The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
ADELITA GRIJALVA
Re: the June 4 article “I regret supporting Conover; I endorse Jette.”
Recently, my former colleague on the Board of Supervisors, Sharon Bronson, submitted an op-ed about our County Attorney Laura Conover. Bronson’s allegations are a surprise, and do not align with any of my observations of our Pima County Attorney Conover’s leadership.
It is important to remember that voters elected Conover in 2020 because they wanted change. After having the same administration/leadership for several decades, Conover was tasked with overhauling decades of ‘Tough-on-Crime’ policies that had decimated our neighborhoods, produced no marked results, and at the highest taxpayer cost. Having directed in a juvenile diversion program for 26 years, I was and remain in full support of much-needed reforms because I watched for decades the harm that these policies of the Pima County Attorney’s Office did to our community and our families.
Upon becoming chair, I thought it was important to meet with the County Attorney’s Office weekly to review the agenda and ensure that our meetings meet all legal requirements. As a board, we are a client of Attorney Laura Conover, and it is completely uncalled for that a former Supervisor speak on behalf of the board that we are not satisfied with our legal representation. These kinds of attacks are unbecoming and create unwarranted concern from the public as to the professionalism we have experienced working with Laura Conover as Pima County Attorney.
Conover has promised dramatic changes to an institution in great need of modernization, and she is delivering. To understand the shift, one only has to look at how she describes her position as “The People’s Attorney.” Taking a closer look at who that makes uncomfortable and it is clear old guard ways of thinking are challenging her. Her determination and passion to get her employees a living wage, especially in light of the CA’s office not having an office-wide pay raise since 1997, is critical in building retention. Considering the board’s efforts to address all 7,000 county employees’ wages through the passage of the class and compensation study were aimed at recruiting and retaining in all departments, this issue is countywide. It is worth noting that Bronson voted against efforts to raise county employees to livable wages.
All in all, in our first term serving the constituents of Pima County, I have had a strong relationship with County Attorney Conover and am confident in her and her team’s efforts serving our community, and hope she continues her efforts into the future. While Mike Jette may be registered as a Democrat today, his background as a federal prosecutor for nearly two decades should concern those of us who want criminal justice reform. Let us continue the path forward and re-elect Laura Conover for Pima County Attorney.
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