Oro Valley residents could be voting in their second recall election in less than a half-decade, after a effort was launched last month to remove Mayor Joe Winfield and Vice Mayor Melanie Barrett.
The two officials, who took office almost exactly a year ago, have faced criticism from some residents regarding the handling of several town issues, including the potential closing of the townโs golf courses and method of payment for improvements to the courses, as well as the search for a new police chief.
Resident Thomas Plantz filed a recall application Oct. 22, claiming Barrett and Winfield have โimplemented policies that will likely result in a local property tax, degrade your public safety, decrease your property values and adversely harm town revenues.โ
Several residents of the town have since been out collecting the roughly 3,900 signatures to recall Winfield, and 3,600 to recall Barrett. They need to be turned in by Feb. 19.
โHereโs the bottom line: At any point, these council members can go back on anything theyโve already decided,โ said Jennifer LeFevre, director of Oro Valley Thrives, which supports keeping the golf courses open. โA month from now, they can say, โWe decided to close the golf courses.โ For me, I feel no trust, I have no faith in their ability to make the right choices for the town. Thatโs how Iโm feeling.โ
In similar statements, Winfield and Barrett acknowledged the divisiveness of the golf situation, but pointed to efforts to โreduce the millions of dollars the town spends on golfโ that were approved with public input.
โWhile I would like to move forward cooperatively, it is the right of residents in Arizona to collect signatures for a recall petition if they choose,โ both statements said. โWe will continue to do our best to govern and serve the residents of Oro Valley.
Conover announces run for County Attorney
Expect a fight over who will be the next Pima County attorney.
On Wednesday, attorney Laura Conover announced she would vie for the Democratic nomination for the job as the countyโs top prosecutor.
This already sets up a primary fight in August as Jonathan Mosher, the chief criminal deputy in the office, announced last month he wanted to run for the job. Mosherโs boss, Barbara LaWall, who has been the county attorney for the last 24 years, announced earlier this year she would not seek reelection.
Mosher has worked in LaWallโs office for more than a decade and has been an attorney for 25 years.
Conover, a University of Arizona law school grad, said she would work to reform the criminal justice system in Southern Arizona.
โThis is the time for responsible and meaningful change,โ she said. โI want to focus prosecutions on violent offenders and stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars to warehouse the poor, sick, and addicted in prison.โ
Group files FEC complaint against McSally
End Citizens United has again filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Arizona Sen. Martha McSally.
In the filing, the nonprofit said McSallyโs campaign failed to report employer and occupation information for more than 600 contributors in a recent quarterly report.
The 627 individuals contributed over 1,000 times and collectively contributed over $284,000 worth of contributions to McSally during the third quarter of 2019, according to End Citizens United.
This isnโt the first time that End Citizens United has filed complaints against McSally with the FEC, as it filed a complaint in 2018.
McSallyโs campaign has had issues with reporting donations, with a 2018 audit by the FEC finding that her 2014 House campaign failed to disclose donor information for 1,200 campaign contributions.
Dylan Lefler, McSally campaign manager, said the campaign complies with FEC rules and recommendations, which require โbest effortsโ to get donor information. He said the filing by End Citizens United is a waste of time.
โShould the FEC have any questions about this baseless claim by End Citizens United, we will gladly provide further information for them and put this complaint to bed. These sorts of frivolous complaints are routinely filed to take up time and resources, but in no way are based in reality,โ Lefler said.
Attacker has ties to Grijalva, RT America
The 43-year-old man sentenced to 12 days in jail and three years of probation this week for beating a man who was wearing a red โMake America Great Againโ baseball cap and carrying a Trump flag in 2018 has ties to U.S. Rep. Raรบl Grijalva.
Daniel Brito, who reportedly was trying to take off the manโs red baseball cap in the days before the November 2018 election and broke the manโs ankle during the brawl, worked in Grijalvaโs Washington, D.C., office for two or three years.
Staff with Grijalvaโs office said Brito worked as a legislative assistant about eight years ago. A spokesperson for Grijalva said the Tucson Democrat hasnโt spoken to Brito in several years.
Brito is listed as a co-host of โBoom Bust,โ a daily news report produced by RT America, a news organization funded by the Russian government.
