One simple rule: ‘Just say no to lobbyists’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona has had a colorful history of lobbyist scandals. There was the Keating Five scandal in the 1980s which cut short the career of Sen. Dennis DeConcini and should have ended the career of Sen. John McCain.

There was the AZscam Scandal in the 1990s that resulted in seven Arizona legislators being indicted. Six reached plea deals; a seventh was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery and filing false campaign statements. Several other legislators resigned or chose not to seek reelection.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, national media raised questions about John McCain's favors to lobbyists from the telecommunications industry, the defense industry, and to his campaign contributors in real estate speculation and development. (Oddly enough, this national reporting received little attention in the Arizona media, which is John McCain's base).

Recently we have had the Fiesta Bowl scandal in which politicians received tickets and accommodations from lobbyists for the Fiesta Bowl that were improper in some cases and that they failed to report on their financial disclosure forms. "King" Russell Pearce was the worst offender.

One of these lobbyists for the Fiesta Bowl, Chuck Coughlin from Highground, Inc., is also Arizona's "shadow governor." He and his firm run the Governor's office for Jan Brewer. I am not aware of anywhere else in the United States that a governor's office is run by a lobbyist firm, a scandal in its own right. There are serious questions about pay-to-play lobbying of the governor and members of the Arizona legislature that HighGround also represents involving its private prison clients and Curis Resources, a Canadian firm that wants to mine copper in Florence. The Arizona political media has barely scratched the surface of this lobbying story.

Anyone who has spent time at the Arizona Legislature knows that it is captive to the lobbyists. The lobbyists own this state. If you want to know why Arizona is in such a godawful mess, it is because it is run by lobbyists.

Now the lobbyists want to take control of the mayorships of Arizona's two largest cities, Phoenix and Tucson. And they are cutting out the middle man.

In Phoenix, John McCain's long-time friend Wes Gullett is a lobbyist with his firm FirstStrategic Communications and Public Affairs. Gullett received the endorsement in the primary election from The Arizona Republic, John McCain"s media arm. Too bad Gullett finished second behind former Phoenix city councilman and Democrat Greg Stanton. Phoenix mayor race: Stanton, Gullett to face off. Unfortunately, Stanton did not receive enough votes in this crowded primary race to win outright. For the first time in at least 60 years there will be a runoff election in November (at the same time as the Pearce Recall Election in Mesa).

In Tucson, Republican write-in candidate Rick Grinnell is a lobbyist with his lobbying firm, Smart United Business Strategies. His most lucrative client is the Canadian firm Rosemont Copper, which has been embroiled in a controversial plan to open a copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson if they can get permission to dump their tailings on U.S. Forest Service land.

Grinnell is also an appointed member of the controversial Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District, an entity created by Republicans in the Arizona legislature to remove local control of the Rio Nuevo redevelopment project from the City of Tucson. According to the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District's web page, Grinnell was appointed by the "President of the Senate" who is "King" Russell Pearce (I understand that this information is inaccurate). Río Nuevo / Downtown | The Official Website for the City of Tucson, Arizona.

Like Wes Gullett, Rick Grinnell also received support from the local newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star. The Star does not endorse in primary elections. But Grinnell got the front page above-the-fold treatment today with this headline: Tucson has a mayor's race: Grinnell wins spot against Rothschild.

Grinnell had to be cajoled into running as a write-in candidate after two Republicans and an independent candidate failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Grinnell supported the independent candidate Pat Darcy — even though the Republicans had two candidates in the race — which should raise eyebrows among partisan Republicans. Grinnell is the embattled Pima County Republican Party's desperation pass. He was a reluctant candidate — "OK, I'll do it if no one else will." His enthusiasm should inspire confidence among Tucson voters – not.

Given Arizona's colorful history with lobbyists, there is one simple rule: "Just say no to lobbyists."