by Corinne Murdock | Oct 15, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Senate’s liaison to the Cyber Ninjas-led audit, Ken Bennett, will be hosting a town hall series over the next few weeks to discuss what happened with the audit. The series, “What Happened at the Audit,” was organized by Look Ahead America, an America First nonprofit dedicated to voter outreach and election integrity.
The town halls will occur at the following locations from 7 to 8:30 pm:
· October 19: Hilton Garden Inn Tucson Airport
· October 21: Scottsdale Studios
· October 25: Prescott Gateway Community Room
· October 27: Shugrues Restaurant and Brewery in Lake Havasu City
The town halls will also be live streamed on Rumble and on Look Ahead America’s website.
Look Ahead America also hosts the results of the Voter Integrity Project (VIP), an initiative by former President Donald Trump’s 2016 data analyst and strategy director Matt Braynard. Braynard is also the executive director of Look Ahead America. He will moderate the town halls.
Though Cyber Ninjas submitted its final audit report on Maricopa County weeks ago, Bennett has continued his work as liaison. Most recently, Bennett appeared before the U.S. House Oversight Committee to testify last week. Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan was noticeably absent, though he was invited.
During the hearing, Bennett responded to questions about whether he believed the audit showed Trump as having won rather than Biden. Bennett said no.
“I would not characterize it that way. I was asked by the Senate to be the liaison to the Maricopa audit,” stated Bennett. “The Maricopa audit found that the results were very similar to what Maricopa County canvassed in the official results.”
Those interested in attending any or all of the town halls must register in advance here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 15, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Among the dozens of new laws which took effect in Arizona on Sept. 29 is one that provides for Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing businesses while addressing public safety and bringing in new tax revenues.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) car sharing is the authorized, contracted use of a shared vehicle -for a fee- by an individual other than the shared vehicle’s owner. It does not apply to car rental agents nor to vehicle rentals with the services of a driver, but is optional for traditional short-term car rentals companies as well as individuals.
The new P2P law ensures that tax revenues are collected from those companies like Getaround which operate the platforms used by individual vehicle owners to connect with and rent their vehicles to other drivers. The law, created earlier this year by Senate Bill 1720, now requires such P2P platforms to collect and remit transaction privilege tax (TPT) on a monthly basis for all rentals it arranges.
But it is not only the platforms that have responsibilities under the new law.
An individual vehicle owner not otherwise in the business of renting vehicles does not have to have a TPT license in order to place a shared vehicle on a P2P platform, but the owner must certify to the Arizona Department of Revenue that TPT or Arizona’s use tax was paid when the vehicle was purchased or that out-of-state sales or use tax was paid if the vehicle was purchased out-of-state and later brought into Arizona.
A vehicle purchased in a private, casual sale where no TPT or use tax was paid cannot be certified by the Department of Revenue as an individually-owned shared vehicle. That won’t prevent such vehicles from being rented on a P2P platform, but the rentals are subject to certain surcharges, as are rentals of vehicles that an owner chooses to not certify with ADOR.
Pima and Maricopa counties, as well as the City of Phoenix, imposes additional taxes on short term vehicle rentals, including rentals arranged through a P2P platform.
Senate President Karen Fann attributed passage of SB1720 at the time to the efforts of Sen. David Livingston (R-LD22) and Rep. Travis Grantham (R-LD12) who garnered bipartisan support for the legislation. Among those backing the bill were key stakeholders in the tourism industry, including a major rental car business operating in Arizona.
“The result is a fair set of rules that respects the interests of car rental customers, car rental providers, vehicle purchasers, and the communities in which we operate,” said Kevin Cooper, GM of Enterprise Leasing Company of Phoenix.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 14, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The city of Phoenix is facing the reality of a dwindling police force with violent crime surging ahead. This was revealed during the Phoenix City Council’s Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday.
Phoenix Police Department (PPD) reported that they’ve experienced a “continued decline” in the number of officers over the past two years, despite all recruitment efforts. They reported 172 less officers between March of last year and July of this year. Since July, PPD reported having 60 less officers. PPD also reported that it is 42 officers short of minimum staffing level for optimal patrol operations.
“Despite aggressive hiring campaigns over the last two fiscal years, like most other law enforcement agencies across the country the department has experienced a continued decline in the number of filled sworn positions,” said PPD. “On average the department is currently losing approximately 30 officers per month and expects to lose over 100 additional officers by mid-December 2021.”
The department also reported that officers are carrying a higher number of caseloads on violent crimes than recommended – anywhere from three to eleven times the amount they should.
Last year, the FBI reported that homicides rose by nearly 44 percent while aggravated assaults rose by over 24 percent.
On Tuesday, Councilman Sal DiCiccio posted some of the research ahead of the committee meeting. He emphasized that the findings were alarming – increases in violent crime in every district and a reduced numbers of officers.
“There is rising crime in EVERY council district In Phoenix. Does that honestly make you and your family feel safe knowing that? We need change and we need it now,” wrote Diciccio. “800 police officers short [;] Response times increasing [;] ‘Defunding Police’ rhetoric[.]”
According to Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher, the largest spikes in crime occurred in districts 4, 5, 7, and 8. Those districts are led by Councilmembers Laura Pastor, Betty Guardado, Yassamin Ansari, and Vice Mayor Carlos Garcia – those who voted to install a police oversight board.
The vice mayor pushed to reduce police funding greatly during budget considerations earlier this year, which would’ve divested millions from PPD to fund public transit and child care. Additionally, Garcia and Guardado voted against a contingency that officers receive a raise in exchange for additional accountability measures.
In response to PPD’s reports of increased crime and less officers, law enforcement advocate and DiCiccio’s former Chief of Staff Sam Stone told AZ Free News that councilmembers supportive of “defunding the police” rhetoric were to blame.
“The council came one vote from defunding the police last year. One vote. Crime is skyrocketing. Murders are up citywide,” stated Stone. “People are being killed. And this crazy defund movement is to blame. That anyone on this council would seriously continue to try to cut police is just insane.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 14, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Tuesday’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that non-essential travelers will be allowed to enter the United States via land and ferry Ports of Entry (POEs) starting sometime next month if they present “appropriate documentation” of being fully vaccinated for COVID-19 is welcome news for businesses and communities across Arizona.
“Cross-border travel creates significant economic activity in our border communities and benefits our broader economy,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, which did not include an effective date other than sometime in early November.
In 2019, Mexicans were estimated to have spent about $1.4 billion in Arizona. While Mayorkas called the travel of tourists and others who come to Arizona for various reasons “nonessential,” many business owners around the seven CBP Ports of Entry in Arizona say the revenues associated with regulated crossing is anything but.
“Taking this step to welcome vaccinated tourists will be an essential push to strengthen all border communities that heavily rely on international commerce,” according to the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce, which noted the county’s economy has been “heavily impacted” by the travel restrictions.
Those COVID-19 travel restrictions at POEs were initially put into effect in March 2020 as a public health measure. Essential travel -medical, educations, employment- was later allowed but President Joe Biden has continually extended the non-essential travel ban, despite data showing the ongoing closure was decimating the economies of Arizona border communities.
Critics also pointed to the fact that air travel between the two counties has been allowed for months. Mayorkas’ announcement, which also applies to POE access into the United States from Canada, came just days before an Oct. 21 deadline on non-essential travel was set to expire.
The irony of the White House announcement, however, has not been lost on one Arizona business owner.
Constanin Querard of Grassroots Direct, LLC noted that the policy change means “fully vaccinated people who want to come in legally can now get in as easily as unvaccinated people who want to come in illegally.”
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration’s refusal to fully reopen the Ports of Entry to land travel before now is having an unexpected beneficial impact for one group.
The Douglas POE in Cochise County is an economic driver in a community controlled and governed by Democrats for decades. But according to Robert Montgomery, the devastating economic impact of the non-essential travel restrictions has been a boon for the Cochise County Republican Committee.
Montgomery, chairman of the CCRC, told AZ Free News that many “very frustrated lifelong Democrats” have been checking out the Republican platform. And they like what they see, particularly on the issues of abortion, gun rights, and illegal immigration, Montgomery said.
This is resulting in more Conservatives getting involved in local public office, from school boards to the city council, and Montgomery says the list of Republican precinct committeemen is growing.
He added that the transition from blue to red voters in border communities “is not unique to Cochise County; it’s happening across southern Arizona and the southwest U.S. border,” he said.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 13, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Several more Arizona voters have come forward to AZ Free News to report they’ve been receiving ballots for voters that should’ve been removed from the rolls years ago – in at least one case, several decades. This report is not to say that this is a widespread issue, but to reflect the fact that AZ Free News has received more reports of this issue from concerned voters.
One voter, Christine Accurso, told AZ Free News that her cousin, Nadia, had moved from her residence to Kuwait a decade ago. Despite her and Nadia both telling Maricopa County for years that Nadia no longer resides in Arizona, the county has continued to send ballots in Nadia’s name to Accurso’s address. Now, Accurso has another ballot for her cousin for Maricopa County’s jurisdictional elections.
The struggles began several years after Maricopa County purportedly removed Nadia from the voter rolls in 2011 at Nadia’s request. As expected, no ballots arrived for Nadia in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles. (However: even if the county had neglected to remove Nadia from their voter rolls initially, Accurso added that Nadia wouldn’t have gotten a mail-in ballot. Nadia had only ever voted in person, and confirmed with Accurso that she’d never signed up for the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL) or any opt-ins to receive her ballot by mail.)
Then in 2016, Accurso said that she received a mail-in ballot for her cousin. They both contacted the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. At first, they were relieved to hear from the office that Nadia would be removed immediately. Then 2018 came – and with it, another ballot for Nadia.
“The weirder thing is that we didn’t get [ballots] in 2012 or 2014 – for those other elections we didn’t get one for her. Then all of a sudden in 2016 we got one,” said Accurso. “The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that [Maricopa County has] been told multiple times [to remove her], and we’ve called and confirmed multiple times [that she was removed]. Then this year I got another one. Something is just wrong.”
AZ Free News was also informed that another individual received a ballot in 2020 for her husband, who’d been deceased for 20 years. That was the first year the deceased individual received a ballot, and for some of the family members it reportedly opened up old wounds connected to the loss.
Yet another concerned voter told AZ Free News that she received ballots for her son in 2018 and 2020 – despite the fact that he moved out of the state in 2017. She marked and returned the ballots to Maricopa County election officials both times to indicate that he no longer lived there.
“I haven’t checked [this year] to see if he still hasn’t been taken off of the [registered voter] list,” explained the voter. “I just remember thinking – how easy to cheat!”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
*Correction – An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Accurso’s cousin as her sister.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 13, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Former Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels has encouraged voters to support Gilbert’s $515 million transportation bond – a deal which her lobbying firm, Horizon Strategies AZ, could stand to benefit from greatly. Ballots for the all-mail special election began to be sent out last Wednesday.
The former mayor offered her endorsement on a text alert sent to Gilbert voters.
“Gilbert consistently ranks as one of the most desirable places to live because we have always focused on keeping taxes low and quality-of-life investments like safe roads, bike paths and improved technology to keep traffic moving,” read Daniels’ endorsement. “Question 1 is a responsible plan to keep up with growth and maintain our current streets and intersections. Please join me in voting YES on Question 1.”
Daniels’ endorsement was paid for by “Yes for Safe and Efficient Gilbert Roads,” sometimes also marketed as “Yes on Question 1.” The PAC disclosed that they received no funding from out-of-state contributors, and weren’t authorized by any candidate.
AZ Free News reached out to Daniels about her endorsement and potential benefits from the bond. She didn’t respond by press time. Daniels resigned from her position as Gilbert’s mayor last August, citing “personal reasons.” Shortly after, she turned her focus on building up her public relations and lobbying firm.
Former mayoral candidate Matt Nielsen raised concerns about Daniels’ endorsement of the $515 million transportation bond, noting that Horizon Strategies would stand to benefit from it. He told AZ Free News that the whole advocacy movement behind the bond was “really swampy.”
Nielsen also raised questions about Vice Mayor Yung Koprowski’s advocacy to pass the bond. Koprowski co-chairs “Yes for Safe and Efficient Gilbert Roads Committee,” or “Yes on Question 1 Committee” alongside Councilmember Kathy Tilque. The vice mayor also owns a transportation planning and civil engineering firm, Y2K Engineering. On Sunday, Koprowski and Tilque published an opinion piece in Gilbert Sun News urging Gilbert voters to approve the transportation bond. They also published their advocacy in the town’s publicity pamphlet.
“What it is is that the language behind the $515 million dollar bond is so vague that it looks like a blank check for government spending. The $515 million wasn’t a price tag from looking at the needs of the town, saying ‘This is a dollar amount that is needed,’” asserted Nielsen. “It just reeks of backroom deals, bad behavior in government again.”
Two of Horizon Strategies’ key team members were lobbyists in their recent past.
Jessica Pacheco worked as a lobbyist for power giant Arizona Public Service Company (APS) and their parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation from 2010 to 2020, as well as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce from 2007 to 2008 and SunCor Development Company in 2010.
Katie Prendergast also formerly worked as a lobbyist for power giant APS and Pinnacle West Capital Corporation from 2014 until last September. Prendergast’s profile on the state lobbying portal doesn’t include her work as a lobbyist for the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA).
Additionally, Horizon Strategies recently hired an Arizona State Capitol legislative staffer named Kelsey Jahntz to become their legislative director, as Arizona Daily Independent reported. Jahntz isn’t listed on the state’s lobbying portal, and hasn’t been listed on the Horizon Strategies team member webpage as of press time.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
