by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 4, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Governor and Treasurer continue to escalate their political feud over the constitutionality of executive agency nominees.
After Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, announced her decision to withdraw her remaining agency nominees for Senate confirmation, Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a Republican, revealed that during last week’s State Board of Investment meeting, she “did not recognize employees from the Arizona Department of Administration or the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions as legally participating members due to the recent actions of the Governor.”
Yee’s action led to political fireworks from the Governor’s Office with a press release calling out the State’s Treasurer for “falling in line with extremist Jake Hoffman’s decision to participate in partisan obstructionism.” The fiery communication from Hobbs’ Office asserted that Yee “broke the law and refused expert advice from professionals in order to play political games with taxpayer money, shirking her responsibilities as the State Treasurer.”
Hobbs’ Director of Operations and Interim Director of the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) said, “The taxpayers deserve to have their funds invested optimally to maximize ROI, and they have entrusted Treasurer Yee with that responsibility. By shutting out the voices of fellow agencies, you are failing to take into account all of the information that the law requires in order to do right by our taxpayers.”
Henderson sent a letter to Yee, accusing her of “illegally depriving ADOA of the power to participate in Tuesday’s Board meeting.” The interim agency director also noted, “Any matter covered in the meeting will need to be added to the agenda for the next meeting, at which you must recognize Assistant Director Restinas and allow her to participate as a member in accordance with the law.”
The Republican Treasurer quickly responded via letter to the governor, letting the State’s chief executive know that she took “exception to the unprofessional and juvenile rhetoric used throughout (Henderson’s) letter,” and that she was appalled by the “complete lack of respect from a member of your administration towards a duly statewide elected official.” Yee explained that her actions during the investment meeting last week were not done “for political reasons, as suggested by your staff, but rather out of an abundance of caution to ensure that the actions taken by the BOI during the September 26, 2023, meeting were legitimate and lawful.”
Treasurer Yee took several paragraphs to justify her actions in refusing to recognize the two agency leaders at her recent meeting. She asserted that, pursuant to state statutes, her Office required multiple pieces of documentation from the Governor’s team on the two appointments in addition to “legal authority supporting the appointments.” Yee stated that she “cannot in good conscience seat the ADOA and DIFI employees on the BOI moving forward” without receiving the aforementioned pieces from the Governor’s Office.
Yee also expressed her disagreement with Henderson’s allegation that her actions at the BOI meeting were “invalid and must be re-added to next month’s agenda.” She noted that one of the appointees, Retsinas, “attended the full meeting via WebEx as a member of the public and at no time informed the BOI, or Treasury staff, that she had been appointed by Mr. Henderson, as interim director of ADOA.”
In conclusion of her letter, Yee expressed hope that her letter “alleviates the concerns of (Hobbs) and (her) staff,” requesting the governor to “send us all documentation supporting (her) appointments as soon as practicable so that we may ensure that the appropriate designees are seated on the BOI moving forward.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 4, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) issued three percent raises to Arizona’s three university presidents, bringing their collective salaries to over $2.2 million, with the three also receiving nearly $600,000 in bonuses altogether.
ABOR issued the bonuses and raises during its meeting last Friday.
Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow’s new base salary is now $834,100. Crow also received a $150,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2028.
The $150,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $50,000: designing and launching a premium brand for ASU online; developing and launching a plan to move the three core brands of the W.P. Carey School of Business, Fulton Schools of Engineering, and the Barrett Honors Colleges into three global brands; and designing and launching a new Health Futures Strategy which included development of a holistic approach around health sciences, similar to their engineering programs, and designing and preparing for the launch of the Public Health Technology School.
Crow will potentially receive another $180,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the three proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns a science and technology economic development strategy to design tools, levers, and processes necessary to move Arizona from the top of the third tier as determined by Milken Institute to the bottom of the first tier. The first goal’s metrics include active engagement and the role of tech transfer, with strategic pathways document being the product.
The second goal concerns the creation of an all-industry semiconductor industry training sector for the state: semiconductors, advanced battery technology, high-tech computation and systems, and artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, Crow would have to build the Learning Enterprise training programs with advanced digital learning for enhanced and accelerated workforce development drawing from ASU content. This second goal’s metrics include the design and launch of the special digital training center across the sectors with industrial participation in each and every aspect.
The third goal concerns the creation of an AI strategy to optimize its use in teaching, learning, and discovery activities. This third goal’s metrics include a plan and launch strategy.
ABOR also proposed to take away $30,000 from any 2023-24 at-risk compensation awarded should Crow fail to fully implement the General Education Program for all first-time incoming students in Fall 2024.
Northern Arizona State University (NAU) President José Luis Cruz Rivera’s new base salary is now $594,100. Cruz Rivera also received a $135,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $135,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $45,000: a new system encompassing in-person, online, and hybrid learning modalities, branch campuses, community college partnerships, and engagement with the state’s K-12 system; revamping NAU Online with focused external consultation regarding academic program offerings and operations in areas such as student outreach, recruitment and engagement, instructional design, and academic support; increasing enrollments and enhancing post-graduate career preparation opportunities.
Cruz Rivera will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the launch of NAU Health, part of ABOR’s Arizona Healthy Tomorrow initiative. The new program will double the number of credentials awarded in health-related fields by 2030, namely for physicians and practitioners targeted to serve in urban, rural, and indigenous communities. Milestones for this goal will include the establishment of the College of Nursing, launch of the Office of NAU Health, hiring senior leadership to structure and coordinate existing academic programs and research for medical academia expansion, and publication of a plan to establish the College of Applied Community Medicine.
The second goal concerns collaboration with ABOR to produce a multi-year strategic and operational plan for building a network of colleges powered and coordinated by NAU. One milestone for this goal is proposing actions for ABOR endorsement on market assessment, concept and structural mission, funding and advocacy strategies, and design specifications. Other milestones concern the launch of an A++ certified academic pathway for Fall 2024 with A++ certified partners, seeking intergovernmental agreements for implementation, and expansion into the K-12 realm using NAU’s Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins’ new base salary is now $816,100. Robbins also received a $132,500 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $132,500 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth about $45,000: secure $200 million in initial funding commitment from the state, local government, or private donors for establishing the Center for Advanced Molecular Immunotherapies; develop a plan and timeline to centralize responsibility and balance local authority in the administrative functional areas of Information Technology and Financial and Business Services; work with the Department of Education and accrediting bodies to fully absorb UArizona’s Global Campus. The first goal was only partially achieved.
Robbins will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the establishment of a multi-institutional translational research, education, and innovation park in the city of Maricopa with focuses on food safety and sustainability, automation and autonomous systems, drug and vaccine development, digital health and biotechnology, climate technology, aggrotech, and battery technology. Milestones include achieving a planned vote or completion of annexation by the city; plans with local government leaders for a network of supportive infrastructure to sustain growth, attract and retain investment, retail services, office development residential and hotel development; a leasing plan with external developers; the launch of internal and external communications and campaign strategy; an initial catalog of proposed programs; tribal endorsement; ABOR approval of a governance model; a five-year funding plan for site development; and an initial construction proposal for the first buildings by fall 2025.
The second goal concerns the defining and funding of the Arizona Institute of Data and Computing in coordination with the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Science and Business, with a focus on AI, data, and computing. Milestones include a structural and funding plan presented by June 2024, at least $5 million in initial funding commitments secured by June 2024, and the organization of at least one summit or event involving key industry, government, funding, and academic leaders by June 2024.
ABOR also proposed to take away $20,000 from Robbins’ total at-risk compensation for 2023-24 if he fails to complete the centralization of Information Technology Services.
The three presidents also received another $45,000 bonus each for meeting collective annual at-risk compensation goals: proposing a comprehensive and sustainable model for state funding of the three universities ($80,000); developing and promoting the Arizona Promise Program with high public awareness and consistency across the three universities, especially regarding financial aid award letters ($20,000); completing a comprehensive risk assessment of online education using Department of Education regulations, projected demand, potential competitors, employer attitudes toward online education, online alumni wages versus immersion alumni wages, and impacts on university branding with corresponding recommendations issued ($80,000).
For 2023-24, ABOR proposed another $240,000 in collective at-risk compensation goals. The first goal concerns a plan to improve Arizona residents’ post-high school educational attainment outcomes by 10 percent over three years. The second goal concerns a comprehensive review of university international strategies and operations. The third goal concerns the implementation of the Arizona Promise Program through marketing, award deferrals, and protocols.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 3, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona lawmakers mostly split along party lines in their votes last Friday on the continuing resolution that averted a government shutdown.
Freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-03) was the only Republican to join his Democratic colleagues — Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07), and Greg Stanton (D-AZ-04) — in voting for the continuing resolution. Both Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema voted for it as well.
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), Eli Crane (R-AZ-02), Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09), and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) all voted against the resolution.
Ciscomani said that the avoidance of a shutdown was of greater concern than a future financial burden.
The resolution notably omitted funding for Ukraine. However, the House approved a separate bill sending another $300 million to the country and establishing an Office of the Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance.
Ciscomani, Gallego, Grijalva, Lesko, Schweikert, and Stanton all voted for that bill. Biggs, Crane, and Gosar voted against it.
In a statement, Gosar said that the U.S. shouldn’t issue any more funding for the proxy war. The federal government has sent over $100 billion to Ukraine. Gosar said the federal government should be advancing its own national security interest by securing the border.
“The southern border is under a sustained attack and invasion. Over eight million illegal aliens have entered the country,” said Gosar. “Rather than sending another dime to Ukraine, we should put our country first by increasing the pay of our brave service members right here in the United States.”
Following his “no” vote, Biggs declared that he would oppose the re-election of California Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, citing the approved continuing resolution.
Biggs criticized the leadership-approved continuing resolution as a maintenance of unsustainable spending levels established by President Joe Biden, former House Speaker and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11), and Senate President Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Crane said that the approval of any continuing resolutions at this point was reckless. He blamed continuing resolutions as a major part of the $33 trillion debt burdening the country.
Crane further reflected on the continuing resolution with some levity on Monday.
“I’m heartened to see that Congress is getting serious now that we’ve avoided a shutdown for another 45 days,” said Crane. “Tonight, we will take critical steps to fix the national debt by considering legislation to rename some post offices.”
However, Democrats viewed the government shutdown as a worse alternative to worsening the national debt.
Gallego did criticize the fact that the continuing resolution became an option in the very last moments possible.
Stanton blamed “MAGA extremists” for nearly causing a government shutdown. He expressed dissatisfaction with the bill’s omission of even more funding for Ukraine on top of the $300 million he voted for in the separate bill passed Friday, as well as border security.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 3, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
One of President Joe Biden’s United Service Organizations (USO) appointees attacked members of the military that voted for Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) and Eli Crane (R-AZ-02).
USO Board of Governors member Rebekah Sanderlin accused Republican-voting servicemembers of having no commitment to their country and putting their fellow Americans at risk, claiming they would be at fault for domestic violence arising from economic stresses. Ultimately, Sanderlin said the government shutdown was Republican military voters’ fault. Sanderlin works for a Florida-based consulting firm, Ground Truth Consulting, that the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) works with to provide mental health services outreach.
“If you’re in the military & you voted for them, look to your left & right: YOU did this to your brothers & sisters. I’ve been responding to panicked milspouses all day. I’m pissed at YOU. You did when you supported politicians who want Fox News time more than they want to lead,” said Sanderlin. “So think about that. When that E5’s family can’t eat this month. When that PFC can’t fly home for grandma’s funeral. When student loans & car payments don’t get paid & the stress of it all results in domestic violence, know that YOUR lack of commitment to our country put us here. When you send egoistic clowns to Congress because they’re entertaining, YOU put us all at risk.”
Sanderlin also called out servicemembers who voted for representatives in other states: Matt Gaetz, Tim Burchett, Anna Paulina Luna, Andy Ogles, Matt Rosendale, Dan Bishop, Wesley Hunt, and Cory Mills.
Sanderlin has never served in the military; she is a marketing strategist and former journalist, and the wife of a retired Army Special Forces command sergeant major who served in Afghanistan.
Sanderlin worked with the Obama administration’s Joining Forces initiative. Currently, Sanderlin works with Ground Truth Consulting. Her firm has worked with the Veteran Affairs Department on their Veterans Crisis Line and Make the Connection mental health initiatives for several years.
The consulting firm has also provided services to the defense sector, according to its various consultants’ LinkedIn pages. Neither of two government contract databases — USA Spending or the Federal Procurement Data System — reflected any government contracts with Ground Truth Consulting. The last entity contracted for Make the Connection was J.R. Reingold & Associates from 2013 to 2016 for $25.8 million. The System for Award Management (SAM) database also reflects no awarded contracts at any time, though the consulting firm is registered with SAM.
The firm’s founder, former CEO, and current owner Christopher Murray, a retired Navy rear admiral and commander, also serves on NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP).
Other principals at the firm are husband and wife, Joe and Claire Woodward. Joe, a retired Marine, worked for IBM as a consultant and account executive, and the Defense Department Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as a deputy director.
As part of his government work, Joe Woodward was part of a DTRA team that developed the Constellation system prototype to track threats of weapons of mass destruction.
Claire Woodward worked as the executive director of several military spouse nonprofits, Blue Star Families and MPower prior to founding the consulting firm.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 2, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Northern Arizona University (NAU) will play a key role in an effort to validate indigenous knowledge as scientific knowledge using millions in federal funding.
Ora Marek-Martinez, NAU’s associate vice president of the Office for Native American Initiatives and assistant professor of anthropology, will be part of the University of Massachussetts’ newly-established Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS). Marek-Martinez will serve as the CBIKS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Ethics Co-Lead for the center’s Southwest Hub.
Biden’s National Science Foundation (NSF) gave $30 million to CBIKS, a grant lasting five years. CBIKS may qualify for additional federal funding come 2028.
CBIKS researchers will focus initially on collaborating with indigenous Nanwalek Alaskans to study their traditional methods of salmon population preservation, indigenous Hawaiians to study their agricultural and food waste practices, and indigenous Australians to study environmental signs of climate change. Sonya Atalay, CBIKS Director and UMass Amherst Provost Professor of Anthropology, said that current scientific approaches were limited.
“CBIKS is about recognizing that Indigenous knowledge systems carry tremendous information and value, and it’s shortsighted to think that current research practices founded on Western knowledge systems are the only or ‘right’ approach,” said Atalay.
In one of CBIK’s initial postings, Atalay gave credence to the belief that rocks are alive, per indigenous knowledge.
Atalay criticized Michigan archaeologists for “disregard[ing] Native understanding of the rock as an animate being.” The rock in question bears Native American petroglyphs.
The rock wasn’t available for comment.
In order to obtain more indigenous knowledge beyond the consciousness of rocks, CPIKS will interact with 57 indigenous communities through its eight regional hubs across the country and in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The initiative is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to prioritize “indigenous knowledge” into “research, policies, and decision making,” as noted in a memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy issued last November. The office, newly assigned cabinet-level status by the Biden administration, further declared indigenous knowledge to be “an aspect of the best available science” and directed its inclusion in “Highly Influential Scientific Assessments.” Those assessments directly shape costly federal policies.
The Biden administration wasn’t the first to attempt to assign parity to indigenous knowledge in scientific inquiry: as Washington Free Beacon reported, Canadian researchers reported adverse results after their country incorporated indigenous knowledge into policymaking, ranging from counterproductive at best to dangerous at worst.
“[T]he acceptance of spiritual beliefs as ‘knowledge’ by governments was dangerous because it could be used to justify any activity, including actions that were environmentally destructive,” stated a 2006 academic assessment.
One apparent outcome of catering to indigenous knowledge occurred when Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) deputy director M. Kaleo Manuel, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, delayed the release of water to combat the Maui fires because he insisted that officials obtain permission from a local taro farm. Taro is integral to Native Hawaiian agriculture and tradition.
Washington Free Beacon also reported some of the early fruits of the Biden administration’s indigenous knowledge labors: reinterpreting time as cyclical rather than sequential, entertaining proposals to pay tribal elders to assist in federal rulemaking, scrapping peer review processes, acknowledging alleged interdimensional relations between animals and humans,
NAU’s involvement in the Biden initiative aligns with the university’s policy of prioritizing Native American individuals in admissions and employment.
In February, NAU established a program providing free tuition regardless of income to Native Americans while requiring a financial threshold for students of all other races. They also pledged $10 million to “indigenous,” or prioritize indigenous people, in their curriculum. The equitable treatment of Native Americans resulted in a boost to the university’s enrollment.
The Office for Native American Initiatives, which Marek-Martinez helps lead, played an integral role in these equity efforts.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 2, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded Arizona $850,000 to fund the identification and transportation of illegal immigrant remains.
The DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) awarded the funds to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) for the purpose of funding DNA analysis of the illegal immigrants.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07) announced the funding in a press release. Grijalva said the program was important to “bring closure” to the families of the deceased.
“Moving forward, we must humanize our border management and address the root causes of migration to prevent the perilous journey that too often results in a tragic loss of life,” said Grijalva.
MUHR is a new federal program that began this fiscal year (October 2022 through September 2023) specifically for the reporting, transporting, forensic testing, and identification of missing persons and unidentified human remains, including illegal immigrants.
So far, MUHR reported issuing six awards through April totaling nearly $4.5 million. Of those grants issued, around $2.5 million were for identifying remains that included illegal immigrants: $996,000 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, $496,000 to Miami-Dade County in Florida, $996,000 to Texas State University.
Just over 532 illegal immigrant remains have been recovered in the state since 2021, according to a joint data collection effort by medical examiner’s offices in Pima and Maricopa counties. The data collection effort refers to the illegal immigrants as “undocumented border crossers.” Per their data, illegal immigrant remains recovered reached their highest levels since 2007, over 200 annually, in 2020.
This data includes causes of death beyond those related to border crossing activity and beyond the border, with remains included in the count ranging up into Phoenix.
The following causes of death are included in illegal immigrant deaths: asphyxia, blunt force injury, diabetes, drug overdose, exposure, exsanguination (severe blood loss), heart disease, motor vehicle accident, nonviable fetus, other disease, other injury, other injury/homicide, pending, pregnancy complication, skeletal remains, undetermined. A majority of the deaths concern skeletal remains with pending or undetermined causes of death.
In 2021, there were the following deaths: skeletal remains (112), exposure (76), undetermined (14), blunt force injury (11), pending (3, found in desert areas), drowning (3), asphyxia (1), drug overdose (1), and other disease (sepsis, 1).
In 2022, there were the following deaths: skeletal remains (90), exposure (51), undetermined (22), blunt force injury (5), drowning (1), drug overdose (1), asphyxia (1), gunshot wound (1), and other injury (1).
So far this year, there have been the following deaths: exposure (55), skeletal remains (47), undetermined (15), blunt force injury (11), heart disease (3), pending (2), and gunshot wound (1).
Last year’s numbers marked a decline from the highs of 2020 and 2021: there were 173 bodies recovered. This year’s total so far is slightly lower than last year’s: 134, compared to 137 this time last year.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
