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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

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Campaign finance reports were due by 5 PM on Thursday, September 29, 2016. As of this posting (after 5 PM on Friday, September 30, 2016) Sammy Chavira’s campaign filing report has not been posted by the City Clerk. Why, you say? Because Sammy has not turned it in. Sammy apparently believes that the laws that everyone tries to uphold do not apply to him. It’s not terribly surprising considering his attitude toward a simple traffic ticket. He failed to appear in court and subsequently had his driver’s license suspended. In addition the Campaign for Truth and Leadership committee and Fire Fighters interested in Registration and Education PAC have not turned in their latest and now overdue campaign finance reports either. These organizations spent a considerable amount of money in support of Sammy’s reelection.

The amount of money spent on the Glendale mayoral race is truly astounding. Burdick reported spending $121,489.60 and Weiers spent $107,356.97. The total for these two races is $228,846.57 or slightly over a quarter of a million dollars. What bumped up the numbers was for the first time there were TV ads, notoriously expensive. Burdick led the way with TV ads beginning during the Republican convention in mid-July and they were run repeatedly and relentlessly until August 30, 2016, the day of the Primary Election. Weiers had no option but to run his own series of TV ads.

It appears from now on a person should not consider running for mayor in Glendale unless he or she can amass a war chest of a minimum of $100,000. That will put many would-be candidates out of the race. It’s a shame that it has come to that.

There could be as many as four aspirants in the 2020 election for mayor. Many suspect that former Councilmember Yvonne Knaack still harbors ambitions. Add to that Councilmembers Turner, Tolmachoff and Aldama, all of whom seem to be jockeying for a run. Throw in a dash of former Assistant City Manager and major player in the Burdick failed contest, Julie Frisoni. During the election season some voters received a survey call asking for a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Julie Frisoni. Many considered it strange since she wasn’t running. It seems she may be preparing for a political future and could decide to run against Lauren Tolmachoff for the Cholla district seat or perhaps…gasp…mayor. A Cholla city council seat  seemed a far more likely proposition if Burdick had won the mayoral contest but despite the outcome Frisoni and her backers may decide to give it or a mayoral race  a try in 2018.

In the other races more modest sums were spent: Vice Mayor Ian Hugh spent $26,815.31; Councilmember Ray Malnar spent $11,696.13 and I spent $11,489.70. Collectively that amounts to $50,001.14. However, we do know from Sammy’s previous campaign report that he had already spent $57,905.98 and we will await seeing what shows up in his overdue report. So far, the collective total for council races is $107,907.12. Anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 is a typical amount that is usually spent on a Glendale city council race. In its previous campaign report, The Campaign for Truth and Leadership spent $45,218.56 (donated to it from the United Food Workers). The committee is now terminated. The entire amount was not spent on pro Burdick and pro Chavira mailers or anti Weiers or anti Clark mailers (about $30,000). Some of the funds (about $15,000) was spent in support of Larkin and Andrade.

Let’s total what we know has been spent in Glendale’s elections per the latest submitted campaign finance reports. Two candidates spent $228,846.57 on the mayoral races; $107,907.12 was spent on the 3 city council races; and another $30,000 was spent by an Independent Committee. That totals $336,753.69. I suspect Sammy’s missing report will show additional expenditures of about $20,000 bringing the total spent in this round of Glendale elections to somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000. That’s a surprisingly large amount of money to spend in a Glendale election cycle and has never occurred before.

I don’t have an answer to this escalation of political spending. A friend suggested that perhaps there should be a cap of maybe $50,000 for a mayoral race and $20,000 for a council race. It’s intriguing. It would cause the candidate to spend wisely and effectively. This person believes it would force candidates to have more interaction with voters and perhaps more reliance on social media which costs relatively nothing. What’s your take on the state of Glendale races?

© Joyce Clark, 2016          

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO ABOUT CHAVIRA’S RECORD TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN

In July, 2016 three Political Action Committees registered in Glendale. The first one is Glendale Forward. It registered as a PAC on July 6, 2016.  Here is the link to the Glendale City Clerk’s page about its registration with the city: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/GlendaleForward.pdf . The registered Chairman of this PAC is Mike Colletto. Mr. Colletto is the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Professional Fire Fighters, the Phoenix chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). The registered Treasurer is Stephen Gilman, a firefighter who works for the City of Goodyear.

The second one to register with the City of Glendale on July 20, 2016 is the Campaign for Truth and Leadership. Here is its link: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/CampaignforTruthandLeadership.pdf . Its Chairman is Bill Scheel, of Javalina , a consulting firm. He managed Chavira’s last campaign in 2012. Its Treasurer is Darryl Tattrie of Common Cents Consulting. It registered as an Independent Expenditure Committee. An independent expenditure committee, by law, may not consult with or share information or its plan of action to support a candidate with the candidate. Consider that as a wink and a nod for which politics is famous.

On July 22, 2016 a third PAC was born, Fire Fighters Interested in Registration and Education PAC.  It’s an out-of-state PAC located in Washington, D.C. Here is its link: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/FireFightersInterestedinRegistrationandEducationPAC.pdf . The sponsoring organization is the International Association of Fire Fighters. Its Chairman is Harold Schaitberger, President of the IAFF and its Treasurer is Thomas Miller. Even though it is required on the registration form, there is no information provided about the Treasurer’s occupation or employer. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume it is the IAFF.

What do 2 of these 3 PACs have in common? They are suddenly created to support only fire-related candidates in specific, local elections such as Glendale’s and after an election they go to PAC heaven (or hell). The third PAC in this illustrious list is a permanent PAC. I assume its purpose is to register voters and to educate them. Perhaps that’s the kind of education Chavira meant when he misled voters in 2012.

These 3 PACs, recently registered in Glendale, were created for one purpose and one purpose only and that would be to mail campaign material supporting former Fire Chief Mark Burdick, currently running for mayor and Sammy Chavira, a Phoenix fire fighter, running for re election to the Yucca district council seat. These are the only two fire related candidates in Glendale.

So-o-o, brace yourselves for an onslaught of campaign mailings from this point until the election on August 30th. Usually at the bottom in small print or on the return address you can tell who sent them. If they are from Glendale Forward, Campaign for Truth and Leadership or Fire Fighters Interested in Registration and Education, they will be nasty and dirty. They will attempt to destroy Mayor Weiers or me. Their only purpose is to keep Sammy and elect Burdick. You should be very suspicious of their content.

On the other hand, you have read the facts the Arizona Republic and the Glendale Star have reported about Sammy. Sammy told reporters he would let his record speak for itself. It has. His spending on travel; his speeding ticket and subsequent actions; and his failure to appear at six months worth of council meetings and do his job are all actions and decisions he made as a councilmember. I have used facts that are on the public record and have been reported by various media. They tell you what he has done. I’ve told you what he has not done for the people of our district.

That he settled for a trailer instead of a permanent library like Velma Teague, the Main Library or Foothills Library. That he held only one meeting of Yucca residents in 4 years, choosing instead to take your money to go to Washington, D.C. to see the Pope.

 It is evident what he has done and more importantly, what he has not done for the people of our district. Along with the media I have tried to make everyone aware of Sammy’s record so as a voter you can make an informed decision, a choice for change and offered a way to get your voice back.

Our election is August 30th but early vote-by-mail ballots go out on August 3rd, and likely will arrive in your mailbox before August 8th. I ask you to return your mail-in ballot promptly as these early votes are a large portion of district votes. For many, the tendency once your ballot is received is to place it somewhere. It is sometimes forgotten and never returned. This election is critical and your councilmember will be chosen at the Primary. Make your vote count. Return your early ballot promptly.

I pledge as your councilmember that your access to me for your problems will be easy and my response prompt. Please help me to give your voice back.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.