Working on political campaigns has its problems — strange hours, bad food, seasonal ups and downs, low pay.
When low pay turned into no pay, J.P. Martin decided to make a local campaign pay.
Martin filed a small-claims suit in July against Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall’s re-election campaign. He was hired as a campaign manager in November, he said, then let go in February and didn’t receive $1,500 he was owed.
After he filed suit, LaWall campaign manager David Smutzer cut him a check for the $1,500 and offered an additional $97 — for Martin’s filing fees and interest on the money he was owed.
Martin took the $1,500, but he decided not to accept the $97 and has won a hearing in the case for next month. His aim: To win $2,000 more from the campaign — and to expose them a bit.
“The way I was mistreated is going to, I think, shine through in the testimony,” he told me. Among other things, he said, in firing him, “she didn’t follow any of the protocols we established in the contract.”
Smutzer said the incident was just an “oversight” that the campaign is happy to clear up.
But Martin wants to make a point about mistreatment of employees.
“This happens all the time, especially in political campaigns,” he said. “I just want this to be a little bit more exposed.”
Of course it’s easier to have an impact now, as LaWall is running a tight primary race against Democratic challenger Joel Feinman.
Never Trump, always Babeu
Jim Kolbe, the longtime congressman from Tucson, is presenting a puzzling contrast in his recent endorsements.
Kolbe was among 10 Republican former members of Congress who signed on to a letter this week that asked the Republican National Committee to stop spending money on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The letter cited the usual litany of offenses by Trump and said, “Those recent outrages have built on his campaign of anger and exclusion, during which he has mocked and offended millions of voters, including the disabled, women, Muslims, immigrants, and minorities.”
On the other hand, Kolbe has endorsed Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu in his run for the Republican nomination in Congressional District 1, which includes Oro Valley, Marana and nearby areas. Babeu supports Trump and shares his nativist politics, regularly harping on the dangerous “others” invading the United States.
As the Phoenix New Times pointed out, Kolbe’s approach to immigration is much more moderate, winning him an award from the Mexican government. In 2013, Kolbe testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.
The New Times story argues that the two are united by being gay Republicans, but you could also look at Kolbe’s choices as pragmatic: Some consider Trump a lost cause and want to protect Republican congressional seats, while Babeu remains a potentially strong competitor for the CD1 seat.
Miller plays turnabout
They say turnabout is fair play — and that’s what Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller’s employees seem to be engaging in, on the taxpayer dime.
Employees of Miller’s office have in recent weeks apparently videotaped the Star’s Murphy Woodhouse and other reporters at the Pima County Supervisors’ meetings. My colleague told me he knew of two times — on Aug. 2, a Miller staffer pointed a camera at Woodhouse and Tucson Sentinel editor Dylan Smith as they talked.
Then again on Monday, another Miller staffer appeared to videotape Woodhouse, this time as he spoke with Supervisor Ray Carroll, who is Miller’s longtime nemesis.
Why? Miller has stopped answering my calls, but my conjecture is this: Miller and her friends in the blogosphere are continuing to build a case that the local news media have conspired with county employees and elected officials to attack her.
News flash to the Miller crew: It’s part of doing business as a journalist that you have frequent conversations with people you cover and your colleagues in the press. Pleasantries, stories, tips are shared. Some rise to the level of news, most don’t.
ACC ‘Tumult’ in Tucson
This week members of the Arizona Corporation Commission have been in Tucson for hearings on a proposed settlement involving Trico Electric Cooperative. I had a chance to speak with Andy Tobin, the member appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey who is up for election this year. This week, Tobin proposed stripping away some of the commission’s duties.
I asked whether, considering the controversy over utility politics and the recent resignation of the commission’s utilities director, the office is in tumult.
“I believe things are in absolute turmoil,” he said Wednesday — before the commission’s lead attorney announced her retirement. “It’s bigger than these utilities cases, in my view.”
Of course, Tobin’s proposal to strip away many of the commission’s duties adds to the turmoil. While some aspects seem to make sense — like putting railroad inspections under the Department of Transportation’s purview — others, like removing the commission’s oversight of securities, raise some concern.
Among the concerns: removing these powers from the ACC puts more power in the governor’s office, which is quickly consolidating powers throughout state government.
Not that Tobin would do anything for Ducey’s sake!
Grijalva’s nod
One of those local political mysteries hangs over the Democratic primary in Legislative District 2: Why doesn’t Rep. Raúl Grijalva support Daniel Hernandez?
Some time ago, Grijalva signaled his support for UA law student Aaron Baumann, an unknown in local politics, to represent that district. Later, his support became formal, and the Pima Area Labor Federation followed Grijalva’s lead by endorsing Baumann.
Why? Hernandez, best known as the intern who helped save Gabrielle Giffords’ life, told me doesn’t know. He suspects, though, that Grijalva’s indifference traces back to Hernandez’s conflict with fellow Sunnyside School Board member Eva Dong. Hernandez clashed with Dong, a longtime Grijalva ally, over attempts to oust the former Sunnyside superintendent, Manuel Isquierdo.
I asked Grijalva, and he didn’t say that wasn’t the case. But he did say: “It’s not a personal thing. This is a race. Baumann is a serious candidate.”
It’s also true that Grijalva belong to the Bernie Sanders branch of the Democratic Party. Hernandez — he’s long stood with her — Hillary Clinton.
