Back in 1986, Pima County Supervisor Mikey Boyd dropped out of the TV news biz and became a campaign worker for then-Arizona House Speaker Burton Barr's gubernatorial campaign. But a funny thing happened to Barr, one of the most powerful of Arizona legislators, on what should have been an easy trip to the governor's office--he got beat in the GOP primary by Evan Mecham. That left Mikey out of work.
So he went on unemployment. Only problem was, Mikey got another job as a waiter and sort of never got around to telling the state he had a job. They caught him, and made him pay back the overpayments and cough up a fine. Here's how Mikey recalls the episode. As usual, the interrogator is attorney Bill Hanson:
Q: Were you ever collecting unemployment insurance during any period of unemployment?
BOYD: I believe I did.
Q: When was that?
BOYD: Following Mr. Barr's defeat in the primary election of 1986.
Q: That was when Barr ran for governor?
BOYD: That's correct.
Q: How long were you on unemployment insurance?
BOYD: Either one or two months. I don't recall. And I believe I had to reimburse a certain percentage of it.
Q: Do you recall why you had to do that?
BOYD: I think there was a discrepancy between the state and myself and confusion about when I started at a restaurant and when the payments came into play.
Q: How did you feel when you were receiving unemployment insurance benefits?
BOYD: I don't know. I felt that I liked the money.
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