-2 political vote with the board deadlocked on whether County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio should receive the funds, made available to the county from the state.

The money is intended to assist Thomas’ enforcement of state employer-sanctions laws. A portion of the funds will be transferred to Arpaio’s office for its assistance in the enforcement effort.

The daily reports on the matter here.

Happy birthday to us

Seeing Red AZ was inaugurated on June 23, 2007. Today begins our third year. It has been our mission to provide a conservative vantage point to the Arizona blogosphere, with news, commentary and analysis.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal readers who have made us a leading voice on the political scene.

Our initial post highlighted Why I am a Republican, written by AZ GOP Chairman Randy Pullen. That is no longer archived, but Part 2 can be read here.

Mayor Phil Gordon says this isn’t a conflict of interest — What do you think?

Have you ever heard of Bombardier Transportation?  Didn’t think so.

For starters, the Montréal, Québec-based company has recently been awarded a $260 million contract by the City of Phoenix. They are contracted to build a sky train at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, linking the airport terminals to the light rail, the rental car center and airport parking — a project scheduled for completion by 2020.

But even before the contract was awarded, Bombardier hired Phoenix-based Policy Development Group to help guide them through the bid process. And a wise move it was, given that the principles would certainly have an inside track — since the company is run by none other than Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s sister and brother-in-law, Gail Gordon and Ron Ober. 

Pretty cozy arrangement.

Bombardier also hired Phoenix International Consultants, led by Ronnie Lopez, who chaired election campaigns for both the mayor and Councilman Claude Mattox.

Meanwhile, contract competitor Sumitomo brought on former Phoenix firefighters union President Billy Shields, a close friend and fundraiser of Gordon, who now runs lobbying firm Shields Consulting/Public Policy Partners.

And speaking of firefighters, it’s worth noting that Maria Baier,  Phil Gordon’s hand picked and personally endorsed District 3 city council person is the sister of Fire Chief Bob Khan, positioned to vote for pay increases for her own brother and his union. Baier is also notable for appearing on the endorsement list of Republicans for Janet — Arizona’s liberal former governor, now doing her part to keep the borders porous for the Obama administration.

The daily has the full article regarding the contracts that is worth reading — if you can keep the players straight. The juicy information is tucked away under this likely intended-to-be-overlooked headline: Phoenix City Council to award Sky Train contract.

Novel brand of belt tightening at Phoenix City Hall

They didn’t think we were looking

Although we have been told the recent budget cuts have forced the Phoenix Police Department to delay the hiring of at least 250 police officers, the fiscal strife didn’t reach the level of Chief of Police…er…Public Safety Manager Jack Harris.  He was able to pocket a nice little chunk of change in the form of a $5,000 bonus this past October.

You remember Harris? He’s the chief who retired January 19, 2007 only to be rehired a month to the day later with the brand-spanking new title of Phoenix Public Safety Manager.  As the Manager, he continues to wear his four star police department uniform and prefers to be addressed as Chief in discussions regarding police business or with the public present.

At the time this bonus was given, the city was already in the process of asking for across the board cuts and axing services due to the faltering economy.

A stellar KPHO Channel 5 report includes a three page list of Performance Achievement Cash-based Awards given to nearly 140 city executives and managers – over and above their salaries.

Check out the excellent  investigative report here.  The video can be viewed here.

Stammering Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks calls the $354,800 in cash awards “longevity” pay although some of the recipients were short-timers.

Daily’s “source” laden report is full of “sources”

For a stellar example of the decline of journalistic standards, check out the Page One, above-the-fold report in today’s edition of the daily newspaper. (You’re on your own — we refuse to link to this “report.”)  The headline cites unnamed “sources.” The body of the article is replete with unnamed “sources.”

Of course, the target of this investigative report is none other than Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the nemesis of the daily.  He stands up, does his job and doesn’t cower under the ever decreasing weight of their ink. For showing integrity he is rewarded with unsubstantiated reports and accused of having an “adversarial relationship” with the Board of Supervisors.

Since when did it become a federal violation to have Mary Rose Wilcox as a foe? Neither the Maricopa County Attorney nor the state Attorney General have been contacted by the FBI, according to the report.

Arpaio’s best reward is here and on election day, when he wins by exceedingly high margins, put back in office five times by the voters of Maricopa County who are obviously satisfied with his performance.

No hyperbole, just the facts.

Sen. Pearce’s sanctuary cities hearing details high costs to Arizona

The fact is, illegal immigration is expensive. The dollar costs of educating, providing medical services and the impact on the criminal justice system is astronomical. Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Dist18), Senate Appropriations Chairman, hosted a packed meeting Thursday that focused on the issue.

The soaring costs of sanctuary cities borne by Arizona citizens have escalated to nearly $3 billion yearly. The annual cost of providing an education to those in our state illegally is nearly $1 billion. The negative impact of suppressed wages is factored at $1.4 billion. The price tag for border counties to enforce laws and prosecute  illegal immigration stands at $26 million.

It is impossible to put a price tag on the lives lost in criminal activity that has impacted Arizonans. Those entrusted with law enforcement have felt the sting of losing fellow officers to illegal criminals.

“I refuse to stand by and be a spectator to the death, maiming or damage to another police officer, citizen or taxpayer by an illegal alien because we refuse to enforce our laws and fail to put America and Americans first,” Sen. Pearce said. “The costs of these crimes are far more than financial to our citizens.”

Testimony included national and local experts in the field of immigration policy and sanctuary cities and family members of crime victims of illegal immigrants.  Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu were among the participants.

Although they were invited, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Mesa Police Chief George Gascon were no-shows. Although they both traveled to Washington, DC to testify against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, they were unable to make it a few blocks west on Washington Street to attend this hearing.

Mark Spencer president of the 2,500-member Phoenix Law Enforcement Association spoke eloquently about the frustrations of his members and the delays in getting necessary policy changes to assist their law enforcement efforts. Border patrol agents representing Tucson Local 2554 related the fact that this year to date they have apprehended 11,000 illegal aliens crossing the border. This number reflects a 41% decrease from the same time last year attributable to the economic downturn and the increased number of agents. Still, there are only 200 miles of promised border fencing authorized by congress and barriers are easily circumvented.

Sen. Pearce will be putting forth legislation that will prevent sanctuary cities in Arizona, including a provision for withholding state funds for non-compliance.

Pro-Arpaio rally draws large crowd

Carrying signs, saying “Support Law and Order” and “We Love Sheriff Joe,” a crowd of demonstrators showed up in Sun City West this morning to show their support for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

R.H. Johnson Recreation Center was the site of the event, at which Sen. Jack Harper and Rep. Judy Burges, both representing District 4 where the event was held, voiced their support of the sheriff. Rep. Carl Seel (R-Dist. 6) was in attendance as was Chris Simcox, a candidate for U.S. Senate.  Anna Gaines, an outspoken supporter of Sheriff Arpaio, also attended the rally.

Current Maricopa GOP Chairman Rob Haney and immediate past county chairman, Tom Husband were also at the event. Lyle Tuttle former Maricopa County chairman and the current chair of LD 4 served as today’s host and moderator.

Aiming his comments at his detractors, Sheriff Arpaio said, “This is a free country and anyone can demonstrate.  However, my adversaries are wasting their time.  They will not intimidate me in order to make me stop enforcing the illegal immigration laws. The congressional hearings and U. S. Justice Department investigations are serving elected local officers such as the mayor and council members. You are the people I work for,“ he told the appreciative crowd.

Sheriff Arpaio noted that his opponents, among them the leaders of ACORN and Rev. Al Sharpton, are “all Democrats.”

Not one to back away from confrontation, Arpaio will later today meet the pro-illegal, open border protestors who are staging a march from the Wells Fargo building where his office is located, to the sheriff’s Tent City jail — which Arpaio said is currently the home of 250 illegal aliens doing time for state crimes.

UPDATE:

The daily newspaper gave this biased report on today’s events.

This is the paper’s coverage of the pro-illegal immigration rally, featuring Zack de la Rocha, formerly of the alternative rock band Rage Against the Machine:

The event was ginned up by Hispanic radio station Radio Campesina.  The station manager is none other than Phoenix District 7 City Councilman Michael Nowakowski.  

Connect the dots.

Where was the coverage of this event?

Recently Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies congregated in downtown Phoenix to address their frustrations regarding the false accusation of racial profiling leveled against their office by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Gordon, who presides over a sanctuary city for illegal aliens, has repeatedly used highly charged language to diminish Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his force of sworn law enforcement personnel.

This video reveals the deputies’ level of frustration after repeated verbal attacks by the mayor and his cohorts. Even the open border advocates at the Arizona Republic, no friends of Arpaio,  castigated Gordon’s reckless slurs, in which he compared Sheriff Arpaio to Bull Connor, the notoriously racist Alabama Police Commissioner of the 1960’s, in this opinion piece.

We say it’s about time.

GOP County Chairman Rob Haney voices strong support for Sheriff Joe Arpaio

The press release is available here.