It’s easy to get cynical about all this political malarkey: The misleading campaign ads, the mudslinging mailers, the annoying robocalls. After a while, the BS becomes overwhelming and it’s easy to forget just how much is at stake and conclude your vote doesn’t mean anything.

But as recent campaigns have shown—Congressman Ron Barber won election two years ago by a razor-thin margin of 2,500 votes or so—your vote really can make a difference.

And we also understand how much you have to sort through to understand who all these candidates are and what they stand for. So as early ballots are hitting mailboxes, we’re releasing our list of endorsements in the races that we think matter the most in Southern Arizona and across the state. There are some very real choices ahead for us: Are we going to put a governor in office who will stand up against the almost-certainly Republican legislature that will be seated in January, or will we elect a man who will enable their worst tendencies to break down everything previous generations have built in this state? Will we put someone in the Secretary of State’s Office who will take on dark-money groups that want to buy our elections or someone who has pushed through legislation design to suppress the vote? Will we elect a competent leader to run the state’s school system or will we install a conspiracy-minded ideologue who is afraid to show her face on the campaign trail?

These are important questions. To help you understand what’s at stake, we’ve put together this voter guide with our advice on how to fill out your ballot. Please note this is not a comprehensive list. We’ve focused on competitive races that we’ve reviewed.

U.S. Congress, District 1

Let’s look at the issues: U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who now represents the sprawling Congressional District 1, wants low-income Arizonans to have health insurance. She supports a reasonable and compassionate solution for the undocumented immigrants now in the United States. She backs abortion rights. She believes in gay equality. And she has been a fierce advocate for solutions for the problems in her district.

Then there’s Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin, the Republican who wants to unseat Kirkpatrick. In the course of his legislative career, Tobin has voted to slash education spending, taken hundreds of millions from the higher-ed budget, cut mammoth holes into the social safety net and stripped health insurance from low-income Arizonans. His corporate tax cuts have set the state up for giant budget shortfall without doing much of anything to boost the economy. He’s supported several unconstitutional assaults on abortion rights and opposes gay equality.

In short, we disagree with Tobin on just about every issue and urge you to vote for Ann Kirkpatrick.

U.S. Congress, District 2

We don’t agree with every vote that U.S. Rep. Ron Barber has taken since he won election to Congress more than two years ago, but at least we know where he stands most of the time—and that’s a lot more than we can say about Republican Martha McSally, who is taking a third shot at winning Southern Arizona’s most competitive congressional seat.

McSally has served her country admirably in the U.S. Air Force, but as a candidate for Congress, she has dodged nearly every controversial question we’ve thrown her way—and when she has taken a position, it’s usually the opposite of something she said she stood for in 2012. As a result, we just don’t know where McSally stands on far too many issues and we’re afraid she just isn’t interested in thinking too deeply about the big questions that face the nation—or understanding the needs of Southern Arizona.

While McSally dismisses Barber as a lifelong bureaucrat, he spent his career with the state working to help kids with developmental disabilities. As Gabby Giffords’ district director, he learned the needs of Southern Arizona. As a small businessman, he and his wife Nancy worked to help families with small children. And as a congressman, Barber has been rated one of the most likely to vote against his own party. He’s supported the Affordable Care Act, but wants to see changes to make the law work better. He’s has worked to find solutions to the many problems along the border rather than showboating on the issue. He has tenaciously battled for the A-10, Davis-Monthan and Fort Huachuca. He has worked to help veterans through both legislation and constituent service. And he has assembled a staff that works as hard as any we’ve ever seen in any government office.

Ron Barber gets Southern Arizona. He deserves your vote.

governor

There are many reasons to support Fred DuVal for governor, from his deep grasp of the issues facing Arizona to his ability to work with people across the political spectrum. (There’s a reason he has Republican Grant Woods, who served two terms as Arizona’s attorney and co-chaired Gov. Jan Brewer’s 2010 campaign, co-chairing his gubernatorial campaign. And there’s a reason that so many Republicans, including former lawmakers Jennifer Burns, Carolyn Warner, Susan Gerard and Chris Herstam, are supporting DuVal.)

But the biggest reason we like the idea of Fred DuVal as governor is that in all likelihood, the Legislature will remain under Republican control—and that means DuVal would serve as a check on the terrible ideas that the Legislature has. DuVal likes to say that the “V” in DuVal stands for veto—and on a host of issues, it’s time to change the direction of the state. We need to fund our public schools instead of pushing tax dollars to private institutions. We need to stop cutting taxes for the most wealthy people in the state while cutting services for those who are scraping by. We need to build our universities, rather than finding ways to undercut them. We need better relationships with Mexico, rather than wasted tax dollars on border strategies that do nothing to seriously deal with the real issue of illegal immigration. We need to stop treating DREAMers as if they are worthless youth who deserve to be behind bars. We need to stop finding ways to attack gay couples. We need to invest in our highways and state parks and so much more.

Vote for Fred DuVal.

Attorney General: Felecia Rotellini

For the last four years, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has played politics with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. In between scandals, Horne has cooked up schemes to disenfranchise voters, prevent the DREAM Act kids from getting an affordable education at community colleges and hand out legal pork to anti-abortion, anti-gay legal teams. And while Mark Brnovich wouldn’t likely have the scandals, we’re afraid he’d follow in Horne’s footsteps with many of those other bad policy calls.

Felecia Rotellini has plenty of experience in the attorney general’s office. She cut her teeth working for former AGs Grant Woods and Janet Napolitano, untangling complex cases such as the swindling of trusting seniors who invested in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona. She’s not going to look for legal fights to deny women the right to an abortion or to block gays from receiving equal rights or to make life tougher for immigrant kids who are trying to make a better life for themselves. Vote Rotellini.

Secretary of State: Terry Goddard

Terry Goddard served the state with distinction as Arizona’s attorney general. During his two terms, Goddard went after money launderers, human smugglers and swindlers who cheat seniors. We like his promise to use those skills to go after the dark-money campaigners who see our elections as up for sale.

And given the important role that the Secretary of State plays with elections, we have to say that we trust Goddard over his opponent, Michele Reagan, a state senator who last year pushed through an omnibus election-reform bill that was filled with different provisions designed to reduce voter participation. (After an angry coalition of voters collected enough signatures to force a public vote on Reagan’s voter-suppression law, she joined with Republican colleagues in repealing the legislation earlier this year rather than allow voters to decide its fate next month.) Vote for Terry Goddard.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

This one isn’t even a close call. David Garcia is an Army veteran with a lengthy career in education. He has worked in a high-ranking position in at the State Department of Education and now teaches at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. We don’t even have room in this space to go over his extensive résumé in the education field, but he has extensive experience in developing education policy for the state. Even though he’s a Democrat, Garcia has won the endorsement of former GOP superintendents Lisa Graham Keegan and Jamie Molera, as well as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Tucson Metro Chamber, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and many others. Why? Because not only is he experienced, but his opponent, Republican Diane Douglas, is so unqualified for the job that even Republican-leaning organizations recognize that she should not be put in charge of Arizona’s schools. Douglas is a former Peoria Unified School Board member who opposed even a temporary tax increase to keep schools open and remains a political ally of former state lawmaker Russell Pearce. We wouldn’t hire Diane Douglas to wash our windows. You shouldn’t vote for her to run our schools. Vote David Garcia.

Arizona Corporation Commission

There is one major question in the race for Arizona Corporation Commission this year: Is the state going to continue to nurture the solar-power industry or are we going to smother it in its crib? Thanks to some smart tax credits and other subsidies, the solar industry was a $1.2 billion industry last year, employing more than 8,500 people across more than 330 businesses. On top of that, the growing use of solar energy has helped reduce the emissions that are contributing to the climate change that the vast majority of the scientific community is warning will leave the planet a much worse place for future generations. So we’re urging you to vote for Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Jim Holway to send the message that you support alternative energy—and that you oppose efforts by big utilities to buy the seats for Republican candidates.

Legislative District 9

This is a tough call. Legislative District 9, which includes north-central Tucson, the Catalina Foothills and the Casas Adobes area, is now represented by Republican Ethan Orr and Democrat Victoria Steele. Democrats hope to knock out Orr with Dr. Randy Friese, a smart trauma doc who first made local headlines when he helped save many of those wounded in the mass shooting at Gabby Giffords’ Congress on Your Corner on Jan. 8, 2011.

We like the job that Steele has done at the Legislature and find ourselves aligned with Friese on most issues. But we also respect Orr for crossing party lines to support Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion, as well as his support for educational and other programs in Southern Arizona, even though we disagree with other issues, particularly when it comes to abortion and gun rights.

It comes down to this: If you want to see more Democrats in the Arizona House of Representatives, you should vote for Steele and Friese. If you want to reward a relatively sensible Republican who is willing to sometimes cross party lines, vote for Ethan Orr and one of the other Democrats.

Legislative District 10

We’re happy with the work done by the Democrats who are now representing the competitive Legislative District 10. Sen. Dave Bradley and state Reps. Stefanie Mach and Bruce Wheeler have been leaders in the opposition to the many bad bits of legislation that have been passed—and in a few cases, stopped—at the Legislature over the last two years and all three deserve another term. Vote for Bradley, Mach and Wheeler.

Tucson Unified School District

These have been rocky years for the Tucson Unified School District. TUSD has seen big cuts in state funding, a rotating cast of superintendents who have come and gone, battles with the state over the Mexican-American Studies Program and a steady exodus of students to other districts and charter and private schools.

In short, the district is a mess—and once again, voters in TUSD have to sort between nine candidates for two seats on the board.

We’re going to suggest that you single-shot one candidate who stands above the rest: Jen Darland, who has worked tirelessly as a volunteer on so many campaigns to try to improve the schools that we can’t even count them. Darland is smart and possesses the kind of good judgment that we’d like to see applied to the TUSD board.

We also urge you to ABSOLUTELY NOT VOTE for two of the candidates in the field: Michael Hicks, who is seeing a second term, and Debe Campos Fleener. Hicks has been an embarrassment to the district—just take another look at the ludicrous things he said to a “Daily Show” correspondent about magical burritos—and Campos Fleener would ally herself with TUSD board member Mark Stegeman. And we most definitely do not need that.

Propositions

Prop 122

Proposition 122 is another effort to get the state tangled up in expensive legal fights with the federal government. It would allow state lawmakers or the public to declare a federal law to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution—a designation normally reserved for the courts—and then block the state or local governments from spending any money helping with the enforcement of that federal law. We honestly can’t see anything good coming out of this, but we can see plenty of bad unintended—and in some cases, intended—consequences. We say vote no.

Prop 303

If approved by voters, Proposition 303 would allow terminally ill patients to use experimental drugs that haven’t yet been approved by the FDA. We are a tiny bit skeptical of this one, but we’re leaning toward a Yes vote with the hope that we’re not opening the door to snake-oil salesmen who are going to give desperately sick people false hope.

Prop 304

Proposition 304 would boost the salaries of state lawmakers to from the current $24,000 to $35,000 annually. On the one hand, it does seem like the pay is pretty low considering the importance of the work; one the other hand, we’re unimpressed with the quality of most of the people who are winning primaries these days. We’re voting no.

Prop 415

Proposition 415 would allow Pima County to sell up to $22 million in bonds to build a new animal-care center to replace the current facility, which is nearly a half-century old. Opponents have made a big deal about the price tag, but it comes down to less than four bucks a year for the average county resident, which really isn’t asking too much—and that’s assuming the cost hit the maximum. The county has worked in recent years to reduce the number of dogs and cats that are euthanized and increase the number who are adopted, which is a great thing. That track record is enough for us to urge you to vote yes on Prop 415.

Related Stories

This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2014.

24 replies on “Our 2014 Endorsements”

  1. 25 PLUS REASONS TO SUPPORT ETHAN ORR IN THE LD 9 RACE- Please post resume of opponents.

    Ethan Orr, born here in Tucson and an AMPHI/ U of A grad, has been a community partner, a friend, a family man but most importantly one of the most effective legislators Southern Arizona has known in decades. His advocacy pursuit of an economic oriented agenda and commitment to representing us through bipartisan, logical, pragmatic solutions as well as common sense has earned him our respect and gratitude. Tucson’s relevance as a region is at stake, more so in this election than anyone we have seen in the last 25 years. If Ethan loses you might as well put a big bulls eye on Tucson’s back as the Maricopa dominated legislators are not Wildcat fans and definitely have it out for Tucson! Bear Down Ethan!

    I have known Ethan since student council in 1990, he is a good seed! Do your own research and then post in comment section, open the floor for discussion! This is how intelligent people make decisions about who represents them not in empty platitudes or rhetoric, or false promises of future achievement beware those people on EITHER side of the political fence!

    ETHAN ORR’s RECENT POLITICAL RESUME

    Bills signed into law: (this means any legislation, amending, reforming, altering creating laws-try to remember just creating new legislation is not necessarily a good thing)
    1. HB 2543 – (2013) Pima College Non-Resident Tuition
    2. HB 2163 – Commercial Space Flight
    3. HB 2164 – Laser pointer, aircraft violation
    4. HB 2166 – Pima County Retirement System
    5. HB 2167 – Pima County Sports Authority Election
    6. HB 2332 – Veterans Burial Provision
    7. HB 2076 (2013 With Sonny Borrelli) Veterans Employment

    Bills Stopped on floor
    8. HB 2379 (Olson) Secondary Property Tax Limit (Library Bill)

    Bills Amended
    9. SB 1282 Racing Omnibus (Pierce) – added reporting requirements, gave communities the ability to prohibit on track gambling

    Administrative
    10. $300,000 for police – IGA with Department of Health Services
    11. About $750,000 – Disabled Bus riders
    12. $250,000 – Air conditioning for Hendricks Elementary
    13. Drafting Governors Student Success Formula ($40 Million)
    14. Contract for DD providers (Beacon Group)

    Budget
    15. Mental Health First aide and Mental Health Block Grants
    16. $250,000 for Mental health First Aid (2013)
    17. $500,000 for Mental Health Block Grants (2014)

    Pima County JTED
    18. $1,500,000 – Changed JTED funding formula (2014)

    University of Arizona
    19. $2,000,000 – Mission Critical Research (2014)
    (Used to help start Veterinarian program)
    20. $3,500,000 – Cooperative Extension (2014)
    21. $4,000,000 for hospital funding (2013) in addition to 22. $4,000,000 in Governor budget
    23. $1,500,000 main campus performance funding (2013)

    Pima College
    24. $2,000,000 for urban community colleges ($700,000 went to Pima) (2014)

    Efforts with other Republicans
    25. Medicaid Expansion
    26. Stopping the ESA bills based on geography
    27. Judicial Hold for Mental health
    28. Charter Conversion for public schools
    29. Oh shoot, I forgot his work against SB 1062, a potential economic disaster for Arizona

    Wait that is more than 25! There are still more, the point is clear, in Ethan Orr ‘s two years he passed more legislation that the entire Democratic caucus combined. Can someone please list his opponents accomplishments on behalf of Tucson?

    Friends, do not let either party rob you of your common sense, your relevance, and your influence, to serve their own agenda!

    VOTE ONLY ONCE, Starting October 11!

    VOTE ETHAN ORR for STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE.

    “There is no monopoly of common sense on either side of the political fence.” Sting-1980’s

  2. Actually with few exceptions, if you vote opposite of the weaklys recommendations you will be finer.

  3. “Campos Fleener would ally herself with TUSD board member Mark Stegeman. And we most definitely do not need that.” Why? Because we might actually require a balanced and transparent budget, do something to cut administrative spending, and get a higher share of the district’s funding into the schools? Scary!

  6. Beyond the choices by Nintzel, oh wait…it doesn’t look like there are any EXCEPT those by Nintzel.

    I’ll go with the one or two choices that DO show promise of getting this area back on a winning track. For the most part, I’ll just toss the list of candidates who show on your “yes” list.

    And for the record..I would vote NO on Props 415 and 418, and YES on the others.

  7. The Weekly forgot about Proposition 420, which would authorize TUSD to sell nine schools which have been closed, two of which have been reopened as TUSD Infant and Early Child Learning Centers. Of all the candidates for the TUSD Board of Governors, only one: Betts Putnam-Hidalgo, weighed in on this important Proposition in the Voter Information Packet that has been mailed out to the electorate. For the Weekly to write there is “one candidate who stands above the rest: Jen Darland,” is simply a false statement. Betts is clearly the best candidate for the TUSD Board of Governors: betts4tusd.net. –Please Vote “NO” on Proposition 420, and please note that all TUSD Board candidates have been invited to a public forum that will be held at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita, on Monday 10/20/14 from 6-8 p.m. Co-sponsors of the forum are: Voices for Education, a local, community-based non-profit organization, the Menlo Park Neighborhood Association, the Brichta Neighborhood Association, and the Legislative District 3 (LD 3) Democrats, who are geographically based on the west and south sides of town. (Although the LD 3 Republicans were asked to co-sponsor the event, that invitation was declined.)

  8. I’m voting for Fred for governor not because in support of Fred, but to vote against Satan’s secretary, Cathi Herrod, and her puppet – the ice cream man. There is no way I would ever vote for Terry Goddard- my reasons are personal, but I refuse to vote for that Reagan family wanna-be either; I’m going to leave my vote for Secretary of State blank. I’m voting for Ron Jeremy because he supports marriage equality and also my tribe’s West Valley Resort in PHX. I will vote no on all props except for 415.

    I’m Edge and I approved this message.

  9. Weak is the ‘moderate’ term that explains your lackluster endorsement of Steele and Friese. You must have been texting while writing to be so disconnected to say that our reason to vote them in is just that we want to “see more Democrats” in office. Really? These are 2 strong, accomplished candidates that are passionate about issues that represent the citizens of our district. We need them to get elected to raise the level of common sense to our legislature!
    Your comment that Orr is a “relatively sensible Republican”…Where do I start? There was not 1 bill that he voted against when it came to rights for guns. At this rate, guns will have more rights than I do. Some of the bills were so nutty that Brewer vetoed them. Orr signed a pledge (!) stating personhood for an embryo & to fight to overturn Roe v Wade. So, as a grown woman, he thinks that I have less rights than an embryo? As far as our environment is concerned, he received an “F” from the local Sierra Club. Public Education?: You say he supports it? What he says and what he does are 2 different things. Six times Orr voted to take money out of our public schools to be used for private education. This dismantles AZ schools! Oh, and yes, he voted for the expansion of Medicaid. Well, he should have!
    The reason that the citizens of LD9 should send Dr. Randy Friese and Victoria Steele to the Arizona House of Representatives is that they will be representing us and not the NRA or Cathi Herrod or any other outside group that has had a stranglehold on our state. Is there a reason that we are at the bottom of recovery from the recession? Is there a reason why our public schools are ranked at the bottom of the Nation? Yes, there is a reason and it is because the current leadership in our house has been focused on all the wrong issues. Let’s get legislators in office that will focus on jobs and the economy. Let’s have discussion over how to be the leader in research and technology regarding solar and water. Let’s focus on the real issues facing our state. Friese and Steele together will make a difference.

  10. Randy Fiese AND Victoria Steele are the right people to represent LD9 in Phoenix. Their opponent is NOT a moderate republican. Sure he supported Jan Brewer by expanding Medicaid, great; so did Victoria Steele!
    Victoria has an A rating for the Sierra Club, she believes that women have a right to control their own bodies and that local populations have the right to restrict access to guns. She has worked hard to put in place a program that will help educate people to identify mentally unstable people and help prevent gun violence by the mentally ill. She is a quick study and loves serving her constituents. Our representatives should reflect the values of Tucson – not right wing republican issues.

  11. If Ethan Orr is a moderate, what must one do to deserve the name of conservative? If Orr is moderate, can one be a conservative without being named Russell Pearce? I suppose all these terms are relative, but I suspect that relatively few voters in Tucson and Pima County think support by and for the National Rifle Association and Cathi Herrod’s Center for Arizona Policy qualify as moderate. Ethan Orr: right for Cathi Herrod and the NRA, wrong for LD 9.

  13. I have to add my dismay to the many here about your nutty call on LD9. Reward Ethan Orr with your vote? What do you think my vote is? A carnival prize? Victoria Steele has been an outstanding freshman legislator in a difficult minority position. You seem to have also missed the fact that the GOP ran NO ONE against her, clearly considering her unbeatable. We need to keep the person that scares the pants off the right-wing extremists!

  14. Ethan Orr is in the NRA’s back pocket. He needs to be replaced by Dr. Randy Friese, someone who sees first hand the devastating effects of our current gun laws. Dr. Friese will fight for responsible gun safety legislation. Mr. Orr votes AGAINST background checks for guns, and votes FOR ‘guns everywhere’ bills. It’s time for a big change: Vote for Friese AND Steele for Southern Arizona!

  15. There may be a one or two endorsements that reflect actual thought (and I don’t mean the nod to Ethan Orr,) but most of these are about as lock step with the Pima County Democratic machine as you can get.

    What makes Jen Darling, who has rarely put in an appearance at a TUSD Governing Board meeting, more qualified than Betts Putnam Hidalgo, who has been actively involved with TUSD for a long time? Is it because Putnam Hidalgo would support Mark Stegeman’s proposal to hire an internal auditor who would report to the TUSD Board. Such an action might eliminate the chronic misuse of funds appropriated for education, and we can’t have that because the idea came from Stegeman. Why isn’t Darling out front on any issues related to TUSD’s misuse of funds?

    Why is the Sunnyside School Board race not included on this list? Isn’t it important enough for y’all to consider? Do you actually want Eva Dong re-elected and know you’d discredit all the rest of your endorsements by actually saying so?

  16. Steve says: “Republican trolls. Weekly always has great recommendations for progressively-minded Arizonans.”

    You must define “progressive-minded” as someone who is in lockstep with the Pima County Democratic Party. If that is the case tell us why absolute Democratic control of Pima County for decades has left this area the 8th poorest metropolitan area in the entire country. How progressive-minded is that? And please don’t try to blame this on the state legislature. They are no better than the Pima County Democrats, but the problems in this county (terrible roads, lousy schools, not enough decent paying jobs) are by and large self-inflicted wounds.

  18. Thanks to The Weekly for NOT joining the movement being touted by establishment Democrats on behalf of TUSD Board incumbent Adelita Grijalva, unlike one of your prominent bloggers. It’s a shame, however, that you overlooked the knowledge, expertise and caring that Betts Putnam-Hidalgo brings to this campaign. She has not lessened her involvement since narrowly losing the last race for the Board. She is also the candidate least likely to join up with either of the two factions on the Board. TUSD needs shrewd, inquisitive and experienced Board members.

  19. We can put up $4 per year for an animal shelter, why can’t we put up $40 a year and fix the abysmal streets? I can always tell when I’m back in Tucson by the feel of ruts and potholes under my wheels.
    Glad to see the Weekly NOT endorsing Adelita Grijalva. It’s time for her to go do something else with her life.

  20. Questions and comments RE your endorsement for the TUSD board:
    • You say Darland “has worked tirelessly as a volunteer on so many campaigns to try to improve the schools that we can’t even count them.” This statement is not helpful to voters. What were the specific campaigns, and what has the net effect for TUSD been? Darland worked tirelessly on Prop 204. How did Prop 204 improve the district? It channelled a lot of the volunteer energy available in the district into a campaign for an increased funding proposition that did not pass. Darland exposed one of the abusers of the charter system in the state legislature. Well done – but how does this qualify her to be on the TUSD board, rather than in the state legislature? It is important to note that TUSD board members do not significantly influence the Arizona legislature’s law and policy. If Darland and her supporters really believe that the source of TUSD’s problems lies in the legislature’s funding and policy decisions, as so much of Darland’s campaign messaging suggests, isn’t she running for the wrong position?
    • Darland is part of the political network behind the current TUSD board majority. She has been endorsed by Adelita Grijalva and is closely connected with Ann-Eve Pedersen. So how would a Darland-Foster-Juarez controlled board be significantly different from a Grijalva-Foster-Juarez controlled board, which has been dysfunctional?
    • Finally, forgive me for directly addressing the elephant in the room that everyone is supposed to politely ignore, but how does being an Anglo PTA member, site council member and mom at Fruchthendler (an east-side school that does not have the same racial or socio-economic demographics most TUSD schools do) qualify a person to assume a leadership position in a district where most schools bear more resemblance to Warren, Pueblo and McCorkle than they do to Fruchthendler?

    I would be happy to support a Darland campaign for the state legislature, but I don’t think electing her to the TUSD board will help the district. We need people who will be capable of getting on top of a very dysfunctional institutional culture in the district’s bureaucracy and reforming it. Darland’s relentless focus on the legislature’s funding failures, which would be helpful to us in a state legislator, will be misplaced and wasted in a leadership position on the TUSD board.

    For the TUSD school board, I support the campaigns of Betts Putnam-Hidalgo (because of her educational background in political science and Mexican American Studies, her commitment to social justice, her advocacy experience within the Hispanic community, her complex understanding of the history of the desegregation case, her support of financial transparency and accountability, and her depth of experience at the “ground level” in the schools and in the district). I also support Debe Campos-Fleenor (because of her educational background in communication, her experience as a successful leader in the business community, her experience raising supplementary funding for our schools, her knowledge of best practices in non-profit board governance, her work as a Community Representative and bilingual volunteer in TUSD, and her support of financial transparency and accountability).

    As for Campos-Fleenor following Stegeman: on some issues, perhaps — but I doubt we’ll see her behaving like Foster and Juarez have with Grijalva, following in lock step and showing little discernible capacity for independent thought and action. TUSD will suffer if the new board has another three-person majority cut from that mold.

  21. Write-In Candidate for Governor J Johnson was interviewed on ASU PBS (Ch 8-3)TV News this week,and said he will be the next Governor!!!!

  22. As a liberal, masters-level, secondary mathematics and English teacher with a decade and a half of experience in multiple districts in southern Arizona (sorry, not a troll here), I’m going to have a hard time voting for either Duval or Garcia based on their beliefs about Common Core. Common Core is a giant corporate lie. If you think we can fix poverty by “raising standards,” adding more high-stakes tests, and then holding everyone “accountable,” then you’re living in a dream world. I’m embarrassed that both of these Democratic candidates have somehow embraced it.

  23. These have been rocky years for Pima Community College as well. As Tucson’s alternative paper, I wish that the Tucson Weekly would give some thought to the two candidates who are competing for the open seat on the PCC governing Board and endorse one of them. Our community college is too vital to the health of our community to be left out of these endorsements.

  24. I am simply appalled that you people passed Prop 415. I love animals & had a 20 year career in veterinarian medicine. 16 in Tucson.
    What we need are high fines on ‘backyard breeders’. People who sell dogs. There are too many Unaltered animals. A lot stems from mainly men, who refuse to neuter a male dog. They have human and animal sexuality confused. A dog breeds, a dog does not make love. Nor a cat. They breed for survival of instinct.
    I’d be a millionaire over again for every time I heard. He won’t be able to lick himself. Are you kidding me.
    PACC & HS do 2 for 1 adoptions. Bad. Most people do not follow up with any veterinarian care. Even a free exam visit that is given. Spay & neutering are expensive. As maintenance health care. Now, I have always been a responsible pet owner.
    Now my taxes again go up due to lack of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. But it’s okay for a woman to MURDER AN UNBORN CHILD?? WT?? BUT NOT OKAY TO KILL DOGS/CATS BECAUSE THESE SAME PEOPLE FEEL ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN A HUMAN LIFE!!
    WE LIVE IN A CRAPPY WORLD..
    I can’t wait to move out of this looser state. Arizona,is an embarrassing and shameful state. Get your heads out of your butts.

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