The private school Brophy College Preparatory (Brophy) announced Wednesday that it would mandate the experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Their take on the mandate mirrored President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors – if an individual isn’t fully vaccinated, they must adhere to masking restrictions, social distancing measures, and frequent testing.
In a letter to parents, Brophy Principal Bob Ryan explained that there wouldn’t be a hybrid learning option for students. Therefore, students needed to adjust accordingly to create a safe learning environment. According to Ryan, Brophy students and faculty may choose to not be vaccinated; however, they would have to be tested regularly and be prohibited from overnight retreats and school travels outside of the metro area.
“Over the last six months, it has become increasingly clear that the most effective way to contain the spread of the virus is to have a vaccinated community,” wrote Ryan. “Therefore, effective September 13, every student, teacher, and staff member will need to have proof of vaccination on file with the school or get tested for COVID regularly. Additionally, effective Monday, August 9, and for the foreseeable future, any student who wishes to participate in overnight retreats or any school-related travel outside of the Phoenix metro area will be required to have proof of vaccine on file.”
Brophy will resume classes next Thursday.
Earlier this summer, Governor Doug Ducey signed the bill prohibiting K-12 mask and vaccine mandates into law. Both of Ducey’s sons are Brophy graduates.
It is unclear whether private schools like Brophy are exempt from the law. The COVID-19 vaccine is still under emergency use authorization (EUA) only from the FDA.
Gilbert awarded a $17,000 contract for a survey to a political consulting firm that Mayor Brigette Peterson used during her election campaign last year. During the campaign, Peterson paid a total of $9,530 to the firm, Camelback Strategy Group, for consulting and social media services.
Camelback Strategy Group doesn’t have any public record or advertisement of surveys completed prior to the one conducted for Gilbert. The closest thing that the firm offers to surveys is through their affiliated – but independent – company, Grassroots Advocates. However, that company only offers political data and strategy services like voter contact, door to door canvassing, phone-banking, sign set-up and delivery, signature gathering and validation, tracking and blocking – and according to email records obtained by AZ Free News, Grassroots Advocates didn’t complete the survey. Camelback Strategy Group did.
It is unclear how Camelback Strategy Group came to be selected to conduct the survey. Peterson’s spokesperson told AZ Free News that the mayor wasn’t involved with the transportation bond poll conducted.
We also reached out to Camelback Strategy Group for comment. They didn’t respond to AZ Free News by press time.
The survey was conducted through a phone poll. Based on email records between Camelback Strategy Group Partner Chad Heywood and Deputy Town Manager Leah Hubbard, the survey canvassed approximately 350 Gilbert residents and took about a week to complete.
The survey was completed about 6 weeks prior to the council vote on whether to place the transportation bond on the ballot. The council voted in favor of the transportation bond at the beginning of June, 5-2. Council Members Aimee Yentes and Laurin Hendrix both voted against the measure.
Although the council vote on the bond occurred over two months ago, the fact that the mayor’s political consulting firm received around $17,000 to conduct a survey stood out to constituents enough for it to be discussed during Tuesday’s council meeting.
Public commentary tied the $17,000 survey to the several open investigations against Peterson concerning issues like work environment and ethics complaints.
One resident, Jim Torgeson, said he was disappointed with the council for not holding Peterson accountable.
“Judgment includes those multiple ethics complaints, optics of favoritism – with no efforts to correct those – optics of racism, the optics of quid pro quo, the optics of hostile work environments, the optics of a poorly-run high school clique council. The mayor won’t fix it. I’m asking you to fix it,” said Torgeson. “The last thing I need to think of is that people are awarded contracts because they’re political consultants that worked on the mayor’s campaign, awarded $17,000 to do a phone poll. A phone poll, and they don’t even do phone polls.”
The public became further incensed when Peterson opened discussion on a proposal to overhaul public commentary protocols. Instead of 3 minutes for every person with up to 15 minutes of speaking time unless the council decides on an extension, the mayor proposed that she should be the sole decision-maker on who could speak and for how long.
The mayor’s opponent, Matt Nielsen, spoke up about this proposed rule change during the meeting. He reminded the council that America is still a constitutional republic, and said that the mayor was trying to control public commentary because of the ongoing investigations against her.
“The fact that [this proposal] has come before the council at all is further evidence that Mayor Peterson is more committed to the preservation of her own public image in light of multiple recent alleged ethics violations than she is with the American ideal of civic engagement in government,” stated Nielsen. “It’s a terrible look for our town’s top elected official to allow a consolidation of power to herself relative to the speech of Gilbert citizens when she is under heavy scrutiny for multiple serious allegations.”
The council members questioned Peterson’s intent and rationale for introducing the rule change.
Peterson responded that the proposal wasn’t borne out of “malicious” intent, but that she was simply trying to rewrite the code to match years of council operations. Despite her explanation, the council didn’t appear to back the proposed changes as written.
Council members motioned to table the proposed rule change.
Over 50 property owners are seeking over $23 million in claims due to Flagstaff’s latest regulations on property rights. The Goldwater Institute is representing the property owners; the think tank noted in their announcement last month that “thousands more” could have viable claims against the city, too. Since then, Goldwater Institute Executive Vice President Christina Sandefur informed AZ Free News that more property owners have stepped forward to file a claim. Flagstaff has 90 days to respond to the pending claims.
Flagstaff passed an ordinance in March, the High Occupancy Housing Plan, that restricted residential and mixed-use property improvements. The city’s plan offered a wide scope of regulations, including a limit on the density and number of bedrooms and units in a property, as well as certain automobile and bicycle parking standards.
In a press release, the Goldwater Institute pointed out that state law – Prop 207, or the Private Property Rights Protection Act – requires Flagstaff to pay individuals whenever they take away their right to use their property. The institute argued further that the restrictions on renovations, improvements, or further property developments constituted a taking away of rights.
“Flagstaff’s ordinance is exactly the kind of government overreach that Arizona voters sought to guard against,” asserted the think tank. “That’s a costly burden on property owners, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s why the Goldwater Institute is seeking relief on their behalf under the Private Property Rights Protection Act.”
Under Prop 207, current recourse for Flagstaff property owners entails writing a letter to the city requesting payment for any property value diminishment the restriction caused, or for the city to waive certain restrictions entirely. Sandefur says that if proper recourse isn’t offered, they will take legal action.
“Under Proposition 207, the city has 90 days to decide whether to pay the property owners for taking their rights away, or whether to give them their rights back,” explained Sandefur. “We are hoping that the city does the right thing so that these claims don’t have to turn into litigation, which will be time-consuming and costly for the city.”
Flagstaff’s High Occupancy Housing Plan claimed that there would be no financial or policy impacts. The plan was considered an advancement to the city’s 2018 High Occupancy Housing Specific Plan (HOH Plan).
The Goldwater Institute clarifiedthat it hasn’t filed any lawsuits for these claims to date.
AZ Free News reached out to the city of Flagstaff for comment. They didn’t respond by press time.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge did not rule on the Phoenix Union High School District’s (PXU) mask mandate during an emergency hearing Wednesday. The Kolodin Law Group filed on behalf of PXU biology teacher Douglas Hester on Monday, requesting an injunction against PXU’s mandate issued several days earlier.
PXU’s superintendent and governing board members were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
According to the new state law, no schools may require face coverings or the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of in-person learning. The lawsuit pointed out that the law includes a retroactive clause for the mask and vaccine prohibition. Therefore, those parts of the law were expected to take effect on June 30.
Alexander Kolodin with Kolodin Law Group told AZ Free News that this lawsuit will determine whether government is bound to the law. He added that this case was an important determinant in restoring people’s faith in their governing system. According to Kolodin, Hester wasn’t the only teacher that voiced concern over the mask mandate.
“This lawsuit is simply about whether the government needs to follow the law or whether the government is above the law,” explained Kolodin. “The people’s duly elected representatives arrived at the idea that in the case of schools, the tradeoff between mandating masks and personal liberty was in favor of not mandating masks. That was the voice of the people.”
Kolodin credited State Representatives Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) and Jacqueline Parker (R-Mesa) for their hand in the legislation prohibiting K-12 mask and vaccine mandates.
“Obviously the people of Arizona have been applying a lot of pressure to elected officials concerning these pandemic-mandated countermeasures,” said Kolodin. “[These] two state legislators worked with their constituents to get legislation passed to try to balance the interest of people and their liberty.”
Representative Paul Gosar, DDS (R-AZ-04) debuted a new series on Sunday to keep his constituents in the loop: “The Gosar Minute.” The series offers fast-hitting facts, commentary, and solutions for current issues, presented by Gosar’s staffers in the style of traditional broadcast journalism.
Gosar’s latest series may be difficult to find, however. AZ Free News discovered that Twitter has hidden the tag #GosarMinute under its “Sensitive Content” setting. Any users searching for #GosarMinute on Twitter with their search settings hiding sensitive content won’t be able to find those Gosar Minuteposts. However, users will be able to locate the Gosar Minute postings on Gosar’s congressional Twitter page.
Twitter says that “sensitive media” may fall into the following categories: graphic violence, adult content, violent sexual content, gratuitous gore, and hateful imagery.
The premiere episode featured Gosar’s intern, Faith Graham, discussing how Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to meet with Gosar and Representatives Louie Gohmert (R-TX-01), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) to discuss the mistreatment and physical abuse of those imprisoned for nonviolent offenses committed at the Capitol on January 6.
“Today I am launching ‘The Gosar Minute.’ My team will discuss current events in short one minute clips and my take or involvement in them,” wrote Gosar. “Today’s topic is my recent visit to the DOJ with @RepMTG@RepMattGaetz@replouiegohmert ENJOY!”
Today I am launching “The Gosar Minute.” My team will discuss current events in short one minute clips and my take or involvement in them. Today’s topic is my recent visit to the DOJ with @RepMTG@RepMattGaetz@replouiegohmert
Gosar’s affiliate, Beni Harmony, presented Wednesday’s Gosar Minute. The latest episode focused on President Joe Biden’s border crisis and Gosar’s proposed solution: a ten-year pause on all immigration at the southern border to stymie issues caused by the unchecked influx of illegal immigrants.
“#GosarMinute[:] We cannot have legal immigration when we are experiencing an invasion of rampant illegal immigration at our southern border. It’s a threat to our national security and economy. We must wrap our arms around this and press pause until we do. #10yearmoratorium[.]”
? #GosarMinute ? We cannot have legal immigration when we are experiencing an invasion of rampant illegal immigration at our southern border. It’s a threat to our national security and economy. We must wrap our arms around this and press pause until we do. #10yearmoratoriumpic.twitter.com/8hRMI3TTn7
On his personal account, Gosar retweeted the debut episode of Gosar Minute with a clarification: this series is part of what he calls the “Gosar News Network.”
“The Gosar News Network back at it dropping truth bombs like it’s my business,” wrote Gosar. “#GNN #GosarNewsNetwork #GosarMinute.”
