Why would a Democratic member of the TUSD school board support one, or maybe two, Republicans for the two board seats coming up for a vote in November? The Democrat is Mark Stegeman, and the Republican candidates are Debe Campos‐Fleenor and Michael Hicks. True, it’s a nonpartisan race, but a Democrat supporting Republicans over Democrats to sit with him on a school board is, well, unusual. But Stegeman is an unusual guy whose educational ideas lean more toward the conservative than the progressive, so he feels more at home with the two Republicans than with his Democratic colleagues.
Stegeman has already given significant financial support to Campos‐Fleenor’s campaign. According to her campaign finance reports, Stegeman made a direct contribution of $45.75 to her campaign, an insignificant amount, but he also made an in-kind contribution of $1,200 to pay people to collect signatures to get her on the ballot. That’s real money. So far as I can tell looking over the other candidates’ finance reports, Stegeman didn’t give money to any other school board candidate.
But then again, maybe he did.
In Michael Hicks’ campaign finance reports, he lists no money coming in and no money going out. Every box on the form has a dollar amount of $0.00. But there’s a spreadsheet of candidates across the state who used non-resident petition circulators, and Hicks’ campaign made the list. He used AZ Petition Partners, the same company used by Campos‐Fleenor.
Something’s wrong here. If Hicks used a petition circulating company, he had to pay for the service, and if he spent any money on his campaign, he’s supposed to report it. He’s also supposed to report contributions, cash or in-kind, he used to pay the bill. He should be showing some activity on his financial report.
Here’s what might have happened — and I say “might” because I’m speculating here. It’s possible Stegeman paid the bill for AZ Petition Partners to get signatures for Campos‐Fleenor and Hicks. If that’s the case, most likely both of the petitions would have been carried by the same people who encouraged voters to sign both candidates’ petitions. The difference would be, Campos-Fleenor reported the expenditure and Hicks didn’t.
If that’s what happened, Hicks needs to refile his campaign finance reports to reflect the petition expenditures and the contributions he used to pay for them. And if that’s what happened, it means Stegeman is giving both Republicans running for the TUSD board significant financial support.
Why would Stegeman support Campos-Fleenor and Hicks? Well, right now, he forms a minority of two on the board, joining with Hicks on most split votes. Adelita Grijalva, Kristel Foster and Cam Juarez generally vote in the majority. Grijalva and Hicks are up for reelection. If Grijalva is replaced by Campos-Fleenor and Hicks returns, that puts Stegeman back in the majority — the conservative majority — where he was before the 2012 election.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 3, 2014.
Grijalva will have no trouble getting re-elected. The number of remaining Dems on the ballot works to Hicks’ advantage. With enough unity among Dems, Darland could replace him. Puttnam-Hidalgo and Campos-Fleenor are unelectable. Their candidacies are helping Hicks and Stegeman knows it.
Vote for Jen Darland.
I’m casting my votes for Betts Putnam-Hidalgo and Bernal. Jen Darland is just another puppet for the Grijalvas who have WAAAAY to much power in Pima County.
Any candidate supported by Stegeman should be voted down!!! If TUSD is to move in the direction of positive change, Grijalva and Hicks must be voted off the Board!
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Any candidate supported by Stegeman should be voted down!!! If TUSD is to move in the direction of positive change, Grijalva and Hicks MUST be voted off the Board.
Mark and Kristel are both my friends. As a former Board member of another institution, I recognize each of them has a right to vote and to talk with their friends privately about the election. However, to campaign publicly and to snipe at each other, as incumbents who are not on the ballot this year, I believe they are both off the reservation on supporting so publicly their preferred candidates. What happens if one wins and one loses? The Board will continue in a dysfunctional manner with votes on ideas being based on who made the motion or brought up the idea. This is not how good boards operate. I am all for having an opinion on an issue, but you’ve got to work with the other folks to make something happen.
If indeed Mark paid for the two candidates signatures, there are several things wrong with it. 1st, getting signatures for an unpaid board should be done by the candidate and the supporters of the candidate, as a matter of principle. To pay for signatures for an unpaid job shows a lack of respect for the public. 2nd, Hicks needs to report this quickly if true, or show a lack of respect for the rules of government. 3rd, although no one is so naive as to believe that nonpartisan seats do not attract partisan support, as a self-professed Democrat, Mark is straying over the line to ONLY buy signatures for Republicans. That will, if true, come back to haunt him in the next election.
Great post qclb…I completely agree. This matter needs to looked into by the Pima County Board of Elections.
Isn’t Michael Hicks the man who made TUSD and Tucson the joke of the nation on the Daily Show?
Why would he support him?
This teacher is voting for Darland and Grijalva, along with David Garcia for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Thank you, David Safier, for your insightful article!
Grijalva has been on the Board for over a decade and has precious few personal accomplishments she can cite during that time, which has been a turbulent and dysfunctional period for TUSD. Both facts point to her lack of leadership and vision. She also pushed the rest of the Board to make Sanchez the sole finalist for superintendent. Is it any wonder that her mother-in-law is then given a school to run and one of her best friends is appointed the principal at Pueblo High School?
Hicks has been a weathervane and does not take the time to learn the operations of the district. He embarrassed TUSD and all of Tucson with his Daily Show antics. Other than being a puppet for Stegeman and a mouthpiece for the right-wing bloggers at the Daily Independent, he serves no substantive role on the Board.
Both of these incumbents should be voted out in the interest of both accountability and renewal. Putnam-Hidalgo is the candidate who has taken more time to attend Board meetings since she narrowly lost a seat four years ago. That shows both her commitment and persistence. Darland is also a strong candidate who has been an intelligent voice at the local and state level for the interests of kids and public schools.
First time candidates tend to take campaign finance reports seriously. Incumbents less so, because they realize no one is minding the store – looking over those reports and taking appropriate action.
If a candidate is willing to abuse the system and disregard the rules, how can they possibly serve the public? I wonder what their IRS forms look like.
Hicks is an embarrassment for a variety of reasons, whether you agree with him or not.
As has already been pointed out, Grijalva has overseen the worst era of TUSD and the Grijalvas have way too much power. When I watch the meetings she comes across as a transparent political operator.
After seeing the Hicks piece on the Daily Show and then seeing the un-edited interview, I stopped watching the Daily Show. They are every bit as dishonest and unprincipled as Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of your political affiliation it’s always wrong to use cherry-picking and out of context quotes in order to advance your political agenda and make money. It’s even worse to humiliate someone solely for the purpose of entertainment.
Interesting, nothing in this article or the comments say anything about what’s best for the students or taxpayers, interesting.
What is best for TUSD students is NO gehalva. The weakly is owned by the leftist southside mafia.
I know Stegeman and Hicks, I volunteered to do signatures for them. Stegeman supports people that will act in the best interest of the students , staff , and TUSD. Mike Hicks is a man with integrity, that truly cares about students and staff . I can not say enough about these two men. I got to know these men because I was wrongfully terminated by TUSD and these were the only board members to try to take a stand on this . Grijalva refused to even hear my case, even though commits were made that every board member knows I’m innocent . I was terminated because my wife was having affairs with parents, and TUSD has been covering it up . I was not given a fair hearing , I was not allowed to give evidence , witnesses , and TUSD would not disclose anything . My only chance for justice is if Grijalva is voted off the board , and TUSD’s only hope is to get out from under the Grijalva power vacuum .