Pat Fleming calls Gail Griffin on her false statements

by David Safier

I've heard from reliable sources that Pat Fleming was among the hardest working representatives when she served in the legislature. Now she ranks among the hardest working legislators-in-exile (D, LD-25).

Today she has an extended letter to the editor in the Sierra Vista Herald which takes Gail Griffin's falsehoods and counters them one by one. With a few tweaks, the same letter could be written about most of the state's Republican legislators.

I usually excerpt pieces, but the Herald only puts the first few words online, so I'll make an exception and run Fleming's entire letter.

To the Editor:
As Southern Arizona taxpayers, we’re used to getting the shaft and being fed false information, but state Sen. Gail Griffin took it to a new level in her first term in office and we ought to hold her accountable. Griffin, a Republican, attempted to counter her own voting record with information that just doesn’t add up and Southern Arizonans are telling me they aren’t buying it.

The reality is that Intel did not base its decision to expand its Chandler site due to Republicans’ and Gov. Jan Brewer’s corporate bailout package for rich CEOs. The package of bills didn’t create a single job but did increase the salaries of rich CEOs from big corporations (See: Arizona CEOs reap record payday).

In fact, Intel lobbyist Jason Bagley said the plans for a new computer chip manufacturing plant have been in the works for some time now, long before the new law was crafted, much less signed (See: Intel: New Chandler plant not linked to Brewer tax cut package).

Furthermore Craig Barrett, former Intel CEO, said that our education system is so bad that it’s hindering economic development efforts (See: Former Intel CEO blasts education in Arizona).

Regarding the budget Griffin is misinformed or is in denial. The budget is actually full of gimmicks.

The Arizona Republic’s AZ Fact Check even uncovered that when Republicans say they crafted a budget without any gimmicks, it simply is not true. The investigation revealed that it “… is inaccurate when (Republican House Speaker Kirk Adams) says the budget contains no accounting tricks and gimmicks. The package contains fund transfers, forced payments and rollovers.

Griffin is wrong on several other fronts. She said: “The focus was on getting the money to the classroom for increased student achievement.”

Actually, the focus was on massively cutting education after Arizona voters passed a tax increase on the premise that it would protect our kids’ schools. But it was just an excuse to cut from our children’s futures and give away more money to big corporations and the rich.

Griffin and our other District 25 lawmakers, Reps. Peggy Judd and David Stevens, all voted to cut another $180 million from K-12 education, which will increase our kids’ classroom sizes to more than 40. These cuts come after the largest cut to education in state history made by Republicans in the last two years.

Griffin also said: “The rural legislators worked hard to exempt the smaller counties from hits to their budgets.”

But Griffin, Judd and Stevens all voted to shift a burden of $135 million onto the counties and supported closing state parks even though outdoor recreation produces $5.3 billion in annual retail sales and generates nearly $371 million in state tax revenues (See: Hikers, mountain bikers, climbers boost economy)

Unfortunately Griffin hasn’t been transparent with her constituents, and thanks to her, we’ll all be paying the price. But we have the opportunity to hold her accountable. We need a government that starts solving problems and working for Arizonans and their families.

We need a more effective government, but that doesn’t include robbing our schools of funding, making health care more expensive or having fewer cops on the streets.

We want our kids to learn and grow in school, not get lost in a crowded classroom.

That’s what rural Arizona is about, families working hard, earning a living and going places.

We need better representatives than that. Let’s hold them accountable.

Pat Fleming, Sierra Vista