Month: November 2012

Curtis Acosta’s observations about the new TUSD deseg plan

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by David Safier

I posted about the new TUSD desegregation plan last week. I also emailed Curtis Acosta, one of the more vocal and visible teachers who taught in the dismantled Mexican American Studies program, for his thoughts and comments on the plan. Curtis sent a detailed reply which he said I could put on the blog. Here it is.

After reading the plan I am optimistic and energized that we have a real opportunity to see the restitution of our Mexican American Studies program. The language in the court order is in place to usher back the type of education that our students benefitted from in MAS during the last decade. I truly believe that Adelita Grijalva and our new board members will heal our community by reinstating Sean Arce, all our teachers and our program. We need their leadership since they are well aware of how the academic experiences in our classrooms transformed the lives of our students, and put them on a trajectory toward realizing their dreams. Not to mention that no other group of teachers are more prepared to implement the Special Master's plan for each high school to offer culturally responsive classes for Latino students. We are the only group that can be up and running immediately.

Secretary Bennett wants to overhaul how we count the vote – much more is needed

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Secretary of State Ken "Birther" Bennett has been a busy boy. First he proposed reforming Arizona's lax campaign finance disclosure laws, and now, after his miserable failure at election management in which Arizona has replaced Florida as the laughingstock of the nation, Bennett is proposing an overhaul of how Arizona counts the vote. Yeah, right message, wrong messenger. I prefer to fire managers who fail as miserably as Bennett has. Ballot-count system in AZ needs a complete overhaul, Bennett says:

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett is proposing a wholesale
overhaul of the state's vote-counting system in the wake of embarrassing
delays counting more than 630,000 ballots statewide from the Nov. 6
general election.

The delays kept voters from knowing the outcome
of two of the state's three major congressional races until at least a
week after the polls closed, and the last wasn't decided until Saturday.
Bennett said if the presidential election had been in the balance, the
state would have been the focus of nationwide derision.

Bennett
said in an interview with The Associated Press that by 2014, he hopes to
completely revamp the way early ballots dropped off at polling places
are counted; cut the number of provisional ballots issued by 90 percent;
and ensure the vast majority of votes have been counted within hours of
poll closings.

"I want 98 percent of all the ballots to have been
scanned into the system and counted by election night," Bennett said
Saturday. "And the next morning, as an election family statewide, we're
dealing with 10,000 to 15,000 ballots, and we're done in two days."

Well, this would satisfy the corporate media villagers' desire for instant results in our instant gratification modern society. But this does nothing to address concerns about vote counting security issues, such as running vote tallies that can be leaked to campaigns or political parties to tell them how they are doing and where they need to focus their efforts and their money. An actual vote count is the most accurate "poll" of all. There is a public policy reason why we delay the counting of ballots.

Campaign finance disclosure reforms: follow California’s model law

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I read last week that Secretary of State Ken "Birther" Bennett wants to revise Arizona's campaign finance disclosure laws, which are among the most lax in the nation. I fully support more transparency and real-time campaign finance disclosure requirements, with enforcement provisions that have real teeth.

Secretary Bennett does not describe what he actually has in mind in this report, but I have some suggestions for him later in this post. Arizona election official wants voters to know who funds campaigns:

The state's chief election officer wants tighter financial reporting laws so voters know who is really funding campaigns.

The comments from Secretary of State Ken
Bennett come on the heels of the disclosure that an Arizona-based group
gave $11 million to affect two California ballot measures.

* * *

Ann Ravel, head of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, called it a case of "money laundering.''

Pima County Elections does it again

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by David Safier

It's hard to say where Pima County Director of Elections Brad Nelson's incompetence ends and his deceptiveness begins. His survival in that position given the number of examples of his incompetence and mendacity we've seen over recent years defies logic. It makes you wonder whether he knows where some County skeletons are buried and people in high places worry what would happen if he ran his motor mouth outside the employ of the County.

Here's the latest. Pima County has an active Election Integrity Commission that advises the County Supes about elections. It has advocated for years that early ballots be sorted either by precinct or legislative district when they're received, which would make for a more reliable audit to assure careless or purposeful counting errors are detected. It turns out the updated Elections Procedures manual from the SOS demands exactly that. But Nelson got a waiver for Pima County, then neglected to tell the commission what he'd done.

Why didn't he tell them? According to Nelson,

"I have always been telling the EIC about changes coming down the pike. In my mind, I was thinking that all we're doing is maintaining the status quo," Nelson said in explanation.

Nelson's statement is so bold, so mind boggling, it's hard to wrap your mind around. He's saying, since the SOS changed the rules and he changed them back, that's not a change, so he doesn't have to tell the Commission about it.

Legal experts agree: no third term for the Red Queen

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Red.queenThe Red Queen, Governor Jan Brewer, once again has decided that the Arizona Constitution simply does not apply to her, because her court jester tells her so.

In fact, the Arizona Republic gave the Red Queen's court jester, Joe Kanefield, a "My Turn" guest opinion on Friday to make his convoluted case for why the Red Queen is allowed to run for another term. Kanefield:
Constitution clears Brewer to pursue another term.

Without any factual or legal basis for his claim, Kanefield claims that the constitutional term limitations provision enacted by Arizona voters was never intendend to apply to a Secretary of State who has succeeded to the office of governor upon the death or resignation of the governor, an all too frequent occurrence in Arizona.

Fortunately, legal experts who actually know what they are talking about disagree and refute this convoluted theory without any factual or legal support. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Experts say Brewer can’t seek third term:

The Constitution limits executive
officers, including the governor, to two consecutive four-year terms,
including “any part of a term served.” The governor, who was elected to
full term in 2010, said she may challenge that provision in court.

But election and constitutional experts say there’s likely no chance
she would prevail. And privately, many denizens of the Capitol say they
don’t expect Brewer to actually try to run again, with some viewing the
idea as a way to avoid being viewed as a lame-duck governor.