Primary Election 2010: Rotten Eggs And Bad Apples

August 24, 2010

Eggs are in the news. Rotten ones that are making people really sick.

A lot of Arizonans have also become sick ... sick and tired of all of the bitter political campaigning by a bunch of bad apples. But it ends at 7 o'clock tonight when the curtain comes down on what has to be the most sickening election in the history of AZ.

So-called "conservative" candidates turned this primary election into a political cockfight. Read More...

Ben Quayle Reveals The Real Ben Quayle

August 16, 2010

Anybody who's aware of the serpentine side of politics knew when congressional candidate Vernon Parker retained public relations mercenary Jason Rose that his campaign would get vicious. That's what candidates expect when they hire a snake.

And Parker, the former mayor of Paradise Valley, has been getting what he asked for the past two weeks.

Ben Quayle, thought to be the frontrunner in the crowded CD-3 race, is the victim of the Parker-Rose venom. The 33-year-old son of Dan and Marilyn Quayle looks like he was raised to be more comfortable at a prep school cricket match than on a public school playground. The candidate is an oddball. But as one of the heirs to the Pulliam publishing fortune, it makes him an oddball of wealth and privilege. Read More...

Jan Brewer Is "Acting" Like A Real Governor

August 03, 2010

For candidates to succeed in this charged political climate, it helps if they're actors. And nobody understands that better than Governor Jan Brewer. Not even the Clown Prince of AZ Politics, J.D. Hayworth, can compete with her.

If there were an award for the best actor in a leading political role, Governor Brewer would win walking away.

When Brewer ascended into the governor's office after serving as secretary of state, there was concern about her capabilities for governing. However, the one thing that was never in question was her reputation as a combative campaigner. During her first year in office she went through the motions as governor as she got her political footing. It was when she declared her candidacy for governor that she shifted into her campaign mode ... her take-no-prisoners mentality. Read More...

Scottsdale Fire Department Fuming Over Fiscal Irresponsibility

July 28, 2010

Today the Scottsdale Fire Department begins a new era in its short five-year history. Steve Randall replaces Willie McDonald, the only fire chief the municipally-managed department has ever had.

Even though Randall will only serve as the interim fire chief until a permanent one can be hired, this was supposed to be a time that featured handshakes and hugs. It was expected to be about McDonald receiving a fond farewell, Randall being wished good luck and the city opening a new chapter in the evolution of its fire department. Read More...

Brewer Reduces Goddard To Spectator in Governors' Race

June 30, 2010

Governor Brewer may not be the sharpest tool in the shed - but she's hammering Attorney General Terry Goddard. And she's hitting the nail on the head.

Goddard's campaign has had the wind knocked out of it. The Democratic candidate for governor has been left gasping for breath and grasping for issues. The wily governor has used the power of incumbency to reduce Goddard to a spectator in the race for governor.

Nearly everybody saw it coming - except, of course, Goddard. Read More...

Scottsdale Fire Dept. Gets Free Advice For Anniversary

June 28, 2010

July 1 is the five-year anniversary of the City of Scottsdale's municipally-run fire department. But instead of being a time of community celebration, it's a time of curiosity following a strangely scripted advice column last week by the Scottsdale Republic.

However, that's not where the story starts - which is with the departure of Fire Chief Willie McDonald, who is leaving the city at the end of the month to take over the helm of the San Jose, California fire department. Read More...

How Corporate AZ Helped Make Russell Pearce A Folk Hero

June 15, 2010

Russell Pearce owes corporate AZ a debt of gratitude - one the business establishment would just as soon forget. In fact, they will never admit they helped propel Pearce into political prominence.

Why would they?

It was the establishment's political procrastination and lackluster political campaign six years ago that launched Pearce's career as a legitimate political player -- and, as a result, sowed the seeds to make SB1070 possible. In fairness, many people were responsible for the debacle in 2004. So there's plenty of blame to go around. Read More...

What Planet Is Mayor Jim Lane Living On?

June 07, 2010

From time to time politicians are accused of being out of touch. And, occasionally some of them can even seem, well ... a little touched.

In the case of Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane it's tough to tell which it may be. Whichever it is, something is clearly wrong - and it's coloring the mayor's view of the world. Particularly Scottsdale's place in it.

Bragging about their city is part of every mayor's job. Being a booster is expected. It can build community pride, generate various economic opportunities ... and be good for votes at election time. But Scottsdale's mayor has gotten carried away. Some fear that Mayor Lane is suffering from a full-fledged phobia. Read More...

Making the Most of the Campaign to Boycott Arizona

May 09, 2010

There are plenty of decent people on both sides of the immigration issue. Each side also has its share of those with misguided motivations.

Since the passage of the anti-immigration law, some people have rushed into the political aftermath like flies around an open trash can. They can't help themselves. It's second nature. They're the politicians and personalities who all have something in common: an instinct for self-promotion. For them, SB1070 isn't just a law -- it's an opportunity. It's the chance to get their names in the newspaper and their faces on TV.

It's also the public's chance to get a stronger sense of who some of these people really are and what they're actually up to. Read More...

Phil Gordon Going Gandhi on Immigration Issue

May 07, 2010

Phil Gordon has been born again - or he has at least had a political change of heart. He now wants to discuss the immigration issue rationally.

In his column in yesterday's Republic, Mayor Gordon wrote that he has discovered that the immigration issue has created a new crisis for AZ: the state's still-fragile economic recovery and image are in danger. What insight! Read More...

Phil Gordon's Desperate Attempt To Rebuild His Reputation

April 28, 2010

"Desperate men do desperate things - and stupid men do stupid things."

Dr. Hunter Thompson

It's hard to say if Phil Gordon is desperate or stupid ... or maybe a little bit of both?

Gordon hasn't just taken a strong position in reaction to the recent immigration law, the mayor has put himself in the middle of the mess. And it's no accident. Read More...

There's A New Sheriff In Town

April 22, 2010

Not many people know Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a dreamer.

There's the adventure dream where he plays the Secret Service Agent who jumps in front of Ronald Reagan and saves the president from an assassin's bullet. There's also the recurring erotic one when he tosses, turns, thrusts and shouts out the name of a former AZ governor ... Janet. Janet. Oh, Janet!

The sheriff has dark dreams, too. Read More...

Tale of Phil Gordon's Paradise Lost Takes New Twist

April 19, 2010

It's hard to say who wrote Mayor Gordon's op-ed column that appeared in the Republic Saturday. His new publicist, David Lebowitz ... his new girlfriend, Elissa Mullany ... or even His Honor, himself?

Perhaps all three collaborated, because they all have a stake in making the mayor of Phoenix look good - which is a growing challenge.

One thing is certain: a politician doesn't put his name on a newspaper column pleading for the community to "stamp out the 'gotcha' mentality and the insistent negativity" about him unless something has gone horribly wrong. And using the word "wrong" is an under statement for what's happened to Mayor Phil Gordon, the one-time pet politician of the press. Read More...

A Lesson in "Situational Transparency"

March 30, 2010

He's back! Mayor Jim Lane has returned from his excursion of taking Scottsdale's open government off shore, all the way to the People's Republic of China.

Mayor Lane took seven days and traveled more than 10,000 miles to sign an agreement with his counterpart in Haikou. As of March 20th, Scottsdale and Haikou became Sister Cities. However, Mayor Lane never discussed the Sister Cities agreement with the City Council ... or, as far as anyone knows, with someone in city government. And that's surprising. Read More...

The Republican Party's Right-Wing Freak Show

March 25, 2010

Somewhere Evan Mecham is smiling and saying: "I told you so!"

It's even starting to look like the late Governor Mecham, who briefly held office more than 20 years ago, was born, served and impeached before his time. His buffoonery would have fit right in with what the Right Wing has turned the Republican Party into: a political sideshow featuring a group of clowns who make it tough to take the party seriously.

Such is the state of the Republican Party - which has become more silly than substantive. Read More...

Scottsdale Mayor Spending Spring Break on Tropical Island

March 18, 2010

It's that time of year ... Spring Break!

Families have headed for places like Disneyland ... college students are partying in Rocky Point ... and the mayor of Scottsdale has just arrived in the People's Republic of China. And not just anywhere in China - but on the tropical island just south of the mainland called Hainan. Its capital city, Haikou, is packed with golf courses, palm trees and features a warm climate.

Sound familiar? Mayor Jim Lane should feel right at home. Read More...

Selling The Sales Tax Is Off To A Shaky Start

March 04, 2010

Since it was recently rolled out, the YES on 100 sales tax campaign has been stumbling.

First, when the campaign was launched, its spokesperson said the best chance of the tax hike succeeding is if the issue is not seen in partisan terms. The way voters make up their minds and vote on issues has nothing to do with perceptions of partisanship - thinking otherwise is strategically flawed. Read More...

Judge Monte Morgan Gets A Root'n-Toot'n Reprieve

February 22, 2010

Before last week, hardly anybody had any idea who Monte Morgan is: a former singing cowboy ... a one-time trick roper in a Wild West Show ... a horse wrangler from Cave Creek?

Nope. None of the above.

After being the hottest topic of two City Council meetings last week, a lot more people now know that Monte Morgan has been Scottsdale's presiding city judge for the last 10 years. That means he's also a charter officer. But for a while, if the majority of the council had had their way, Morgan would be a "former judge" and a "previous charter officer." Read More...