As the Chairman and co-founder of the Recall against Senate President Russell Pearce, I feel compelled to respond to the many distortions, personal attacks, and outright lies that have been circulated about our historic effort, including the recent piece by State Senator Andy Biggs.
Many people have asked those of us who organized the Recall, why a recall? Why now? Let me start by saying that Citizens for a Better Arizona is a coalition of Arizona citizens who are concerned about the direction our state politics has taken in terms of priorities, civility, and Arizona’s national reputation. Our committee is made up of several Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. When Russell Pearce was elected Senate President in December of 2010, our concerns were heightened because of Pearce’s history of being a divisive, ideologically driven legislator. On the first day of Pearce’s Senate Presidency, members of CBA delivered a letter to him telling him that the priorities of everyday Arizonans were education, economic growth, health care, and job creation. He was put on notice that he would be held accountable for the placement of these priorities during the legislative session.
It quickly became apparent that as Senate President, Pearce did not share these priorities. The first weeks of the session saw extreme legislation such as “birther” bills, bills allowing guns on school campuses, bills calling for nullification of federal laws, bills turning teachers and doctors into immigration agents, and other social-issue legislation that did
nothing to improve our schools or economy. Under Pearce, we had an official state gun before we had a state budget!
When the budget finally came, it included hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to education and health care, while at the same time increasing funding for the private prison industry that had contributed so heavily to Pearce’s campaigns. We felt that a message needed to be sent that legislators who placed their pet ideological agendas ahead of the well being of the state would no longer be tolerated - and so on January 31, 2011, we pulled petitions to initiate the recall of Senator Pearce. We felt that our state, which had dropped into the lowest rankings of the states in terms of education, housing foreclosures, and economic forecasts, could not withstand another year of Pearce’s failed leadership.
Senator Pearce’s actions during this campaign have only underscored our contention that he is unfit to lead our state.
His claim that he was unaware of the sham candidacy of Olivia Cortes, even as his family members and staunchest supporters were propping up her campaign, would be laughable if it weren’t such a brazen display of dishonesty from the man who has been called the most powerful politician in Arizona. He has launched scurrilous and untrue personal attacks about the organizers of the recall, the 10,300 voters of his district who signed the recall petitions, and the decent man who was drafted by Mesa Republicans to run against him. Pearce claims that the recall is the work of “outside far left forces” who have “raised millions of dollars to remove” him from office. However, the recent financial filings of the parties in the recall belie that claim, and expose Pearce himself as the beneficiary of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from monied special interests. Pearce raised more money just from PAC’s and lobbyists than our organization took in total. I can assure the voters of Mesa that the recall has been the work of everyday Arizona citizens from across the political spectrum, and that no outside special interests are involved.
Whether Pearce is removed from office or not, we hope two messages are sent loud and clear to our elected officials in Arizona. The first is that ordinary citizens are paying attention and will no longer sit idly by while you pursue your personal agendas at our expense. The second - and perhaps more important - is that extraordinary things can be accomplished when people from various political beliefs come together, find common ground, treat each other with civility, and work hard to seek pragmatic solutions to our problems.
Chad T. Snow, Chairman
Phoenix
Leon Ceniceros posted at 12:17 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Folks, ask yourself why this recall didn't come about in 2010 when SB 1070 was approved by the Arizona Legislature. If the good folks of Mesa were so disgusted and disillusioned with Senator Pearce then that's when a "Recall Uproar" would have been credible.
Why did this recall occur exactly at the same time that the "Utah Compact" was unveiled. This is just too much coincidence to swallow.
Jeff Flake is pushing the Utah Compact in his bid for US Senator for the State of Arizona.
Matt Salmon is pushing the Utah Compact in his bid for the US Congress for the State of Arizona.
The Utah Compact allows for "Amnesty". Allows Illegal Aliens to get Licenses to "Drive in the State of Arizona". Do you want Illegal Aliens driving on your streets, your freeways and highways ???
SB 1070 does not allow any "Amnesty" 400,000 Illegal Aliens in the State of Arizona. It focuses on the deportation of these 400,000 Illegal Aliens. Could that be the reason for this "Recall Election" not the free football games and other nonsense. Does President Obama pay to go to a football game? Does Vice-President Joe Biden pay to go to a football game? Does the Speaker of the House Boehner pay to go to a football game? Does the President of the Senate pay to go to a football game?..................Heck no they don't and never did.
Russell Pearce is a 100% Patriotic Politician who has forced the Obama Administration to enforce the Federal Illegal Alien Laws that have been on the books for 100 years............no more.....no less. ....just "enforce" the Laws is all that SB 1070 does.
If you want to give "Amnesty" to 400,000 Illegal Aliens, if you want you child to keep on getting a 2nd Class Education because of all the Illegal Alien students in Our Schools...if you want to keep paying sky-high taxes to support Unemployment Benefits to "legal" Americans who's jobs are being stolen by Illegal Aliens then...........then vote to ...."recall" Senator Russel Pearce.
But if you want to keep a 100% American Politician in Office....then vote..." for "... Senator Russell Pearce.
Jewel in the desert posted at 2:49 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Chad Snow already answered your question if you had actually been listening. This recall came about THIS year because Russell Pearce was made Senate President and suddenly had more power than the governor herself. That was the final straw. We even gave Senator Pearce a month to prove he would listen to our requests to work on the issues that really matter to this state like education, jobs, and social services. Pearce ignored our pleas. So after a 30 day warning, we filed paper work to start the recall. The rest is history.
Several months ago Senator Pearce was asked what would happen to all the people who were facing cuts to their social and education services. He flippantly replied they'd get along somehow. Well, here it is several months later and people are NOT getting along. Just today I read in the paper how 70 children...mostly babies have been killed this year by their parents or caretakers. 550 have been hospitalized, nearly 100 more than all of last year.
Mary Rimsza, a pediatrician who chairs the states fatality-review team states that "reduced services to families and children, have stressed parents and caregivers beyond the breaking point." "Cutting services for children has severe consequences," "At a time when we need the services the most, we have less of them available."
Rebecca Ruffner, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, also stated, : "We cannot investigate our way out of child abuse and neglect." "The numbers really call for attention" and "The child-welfare system has been starved....and never more than it is today."
Does it sound like the children of Arizona are doing OK? The children of Arizona cannot wait one more day let alone one more year. The time to act is NOW. Vote Russell Pearce out of office by electing Jerry Lewis, Tuesday, November 8th.
arizonapride posted at 3:12 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Leon Ceniceros,
I find it useful to read the article prior to commenting.
If you'd like to do that, you'll find the answer to your question on the timing of the recall.
I'd also like to think that those who supported Pearce by voting for him last November might be holding him to a promise he made in late November. It was a promise he made to his fellow R's to secure needed votes and be elected Senate President. It was a promise he echoed to his constituents in LD18 and all citizens of Arizona. A promise that in exchange for their vote for him as Senate President that he would "not sponsor or be involved with any legislation pertaining to illegal immigration...it's time for someone else to carry that water...I intend to focus on the issues important to Arizonan's and why they re-elected me: the jobs and the economy. My focus on these issues will be like a laser."
So, there you have it. Mr Pearce promised all of us he'd focus on jobs on the economy and leave illegal immigration out of it. And what did we get? A bill to Nullify Federal laws and mandates (that he ran up twice)...Sponsorship for a birther bill...A bill naming the Colt Single Action Army revolver the official State gun. When we finally did see a jobs bill, it was hardly anything but. Nothing effective immediately to help get Arizonan's back to work...well, nothing at all that promises to put Arizonan's to work. But, it does promise lots of tax breaks to Corporation in Arizona. Tax breaks to the tune of $600M starting in 2014 (read; $600M less tax revenue for the State). The same year we realize the loss of the .01 special sales tax that's worth about $800M to our tax coffers.
arizonapride posted at 3:15 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Oh, and that rpromise? At the close of session, Mr Pearce had sponsored or co-sponsored no less than 5 bills directly related to illegal immigration.
And every single one was defeated. Despite a Republican supermajority.
Well, at least it appears his fellow R's in the Senate recognized his lie to them and appropriately rewarded him for breaking his promise to them.
Be nice if the voters of LD18 do the same.
Dale Whiting posted at 3:38 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
And for those of you who find cause to suspect religious influences behind every movement, chances are pretty good that Chad T. Snow descends from the same group of Mormons as does Jeff Flake, the "Snowflake" crowd. We Mormons are embarrassed by the priorities of our fellow Latter-day Saint, Russell Pearce. He's spent far too much time working for Sheriff Joe!
Ditto Jewel in the desert, and arizonapride.
maxsmith posted at 4:07 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Chad Snow makes his living off of illegals. Illegals are breaking the state budget. Pearce tries to fix it and Chad recalls him
makes sense
Jewel in the desert posted at 4:31 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Max if you're so worried about money being wasted and breaking our state budget, you might want to take a good hard look at Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Last year he mismanaged (which is the sugar coated way to say... used fraudulently) 100 million dollars. Throw in the millions he has cost our state in lawsuits and you would be astounded. Throw in the 50 million extra spent on private prisons (when we have a decreasing prison population), which includes $200 a day payments even if a cell is empty, and you can see where all the budget breaking is going on. Our priorities in Arizona are a mess. We're so busy looking for headless bodies in the desert that we're missing what is right in front of us. Our schools, childrens welfare, education, jobs, mental health, etc. etc. We want to recall Russell Pearce because we want our states priorities to be in line with what really matters.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 5:10 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Look, the Mormon Presidency has realised that it bit off wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more than it can chew. The multi-multi-multi-million dollar "We are Mormon" Campaign was a total fiasco...all it did was generate a zillion ...."anti-Mormon" comments all over CNN, the Arizona Republic and here at the EVT. All the TV Ads have been pulled off the Air. They were only shown in Arizona I think to generate votes for Matt Salmon, Jeff the Flakster and Mitt "on no, I am getting my keester kicked all over the place....again" Romney.
Now every male member of every Ward in Mesa is going to have to "hot foot it over to the polls" to pull Jerry Lewis's fat out of the fire. It will be hilarious watching all the clean-cut, well-groomed, long-sleeved, dress-shirted, trouser-slacked men lining up like lemmings at the polling stations all over Mesa come Re-Call Election Night.
Now wouldn't it be totally...totally ironic of Russell Pearce would throw his hat into the Matt Salmon Congressional fight or even.....the Jeff Flake US Senatorial Election....if he is ........recalled.......what a hoot that would be....wouldn't it Folks....what a hoot.............[wink]
concernedcitizen posted at 7:59 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
First of all, Leon, your comments are funny, you obviously hate "Mormons" and feel you must blame everything on them. It also sounds like you are a little jealous of them. :) Usually we blame others when we are guilty of not doing something ourselves.
Second, I do feel that Russell Pearce has done all the things this article charges him of. However, I am STILL voting for Russell Pearce in this recall election, mainly because he is better than Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis cost the state $1.9 million in tax dollars by illegally putting extra students on his rolls at the Sequoia Schools. Thankfully they were forced to pay this back. Contrast this with Pearce accepting close to $40k in gifts from the Fiesta Bowl (NOT from the taxpayers). This is a common thing for politicians, and he wasn't accepting tax payer money (nor was he trying to weasel the Fiesta Bowl out of that money). Who is more honest between these two from these examples?
I am a public educator, and I have done foster care for a few years. Pearce and the other Republican lawmakers do need to be put on notice and focus on what is most important to Arizonans. You "pay it forward" by investing in education and in helping children who, through no fault of their own, have a horrible start in their life because of druggie parents. Otherwise, you'll pay for it in the end through more prisons, more police, etc. As a school teacher, if I take care of matters while they are small, they never turn into big matters. This is the same with children. Politicians, listen up! Take care of those who are most vulnerable and have the least control over their own destinies!
Vote Russell Pearce, and let's give ourselves another year to find some more candidates that could do more for Arizona than Russell has. Allowing a 1 cent sales tax to help with education, and then cutting regular funding for education by pretty much the same amount that the sales tax generated is dishonest and misleading to the public. Creating a state gun and more specialized license plates underneath the radar at the beginning of a legislative session while not taking care of the most important bill (the budget) first is dishonest and is not fulfilling your stewardship as a public servant. Let ALL politicians be on alert that citizens are paying attention!
Arizona Willie posted at 7:33 am on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
Follow the money folks.
Chad Snow is an attorney who is making lots of money representing illegal aliens.
Not just for charges that they are in the country illegally, but for all their legal matters in this country. Applying for unemployment, workman's comp, etc. etc. etc.
Cracking down on illegals is harmful to his income.
Remember Sheriff Joe and Pearce were absolutely wonderful people ... no better Sheriff in the country and Pearce was almost as good as George Washington --- UNTIL THEY ENFORCED THE LAWS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
This election is about ONE THING and one thing only.
Business wants cheaper labor to replace YOU.
Cerulean posted at 9:00 am on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
[thumbup] to Mr. Chad Snow and his commentary.
Rational Human posted at 12:17 pm on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
It's pretty obvious what message you're trying to send Mr. Snowjob. If you try to stop the illegal invasion of America, we will go after you.
Check out this page from recall organizer Chad Snow's website. It seems that Mr. Snow makes a living catering to illegal aliens filing workers compensation claims.
If you are an immigrant or undocumented worker who has been seriously injured while on the job, in Phoenix or throughout the state, you have a friend and champion in our Snow & Carpio, PLC, workers' compensation law firm.
We believe in justice for all injured Arizona workers. Our attorneys Chad Snow and Xavier Alexander Carpio have almost 20 years of experience getting results for injured workers of all backgrounds. Both partners and all staff are fluent in the Spanish language, so you will feel comfortable speaking with us about your case.
Remember: If you were injured at your job in Arizona, your immigration status is not a factor. You are as deserving of workers' compensation benefits as a worker who is a U.S. citizen. The Arizona Workers Compensation Act defines covered employees as "every person in the service of an employer ... including aliens legally or illegally permitted to work for hire ... " (A.R.S. 23-901(6)(b).
samkat posted at 7:03 pm on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
Go Russell for it. The pro illegal crowd is running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The rest of us want our immigration laws enforced. :-)
bobunf posted at 12:05 am on Fri, Nov 4, 2011.
Pearce and his ilk love the false dichotomy: if you oppose poor leadership, bad public policies and corruption (i.e., Pearce), you must automatically support illegal immigration.
Throw that tired old red herring back in the water. No one is buying it.
bobunf posted at 12:12 am on Fri, Nov 4, 2011.
Even if there were no reason at all to recall Pearce before the recall campaign, Pearce has given more than sufficient reason since:
Start with his descent into absurd name calling.
The fake twitter account
The fake candidate
The frivolous and expensive lawsuit
Adolescent sign stealing
All of which bear two aspects: lack of ethics and complete ineptitude.
The fake candidate, for instance. The candidate was terrible, she couldn’t even walk her dog in public. Pearce used his relatives and most ardent supporters to gather signatures, which was just dumb – talk about being obvious. And the whole money thing was handled in ways that may have been illegal and which could only raise big suspicions.
Then putting Pearce signs on their lawns within hours of signing or circulating Olivia’s petition. Even when they knew some of them would have to testify in court, they couldn’t get past the rather unbelievable Schultz defense of “I know nothing.” At least, unbelievable according to the judge. Perjury anyone? Deeper and deeper.
“I know nothing,” that’s Russell Pearce’s defense, and about as believable.
Does anyone really want such incompetent swindlers running the state?
In_God_We_Trust posted at 10:03 am on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
TRUE Vetted Lewis Facts:
1) Lewis committed fraud against Arizona by falsifying the number of students at Sequoia Schools, which he used to manage until the State forced him to resign. Lewis asked Joy Christian, doesn't take public funds, to have their students log on to Sequoia to inflate the number of students.
A 2009 Audit by the State of AZ showed that Lewis defrauded taxpayers $1.9 million by Lewis falsely reporting an additional 400 Joy Christian students. Lewis was forced to resign and Sequoia had to pay back the $1.9 million to AZ. For more information, go to Sonoran News.
2) Lewis then became the manager of Pappas School, for underprivileged youths. Lewis was caught "light fingered" taking from the Homeless Donations. The lawsuit by the teacher(s) is open and pending in MC Superior Court. Click on the link at Sonoran Alliance to print the court documents.
3) Lewis at the debate equated AZ TODAY with the worst of the lynchings, KKK, and other civil rights travesties. Lewis "AZ is seen as something akin to 1964 Alabama". (AZ Rep video or Trib)
4) The article in the AZ Capital Times by a University of Phoenix lawyer(s) that Lewis' "slash and burn" tactic in the Cortes lawsuit were brutal and unconstitutional.
Quotes" The BEGINNING OF THE END OF DEMOCRACY IN ARIZONA. So let's hope no one ever brings a lawsuit like this again".
"After establishing just how far, exactly to the political Right these people can be found on the spectrum, (Lewis') Ryan executed what was probably the MOST CONSTITUTIONALLY REPUGNANT PART OF HIS LITIGATION STRATEGY -he required each to list every single political ally be name..their political beliefs and goals of their friends."
"The government has no right to pass judgment on the associations of its citizens-political, religious, ideological, or otherwise. Yet (Lewis') Ryan asked a Judge to INVENT A LAW whereby such associations can also give rise to legal and criminal liability." (AZ Capital Times article)
5) Lewis claims to be a Republican-no Democrat is running because Lewis is the "sham" Republican. The State GOP and Maricopa County GOP broker tradition of not endorsing a candidate when more than one is running because they KNOW that Lewis is a plant. Pearce has the support of the prominent Republican AZ state officers and legislators.
6) Lewis refuses to criticize/denounce his puppet master, Randy Parraz. Parraz is a union organizer and promoter of class warfare paid $117K a year by the unions (unioncheck.com) to disrupt and attack conservatives. Add in Lewis' La Raza (kill whites) and AZtlan (return AZ to Mexico) buddies-Snow, Parraz, Grijalva, Pastor, Reze- and you have a witches' brew.
As US Senator Trent Franks stated in his endorsement of State Senator President Pearce, please do not allow the "Looney Left" to take over Arizona, "flooding Million(s) into the state from outside unions , to pay for Open Border Activists to swarm Mesa's neighborhoods.
Rational Human posted at 8:24 pm on Wed, Nov 9, 2011.
It's a sad day in the history of Arizona the day extremist lefties fooled republicans into helping them to oust one of the greatest senators this state has ever produced. A sheethole like Mesa never deserved such greatness. Russell Pearce is larger than Mesa will ever be. A drive through the heart of Mesa shows it to be nothing but a terd world city full of terd world thinkers. Russell Pearce will go on to bigger and better places, and the fight to decimate the filthy scum invaders from the south will not end here today. Pearce helped to start the ball rolling and it's picking up speed. Look out terd world invaders. We are coming for you, and we will kick you out of our state and country. Perhaps Russell needs to consider running for Jon Kyl's US Senate seat. He'd be ten times better for Arizona than flaky flakes could ever be. In the meantime, all you illegal supporters join hands with La Ratza and do the hat dance in celebration. You deserve to celebrate a job well done. Then get back down in your bunkers cause the war isn't over by a long shot.
downtownresident posted at 4:16 pm on Tue, Dec 6, 2011.
Rational,
You're really a radical aren't you? Do you sleep with a gun?
Wonderful Russ is a fat, overbearing biggot, who thinks he's royalty and has that Mormon sense of superiority that so many have.
Have fun hating everyone except your immediate family. How many wives do you have?