Downtown Phoenix’s residents experienced a glimmer of hope in the ongoing homeless crisis last month after a court declared the city to blame. If the city doesn’t appeal the court’s order, it may be the end of the massive encampment known as “The Zone.”
The decision flies in the face of the precedent set by other cities: plans and spending that yield no favorable results, ultimately forcing the residents to learn to live with the crime and squalor. Yet, Phoenix may no longer be resigned to the same fate borne by most other major cities. Downtown property and business owners were vindicated in their belief: city officials’ plans, spending, and promises alone don’t qualify as results.
Requiring results of the city could mean The Zone may cease to exist in the near future — restoring a square mile of the current wasteland of city-sanctioned slums into a healthy business district — but only if the city of Phoenix decides to follow through on the court-ordered action to resolve the homeless crisis. Cleaning up The Zone would mean finding shelter and services for around 800 homeless residing in the area, according to a census conducted by the Human Services Campus late last month.
Homeless sit outside a business in The Zone.
The first bout of legal relief came for The Zone’s residents and business owners after the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled last month that the city of Phoenix was at fault for The Zone. The court ordered the city to show that it’s taking “meaningful steps” toward fixing The Zone. They have until July 10 to do so, with a trial date scheduled for June.
The ruling came days after the city of Phoenix promised to finally meet to fix The Zone, a promise prompted by back-to-back murders in the encampment.
Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute, Timothy Sandefur, who submitted an amicus brief in the case, told AZ Free News that this ruling was a good first step toward remedying The Zone — but that the city has a ways to go.
“I think this is a first step and a very important one,” said Sandefur.
Sandefur said that the superior court indicated the best next steps for the city would be to build structured campgrounds and establish treatment programs, rather than continue with their current “housing first” approach.
However, notice of a settlement in a separate, federal case issued recently may complicate matters in finally getting the city of Phoenix to fix The Zone.
In the Arizona District Court case, the ACLU and the city held mediation about three weeks ago.
Details of the settlement weren’t made public. The Phoenix City Council plans to convene April 18 in an executive session — a meeting not open to the public — to discuss the terms of the settlement. At some point after, the Phoenix City Council will announce the settlement terms during a public meeting.
Of note, the city attempted to dismiss the superior court case — but not the federal case. The city also spent just shy of $100,000 fighting the superior court case.
Ilan Wurman, another lawyer on the lawsuit against the city, told AZ Free News that the court’s order to fix The Zone was thorough to the point where he imagined it would be difficult for the city to fight it.
“The court’s ruling is such a thorough victory for the business and property owners that it will be very hard for the city to overcome it at a full trial on the merits,” said Wurman. “We hope the city does the right thing and considers a settlement or simply follows through on the court’s instructions — that will save a lot of expense to taxpayers and it will be better for the unsheltered community as well.”
In remarks to the press, the city stresses that it has allocated around $140 million to solve the homeless crisis. However, there’s a difference between commitment and spending. Of the $120 million in COVID-19 relief funds received to address the homeless crisis, the city has only spent about 10 percent.
Of what little the city has spent for the homeless crisis, the Maricopa County Superior Court assessed that none of this spending has actually mitigated the crisis.
Homeless use drugs inside Phoenix’s sprawling encampment known as The Zone.
“With few exceptions, the action items about which city representatives testified centered around the creation of more bureaucracy, additional staff positions, and obtaining additional funding for programs to vaguely address homelessness in general,” stated Judge Scott Blaney. “The Court received very little evidence — if any — that the City intends to take immediate, meaningful action to protect its constituent business owners, their employees, and residents from the lawlessness and chaos in the Zone.”
However, in a recent interview, Mayor Kate Gallego indicated that the city was attempting to follow through on a “housing first” approach, and claimed that the city was “working very hard” to fix the homeless crisis.
As AZ Free News previously reported, “housing first” — also referred to as “permanent supportive” or “affordable” housing — holds the theory that the homeless will choose to seek employment, become financially responsible, and receive mental health care and/or substance abuse treatment if food and housing are provided. The theory also posits that enabling the homeless to choose their housing and support services will make them more likely to remain in that housing and stick with self-improvement initiatives.
Gallego shared that the city was working on launching seven new shelter options in partnership with various organizations, and that the city is hoping to receive additional help from both the state and federal government. She mentioned that she would meet with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gallego disclosed that she recently spoke with Gov. Katie Hobbs about the homeless crisis — a conversation that had last occurred during Hobbs’ inauguration week in January. The mayor said that Hobbs was looking for additional resources to provide the city.
“Residents should feel confident that they’re going to see changes,” said Gallego. “The message we want to send to the public is that we recognize it’s a problem and we want to solve it.”
When questioned, Gallego didn’t directly deny that the city wouldn’t appeal the superior court’s decision.
In another interview, Gallego claimed that adequate law enforcement was taking place in The Zone. Gallego’s claim conflicted with the various investigative reports and witness accounts that depicted minimal law enforcement in The Zone.
“We treat every member of our community the same when they commit a crime. We want to be consistent and to enforce breaking the law,” said Gallego. “If you commit a crime, it is the same regardless of your housing status.”
However, the “Gaydos and Chad Show” testified to witnessing a myriad of criminal activity during a recent excursion in The Zone — including drug use, public defecation and urination, and prostitution — but not seeing any police presence. In response, Gallego claimed the city’s police were “too aggressive” when handling the homeless. The mayor cited the Arizona District Court case against the city as justification for her claim. However, that lawsuit concerned whether the city could enforce camping and sleeping bans, as well as whether the city had a right to seize or throw away items from homeless encampments as part of cleanup efforts. The lawsuit does not address police response to criminal activity.
Watch: The Zone – Homelessness and Crime Rampant in Phoenix
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
City of Phoenix officials expressed interest in an idea for establishing $4,500 water fountains at each bus stop and public park. There are 4,038 bus stops within city boundaries according to city data, meaning the low estimated cost for such a project would amount to nearly $18.2 million.
The water fountains would be made with a polycarbonate shell, the same material used for bulletproof glass, and thermoelectric plates to serve as a water coolant system.
Each fountain would come with a motion sensor-activated dispenser sanitized by UV light; a ring of misters around the canopy, with a filter and pump; sprinklers activated by a security camera to reduce vandalism; motion-activated light for nighttime; solar panels; run-off water drains; a concrete bench; an inverter with a battery and condenser; a cold water tank; and a local artist mosaic installation.
The idea was accepted by the Phoenix Office of Innovation during a public challenge hosted earlier this month. 27 participants were divided into five teams to come up with a plan for providing chilled drinking water in public places.
As thanks for the idea, the city awarded the winning group $700 each — $3,500 total. The city also gave the second-place team a total of $1,500.
The first public challenge from @PHXInnovate brought in bright new ideas to deliver free, cool water to residents. Thank you to everyone who participated! https://t.co/esbhQCNJ1f
Chief Innovation Officer Michael Hammett said that the contest outcomes didn’t mean the city would definitely employ the winning idea, but didn’t dismiss the possibility outright.
One aspect that appeared to be missing from the city’s conversation on establishing more public water fountains was the water usage and potential waste. Arizona is experiencing a water crisis currently. One of the state’s primary water supplies, the Colorado River, sits in a Tier One drought status. The Department of the Interior cut back Arizona’s water usage further for this year.
As part of conservation efforts, the city of Phoenix is considering cuts to residents’ water allowance.
As one of only two mayors in the U.S. delegation at the @UN Water Conference this week, I've been proud to share the innovative work we’ve been doing in Phoenix to conserve and secure our water supply. pic.twitter.com/EHiyZ3ZHXo
The city has also looked to alternative water resources to combat water usage limitations; the city finished installation of the Drought Pipeline Project in December.
Today we celebrated the final pipe installation in the Drought Pipeline Project! This project bolsters water security for our North Phoenix residents by reducing dependence on Colorado River supplies. Read more about the project here: https://t.co/NmS1LfuInlpic.twitter.com/Vh9YjjJie1
Gallego and the city council are also planning the development of a water purification plant to recycle around 60 billion gallons of water a day. Arizona residents use an average of 146 gallons of water per day, per the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Securing our water supply is going to take a team effort. That’s why I’m grateful to have local and federal partners including those I joined today to announce how resources are being put to use to improve infrastructure and conserve water. pic.twitter.com/sHDsyQW9JQ
At the state level, Arizona’s legislative leadership formed the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Water Security last week. The goal of the committee is to come up with more solutions on improving the state’s water security.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
“We have more votes than Kris Mayes. It’s up to the courts to decide to count them.” – Abe Hamadeh
Recent analysis of uncounted provisional ballots in November’s attorney general race make a compelling case that Abe Hamadeh received more legal votes than Kris Mayes.
The 2022 faceoff between Hamadeh and Mayes serves as one of the closest races in Arizona’s history. It’s on par with one other historically significant race that was ultimately overturned, even after both the Maricopa County Superior Court and a Democratic Secretary of State had declared a winner: the 1916 gubernatorial election.
However, the year-long contention of that election had to do with the design of the ballots confusing voters on their vote. This time around, just over 100 years later, the issue concerned voters whose votes were denied to them due to government missteps and failures with election administration.
Last Tuesday, the Mohave County Superior Court granted Hamadeh oral arguments in his motion for a new trial challenging the outcome of his election based on hundreds of allegedly disenfranchised voters. That will occur in about a month, on May 16. Hamadeh shared that they have over 250 affidavits from allegedly disenfranchised voters at present. The vote margin difference is 280.
🚨BREAKING🚨
The Mohave County court has ordered Oral Arguments for our Motion for a New Trial on May 16.
My legal team will expose the government’s withholding of evidence that undermined the rule of law.
According to all counties’ data, there are roughly 8,000 provisional ballots outstanding. Hamadeh led on day-of voters statewide, winning an average of 70 percent of the votes. Provisional ballots may heavily favor him, due to the additional fact that day-of votes were generally 2 to 1 Republican.
“All data points suggest that it favors Republicans,” said Hamadeh.
It appears that, due to the mass tabulator failures, there were less voters but more provisional ballots cast this past election year. Rejection rates of these provisional ballots increased sharply across several counties: Santa Cruz County’s rejections increased from one out of the 117 provisional ballots cast to 83 out of the 139 provisional ballots cast. Pima County’s rejection rate doubled.
Despite Pinal County having a comparable number of provisional ballots cast in 2020 and 2022, their rejection rate increased from 59 to 63 percent.
Yavapai County more than doubled its rejection of provisional ballots this past election than in 2020 based on non-registration, despite having a significant decline in voter turnout (over 87 percent versus just over 75 percent).
Further data will be published in full as court proceedings continue. Hamadeh shared that his legal team is awaiting some data from several counties, which he said would bolster their case.
“As more data comes in, it’s getting worse for the government and looking better for us,” said Hamadeh.
Another development that could impact Hamadeh’s case is the divorce between Democrats’ top election lawyer, Marc Elias, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Elias is engaged in an ongoing federal lawsuit fighting for the voting rights of those voters whose registration was canceled. Elias is fighting for all provisional ballots to be counted — an outcome that would be favorable for Hamadeh’s case, when it was originally intended to be favorable to Democratic interests.
Hamadeh’s legal and analytics teams estimate that over 1,000 voters had their voter registration erroneously canceled due to government system issues. That’s separate from the 8,000 provisional ballots outstanding.
Hamadeh’s team also discovered 750 high-propensity voters whose registrations were wrongly canceled. Of that number, only 176 showed up on Election Day.
“It’s really a screwed up situation,” said Hamadeh. “If you can imagine, the disenfranchisement is even bigger than what we’re arguing.”
Bureaucratic mismanagement resulting in voter registration failures is nothing new, especially for Maricopa County. In 2020, thousands of voters were nearly disenfranchised by intergovernmental miscommunication.
Hamadeh dismissed the argument from some outlets that high-propensity voters should’ve taken more steps to ensure they were registered, saying that doesn’t excuse the government’s failure.
“If you’re on PEVL [Permanent Early Voting List] and you expect your ballot to come but it doesn’t, you’re disenfranchised,” said Hamadeh.
Hamadeh referenced one case he called “egregious,” where a father paying his college daughter’s vehicle registration unknowingly had his registration transferred to a different county — all because his daughter was going to college in a different county.
“Without any notice by the way, he never got any notice. And we know he never intended to go to Coconino because he doesn’t have a house there or anything,” said Hamadeh.
There was also the case of Howard, a visually-impaired disabled veteran whose voter registration was canceled through bureaucratic error, unbeknownst to him, and left him without his voting power in this last election. Hamadeh insisted that Democrats’ refusal to see Howard as the victim in this case was hypocritical.
“The media and Democrats are trying to say this is voter error. But in every single election incident, just two years ago, they were arguing against these voter registration cancellations,” said Hamadeh.
Meet Howard from Mesa, AZ
He’s a combat veteran who has voted in every election. He showed up to vote on November 8 but was given a provisional ballot.
Howard fought for our country and our rights but Maricopa County told him his vote will NOT count. Watch his story👇 pic.twitter.com/qcGglUi9yh
Then there’s the 269 voters who showed up on election day with their mail-in ballot and checked in — but never had their vote counted. Yet, on the county’s end, those check-ins reflect votes cast. Of those 269 who dropped off mail-in ballots that weren’t counted, 149 were Republicans, 53 were Democrats, and 67 were “other.” Hamadeh reported that many of those voters told his team that their votes weren’t counted.
With a 280 vote margin between Mayes and Hamadeh, any of these contested provisional or mail-in ballots may result in the first race overturned in nearly a century.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs marked her 100th day in office last week; and while she hasn’t accomplished much in her short tenure so far, she nonetheless celebrated this milestone.
Hobbs wrote an opinion piece for the Arizona Republic to kick off her day, stating that her “administration has hit the ground running to follow through on the promises I made during the campaign.” She championed the 22 bills that she signed into law and her work on the border and budget negotiations.
The governor didn’t just laud her own accomplishments, but pointed fingers at legislators, in large part, due to the “highly politicized confirmation process” for her nominees to lead state agencies. Hobbs argued that this perceived obstruction “has led agencies to slow walk critical initiatives that could save lives or support vulnerable populations for fear that any move, no matter how innocuous, will be interpreted negatively by certain lawmakers.”
Arizona legislators have been extremely frustrated over the Governor’s Office slow walking of nominees to the Senate for confirmation in the early going of her administration as is her legal responsibility. Though the Hobbs’ administration has appeared to have picked up the pace of transmitting her selections to the Legislature, a Senate source did tell AZ Free News that there are still a few outstanding from the Ninth Floor.
Unsurprisingly, the governor did not include any of her administration’s missteps and unfavorable headlines, including her decision to pull the nomination of her first appointee to serve as the Director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety, the lack of transparency over aspects of her Inaugural Fund, or the sudden resignation of her press secretary – among others.
Hobbs also tweeted that “We’ve accomplished so much these last 100 days and laid the groundwork for what’s to come.” She shared two graphics that highlighted what her administration has done “to move Arizona forward.”
We've accomplished so much these last 100 days and laid the groundwork for what's to come. I'm so proud to share some highlights of what we've done to move Arizona forward ⬇️ 1/9 pic.twitter.com/nVevs27Y3w
On public safety and the border, the governor selected her Executive Order to establish the Independent Prison Oversight Commission and her roundtable discussion with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on migrant policy. On infrastructure, her speech at Lighting Up the Future, a benefit dinner for broadband expansion and digital equity. On Water and the environment, her establishment of the Office of Resiliency. On education, her Executive Order to create the Educator Retention Task Force. On health, her veto of Representative Matt Gress’s bill to enhance protections for pregnant victims. On housing, her Executive Order to reinstate the Arizona Governor’s Commission on Homelessness and Housing under new title. And on the economy, her International State of the State Address.
Mesa Mayor John Giles cheered on the governor’s first 100 days in office, writing, “In a divided government, Governor Hobbs has been forced to be a great defensive player. I appreciate that she’s also gone on the offensive for our shared priorities. She’s off to a great start, setting the right pace to tackle the issues impacting all Arizonans.”
In a divided government, @GovernorHobbs has been forced to be a great defensive player. I appreciate that she’s also gone on the offensive for our shared priorities. She’s off to a great start, setting the right pace to tackle the issues impacting all Arizonans. #Hobbs100pic.twitter.com/ZUCjg8gbVI
But many legislative Republicans disagreed with Hobbs’ (and others’) characterizations of her early time in office. House Speaker Pro-Tempore Travis Grantham told AZ Free News that “There’s not much for her to celebrate. It’s clear she wasn’t prepared to govern, and her administration has been a mishandled from the start. But we can celebrate that because of the work by Republicans at the legislature in recent years, the State of Arizona is in a pretty good position. Consider that we now have universal school choice for families, a 2.5 percent flat income tax for everyone, and a balanced budget with billions of dollars in the bank in a rainy-day fund, all because of Republicans. And we are going to protect and defend those things.”
Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope tweeted out a preview of an interview he participated in outside of the chamber, saying, “Special thanks to @Telemundo for having me on to discuss the lack of promised bipartisanship from @GovernorHobbs over her first 100 Days. From vetoing food/rental tax cuts, standing with murderers on Death Row instead of crime victims, standing with sex offenders instead of parents, to vetoes on bills that had over 2/3s support in both House & Senate to expand access to health care options, the partisan actions haven’t lived up to the bipartisan hype.”
Special thanks to @Telemundo for having me on to discuss the lack of promised bipartisanship from @GovernorHobbs over her first 100 Days. From vetoing food/rental tax cuts, standing with murderers on Death Row instead of crime victims, standing with sex offenders instead of… pic.twitter.com/bUp0hKF0O1
Maricopa County agreed to pay a $175,000 settlement for denying press credentials to a reporter during last year’s election.
Approval of the settlement passed during the county board of supervisors’ meeting on Wednesday without discussion.
The county’s denial meant that the reporter, from the Gateway Pundit, couldn’t attend their press conferences. The county denied the press pass on the grounds that they didn’t believe the reporter was objective and apolitical enough for their tastes. In response, the outlet sued the county in TGP Communications v. Sellers.
In December, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the county to issue the outlet a press pass while the litigation continued in December. The court further asserted that the county likely violated the First Amendment and discriminated against the outlet based on the reporter’s political views.
“Permitting ‘truth’ to be determined by the county violates our foundational notions of a free press,” stated the order.
When Maricopa County rolled out its press passes last September, Recorder Stephen Richer tweeted what appeared to be an agreement — and even celebration — of a statement that the county was going to prevent The Gateway Pundit from attending county press conferences and other events.
Later, around the time of the lawsuit’s filing, Richer deleted the tweet. Richer told AZ Free News that he didn’t have a specific reason for deleting the tweet, just that he occasionally deletes posts that he dislikes or deems to be unproductive in hindsight.
The county’s press pass application page remained active until around January 2023. It required the journalist’s contact information, address, dates of planned coverage, work samples, and a pledge that they didn’t have a conflict of interest or association involvement that would compromise their journalistic integrity.
It also required journalists to promise they didn’t receive compensation or special treatment from advertisers or political organizations that would influence their coverage, and that they weren’t a lobbyist, advertiser, paid advocate, or influencer for any individual, political party, corporation, or organization.
A month after initiating the press passes system, the county launched a disinformation center. They further declared a limit to press access on county property.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
