The Farley Report for October 6, 2009
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Here is an abbreviated version of Rep. Steve Farley's latest Farley Report (edited for state legislative issues): Here we are in October, and our deficit is now $1.5 billion and growing. Constitutionally, the Legislature is supposed to have delivered a balanced budget on June 30, but no one seems to want to … Read more
No on Prop. 200 Press Conference This Thursday
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I received a press release that I will pass along for your information. The Gathering Voices Against Prop 200 to Hold Thursday Press Conference Please Join Us! Thursday, October 8 3 p.m. Reid Park Zoo 1100 S. Randolph Way Main Entrance The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, developers, homeless advocates, … Read more
Audits can be valuable tools
by David Safier It looks like the former superintendent of Tolleson Union High School District was misusing a district credit card issued to him by the district. (The story is in the subscription-only Arizona Guardian). It also looks like 41 employees were given stipends for cell phones without the supe getting consent from his school … Read more
Public Forum on Tucson Ballot Initiatives Today
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Pima Association of Taxpayers is sponsoring a public forum today on the Tucson ballot initiatives, the "Public Safety First" initiative (Prop. 200) and the TUSD budget override initiatives (Props. 401 and 402). Speakers for and against the propositions will present their arguments. What: Public forum on ballot initiatives Where: Joel D. … Read more
Populism Consuming Representative Democracy
By Michael Bryan Tucson's ballot initiative to peg the ratio of emergency personnel to population seems to me to be the latest iteration of populist discontent being cynically used to snatch at political power while denigrating and disempowering representative democracy. Too frequently over the past few decades we have seen progressive institutions such as the … Read more
Water and Arizona’s Future
By Karl Reiner The water level in the Colorado River’s storage lakes has been steadily dropping, leading to the possibility that Tucson will face a water shortage in the future. As consumers of local ground water and supplies from the Colorado, we need to start paying attention to the problem. The combined effects of population growth, drought and global warming trends are turning the region’s water future murky. … Read more
Fact Checking GOP Tucson City Council Candidates’ Walk Pieces
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A Republican campaign worker dropped off walk pieces for the GOP Tucson Council Council candidates at my door today. (I understand that Republicans have $1 million to drop on this city council race and have the money to piss away on Democratic voters). Well, I'll make you pay for littering my doorstep … Read more
Imagine Schools in Arizona: an example
by David SafierThis is one of a series of posts, Peeking into Charter Schools. If you have information you wish to contribute, you can post comments or email me: safier@schooltales.net. I looked through the financial data on charter schools at the AZ DOE to get a sense of how Imagine Schools here spend their money. … Read more
