Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Monday, Sen. Jonathan Paton and his Senate Judiciary Committee will consider SB 1123 which would require the City of Tucson to conduct "nonpartisan" city council elections and elect council members by ward only. The bill is sponsored by partisan Republicans Sen. Jonathan Paton, Rep. Frank Antenori and Rep. David Gowan (LD 30); Sen. Al Melvin and Rep. Vic Williams (LD26); and Rep. David Stevens (LD 25).
The City of Tucson is divided into six wards, each ward containing, as nearly as possible, the same total population (Tucson Code, Ch. 16, § 8). The mayor is nominated from and elected by the voters of the city at large. The councilmen are nominated from the voters in the ward in which he or she resides and elected by the voters of the city at large (Tucson Code, Ch. 16, § 9). The City of Tucson is the only municipality in Arizona which still allows the political party designation to be listed on the ballot for each candidate.
The residents of the City of Tucson have on at least three occasions in the past considered amending the Tucson Charter to alter its election process to require either nonpartisan elections or ward only elections. Most recently, there was a failed initiative attempt by FairElect.org in 2005.
The residents of the City of Tucson have spoken. The residents of the City of Tucson have rejected nonpartisan elections and election by ward only. It is one of our quirks that make the Old Pueblo special and unique. It is our right to maintain our uniqueness — you know, self determination, home rule, democracy, whatever you want to call it.
If Sen. Paton and his partisan Republican cohorts want to amend the Tucson Charter, the proper procedure to accomplish this is to sponsor an initiative to amend the Tucson Charter to provide for nonpartisan elections and election by ward only. These Southern Arizona Republicans did not do this, however, because: (1) they do not believe they could collect the requisite number of valid signatures on petitions to qualify the initiative for the general election ballot, and/or (2) they do not believe that even if the initiative appeared on the general election ballot, it would receive a majority of votes to pass.
"We can't allow the voters to decide these issues in a democratic election."
So these Southern Arizona Republicans intend to disenfranchise the residents of the City of Tucson and render the election provisions of the Tucson Charter null and void by legislative fiat. The residents of the City of Tucson are to be dictated to by the Arizona Legislature, almost two-thirds of whom come from that black hole vortex of all that is unholy and evil — Maricopa County.
These Southern Arizona Republicans are our Benedict Arnolds who have conspired to deliver the residents of the City of Tucson into the hands of our mortal enemy. The City of Tucson is to be rendered the equivalent of an occupied city under miltary control.
Frank Antenori, who earlier this year was upset about being identified with "R-Tucson" – “I don’t represent Tucson as a whole,” said Antenori. “I live in Tucson, but on the very edge of it — 400 feet from the border,” State Rep. Antenori unhappy with 'Tucson' label apparently has come to think of himself as the chief executive of the "Coalition Provisional Authority," as if he is L. Paul Bremer in charge of occupied Baghdad. Antenori has been micromanaging the Tucson City Council (behaving as if he is the City Manager) by dictating which projects that Rio Nuevo must develop if the city wants to keep its Rio Nuevo TIF fund.
The recently passed GOP budget contains an amendment by Sen. Paton to the Rio Nuevo TIF fund which strips the City of Tucson of any local control of the membership of the oversight board and instead reconstitutes the oversight board with appointments to be made by the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House — all of whom are partisan Republicans who do not live in the City of Tucson, or even in Pima County — and who have demonstrated over time their animosity towards the City of Tucson.
These treasonous Benedict Arnolds are treating the City of Tucson as if WE are their enemy. They clearly do not represent the best interests of the residents of the City of Tucson. Tell these Benedict Arnolds to respect the will of Tucson's residents by opposing SB 1123. If not, We will remember come November.
One final point. The whole idea that "nonpartisan" elections lead to better government is a farce that has been disproven with numerous examples over time. It is time to abandon this utopian fantasy of good government for real world reality.
If anything the Arizona Legislature should be prohibiting "nonpartisan" elections on the basis of truth in advertising. The political parties are deeply involved in supporting candidates in these allegedly "nonpartisan" elections. This utopian fantasy simply forces everyone to pretend to maintain the charade that these races are nonpartisan – even though everyone knows with which political party each candidate is aligned (wink, wink).
This leads to absurd results, like in the recent Marana and Sahuarita town council races. Media virgins complained that the Democratic Party was providing funding and staff assistance to candidates – oh, the horrors! Clutch your pearls, Sally. The Republicans provided assistance to their candidates as well through so-called independent expenditure committees (anything with Bruce Ash's name attached to it is not independent, you're not fooling anyone.)
Party labels have value and mean something – they tell you quite a bit about the philosophical or ideological leanings of a particular candidate. This is valuable information to a voter, and the voters have a right to know. Let's put an end to the charade of "nonpartisan" elections. Truth in advertising is a better choice.