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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Jul 20

16

For your information

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 16, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale election 2020  | Tagged With: , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

I ran across this Arizona Republic article online regarding Michelle Robertson. I make no comment. This is something you will have to judge for yourself. As a voter in Glendale all information offered is valuable to make an educated decision regarding your vote.

Here is the link to the article despite my replicating it in full below.  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/07/16/conflicting-allegations-michelle-robertson-roil-glendale-mayoral-race/5443509002/

Conflicting allegations involving Michelle Robertson roil Glendale’s mayoral race

Lily Altavena,Joshua Bowling, Arizona Republic, July 16, 2020

A Glendale mayoral candidate last year accused a co-worker of sexual misconduct. Now, the man says he was falsely accused.

Michelle Robertson, a longtime Glendale resident who is running on the Aug. 4 ballot against incumbent Mayor Jerry Weiers, claims she was sexually harassed by the Cartwright School District’s former chief financial officer.

Zeek Ojeh, the CFO, in a notice of claim filed against the district in March, contends Robertson falsely accused him as part of a broader scheme to oust him for exposing potential corruption in the district.

“This is a classic whistleblower case,” Alden Thomas, an attorney for Ojeh, said. “We are confident Mr. Ojeh will prevail. The district failed to respond to our notice of claim, so we will be proceeding with litigation.” 

Robertson called Ojeh’s claim baseless. Her original complaint to the district in September accuses Ojeh of multiple instances of sexual harassment and misconduct. 

“No means no. It’s a very clear statement,” she said. “I could not stop crying. I thought, ‘This has got to stop.'”

Ojeh’s claim includes screenshots of text messages allegedly from Robertson, a district employee, to Ojeh that contain explicit photos and messages. The claim alleges that Robertson “relentlessly pursued” Ojeh. 

Robertson told The Arizona Republic that she has not seen the notice of claim Ojeh filed with the school district. She said Ojeh harassed and assaulted her.

She said she never harassed Ojeh.

“I did not sexually harass this man,” she said. “We had a friendship, but we had a very clear understanding of boundaries; physical boundaries and things like that. There would be months where we didn’t talk on a personal level.”

Robertson was born in Tucson and moved to Glendale as a teenager. She ran for Maricopa County superintendent in 2016 and has participated in local override and candidate campaigns.

In the course of her campaign, Robertson has raised nearly $53,000, according to campaign finance records. Weiers has raised more than $233,000.

$1.5 million phone contract 

Ojeh in his claim states that he wanted to make sure he was saving the district money when possible. 

In July 2019, LeeAnn Aguilar-Lawlor, Cartwright’s superintendent, told Ojeh that she and three school board members wanted to award a $1,475,000 contract to Mitel, a communications company, to replace the district’s phone system, according to the claim.

Specifically, she wanted the contract to go through a particular Mitel dealer, the claim states.

Ojeh asked why, according to the claim, and Lawlor said he should do what he’s told. The claim adds that “several board members were in favor of this contract because they were friends” with the Mitel dealer. 

In an email attached to the notice of claim, Ojeh wrote to Lawlor in August 2019 that two other vendors could provide new phone systems for $500,000 to $600,000, half the price of a contract with Mitel. 

Ojeh then asked district attorneys to weigh in. They wrote that the district would not be complying with state procurement law if it did not participate in a competitive bidding process.

The contract did not go through. 

District spokeswoman Veronica Sanchez said the superintendent and board followed the law and did not insist on Mitel.

“The district superintendent did not insist on switching phone contracts,” she wrote. “Alternate phone contract options were presented to the governing board at the request of the governing board.”

Accusations of a sexual nature 

A month after the dust-up over the contract, Ojeh states in the claim, Lawlor told him there had been a “credible complaint of a sexual nature” made against him. She provided him a letter informing him he would be reassigned to work from home. 

His accuser was Robertson, a former teacher and current Cartwright human resources employee.

Robertson alleged that Ojeh assaulted and harassed her multiple times by taking her hand and forcing her to grab his genitals, kissing her without her consent, playing footsie under a table during a meeting and sending cards and gifts to her home without ever asking for her address.

The district received recordings of a conversation between Robertson and Ojeh in September 2019 and began investigating, according to Sanchez. 

In the recordings, Robertson appears to confront Ojeh in a phone conversation about kissing her at work.

“The boundary was no kissing me at work, and we hadn’t had a physical relationship outside of work,” she says in the recording. “Why did you cross the boundary?” 

Ojeh responds, “I don’t know what to tell you. I really don’t know what to say there.” 

In the recording, Robertson describes an interaction where he kissed her after a meeting. She asks if he remembered putting her hand on his genitals.

He responds and  “If I did, it was an involuntary action … It wasn’t like I planned to do that.”

Ojeh in the notice of claim denies sexually harassing Robertson. Ojeh said he had a consensual flirtatious relationship with Robertson, but the two were never physically intimate.

According to Ojeh’s claim, he saved text messages from Robertson. Screenshots of texts provided blur Ojeh’s messages and only show what Robertson allegedly wrote.

In one, dated in 2017, she texts, “We should be dating. Are you attracted in that way to me?”

In a set of texts in the claim dated February 2019, before Robertson complained to the district, Robertson allegedly writes, “This is serious. I’d like to provide an opportunity for you to address and clear things up. You can call tonight or tomorrow.”

Robertson in her complaint alleged that Ojeh had confronted her in the district office’s parking lot. She alleged that she later texted him because she wanted to establish clearer boundaries. 

An attorney for Ojeh wrote that in February 2019 he had asked her to stop contacting him over personal matters “and that he was not interested in an intimate relationship.”  

Ojeh informed the district in September 2019 in a letter through his attorneys that he would not seek contract renewal.

Ojeh in his claim alleges he is suffering emotional distress for being a whistleblower and is asking for $750,000. 

Reach the reporter at Lily.Altavena@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

 

Jul 20

14

Trite but true…every vote does count

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 14, 2020
Posted in City of Glendale  | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Every vote really does count. I remember one Ocotillo district city council race that was won by 9 votes. Over the years we’ve all read

Bryce Alexander

stories about very small margins of votes that led to victories often ending up in recount actions.

The saga of Permanent Early Voting (PEV) habits is very interesting. Over the years people who study this kind of stuff have reported that there are 3 groups of PEV. About a third of PEV will fill out their ballots and mail them back immediately. Another third will procrastinate and wait a week or maybe two, then fill out the ballot and mail it. The last third never fills out the ballot or mails it back in.

Another strictly Glendale phenomenon is that numbers of voters are consistently very low. The voter turnout is about 7% to 16% of the total number of registered voters in this city. There are roughly 122,000 registered voters in Glendale. Usually about 20,000 people give or take, vote. In the 2016 election 26,000 people voted citywide and 3,000 voted in the Yucca district. Those who do vote wield tremendous power within the city for you determine the direction Glendale will take for all those that don’t bother to vote. 16% determine policy for 84% in Glendale.

The margin of victory in local races is often small. I cited an Ocotillo race above where the margin was 9 votes. In the last mayoral race the margin was 400+ votes. In the Yucca race it was 40+ votes.

Your vote does count!

I wanted to share information about me that has been seen in various formats during this campaign.

 LIST OF ISSUES

ISSUE #1:  FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

In 2012, the city was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy. Due to a series of council decisions, sometimes painful, the goal of restoring its Contingency Fund (Rainy Day Fund) to a healthy balance of Fifty Million Dollars will be achieved this fiscal year. My decisions, made in conjunction with the rest of the city council, have caused the city’s bond ratings to improve year over year. Standard & Poor’s rating is now AA – with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings is its highest at AAA, with a stable outlook. These ratings are independent and prove that Glendale’s finances are being well managed.

Many cities are concerned about how the virus epidemic will affect their sales tax revenues and some are already slashing their budgets by reducing services to their citizens. Glendale, due to the explosion of growth in the Yucca district will receive millions in construction sales taxes that will ensure that Glendale’s budget remains strong and balanced without the need to raise taxes or cut services.

ISSUE #2:   BETTER BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Cities compete to attract and retain businesses within their communities. With city council approval I instituted a Council Business Subcommittee whose goal is to make Glendale the most attractive Valley city for businesses by eliminating regulations and modifying others. The work of the committee has already had an impact by recommending to city council the elimination of some proposed regulations within the International Building Codes. Those recommendations were adopted by a unanimous city council. The committee will be reviewing the city’s rewrite of its codes with the goal of making sure that the new codes assist businesses, not hurt them. The committee has as its members, three councilmembers and six stakeholders within the business community.

ISSUE #3:  HEROES PARK

An ongoing issue for the residents of the Yucca District (West Glendale) is the completion of Heroes Park. It has been in the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) since 1998, for over 20 years. Other city council priorities and a national recession are some of the reasons for its delay. I consider this to be the highest priority for the Yucca district. I was successful in getting Phase I of the west branch library completed and opened in the spring of 2017. I have secured funding for the design and construction of Heroes Park Lake this coming year. My goal has been and continues to be to see the completion of Heroes Park…long overdue.

ISSUE #4:  JOBS

As the city expands westward, beyond 115th Avenue, responsible development that pays for itself is my priority. Most Glendale residents, in fact an estimated 70% of our workforce, travels out of Glendale every day to work. The area west of 115th Avenue must be an area of job creation. I am especially focused on the Loop 303, now known as the “New Frontier.” At least 15 developments of commercial/industrial/manufacturing are in the planning stages or under construction. As the city moves forward with its planning development for that area I am working to ensure that it remains an area of office, manufacturing, distribution and commercial development so that more Glendale residents can work inside their own community.

ISSUE #5: QUALITY OF LIFE:  

It is important that a city be livable. One of the factors that determines a city’s livability is the amenities its offers to its residents. After years of lack of funding, at Joyce’s request and with council’s unanimous approval, ten million dollars for each of the next four fiscal years, will be added to the Parks and Recreation budget to refocus on the repair and maintenance of existing parks and recreational facilities.

While amenities such as these are important, so is another concept, that of equity funding for all parts of Glendale. By that I mean that rather than sharing the piece in equal pieces, the pie is split into smaller pieces and larger pieces distributed on the basis of need. It is no secret that south and portions of west Glendale have been neglected. My goal is to bring a spotlight to those areas so that they receive the attention they deserve after so many years of neglect.

ISSUE #6:  CUSTOMER SERVICE

Glendale has always prided itself on excellent customer service but in years past due to revenue shortfalls some aspects of that service have diminished. A city-wide recommitment to delivering outstanding service in under way. I support this goal and support the greater use of technology and innovation to achieve it. Part of that solution will occur as a result of the Council Code Review Committee composed of citizens and councilmembers. I serve on this newly created committee and I am eager to work with Glendale’s residents to improve the Code Department’s service delivery.

I believe the only endorsements that really mean anything are the ones that come from real people, you. Here are some collected over time. Note that they are not just Yucca district residents:

Mark Daily, Yucca district resident

“You’ve made a very positive difference during your time on city council and I know you will continue to do so.
Thank you for your dedication and service!”

Linda Mey, Glendale resident

“Proud of all things you accomplished. I Trust your abilities and your motives to do the right thing.”

Bob Stratton Yucca district resident

“Outstanding news Joyce that you will continue to represent us in the Yucca district. A huge thanks as we all realize this is a big commitment and a lot of work on your behalf. Count me in for support!”

Tom Traw, Yucca district resident

“Joyce, Thank you for willing to continue serving our district and completing Heroes park. Thank you for using common sense for the benefit of the people. We need you desperately on the council.”

Connie Keiser, Glendale resident

 “You are an important part of the “checks and balances” our Council needs in order to watch out for the taxpayers. You have done a great job and have always done your homework on issues.”

Jarvi Brown Harty, Glendale resident

 “You are a great advocate for the people of Glendale. Thank you for your past service and your announcement that you will continue to serve!”

Paul Alexander USAF SMSgt (Ret), Yucca District resident

“You have my vote, you have represented me for most of the 20 years I have lived in the Yucca district. You served as Vice Mayor and fought to get Heroes Park back on track. Secured funding for the Library. You are a voice for how Westgate Entertainment District needed three things; shopping, dining and venues. You acknowledged the short fall in taxes during the housing market crash in 2008. You are our voice and you make yourself accessible to your constituents…”

I believe my comment below best sums up what we all want and why I ask for your vote.

“As your Yucca district councilmember my goal has been to be your voice. We all want the same things – secure employment, safe and secure neighborhoods, great educational and recreational opportunities, and excellent service from our city. 

These are the priorities I work on every day for you. During my years of service to you I have proven my leadership and commitment. 

It would be my honor to continue to serve you.”

The election is on August 4th. Permanent Early Ballots are in the mail. This election, just as all elections is so important. Your vote does count and I ask that it count for me. Thank you.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

12

Integrity is important

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 12, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale's Fire Union • Yucca district election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , | 2 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Integrity and ethics are important qualities when considering your vote

Bryce Alexander

for the Yucca district city councilmember. Mr. Alexander’s has been called into question. Before COVID struck he had plenty of opportunity to collect the requisite number of signatures needed to get on the ballot. I did it.

He fiddled around and then COVID struck and he could no longer go door-to-door. His new found buddies, the Phoenix Fire Union, said no problem, we’ll pay for and use the same petition collection company that is collecting Robertson’s signatures. The company they used had among their roster of petition signature gatherers convicted felons as well as those gifted in ‘creative writing’ of signatures.

Both Robertson and Alexander had the same convicted felon collect signatures for them. How would you have felt if you had known that the guy at your door was a convicted felon and for all you knew, could be casing your house for a future theft?

On the Democrat Presidential Preference Primary Day vote one of the locations was a local Glendale Church. Mr. Alexander was not there that day but a signature gatherer from the company was. For whatever the reason, it seems the paid gatherer forgot to sign the backs of two sheets verifying that he had collected the signatures. It appears that the problem was rectified when Alexander signed those two sheets – which is illegal.

Three Glendale registered voters swore in court that it was not Alexander who asked them to sign and witness their signatures on the two contested petition sheets. Alexander knew this and did not go to court and risk perjury by swearing that he did witness their signatures. He let his lie stand. Yet he is a local church’s Associate Pastor.

The question becomes, if he lied about this, how can you trust him?

© Joyce Clark, 2019         

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.

Jul 20

11

Identical twins

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 11, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale's Fire Union • Yucca district election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Recently the Phoenix Fire Union paid a company to drop door hangers throughout our community for Robertson and Alexander. They were, of course, printed and paid for by the Phoenix Firefighters Local 493 Fire PAC.

The canned messages on both door hangers are eerily similar and frankly, ironically sad. Both candidates’ door hangers have the theme of Public Safety. Here’s what they say:

Robertson: “Glendale’s Police and Fire Department budgets have been underfunded…”

Alexander: “Our city council has underfunded Glendale’s Police and Fire Department budgets.”

Robertson: “…make improving public safety...”

Alexander: “…will fully fund public safety…”

Fact: Here are the real funding numbers for each department for the past 5 years:

Fire Department

  • Fiscal Year 2017 actual budget                      $43,637,282.00
  • Fiscal Year 2018 actual budget                      $46,472,394.00
  • Fiscal Year 2019 actual budget                      $49,866.189.00
  • Fiscal Year 2020 budget estimate                 $52,127,595.00
  • Fiscal Year 2021 budget request                   $53, 501,963.00

In 5 years the Fire Department budget increased by nearly $10 million dollars or about 20% a year, far above any annual inflation rate.

Police Department

  • Fiscal Year 2017 actual budget                      $87,206,875.00
  • Fiscal Year 2018 actual budget                      $91,831,365.00
  • Fiscal Year 2019 actual budget                      $98,529,310.00
  • Fiscal Year 2020 budget estimate                $102,471,164.00
  • Fiscal Year 2021 budget request                  $104,742,510.00

In 5 years the Police Department budget increased by $17 million dollars or about 5% a year, again greater than the yearly inflation rate.

In addition, the Fire Department, in this year’s budget alone, received additional, one-time, supplemental funding of $411,000 and the Police Department received $100,000 in supplemental funding.

One final fact to consider is that both Glendale firefighters and police officers rank among the top three paid agencies in the Valley. And oh, by the way Glendale firefighters work 52 hours compared to every other agency in the Valley that works 56 hours.

Here’s something else to think about. Fire and Police are the largest consumers of the city’s General Fund operating budget coming in between 65% and 70% annually. This council can always give them more money but when is enough, enough?

More money to Public Safety means less money for every other city department funded by the General Fund. What are you willing to cut to increase Public Safety’s insatiable appetite for funding? Parks, Libraries, City Court, Community Development Services to the underserved and Transportation, including our streets repair program, all compete for the same funding as Public Safety. Each year’s budget is a balancing act through prioritization to fund as many departmental needs as possible. Clearly this council has been generous to both departments over the past 5 years.

Each door hanger for Robertson and Alexander use the theme of (pick your choice) accountability, transparency, or ethics.

Robertson: “No-bid contracts, political perks like foreign travel and hotels…”

Alexander: “…no-bid contracts, taken international trips with taxpayer dollars…”

Fact:  Have you noticed that these phrases are very generic? What no bid-contracts? They haven’t been specific because they can’t name one with facts and figures. I have voted ‘no’ on more city contracts than any councilmember, ever. I am opposed to 5 year long contracts, especially when they are for usual and ordinary goods and services. I have always been in favor of issuing contracts for no more than 2 or 3 years. Times change and markets change often offering an opportunity to get those goods and services at a more competitive price.

Exactly what international trip have I ever taken, much less at taxpayer expense? That was our former disgraced Councilmember Chavira. I travel the least of any current councilmember. I think I attended two state League conventions in four years but only because they were sited locally and I could commute every day.

Shame on the use of catch-all, fuzzy accusations designed to try to make something nefarious out of nothing. The Phoenix Fire Union has tried desperately to make two undistinguished candidates into something that neither is and have failed miserably. Poor Phoenix Fire Union, they didn’t have a lot to work with this time.

I noted that they have changed the wording on poor Bryce’s campaign material from “a successful business owner within the community and creating jobs” to a “local business owner.” What a hoot. Could it be because Alexander’s downtown art gallery went bust after a year, bleeding red ink and he certainly couldn’t afford to hire anyone for a job?

You’d think with all of the tens of thousands of dollars the Phoenix Fire Union is pouring into backing Robertson and Alexander they could have done a better job in portraying these people or at least have refrained from making them appear to be identical twins.

However, it’s not all their fault. After all, Robertson and Alexander were not exactly household names recognized for their outstanding service to Glendale. If the Phoenix Fire Union hadn’t printed and planted all of those campaign signs for both you wouldn’t have a clue as to who either is…neither is a remarkable political figure.

Lastly, what the heck is the Phoenix Fire Union doing using its muscle and money, inserting itself into a local Glendale election? I call it blatant interference in the affairs of Glendale.

By voting ‘no’ on Robertson and Alexander and ‘yes’ on Weiers and Clark you will be sending outstanding leaders back to city council and sending the Phoenix Fire Union a strong message and that is…BUTT OUT!

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

11

A time to declare

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 11, 2020
Posted in City of Glendale • Glendale election 2020 • Yucca district election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , | 1 Comment

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

As you are deciding for whom to vote to represent the Yucca district I want to share my core principles and values. They are deeply held, personal beliefs that I have decided to share so that you have a better understanding of who I am.

 I believe in faith, family and service.

We all may embrace different faiths but nearly all of us hold a belief in a Supreme Being. For me, as a Roman Catholic, it is best stated in the Nicene Creed. It is the rock upon which my faith is anchored.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

While faith is at the core of my spiritual life, family is at the core of my temporal life. I believe in the nuclear family. The raising of our children is one of the most important gifts of my life. For those who cannot have children or do not wish to have children, I do not judge and I respect the path that you have had to bear or have chosen.

For me, children are a joy. I love the direct and often innocent way in which they respond to new concepts and events.  I believe in teaching them love and loyalty to family and to country; respect and kindness for others; duty to others; to “love others as one loves oneself;” and that they have the inherent capacity to succeed. When there were obstacles in their lives, my husband and I taught them to overcome. We taught them that occasional failures will make them stronger. We stressed the importance of education knowing that it would provide them the opportunity for a life better than ours. We taught them to be good and decent people, to the best of our abilities.

I believe in service. Service is the third element of a full life. I learned that the return to oneself is far greater than that which is given. It can take many forms – military, religious, community, to name a few. It is a core belief in our family that has been exemplified by our children, for one was in law enforcement, retired; one is a firefighter and one is a registered nurse.

While in college I spent several years volunteering at a mental facility for children. It had a profound effect on me then and still does now. Many do not volunteer because they believe they don’t have the time to do so. Make the time and you will learn, as did I, that there is always time to give when you work at it.

These last 4 years have been in service to my community as your Yucca district councilmember on the Glendale City Council.  My service has never been for pay or self pride. My compass has always been to be your voice and as a means of sharing everything related to Glendale. I have always considered it a privilege and honor to serve you.

 August 4th is Glendale’s Election Day. Early ballots were mailed out on July 8th. If you have not received yours yet, you will shortly or there will be those who brave the COVID pandemic and vote in person. No matter which method you choose, I ask for your vote. I humbly ask for the privilege of continuing to serve you.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

10

Let’s peel back the Robertson onion some more, Part III

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 10, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale finances • Glendale's Fire Union  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In my previous blog I’ve described the various groups that have coalesced supporting the candidacies of Michelle Robertson and Bryce Alexander. Why? It seems to be an “anyone but the current leadership” kind of moment where these groups are encouraging voters to support a rock, a clown or a zero rather than leadership that brought the city off the cliff of possible bankruptcy.

What is the union’s beef in this election cycle? Arick O’Hara is the Glendale chapter President of the International Fire Fighters Union (IAFF). Justin Harris is the President of the Glendale Law Enforcement Association (GLEA) and Julie Pendergast is the President of the Glendale chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). All of them are leading the charge to unseat Mayor Weiers and/or me. There is no polite way to say that they hate us, have declared war and will use whatever is necessary to get rid of us.

Did you know that you, the taxpayer, pay union representatives to conduct union business during their working hours instead of paying them for their duties as a firefighter or police officer? It’s called union “release time.” What other cities in the Valley pay for union release time? Only Phoenix. No other city, not Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Peoria or Surprise pay employees to conduct union activities during that employee’s work day. If you think they are not heavily involved in Glendale’s election activities, you are mistaken. Even though such election activities are in violation of the federal Hatch Act.

Every two years the city negotiates a renewal of an agreement on the pay and benefits for all public safety employees (commonly known as “represented employees”). When the previous agreement (2017) was negotiated and accepted, it included two union release positions for the fire union and two union release positions for police unions, one for GLEA and one for the FOP.

Think about this. You, the taxpayer, pay for union representatives to negotiate enhanced fire and police pay and benefits agreements with the City, which is, in essence, you. So you’re paying both sides of the table. You’re paying city employees to negotiate on your behalf and to protect your interest as a taxpayer and you’re paying for union representatives to negotiate for their union members getting the best pay and benefits possible for their membership – at your expense.

Subsequent to the agreement accepted two years ago, there was a rash of school shootings. Council wanted to make sure every high school in Glendale had a school resource officer. A few schools did have a resource officer and paid for the position. Others did not and chose to use their school funding for things other than a school resource officer. So the city council stepped up to the plate and with each high school’s approval placed a resource officer on each high school campus, paid for by the City of Glendale.

The funding had to come from somewhere else as the yearly budget and its expenditures had already been approved by council several months earlier. Council decided to eliminate one taxpayer funded fire union release position and one police union release position leaving each union with one release time position. No one lost their job. With each release position there were also extra hours of release time. The cost of each release position and the extra dedicated hours is in the $200,000 to $250,000 range per representative. Four union release positions and additional hours came to between $750,000 to a million dollars a year.

Each union went ballistic. How dare the city eliminate a release time position! A release position in fire was eliminated and the person occupying that position, Tony Butch, left and went to another city. FOP President Julie Pendergast’s release time position was eliminated. Julie remains in a non-patrol position within the department and has never forgotten or forgiven the loss of her use of release time.

There is more to this story. Here are the real funding numbers for each department for the past 5 years:

Fire Department

  • Fiscal Year 2017 actual budget                      $43,637,282.00
  • Fiscal Year 2018 actual budget                      $46,472,394.00
  • Fiscal Year 2019 actual budget                      $49,866.189.00
  • Fiscal Year 2020 budget estimate                  $52,127,595.00
  • Fiscal Year 2021 budget request                   $53, 501,963.00

In 5 years the Fire Department budget increased by nearly $10 million dollars or about 20% a year, far above any annual inflation rate.

Police Department

  • Fiscal Year 2017 actual budget                      $87,206,875.00
  • Fiscal Year 2018 actual budget                      $91,831,365.00
  • Fiscal Year 2019 actual budget                      $98,529,310.00
  • Fiscal Year 2020 budget estimate                 $102,471,164.00
  • Fiscal Year 2021 budget request                  $104,742,510.00

In 5 years the Police Department budget increased by $17 million dollars or about 5% a year, again greater than the yearly inflation rate.

In addition, the Fire Department, in this year’s budget alone, received additional, one-time, supplemental funding of $411,000 and the Police Department received $100,000 in supplemental funding.

One final fact to consider is that both Glendale firefighters and police officers rank among the top three paid agencies in the Valley. And oh, by the way Glendale firefighters work 52 hours compared to every other agency in the Valley that works 56 hours.

Here’s something else to think about. Fire and Police are the largest consumers of the city’s General Fund operating budget coming in between 65% and 70% annually. This council can always give them more money but when is enough, enough? More money to Public Safety means less money for every other city department funded by the General Fund. What are you willing to cut to increase Public Safety’s insatiable appetite for funding? Parks, Libraries, City Court, Community Services to the underserved and Transportation, including our streets repair program, all compete for the same funding as Public Safety. Each year’s budget is a balancing act by city council through prioritization to fund as many departmental needs as possible. Clearly this council has been generous to both departments over the past 5 years.

Why go after the mayor or me for the elimination of union release positions? We are running opposed and Councilmembers Hugh and Malnar have no opposition. They would have taken out these councilmembers as well if the opportunity existed. It is a given that they would support anyone running against any of us. If any opposition was talking and breathing, that was good enough reason for the unions to support them. 

Their goal is to get rid of the mayor, or me, hoping that there will no longer be council majority support for decisions not to their liking.

What is disappointing is that the police unions have joined the fire union is this political warfare. They should heed this warning: the fire union will stab you in the back if it is in their best interest. They come first. Police unions, you are a distant second and you know this. A stunning question to ask is why would the police unions support Democrat candidates whose presidential nominee has finally come out in favor of ‘defunding the police’?

If they succeed they will acquire political influence with the installation of Robertson and Alexander, willing to grant the fire union its agenda. Glendale could repeat the debacle of Ed Beasley and a fire union influenced administration, plunging the city into debt once again. After all, who will Robertson and Alexander owe if they win? Both are relative unknowns and neither has historically been part of community leadership or been involved in Glendale’s affairs by serving on a city board or commission and has no real working knowledge of Glendale’s affairs.

Anyone can run for any elected office as long as they meet the minimum qualifications such as being of a certain age and living in the jurisdiction to be represented. You, the voter, should expect more than that. What experience within the community do they possess? What do they plan to do to make your life better? Where do they stand on raising taxes? If Robertson and Alexander are not offering that kind of information perhaps they don’t deserve your vote. How long can they hide behind the buzz words we have heard ad nausea…like ‘transparency’? What the heck does that mean anyhow?

Glendale is the 7th largest city in the state with the adoption of this fiscal year’s budget of $747 million dollars…nearly ¾ of a billion dollars. It is the country’s 88th largest city out of nearly 20,000 incorporated cities in the United States. Glendale is no longer a small, ‘podunk’ city. It is a large suburban community reflecting the diversity of our country. You, the voter in Glendale, deserve to know each candidate’s position on a variety of issues that are important to you. Yet all Robertson and Alexander have offered is what’s wrong with Glendale. How about some positivity by sharing their vision and plans for Glendale and you? That’s not what you are getting from them.

Glendale deserves better than two liberal Democrats, whose seats were bought and paid for by the unions. Two politicians willing to sacrifice your needs for those of the unions.

Unfortunately that is politics.

Now you know who is backing Michelle Robertson and Bryce Alexander and their motives for doing so. It is important information that every voter in Glendale deserves to know.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

8

Let’s peel back the Robertson onion some more, Part II

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 8, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale finances • Glendale's Fire Union  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In my blog of June 23, 2020 entitled “Will the real Robertson please stand up?” I shared typical Facebook postings of Mayoral candidate Michelle Robertson now publicly available only to friends and family, I am told. They represent the causes and values in which she believes. Why wouldn’t she want everyone to see these? Why suddenly limit them only to friends and family? In this blog I will take a look at who is supporting and backing her candidacy and their likely motives for doing so. Even though Glendale elections are officially non–partisan, Michelle Robertson is a Democrat activist who reportedly reached out to local Democrat groups to ask them to help her “capture” the Mayor’s office.

Unions: It appears the largest backers are the ones with the most money and manpower to spend on her behalf and that would be…wait for it…the unions, with their bottomless bank accounts and deceptive attack ads. The list is the ‘Who’s Who’ of unions and most of them are from outside Glendale and they really have no interest in or connection to Glendale.

When I shared screen shots from her Facebook page one that was not included was this one. It demonstrates her long standing support of unions. Is that why you, an interested voter, can no longer see it?

Downtown dissidents: There are others who have decided to back Robertson, because they are angry with the current leadership of the City and have their own axes to grind. Let’s begin with the most visible representative of the downtown Glendale merchants, Cheryl Knappes. She represents a small coterie of merchants who continue to fight any changes to downtown, to the detriment of the entire downtown area and efforts to revitalize the area.

Save Glen Lakes: Another group that is unhappy with Glendale’s leadership is the ‘Save Glen Lakes’ group, one of whose leaders is Jane Bachman. The fact that the council had given approval to the city manager to sell the Glen Lakes property guaranteed their opposition. It had become a financial sinkhole at nearly a million dollars a year to maintain and operate and it needed very costly updates.

Past political losers: Then there is, for want of a better term, the political group. These are people who have run and lost, or who used to work for the city and lost their positions. The most currently visible among them is Mark Burdick, former Fire Chief, who never produced a balanced budget and ran against the mayor in the last election cycle and lost.

I must digress to show what happens when the fire union calls the shots. Our former City Manager, Ed Beasley (city manager from 2002 to 2012), was advised on major issues by our fire union. They were members of Beasley’s inner circle. Due to the influence of the Glendale fire union when Beasley left in 2012 Glendale was heavily in debt and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Is this what we are to expect if Robertson is elected and controlled by Glendale’s fire union?

Burdick has made a formal endorsement of Robertson. Add to this mix former Councilmember Yvonne Knaack who has always been an ally of the fire unions because of their support in every one of her elections; and current Councilmember Bart Turner who has made no secret of his absolute disdain for the mayor and our city manager. He has also formally endorsed Robertson. Bruce Heatwole, former Councilmember, and close friend of Bart Turner, offered an endorsement as did Sammy Chavira, disgraced former Glendale Councilmember and a Phoenix firefighter.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and free expression of them. That the beauty of our system. They are free to support any candidate of their choosing but it is important for voters to to know the reason for their position/opinion causing their support of Robertson.That is how democracy works. There is a world of difference between supporting a candidate because you have the same positions or supporting a candidate to settle a grudge with his or her opponent. We all deserve better than that. 

In my next blog we’ll take a closer look at the unions’ motivation for supporting Robertson and Alexander…and it ain’t pretty.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

7

Payback’s a b–ch

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 7, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale's Fire Union • Heroes Park • West Branch Library • Yucca district election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , , | 11 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Bryce Alexander

The first mailer on behalf of my opponent arrived in district mailboxes on July 6th. Who paid for it? Guess. How about a specially created political action committee (PAC) called ‘First Responders for a Safe Glendale’ with major funding from the Phoenix Fire Fighters Local 493 Fire PAC? That would be a very good guess.

It should raise this question for every voter. Why is a Phoenix fire union PAC sending mailers out for a Glendale election? That one’s easy…because President Arick O’Hara of the Glendale fire union asked them to do so. This tactic is typical of every election in every jurisdiction in the state. By federal law, Glendale fire fighters are not supposed to conduct political activity in the city in which they work.  To get around that pesky federal regulation the Glendale chapter asks all of the other local chapters to do the work and finance the effort instead.  Whether it’s paying for and sending out a mailer such as this one; paying for and putting out campaign signs; or walking for their chosen candidate. ..that’s how they get around federal regulations.

Even though this mailer is classified as an independent mailer not authorized by the candidate, don’t be fooled. Wink. Wink.

The fire union comes out of the closet and blatantly identifies Mr. Alexander as a Democrat in the mailer. There is nothing wrong with that except for the fact that Glendale’s elections are non-partisan. Up until now, a candidate has typically not been identified with a particular political party.

I think the fire fighters union would get an A+ in “creative writing” or in plain English, fudging on the truth… lying. It says on the mailer, “As a successful Glendale business owner, he’s created good paying jobs right here in our community.” That’s a hoot! Mr. Alexander opened an art gallery in downtown Glendale that lasted for maybe, a year. That’s how “successful” his business was. It bled red ink and created not one “good paying job right here in our community.”

The fire union then trashes our police officers by implying that they have been unable to “build respect and support between officers and all residents.” Residents from diverse groups, over the years, have expressed to me and to the department, their respect for our officers and have often thanked them for the job they do daily “to protect and to serve” all of us.

The fire union then turns to the use of those buzz words again of “transparency” and “ethics.” Remember what I said. This is a typical ploy used for a candidate who has no platform and nothing upon which to run.

The fire union claims he will work for, “city budgeting that values parks, libraries and our unique quality of life.” They might just as well have used the slogan, “truth, justice and the American way” for all of the meaning that their phrasing promises. I have been doing those things for years witnessed by my successes in getting Phase I of Heroes Park Library built; successfully ensuring that Heroes Park Lake will be built next year; ensuring that Heroes Park completion is in the city’s Capital Improvement Program; and successfully gaining approval for a 4 year, $10 million a year program to upgrade every park in our city.

The fire union claims that I “vote the party line at City Hall.” What party? Perhaps they are confused and are referring to the Independent Party?  I don’t blindly vote for all things in the context of the fire union and what they want. I have supported parts of their agenda such as voting for advanced medical response units but I have never blindly supported all of their “gimmees.”

The fire union then claims I fired “Glendale’s independent government watchdog,” the city auditor. I have no authority to hire or fire anyone in Glendale government with the exception of the 4 direct reports to city council: the city manager, the city attorney, the city judge and the city clerk.

Lastly the fire union claims that I “rewarded political supporter with $5 million city contract.” There can be no response to this because it’s an outright lie. All contracts for more than $50,000 are awarded through a city Request for Proposal system administered by the city’s Procurement Division. When a contract is presented to this council for approval, I am the only councilmember to consistently vote against 5 year contracts because those contracts may last longer than council positions which are 4 years in length. I have said consistently that contracts should be 4 years or less and then put out for bid again. I have also opposed 5 year contracts for usual items and services that are not specialized. They should be put out to bid on a frequent schedule to insure the city is getting the best price possible.

I expected this election to be “no holds barred” for the fire union is desperate to get rid of the mayor and/or I. Why? I will be offering several future blogs in the coming days that may help you to understand why they are freaking out and throwing everything against the wall to see what will stick.

I’m not surprised by any of this for this is what the fire union is known for in every election. They fight dirty and try to smear the incumbent candidate especially if their chosen candidate is incredibly weak which happens to be the case with Alexander.

Just remember, the fire union is not pouring thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of manpower to back Alexander (and mayoral candidate Robertson) out of the goodness of their hearts.  The fire union is racking up a lot of IOUs in backing Alexander and they will expect pay back.

Mr. Alexander, what are you willing to do to make good on those fire union IOUs?

Payback’s a bitch.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jul 20

6

A Personal View

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 6, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2020 • Glendale finances • Yucca district • Yucca district election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , | 3 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

For the past seven years I have blogged about Glendale issues…the good, the bad and the ugly. Whether on city council or off I do not plan to stop.

Cardinals Way Dedication

I am running for re election as your Yucca district councilmember because I love this city and I love its people. I love representing you and I am good at it. It is an honor and privilege to serve you. My experience as a councilmember has given me the advantage of understanding how to maneuver within the corridors of power to achieve objectives that benefit Glendale’s residents and especially Yucca district residents. I always do my homework and research on every issue that comes before council. Residents and staff alike acknowledge my strength in this area. I have always been accessible to all. I listen to all points of view and have been known to change my position as the result of a strong, well reasoned argument. I have always been mindful of my expenditures because the money I spend is yours, not mine.

This has been the strangest election campaign in history.  Candidates have not been able to approach voters to meet and greet and share their personalities and positions on issues. This campaign has been all digital. That works well if all have internet access but that is not always the case and that is very concerning.

I have tried to figure out why my opponent, Bryce Alexander, is running. He has no experience in participating in the Glendale community.  His background is that of a network architect. He dabbled briefly (for about a year) as a downtown Glendale art gallery owner and is currently an associate pastor at a local church.

On July 5th on his website he finally posted what he is for and against. There are several problems with his list. First, it’s too little and too late. The very things he offers are the very things I have championed for years and for which I have a proven record. We seem to hold similar views and the only difference is that I have extensive experience and leadership in each of them.

  • My opponent is against police defunding. When the issue first surfaced weeks ago I immediately stated publicly that I would never support defunding the police and rather I will continue to defend the police. It’s taken him several weeks to get to the same position. One of our children is a retired law enforcement officer and as a Mom I have heard far too many horror stories of the dangers he faced. I support law enforcement…always have and always will.
  • My opponent is against new taxes. I have a proven record of no property tax increases for the past 4 years.

    Bryce Alexander

    That, and my reputation as a fiscal conservative, is my record.

  • My opponent says he is strong on crime prevention. Again, my record proves my position. I have always supported the funding of the Glendale Police Department resulting in an agency that ranks among the top 3 agencies in the Valley in terms of officers’ pay and benefit package.
  • My opponent supports neighborhood revitalization. I guess he’s forgotten or maybe he’s not aware of the fact that it was my work that created the city’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program. This program, during its lifespan, awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in neighborhood grants to upgrade some of our most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
  • My opponent says he is strong on parks and road infrastructure maintenance. It was my suggestion, adopted by the city council last year, to allocate ten million dollars a year for the next four years to upgrade existing parks and to add new amenities. My record of support for the residential street repair program is strong and has been appreciated.
  • My opponent claims to be strong on transparency and ethics in government. When you don’t have any issues to claim as yours, all politicians drag out these often used buzz words. They are platitudes. During my term, I have sent out 188 weekly E Newsletters; 6 semiannual district newsletters mailed to all 11,000 households in the district; posted innumerable times alerting residents to timely issues and shared my positions on current issues on Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor. I have also written this blog for seven years discussing Glendale’s issues. I am available via email, text or phone call. All of these means of contact are offered regularly.

So, that brings us back to why is he running?

I keep thinking about a statement he posted on Facebook on June 19, 2018 that stated, “I always get that special feeling when my name appears in print.”

Draw your own conclusion about such a statement.

If you conclude that Mr. Alexander is on an ego trip, you may be right.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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.

Jun 20

23

Will the real Michelle Robertson please stand up?

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 23, 2020
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2020  | Tagged With: , , , , | 7 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

We all, well most of us, use some form of social media. It could be Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. How do we use them? We post family and friends photos. We post about ideas or values we appreciate or admire. We use social media to update the world on our status. In other words, our use of social media reflects our personalities, what we value, and what we believe in. It is a reflection of ourselves.

Recently, an intrepid user of all social media sent me a series of screen shots captured from Mayoral candidate Michelle Robertson’s Facebook pages. Out of curiosity, I went to her Facebook pages to see these postings for myself. Amazingly, they were all gone. Not some of them, but all of them. Ms. Robertson, or perhaps her campaign team, seems to have carefully scrubbed (erased) any posting that did not reflect her current, carefully cultivated image as a moderate candidate for mayor of Glendale.

Now when you look at her Facebook postings from the past two years there are very few, perhaps as a few as a half dozen postings in each year. Those postings that kept are filled with unicorns and rainbows, puppies and babies…all very benign and extremely non-controversial…unless you hate unicorns or babies!

None of the Facebook screen shots sent to me was anywhere to be seen. So, I thought I’d peel back the onion a bit and share with you a sampling of the items Ms. Robertson deleted.

 

The first screen shot is from July, 2017 when she was a candidate for Maricopa County Superintendent of Public Instruction. Back when Robertsom was a Democrat activist she embraced a lot of Human Rights Campaign posts and it certainly looks from this post that she supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second screen shot is from July, 2017 and expresses her support for the LGBTQ community and the Resist movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This screen shot is from August, 2019 and clearly demonstrates her support for Elizabeth Warren as her preferred Democrat Presidential candidate. There’s no expression of support for Biden, the presumptive Democrat Presidential nominee.

 

 

 

 

  

 

I don’t have any issue with her positions but these are the ideas and values that are important to Michelle Robertson. You may agree with some of them, all of them or none of them. That is not the point.

The point is that these postings represent the real Robertson and you, the voter, have the right to know what causes and ideologies she supports and what her value system is. This is the real Robertson that was erased. Why?  Did she think the real Michelle Robertson would not get enough votes? Did she fear that these kinds of posts and these positions and causes  might alienate Glendale voters?

I don’t think Robertson gives Glendale enough credit for its diversity of thoughts and populations. Second, I can’t imagine running for an office while hiding the real me while pretending to be something that I’m not. I’m clearly the opposite. I write my blog so that my constituents can really know what I’m thinking on a variety of issues.

As I reviewed her current postings on her campaign page I noted that while she emphasized what she described as failings of our current mayor I didn’t see what she plans to do to make Glendale “good.”  For that is her campaign tag line, “Good for Glendale.” It sounds great but exactly what makes her good for Glendale?

 I didn’t see any positive action that she would employ should she be elected. What’s her platform? What does she want to accomplish for you? What does she intend to do to improve your quality of life?

What I did find on her Issues page were complaints about the current mayor and a sprinkling of aspirational goals without much meat on the bones. Here’s one example: “You can count on me to be engaged in working in partnership with our state and federal legislative delegations…” That’s dandy but the city employs a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. that lobbies for every possible dollar to which the city is entitled. Doesn’t she know that Mayor Weiers served in the Arizona State Legislature and as a result of that service he developed excellent working relationships, including our present delegation?

Other very generalized promises include restoring the city’s internal audit program. The only problem with her statement is that she ignores that the city has an internal audit committee that oversees the work of an independent auditing firm; ensuring city council transparency.  In order to be fully transparent, I wonder how she plans to get around confidentially protected Executive Session material; and supporting light rail.  Council abandoned the concept of light rail and used the savings generated for its beefed up Pavement Management Program,

Voters should pay attention to her lack of participation in and contributions to our community, Glendale.  While she says she’s lived here for most of her adult life, she doesn’t appear to have volunteered for any service on a citizen board or commission. She is not a member of Kiwanis, the Salvation Army, the Chamber of Commerce or any other non-profit organization devoted to Glendale.  I see no service to the community in her resume. I suppose she can claim any career work in the fields of social services and mental health but did these positions have any relationship to Glendale? If it did I would assume she would say so.

What about attendance at Glendale 101 University? It’s available free to any resident and provides in depth knowledge about the how and why of the operations of nearly every City of Glendale department. That would have been great preparation for someone considering a run for mayor of the city.

She appears to have no legislative experience. Her only experience seems to be within the Cartwright School system. I’m not sure that would prepare anyone to take the reins of a city of 250,000 people. Her career is exclusively in education, largely as a kindergarten teacher. Her first campaign for office was for an education position because she said that was her passion. Now, suddenly, she is passionate about a Mayor’s position that has no authority over the school districts within our city? The decisions made regarding your children’s education is made by your school district’s board, not by the city.

She appears to be what many would call a “perpetual candidate.” Two years ago she ran for the Maricopa County Superintendent of Public Instruction. She lost. Well, that didn’t work out so well, so why not take a shot at running for Mayor?

There are those who seek recognition and adulation as a public figure. It makes them warm and fuzzy all over and provides validation of their self worth. Is that part of her persona? We don’t know because she has only chosen to offer platitudes, not substance. She is a ghost candidate.

Your reason to vote for her should be grounded in truths. What can you learn from her social media? Has she shared her plan for Glendale? Do you even know what her plan is? Do you value her previous experience in contributing to Glendale? For she seems to have none. Do you know where she wants to take Glendale? What exactly, makes her good for Glendale?

What she is against is irrelevant.

Ask yourself, what does she stand for? Do you share her values?

She doesn’t deserve your vote if you can’t answer those questions.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

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