by Elizabeth Troutman | Apr 21, 2024 | Economy, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Seven in 10 workers don’t wanna work from home, according to a ResumeBuilder.com survey of 1,250 full-time workers.
While 70% don’t want to be fully remote, 40% want to be fully in-person, and 32% prefer hybrid work. Employees cited communication and collaboration as the top reasons why employees want in-person work.
“With the tug-and-pull surrounding remote and hybrid work, the voices of those advocating for full-time in-office work have not always received equal attention,” Resume Builder’s Chief Career Advisor Stacie Haller said.
The majority of those who want hybrid work want three days in-office. Thirteen percent of those would like to work four days in-person, 41% say three days per week is ideal, and 27% prefer two days in person. Ten percent would like to work one day per week in office, and 9% prefer one to three days per month.
“While the desire for some in-office presence remains prevalent, the extent of this preference remains subject to flux,” Haller said. “It’s clear that a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer tenable in today’s diverse workforce landscape. Yet, the specific configuration of in-office versus remote work versus hybrid continues to be a matter of ongoing negotiation and adaptation.”
Out of those who prefer remote work, 87% prefer work from home, while 9% would rather be in a hybrid environment, and 4% prefer in-person options.
Of hybrid employees, 68% prefer hybrid work, while 27% would like to work remotely, and 5% would rather be in-person. Of fully in-person employees, 58% prefer in-person work, while 24% would rather work in a hybrid model, and 18% would prefer remote work.
Haller said she is convinced the hybrid model will emerge as the predominant choice of most workers.
“This approach accommodates the diverse needs and preferences of both employees and employers, fostering a more flexible and resilient work environment capable of meeting the challenges of the modern era and the need for more workers to achieve a work-life balance,” Haller said.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 20, 2024 | Economy, News
By Staff Reporter |
Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) gave a brief rundown on the state of his constituents’ financial well-being under Biden before Congress on Tuesday.
Schweikert said that his district consists of some of the more well-off, educated, and entrepreneurial constituents in Arizona and the country. Yet, Schweikert says his more “prosperous” district has become poorer even when accounting for factors like wage growth.
“In my district, we’ve had the highest inflation in the continental United States. If you do not make 23.6 percent more money today than you did the day President Biden took office, you are poorer,” said Schweikert.
Schweikert’s district spans a northeast section of Phoenix that encompasses Scottsdale, Paradise Valley Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, the Salt River and Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation reservations, and part of the Tonto National Forest.
The congressman went on to say that his fellow congressmen, dubbed “the clown show,” needed to have “an honest conversation” with constituents to acknowledge that they’ve grown poorer in recent years.
Arizona experienced the highest inflation rates since February 2021, only returning to a lower rate of 2.7 percent earlier this year, last seen March 2021.
Both Arizona State University business professor and Carey School director Mark Stapp and University of Arizona economics center director George Hammond told Cronkite News last year that the reason for Arizona having the highest inflation — mainly Phoenix — has to do with shelter costs.
Arizona’s high growth rate, coupled with the lack of supply, prompted a rapid rise in housing and rent prices.
In 2022, the state boasted the highest inflation rate in the nation. At the time, the Phoenix area had a 13 percent inflation, much higher than the nationwide inflation rate at the time of 8 percent.
Schweikert has repeatedly urged his colleagues to curb inflation, last month pointing out the effects of the record levels of spending under the Biden administration. Schweikert projected that the total deficit spending for the 2024 fiscal year will be higher than both the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have projected.
Over the past three years, Arizona’s food banks have reported an unprecedented increase in the number of clientele they’re serving. The Arizona Food Bank Network reported earlier this year that it and its member food banks have served 14 percent more individuals in 2023 than in 2022 (a total of nearly 570,000 people a month), and 20 percent more than before the pandemic.
Conversely, the census reported that 12.5 percent of Arizonans were living in poverty in 2023 — the lowest rate in the past decade.
Schweikert hasn’t been the only one of Arizona’s congressmen to criticize federal leaders’ approach to handling inflation. Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) remarked during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union last month that the overall inflation rate had hit nearly 20 percent since 2021, costing Arizonans nearly $13,000 in 2023 according to the Joint Economic Committee.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 20, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Jamie Aldama, the Democratic Glendale mayoral candidate and former councilman, is now battling a lawsuit accusing his campaign of submitting fraudulent signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The lawsuit filed on Monday by local Republican Party chairman Timothy Schwartz alleged that Aldama submitted at least 670 signatures that were either faked, duplicates, from individuals residing outside of Glendale, or from individuals not registered to vote. The lawsuit further alleged that some voters named on Aldama’s signature sheets reported that they hadn’t signed the sheets.
Aldama submitted nearly 2,400 signatures, more than the nearly 1,900 required to qualify for the ballot. A finding of at least 670 invalid signatures would drop Aldama below the qualifying limit.
Members of the media remarked that the contested signature sheets depicted names spelled in block lettering on lines where a voter’s signature belonged.
Aldama hasn’t issued any public statements addressing the lawsuit or its allegations.
The case is scheduled to go before the Maricopa County Superior Court next Tuesday, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for Friday.
Aldama is vying to oust incumbent Mayor Jerry Weiers, a Republican and the mayor since 2013. The former councilman resigned his seat on April 1, after a decade on the council. That same day, Aldama submitted his nomination for the mayorship.
Longtime resident Leandro Baldenegro took over Aldama’s vacant seat last week; Baldenegro works for the Glendale Elementary School District.
Aldama announced his candidacy last May, and began fundraising and canvassing almost immediately thereafter. In a press conference announcing his run, Aldama emphasized that he would focus on inclusivity if elected.
Aldama also explained that he first ran for office in 2014 because the city council and city hall needed accountability. He said that the leaders, including the mayor, were guilty of “sowing division.” Aldama declared that the mayor’s office needed its public image improved.
Aldama said that his main focus would be on bringing more businesses into the city, and building up the Glendale Chamber of Commerce.
“Unification of our city will be a cornerstone of my candidacy,” said Aldama.
During his time with the council, Aldama focused on issues like securing federal funds for addressing homelessness and housing improvements. The city of Glendale broke ground on its first affordable housing complex last March — over 300 apartments — secured through a state low-income housing tax credit. Those apartments are scheduled to be completed this fall.
As a Democrat, Aldama also supported ideologies such as LGBTQ+ allyship and Pride Month. Aldama serves on the Glendale Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, formed in April 2022. The umbrella entity over the committee, the Diversity Task Force, was formed with the purpose of adopting an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance. The city passed one in 2021.
Aldama has been present for visits from various Biden administration officials, such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Phoenix visit in 2021.
Per his latest campaign finance report filed earlier this week, Aldama has raised over $94,700.
Weiers has raised over $212,100.
The only other contender for the mayor’s seat, Republican lawmaker Paul Boyer, dropped out of the race several weeks ago.
The city of Glendale’s primary election is scheduled for July 30.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 20, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
GOP State Representative Austin Smith (LD29) dropped out of his reelection race abruptly on Thursday, days after allegations surfaced that he had forged petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In a lengthy press release announcing his resignation, Smith downplayed the allegations — outlined in a lawsuit against him — as an unsubstantiated, coordinated attack by Democrats.
Smith is member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, and the senior director of Turning Point Action. Smith said that the plaintiffs — Democratic Party officials — were falsely accusing him of forging the signatures of Democrats on his petition sheets. Such an act of forgery would be pointless, given that signatures from Democratic voters wouldn’t count for a Republican primary.
Some questioned whether the two Democrats leading the lawsuit had signed the petition themselves with the intent of accusing Smith of election fraud.
Rather than pay to fight the lawsuit and any criminal investigations that may arise, Smith said that he would protect his family financially and drop out of the race.
Smith pledged to run for office again in the future, but would rely on the online signature system rather than paper ballots.
“I feel terrible for those who are disappointed in this outcome or in me for not fighting it until the end,” said Smith. “I hope you’ll understand that my decisions are about more than just me.”
Those found guilty of petition forgery are disqualified immediately and may not run for public office for five years.
Smith also announced that another man had agreed to run in his stead as a write-in candidate for the Republican primary: James Taylor.
Taylor lives in Litchfield Park and has been heavily involved in the LD29 GOP.
One Democratic official behind the lawsuit, James “Jim” Ashurst, serves on the LD29 Democrats board as the sergeant at arms.
The Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC), a project of the Arizona Democratic Party, first announced the lawsuit against Smith on Monday, the day the lawsuit was filed.
The ADLCC — co-founded by Governor Katie Hobbs in 2012 when she was in the state legislature and Republicans held a supermajority — then fundraised off of the lawsuit announcement.
The Republican Party of Arizona (AZGOP) issued a statement lamenting Smith’s resignation, but expressing confidence in Taylor’s abilities to take over. The AZGOP didn’t address Smith’s alleged election fraud.
“We hate to lose an effective legislator like Austin Smith, but I’m glad James Taylor is on the team,” said the AZGOP. “He will be an excellent candidate for LD29 and the local, county, and state parties will do all we can to help. Austin will continue to do great things for Arizona.”
State Representative Rachel Jones defended Smith as a victim of Democratic “target[ing] and sabotag[e].” Jones cautioned against Republicans speaking ill of Smith.
“So before you self-righteous Republicans join the left to crucify him, maybe try to remember that those of us who fight the hardest for you have the biggest targets on our backs,” said Jones.
Not all Republican leaders were as supportive of Smith.
Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman called for Smith to resign.
“This is a man who has lied to the people of Legislative District 29 and the entire state about our election operations for at least three years,” said Hickman. “He is now accused of lying about the signatures he personally collected to get on the ballot again.”
Turning Point Action has yet to release a statement on the allegations against Smith or his dropping out of the race.
Instead, the organization has focused on its hire of “ballot chasers” in Arizona and other states. These “ballot chasers” go door-to-door in battleground states contacting Republican voters who have received their mail-in ballots, and encouraging those voters to mark their ballots and make a plan to vote.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 19, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Democrat governor delivered a fatal blow to a bill that would have increased protections for the state’s women and girls.
On Tuesday, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1628, the Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights. The legislation would have “require[d] any policy program, rule or law that prohibits sex discrimination to prohibit the unfair treatment of a female or male in relation to a similarly situated member of the opposite sex, require[d] the state to replace the stand-alone term gender with sex in all laws, rules, publications, orders, actions, policies and signage when updates are necessary, and provided[d] statutory definitions for boy, father, female, girl, male, man, mother and sex” – according to the purpose provided by the State Senate.
Hobbs was brief in her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, saying only that she “will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans.”
Arizona Republicans were furious with the action out of the Governor’s Office. Petersen released a statement, writing, “Instead of helping these confused boys and men, Democrats are only fueling the disfunction by pretending biological sex doesn’t matter. Our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and neighbors are growing up in a dangerous time where they are living with an increased risk of being victimized in public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms because Democrats are now welcoming biological males into what used to be traditionally safe, single-sex spaces.”
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Sine Kerr, added, “This commonsense bill would have also stopped the injustices of allowing bigger and stronger biological males to compete on female-only sports teams, preserving fairness and safety on the playing field, as well as the athletic accolades and scholarships these women and girls work tirelessly to achieve. We’ve seen far too many examples of girls and women physically injured, relegated to the bench, and bumped off the winner’s podium by males competing as females. The madness needs to stop. Democrats have launched an attack against biological females. While a Democrat is currently in control of our Executive Branch, real women must continue to push back, stand for truth, and make their voices heard to advocate for the protection of their rights.”
Riley Gaines, a star collegiate athlete and a champion of women’s rights, weighed in on Hobbs’ action on her “X” account. Gaines said, “Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs just vetoed SB 1628, a bill that would codify & define the word ‘woman’ in state law. Who woulda guessed? Women, yet again, proving to be our own worst enemy.”
Christy Narsi, the national chapter director for Independent Women’s Network, echoed Gaines’ sentiments, stating, “Ironically, despite being a woman, Gov. Hobbs refuses to acknowledge that women are adult, human, females – as commonly understood for millenia – and has no interest in advancing privacy, safety, and equal opportunity for the 3.6 million Arizonan women.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Elizabeth Troutman | Apr 19, 2024 | News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
On Tuesday, Junelle Cavero was sworn in to fill the south Phoenix Arizona House Of Representatives seat vacated by Marcelino Quiñonez. The political consultant, small business owner, and community advocate was sworn in on Wednesday.
“In a time that calls for unwavering commitment to our communities, I am dedicated to being a tireless champion for reproductive justice, affordable housing and the economic issues affecting everyday Arizonans,” Cavero said in a press release. “I pledge to work night and day to serve and uplift the voices of working families and our communities.”
Cavero is the mother of two daughters and has lived in the South Mountain community for 10 years.
“Representative Cavero brings a wealth of business experience and political savvy to our Caucus, and we look forward to her joining our Caucus as soon as possible. We have no doubts she will hit the ground running as budget negotiations heat up and we take other significant votes for our state’s future,” House Democratic Leader Lupe Contreras added.
Quiñonez announced his resignation at the beginning of the month.
“As I reflect on my time in office, I am proud of many things, but especially the work I did to pass two bipartisan budgets that allocated more money to our public schools, the Arizona Housing Trust Fund and the arts,” his statement said.
Cavero’s appointment runs through the end of the year, but she previously entered the 2024 race for the seat she is now holding.
Democrats Leezah Sun, Amish Shah, and Jennifer Longdon preceded Quiñonez in leaving the House early this year.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
