“Meet Me at the Library, Conversations with Arizona Leaders”

District 4 Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll

Supervisor Ray Carroll

Monday June 25, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Kirk-Bear Canyon library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Rd. (NE corner of Bear Canyon Rd. and Tanque Verde Rd.)

We invite you to take this opportunity to meet and converse with Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll. Supervisor Carroll has represented District 4 on the Pima County Board of Supervisors since February 1997.

Mr. Carroll was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Catholic and public schools in that city. In 1980, he became a Westerner when he moved to Denver, Colorado and entered Regis University. He was graduated with honors in 1984, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy. He then moved to Tucson. Prior to his service on the Board of Supervisors, Mr. Carroll was Foundation Manager for Casa de los Niños. He also served as Chairman on the City of Tucson’s Housing Board.

From Supervisor Carroll’s website:

Now in his 15th year on the county legislative body, he has established a firm reputation among his constituents for advocating open, transparent county decision-making based upon the very lowest taxes consistent with responsible government.

Mr. Carroll has been the recipient of many prestigious awards over the years. Some of the more recent accolades include: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Public Service, presented in 2007 at a ceremony in San Francisco; the Hero of the Taxpayer Award, presented in 2007 by the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers; the Sky Island Alliance Award for Public Service, presented in 2008 for his leadership in opposing the proposed Rosemont Mine; and, the Governor Howard Pyle Award, presented in 2009 in Phoenix by the Republican Party of Arizona for his political leadership in southern Arizona.

Carroll was first appointed to his seat in May, 1997 and was elected to it in Nov. 1998. He has been unopposed since then in the primary & general elections, except for this year when he faces a political newcomer, businessman Sean Collins in the Republican primary on August 28.

As for the other Supervisors, District 1 Supervisor Ann Day is retiring, and 4 Republicans (Mike Hellon, Ally Miller, Stuart McDaniel, and LD 26 House Rep. Vic Williams) will face off in the August primary, to challenge 1 Democrat (former LD 26 House Rep. Nancy Young Wright) for that seat.

In the other Supervisor races– Districts 2, 3 and 5–Republican political newcomers are also challenging each of the Democratic incumbents, all in the November 6 General Election:

District 2: James Kelley vs. Supervisor Ramon Valadez, current Chairman of the Board
District 3: Tanner Bell vs. Supervisor Sharon Bronson
District 5: Fernando Gonzales vs. Supervisor Richard Elias

Filing deadline for signature petitions was yesterday at 5 p.m. and here’s the list of candidates for Pima County in 2012. The Primary Election is on August 28 and the General Election is on November 6.

Pima County Assessor
Bill Staples (D), incumbent

Pima County Attorney
Claudia Ellquist (G)
Barbara LaWall (D), incumbent

Pima County Sheriff
Dave Croteau (G)
Clarence Dupnik (D), incumbent
Terry Frederick (R)
Vinson Holck (R)
Chester Manning (R)
Mark Napier (R)
Walter Setzer (R)

Pima County Recorder
Bill Beard (R)
F.Ann Rodriguez (D), incumbent

Pima County Treasurer
Beth Ford (R), incumbent
Elaine Richardson (D)

Pima County School Superintendent
Linda Arzoumanian (R), incumbent
Mace Bravin (R)

Pima County Supervisor District 1 (open seat)
Mike Hellon (R)
Ally Miller (R)
Stuart McDaniel (R)
Vic Williams (R)
Nancy Young Wright (D)

Pima County Supervisor District 2
James Kelley (R)
Ramon Valadez (D), incumbent

Pima County Supervisor District 3
Tanner Bell (R)
Sharon Bronson (D), incumbent

Pima County Supervisor District 4
Ray Carroll (R), incumbent
Sean Collins (R)

Pima County Supervisor District 5
Richard Elias (D), incumbent
Fernando Gonzales (R)

So the primaries to watch are for Pima County Sheriff (5 Republicans) and Pima County Supervisor District 1 (4 Republicans).

For other Pima County races (Justices of the Peace, Constables), go to Blog for AZ (click here).

For more information about the candidates go to:
Pima County Democratic Party
Pima County Republican Party

James H. Kelley, former Chair of LD 29 Republican party and former blogger “The Cholla Jumps” here at Tucsoncitizen.com and on his own, has taken out papers to run against Democratic District 2 Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez, who is Chairman of the board.

James H. Kelley

Kelley is a Transportation specialist for Renzenberger Inc. and “provides reliable safe transportation solutions to Union Pacific Railroad Personnel,” and is a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst. He was Chair of the LD 29 Republican Party for four years until November 2011 and has his B.S. degree in Sociology from the University of the State of New York in Albany. He has also worked as a substitute teacher and real estate broker.

Kelley just applied unsuccessfully to be appointed by this Pima County Board of Supervisors to be the Independent replacement for LD 29 House Rep. Daniel Patterson, who resigned on April 11, 2012. A five member citizens committee considered Kelley’s application along with nine others, but Kelley did not make the final list of 3 nominees, from which the Board of Supervisors chose attorney Nick Fontana on April 23.

Kelley had temporarily changed his voter registration to Independent on April 11, applied for the vacant LD 29 seat, and changed back to Republican on April 30,2012.

Kelley will be formally announcing his candidacy on Monday on KVOI 1030 AM radio.

Democratic Chair Ramon Valadez was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in September 2003, was a former LD 29 State Senator and LD 10 House Representative (since 1996). Valadez was also born & raised in Tucson.