Arthur Albert Chapa

Memorial services were held today at St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Avenue in memory of former Arizona Board of Regents member Arthur Albert Chapa, who passed away on November 19, at age 69, from H. pylori-induced cancer.

Chapa was well known in Democratic political circles, “raising money for Democratic candidates, serving as a staffer for Congressman Morris K. Udall (1978-81), and serving on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ transition team in 2006. He was the state director of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election bid.” (from Az Daily Star article on November 23).

He served on the Arizona Board of Regents for 8 years (1990 to 1998), according to his friend former Gubernatorial candidate Eddie Basha, who spoke today at his service. Both Basha and another friend former State Senator George Cunningham referred to Chapa as their “brother/hermano”. He graduated from George Washington University Law School, and also worked as a lobbyist for Pima County.

Basha said that Chapa “spoke against discrimination” and worked towards increasing in-state minority enrollment at ASU’s Law School, and wanted the best “quality of life experience for all the students.”

Bishop Gerald Kicanas (who officiated today) spoke of Chapa as a man whose “life was well lived, given in service to others”. He said that “some make a difference” in life and that Chapa was one of those who did, as he “wanted the best for his community, because he always wanted more not less” for Tucson.

Art Chapa is survived by his wife Lynette, three children, three grandchildren.

Numerous politicians, City and County officials were present today at this memorial service, including all five Pima County Supervisors (Ramon Valadez, Sharon Bronson, Ray Carroll, Richard Elias, Ann Day), County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry, UA President Robert Shelton.

The Chapa family has established a fund in his name to increase awareness of H. pylori-induced cancer, and contributions can be sent to the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, 1295 N. Martin Ave., Tucson, 85724. Remembrances can be posted at www.MeM.com.

Got a late notice to attend a candidate community forum sponsored by the NAACP – Tucson chapter, Tucson Urban League, and the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, held tonight at the Dunbar School Auditorium, 325 W. 2nd Street (at Main Ave.) As I walked in Jonathan Peck, President of the Tucson Urban League was announcing that all Republican, Democratic and 3rd party candidates (statewide) and for Southern Arizona had been invited to attend & participate. About 100 people, mostly African Americans, were in the audience.

These were the state legislators that participated tonight (1st panel):
LD 25 House Rep. Pat Fleming (D)
LD 27 House candidates Sally Ann Gonzales and Dr. Macario Saldate (Ds)
LD 28 Senator Paula Aboud (D)
LD 28 Senate candidate Dave Ewoldt (I)
LD 28 House Rep. Steve Farley (D)
LD 28 House candidate Bruce Wheeler (D)
LD 30 House candidate Andrea Dalessandro (D)
LD 30 Senate candidate Dr. Todd Camenish (D), came in late

Also attending to participate in the 2nd panel were U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman,
Attorney General Terry Goddard running for Governor, Sec. of State candidate Chris Deschene, and State Mine Inspector candidate Manuel Cruz, all Democrats.

Questions asked of the panelists were basically about steps they would take to improve education, to bring economic opportunity to minority populations, to strengthen public health for communities of color, to provide quality health care, and to insure equal treatment in the criminal justice system for minority populations. Being as these were all Democrats (and one Independent, formerly a Green Party activist) their answers were quite uniform in advocating and trying to restore funding to all these areas.

Of note: Sally Ann Gonzales mentioned that she is of Yaqui heritage, Chris Deschene is a member of the Navajo Nation, and Manuel Cruz and Dr. Macario Saldate are Hispanic, and provided their ethnic backgrounds and expertise to their responses.

The last question was about what steps could be taken to insure a fair and just dialogue re: immigration reform, and both Rodney Glassman and Terry Goddard said that could be done by “retiring John McCain.” Chris Deschene repeatedly asked the audience to elect Democrats to the state legislature, where he currently serves as House Rep. in LD 2.

Also in attendance tonight were former Pima County Democratic Party Chair Paul Eckerstrom for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and former Democratic Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom. Fellow blogger “3 Sonorans” (David Morales) was there as well, and will be posting a video capturing the panelists’ answers to some of these questions. I’ll link to his blog once he posts it. UPDATE: Unfortunately neither David nor I got a lot of advance notice of this forum, so his cell phone video did not tape well (see his comment below).

The Tucson debate between the Democratic contenders for U.S. Senate in Arizona will be held on Thursday, August 5 at KUAT Channel 6 at the U of A campus. The debate will be telecast at 6:00 p.m. or be available on www.azpm.org , and will be hosted by Arizona Illustrated host Bill Buckmaster.

Attending this debate will be:

– John Dougherty, Phoenix freelance investigative reporter, www.johndougherty2010.com
– Dr. Cathy Eden, former Phoenix state house legislator & Director of ASU School of Social work, www.edenforaz.com
– Dr. Rodney Glassman, former Tucson Councilmember/Vice Mayor, www.rodneyglassman.com
– Randy Parraz, Scottsdale attorney doing civil rights/labor organizing work, www.parrazforchange.com

I wrote about these candidates before when they spoke at Democrats of Greater Tucson in Tucson. They have appeared at other state-wide debates on Phoenix TV (July 9 and July 27) and by radio in Yuma (July 21). Check out their websites above for further information on each candidate.

One of these contenders will face off with the Republican winner of the Arizona primary –incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain, or former Congressman J. D. Hayworth, or businessman Jim Deakin. That KUAT debate was held on Saturday July 17 and you can view it below:

Democrats and Independents –Watch this August 5 debate, review the information on the candidates’ websites, and vote wisely on or before August 24! The polls are saying that 46% of the Democrats in Arizona are still undecided about whom to vote for in this primary race.

Early voting started on July 29. Last day to request an early ballot is August 13.

John Dougherty

Dr. Cathy Eden

Dr. Rodney Glassman

Randy Parraz