State Senator Paula Aboud

Meet Me at the Library: Conversations with Arizona Leaders

Meet State Senator Paula Aboud (LD 28)
When: Monday, October 24, 2011, 6:30-8 pm
Where: Murphy-Wilmot Branch Library, 530 N. Wilmot Rd. (south of E. 6th St.)

This month, we invite you to take the opportunity to meet and converse with Senator Paula Aboud. Senator Aboud has served in the senate since January 2006 in the seat vacated by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She serves on three standing committees, the Health Committee, Education Committee and as the ranking Democratic member of the Appropriations Committee. As a graduate of the University of Arizona and a third-generation Tucsonan, Senator Aboud is committed to maintaining the quality of life for Arizona residents and especially for Southern Arizona.

and another “Meet me at the Library: Conversations with Arizona Leaders”
coming up, Senator Linda Lopez (LD 29)
on Nov. 12, 2 p.m. at Quincie-Douglas Library, 1585 E. 36th St. (SW corner of Kino Pkway.)
She is also speaking at the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission on October 27 at 7 p.m. for their “How Government Works!” series.

Here’s your chance to meet both of these strong Arizona women political leaders.

From Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik (aka “Steve K”):

As citizens of Arizona you are intimately familiar with the way our communities are being impacted by so much of the state legislation coming out of this session. Therefore I invite you as an individual to join me in standing up for the independent and unquestionable rights of our local governments to decide what is right for our communities. By clicking this link and signing this petition your affirmation will be automatically forwarded onto the State Legislature and to the Governor’s office. Please take the time to give your opinion a voice.

https://www.change.org/petitions/stop-hurting-our-local-government

Thank you,

Steve Kozachik, Council Member
City of Tucson, Ward 6

According to his Chief of Staff Ann Charles, this request was sent to all local elected officials (City & County) and to the Ward 6 statewide listserve. I received two separate emails forwarding this to me. The petition with all signatures will be sent to Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer and all elected politicians in Arizona’s State Senate and State House.

316 people so far have signed this petition. Just click on the blue hyperlink above to read the petition and find out how to sign it. Copy of the petition below:

Stop Hurting Our Local Government

Greetings,

We join together as taxpayers and Arizona voters, in signing this petition which is being presented to the Arizona State Legislature, not based on party affiliation, but based on the long established principles embedded in our founding documents; that governmental overreach is inconsistent with the consent of the governed, local decisions must be governed locally.

1. We call on this Legislature to remove from its agenda all remaining bills that preempt local decision making authority.

2. Reverse any decisions that impede the ability of local governments to independently govern their communities.

Senator Russell Pearce

There is much ado about newly elected State Senate President Russell Pearce, even an article in today’s Arizona Daily Star about his “business unfriendly” attitude:

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_8f52eada-79ef-57e7-9b46-dfac60272a23.html

Pearce was the former Chief Deputy of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Dept.(23 years) and was also a Justice of the Peace at one time.

Did you know that he was elected by only 17,552 voters in LD 18 in Mesa?

Voter breakdown from November, 2010 general election from Secretary of State’s website:

SHERWOOD, ANDREW (DEM)
34.30% 10,663
PEARCE, RUSSELL (REP)
56.45% 17,552
GARCIA, ANDREA (LBT)
9.03% 2,808
Write-in
0.22% 68
31,091 total votes cast

Contrast this to a larger, more populated district such as LD 30 here in Southern Arizona, with Frank Antenori as State Senator, with 3x as many voters:

CAMENISCH, TODD (DEM)
39.59% 36,911
ANTENORI, FRANK (REP)
60.27% 56,198
WRITE-IN
0.14% 134
93,243

And we hear that LD 1 (north/central Arizona) State Senator Steve Pierce still wants to be Senate President:

DONAHUE, BOB (DEM)
35.13% 28,463
PIERCE, STEVE (REP)
64.74% 52,458
Write-in
0.13% 108
81,029

Map of Arizona legislative districts from Arizona state legislature page link:

http://azredistricting.org/mapping/default2.asp?tname=Interim.2009.Legislative.Map&service=ircmaps&Layer4=on&Layer1=on&action=zoomin&ActiveLayer=16. You have to “zoom in” to find LD 18.

With 30 State Senators in the Arizona legislature, only 9 being Democratic, it goes to show that popularity among your peers counts, even when you represent a small legislative district. (Democratic Senators are only in districts 2 (NE Arizona), 13 through 17 in the Phoenix area, and 27, 28, 29 here in Southern Arizona).