The future of a relatively new citizen-run commission that reviews grants for the Pima County Sheriffโs Department is in danger amid allegations that the committee is โanti-law enforcement.โ
The two Republican members of the Board of Supervisors โ Ally Miller and Steve Christy โ announced last week that they would cut ties to the Community Law Enforcement Partnership Commission and asked their delegates โ three from each office โ to stop attending the meetings.
โWe will be withdrawing from any participation on this commission effective immediately,โ Christy and Miller wrote in a press release.
โIt is time to end the unfounded attacks on the law enforcement community.โ
Members of the commission and the Democrats on the Board of Supervisors reject this narrative, saying the 15-member group plays a role in reviewing and making recommendations on grants for the Pima County Sheriffโs Department, not attacking law enforcement.
In the press release, Miller and Christy labeled the commission as being filled with โanti-law enforcement community activistsโ whose placement on the commission was the equivalent of a โtaxpayer-funded soapbox.โ
The commission was formed last year as a condition for accepting Operation Stonegarden funding, which is tied to border security. But its current mission to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors related to all law enforcement grants came later in the year, after the Democrat-led body reversed the decision to accept the $1.4 million in federal Stonegarden funding.
Members on the all-volunteer board are not paid for their time and the only taxpayer funds associated with the Community Law Enforcement Partnership Commission would be staff time for the Board of Supervisors-backed commission as well as the meeting space โ the same resources offered to all county commissions.
Christy attempted in December to dissolve the commission but failed to convince a majority of the supervisors.
He said the decision to ask his delegates not to attend the meetings is solely designed to break up the commission through parliamentarian rules. If the group is unable to get at least eight of the nine delegates appointed by the Democrats on the Board of Supervisors to attend, it cannot legally hold a meeting.
โIf there is not a quorum, they canโt conduct business,โ Christy explained.
Attendance at county commission meetings varies, but given that many meet during business hours on weekdays, it is common for some appointees to miss a meeting.
County Supervisor Sharon Bronson called the tactic unfortunate, saying that undermining the citizen-run commission goes against the nature of democracy.
She is confident the efforts wonโt work and that her appointees will redouble efforts to attend every meeting.
Supervisor Ramรณn Valadez said he hopes Christy and Miller will change their minds, publicly pleading with the two Republicans on his Facebook Live chat last week.
He argues that the voices from Christy and Millerโs appointees should be heard and that their opinions are vital to healthy discussion on the commission.
โWithdrawing those commissioners doesnโt serve anyone,โ he said.
