Pima County

AZ Supreme Court denies special action for Pima County v. Arizona Legislature

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Back in June I posted that Pima County sues our lawless Tea-Publican Arizona Legislature:

lastgreatactofdefiancePima County sued the state Monday, claiming its new budget illegally forces millions of dollars in education spending onto county taxpayers.

The county’s request for special action in Arizona Supreme Court asks justices to undo the shift of more than $45 million in costs back to counties in Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget plan approved by the Legislature in March.

Howard Fischer reports today that the Arizona Supreme Court has denied special action jurisdiction, and this case will have to proceed as routine litigation, which could take months or years before it gets back to the Arizona Supreme Court on appeal. Court decision means higher Pima County taxes:

The Arizona Supreme Court will not block a new state law that will force Pima and Pinal counties to hike taxes on their own residents to make up for a budget-saving maneuver approved by lawmakers and the governor.

Without comment, the justices brushed aside a request by attorneys for Pima County that they immediately take up the question of the legality of the new law. Attorney Joe Kanefield had hoped for a quick — and final — resolution ahead of next month’s deadline for counties to set their property tax rates.

“Obviously, we took a chance,” he said Thursday of going directly to the state’s highest court. “That was the quickest way to resolve it with absolute finality.”

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Pima County residents to pay ‘Tea-Publican Transfer Tax’

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The headline in the Arizona Daily Star this morning reads $1.16B county budget has 20-cent property tax increase:

Cartoon_23Supervisor Ramón Valadez said the increased primary rate, which equals 11 cents of the new combined rate, is from state costs the Legislature shifted to the county.

“This budget is not a Pima County budget,” he said. “This is the state of Arizona determining our rate for us.”

He pointed out that as much as one-third of the county’s primary property tax collections goes to support state-provided services.

If Pima County knows exactly how much of this tax increase is due to our Tea-Publican Arizona legislature transferring state obligations to county and local governments so they can falsely claim that they have “balanced” the budget — by transferring state obligations to counties and local governments, while simultaneously sweeping stealing shared tax revenues — and to falsely claim that they have “reduced” taxes — by forcing your county and local governments to raise taxes — then Pima County should have a line on its county tax assessments highlighting this amount as the “Tea-Publican Transfer Tax.” After all, this state has “truth in taxation” laws. Pima County residents should be told that Tea-Publican Arizona legislators are directly responsible for this tax increase.

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It’s Christmas in July at PACC

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PACC Christmas in July flyer
Press release from Pima County Communications:
This is a reminder that this Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the Pima Animal Care Center’s Christmas in July adoption event.
There will be free adoptions for dogs and cats (though dog adoptions will require payment of the $15 license fee).
PACC is transforming the center into a winter wonderland and adopting families can have their picture taken with Santa and their new fury family member for free. There will be food, fun and prizes, too.

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PDA: Envisioning a more progressive Arizona Democratic Party

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Taxby Pamela Powers Hannley

Are you one of those Democrats who grumbles about the
Arizona Democratic Party’s (ADP) slide into Republican-lite territory?

 Are you tired of Blue Dog Democratic candidates?

 Are you tired of the party’s weak stances on hot-button
issues?

Did you ever wonder why the ADP’s Progressive Caucus has so
little power—despite being the state party’s largest caucus? (Maybe you didn’t
even know that the ADP had a progressive caucus?)

Are you ready for change?

If you said, “Hell, yeah!” to any of the above questions, then
it’s time to stop muttering and start acting. On Wednesday, Nov. 14, the Tucson
Chapters of Drinking Liberally/Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) are
holding a special meeting  at The Shanty—beginning
at 6 p.m. with FREE pizza. The focus of the meeting will be on envisioning and
brainstorming a more progressive Democratic Party in Arizona. Former Arizona Legislator and PDA
Tucson coordinator Phil Lopes will lead the discussion.

Why should you attend? Read the details after the jump.

AZ voting irregularities + misinformation + rule-bending + 600,000 uncounted ballots = statewide disgrace (video)

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Vote-sm72

 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Eariler this week, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced that more than 600,000 ballots from Tuesday's election had yet to be counted. According to the Wednesday Arizona Daily Star the breakdown is:

Maricopa County: 460,000

Pima County: 80,000

Pinal County: 27,000

Coconino County: 11,000

Navajo County: 5,600

Gila County: 3,400

Apache County: 2,457

Cochise County: who knows? (And why don't they know?)

The 2012 Arizona election is one for the record books with the vast numbers of uncounted ballots, the largest number of provisional ballots ever, pre-election suppression of Latino vote in Maricopa County, polling place misinformation spread by Jeff Flake's campaign, questions about the integrity of Pima County's voting machines, and evidence that the Pima County Elections Department asked for and was granted permission by Bennet not to follow state law when processing ballots. (How many other counties were given a pass on the law by Bennett? An image of the letter is after the jump.) 

Now, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is using Arizona– and specifically Pima County– as the poster child for need for election reform– because Pima has a history of voter suppression. (Us?)

In 2008, the ACLU named Pima County #1 in the country for voter suppression when F. Ann Rodreguez's department threw out 18% of the provisional ballots– rather than spend the estimated 45 minutes per ballot to verify addresses. (Why was she re-elected?) We can't let this happen again. This year we must hold her feet to the fire. Every provisional ballot must counted. If you are one of the 1000s of Pima residents whose vote has not been counted, go here to check on your early ballot and go here to check on your provisional ballot.  

After the jump, watch Maddow skewer Arizona for having more than 600,000 uncounted votes. No one should concede until all ballots have been counted. Today's Arizona Daily Star said that could take another week. We need election reform.