Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
While we're on the topic of Republican politicians with a disturbing penchant for authoritarianism, how about that editorial opinion today in the Arizona Daily Star about "Don't make me angry" Frank Antenori?
The editor who wrote this editorial opinion intended it to be sarcasm. It was a harsh assessment of "The Ant" and his heavy-handed attempts to usurp the City of Tucson of local authority and contol, and to micromanage city government through super-legisature powers of the state legislature in the State of Maricopa. Once again, the City of Tucson is to be subjected to the tyranny of colonialism from the State of Maricopa. Tucson-size cities obviously need help:
Clearly the time has come to do away with local control for Arizona cities with populations greater than 500,000 but less than 2 million.
Cities of this size are burdensome for the whole state because they often elect Democrats and rely on a bloated cadre of overcompensated government workers. To ease this burden and embarrassment, the Arizona Legislature should seize control of all cities with populations greater than 500,000 but less than 2 million, and then outsource all services to the much more efficient private sector. With the exception of police and fire, of course.
As many Star readers are already aware, Tucson has a population of 520,000 and a strong need for legislative intervention. It would be the perfect "test" city for a legislative takeover.
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Fortunately, though, some Tucsonans have elected Frank Antenori to the Arizona state Senate, and he has done a marvelous job of pointing out our city's shortcomings and inadequacies to his colleagues up north. He is our knight in constitutional-plated armor (state and federal) even if he lives in Vail and only represents a portion of the city.
Tucson residents would never ask Our Knight to fall on his own sword. Not while he is bravely leading the legislative charge to make the city a better place in the eyes of our northern friends, inspiring legislative bright lights such as David Gowan, Al Melvin and Terri Proud along the way.
His efforts on Tucson's behalf are many. To save ourselves from ourselves, Antenori has persuaded his legislative colleagues to adopt a bill that would force cities of at least 500,000 residents – that's us! – to bid out any services that cost at least $75,000. To help make this possible, he has proposed drastically slashing city staffs to 0.4 percent of the population, which would reduce Tucson's full-time city staff of 4,516 to less than 2,500 workers. To ensure a more manageable applicant pool for these jobs, salaries would be capped at 2006-2007 levels.
But why stop at city borders?
In our own best interest, Antenori has proposed a law that would allow citizens to recall appointed city and county managers. There was also the push last month to force Pima County to hand over a $23 million sewage-treatment plant to Marana.
And then last week, Antenori was able to get the House Government Committee to move along a bill that would allow communities to incorporate right up to a city's limit. We wish he had extended this proposed bill to all cities across the state instead of for only those cities in Pima County. But at least he's getting Tucson on the legislative radar. Tucsonans (the kind that don't live in Vail) appreciate that.
We also appreciate Antenori's strong desire to fit in with the culture of our Legislature as it has tackled the "local control issue" this session.
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By fitting in with the legislative culture, and taking on these dire local-control issues, Antenori has positioned himself as a player in state government and perhaps beyond. This is only good news for Tucson.
So where do we go from here? Tucson is looking for a new mayor, and Antenori certainly has interest in how the city runs. He may not live in Tucson, but there's an easy way around that. The Legislature could pass a law making him the legislative savior for cities with populations between 500,000 and 2 million people. In anticipation of that happening, make sure you tell him your suggestions for ways to improve Tucson by contacting his office at (602) 926-5683 or fantenori@azleg.gov.
Or as I said the other day, it is time to recall this Birther – he is abusive and authoritarian, and he does not respect his constituents. "The Ant" represents political interests in the State of Maricopa, he despises Pima County. It is time for Baja Arizonans to give "The Ant" the middle-finger salute with a recall election.