Stone Cold Doug Ducey

by David Safier

Doug Ducey, Republican candidate for treasurer, has some problems lurking around in his recent bio.

One has to do with nonpayment of property taxes.

The other has to do with Cold Stone Creamery, where he was CEO from 1995 to 2007. When it came to selling franchises for Cold Stone, Ducey was Stone Cold.

A recent Democratic Party news release put both problems in the spotlight.

About Ducey's tax problems, from the Arizona Republic:

A leading Republican candidate for state treasurer failed to pay taxes on his Paradise Valley home for more than two years, risking the loss of his property until he paid up.

Doug Ducey, former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, had a $15,000 lien placed on his property after the non-payment of property taxes in 2008 and 2009.

He paid the taxes in May, shortly after entering the race to become Arizona's chief financial officer.

"There was some confusion in the billing," he said. "As soon as we were aware money was owed, we paid it."

"Some confusion in the billing"? Let's remember, Ducey was the high paid CEO of a large corporation, so we can assume he understands finances and taxes and things. Besides, anyone who owns a $1.4 million home probably has someone taking care of those little details, or should. He was late with his taxes in 2006 as well, which should have cleared up any "confusion" he might have had about paying his taxes.

Confusion? Not likely.

Then there are his years as CEO of the Cold Stone Creamery, which sells $4 a scoop ice cream through its franchised stores. Under Ducey's watch, according to the Phoenix New Times, the company overbuilt its franchises — making promises it couldn't keep, sometimes positioning the stores in poor locations or locating them too close together. Not surprisingly, lots of the stores failed.

This year, in a review of the 10 most-popular franchises, CNNMoney.com noted that Cold Stone franchisees have a 31 percent failure rate.

"The product is sweet, but the financials can be bitter," notes the article. "In the last 10 years, almost one in three [Small Business Administration]-backed franchisees defaulted on [its] loan. It's an expensive shop to start, too: The initial franchise fee is $42,000."

Far more devastating was a June 2008 piece by Richard Gibson in the Wall Street Journal that detailed the plights of ex-franchisees, some of whom had gone bankrupt, losing homes and life savings in the process.

Cold Stone boasts "more than 1,400 stores in the U.S. and worldwide," says Kahala's Web site. Cold Stone began as one store in Tempe in 1988 and opened its first franchise in '95, in Tucson.

Cold Stone's rapid expansion occurred during Ducey's reign, and Ducey is not shy about taking credit for that expansion on his campaign Web site. Indeed, that growth was one of the reasons cited by the Republic in its endorsement of the businessman.

When it came to selling Cold Stone franchises, CEO Ducey was one Stone Cold Dude.

NOTE: By the way, the use of a photo with a double bird is not gratuitous — or not completely gratuitous, anyway. One of Stone Cold Steve Austin's signature stunts was flipping off WWE owner Vince McMahon. I figured, that works for Stone Cold Doug Ducey as well, flipping off the tax collector with his left hand and the franchise owners with his right.