The right way – and wrong way – to cover the Fiesta Bowl Scandal

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic has been doing an outstanding job covering the details of the Fiesta Bowl Scandal. One would expect them to do so as it is the state's largest publication and conveniently located in the capitol city. It's kinda their job.

Here in Baja Arizona, however, we have the sad little small-town newspaper the Arizona Daily Star that can't seem to scrape together enough change to send a reporter to cover the legislature at the capitol. The Star relies on Howard Fischer from Capitol Media Services and the AP wire for reporting from the capitol.

Until today. Rhonda Bodfield wrote this report, S. AZ politicians relatively untouched by bowl scandal. Shorter version: It doesn't appear that any laws were broken, no scandal to see here, move along!

For someone who used to cover the capitol years ago the political naiveté in the tone of this reporting is astounding. Anyone who has been here long enough to remember the AzScam Scandal and its fallout knows that there is going to be political repurcusions for anyone named in the Fiesta Bowl Scandal report, and those politicians are well aware that their careers are in jeopardy.

If Hollywood ever remakes the movie Clueless, we have the star.

For a more informed view of the Fiesta Bowl Scandal I would recommend that you read Laurie Roberts today in the Arizona Republic. Fiesta junketeer list is growing:

Yet another junketeer heard from. This time, it's the speaker of the Arizona House.

Kirk Adams says he's "absolutely mortified" that he failed to disclose his 2007 getaway – oops, I mean "educational trip"- to Pasadena, where he and his wife enjoyed a two-night stay at the luxurious Langham Huntington Pasadena.

For those of you who travel in Motel 6 mode, the Langham has been "an iconic landmark hotel since 1907, located at the base of the picturesque San Gabriel Mountains." It looks like Buckingham Palace, only bigger and with a "world-class spa." (For you Motel 6ers, think Magic Fingers beds, only nicer. Much, much nicer.)

Adams was joined on the Pasadena jaunt by legislators Russell Pearce, Steve Gallardo, Robert Meza and a cast of characters yet to be identified, along with their various spouses, in-laws, grandchildren and second cousins once removed – all paid for by the Fiesta Bowl.

Only the best, after all, for our traveling leaders.

* * *

As difficult as it is to understand how [Grant] Woods could be duped, it's equally astonishing that legislators could forget to disclose their junkets or be unaware that they can't just grab any free sports ticket in sight.

Yet we are now up to 18 current and former legislators caught with their hands in the Fiesta Bowl, with more to come.

Unlike Pearce, who is still insisting that he paid for his thousands upon thousands of dollars' worth of football tickets, Adams is at least admitting his mistake. He's one of only two legislators who have paid the bowl for the entire cost of his junket – a cost he puts at $1,064.

And he's vowing to work on lobbyist reform.

"There's something out of balance there where you can't take a $47 (game) ticket but they can spend a thousand dollars on you on a hotel and airplane tickets," he told me.

Adams said he "would be open to fixing something this year if we know exactly what to fix."

It doesn't seem difficult. Simply cut out the goodies – end the free lunch program on the Capitol lawn, ban all free tickets to sporting events and such, end the junkets, and penalize those who "forget" the rules.

Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Ron Gould says he is galled that our traveling legislators can amend their disclosure reports years later with no apparent penalty. He, too, plans to work on reform.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gould plans to convene ethics hearings once he has a complete list of his junketeering colleagues.

He may need to book US Airways Center to hold them all.

Laurie Roberts "gets it." It's not the crime, it's the lack of ethics. Voters will remember if AzScam is any guide.