by Terri Jo Neff | Apr 15, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The Arizona Supreme Court has been asked to review a decision by the Sedona-Oak Creek Airport Authority to evict a longtime leasee in a nearly decade-long dispute that has involved a federal judge, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the expenditure of hundreds of thousands for legal services.
In April 2019, the Airport Authority initiated eviction action against Dakota Territory Tours ACC, which has operated at the airport for several years. The company also operates as Sedona Air Tours and Red Rock Biplane Tours.
Dakota Territory has specialized in air tours of the Grand Canyon area since 1994 with fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, many which can seat four to six passengers. The Airport Authority contends Dakota Territory has not had a valid sublease at the airport since July 2017 and has attempted to evict the company since then, but various legal actions have delayed the action.
A Yavapai County judge put the 2019 eviction action on hold while the parties litigated whether Dakota was lawfully present at the airport. The court’s decision came down against the company, and in January of this year the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court ruling.
A petition for review was filed by Dakota Territory with the Arizona Supreme Court in February, and the Airport Authority has submitted a response. If the justices decide to hear the case it would likely be months before a decision is issued.
According to public records, the Sedona-Oak Creek Airport is situated on land owned by Yavapai County, although the county plays a limited role in what happens there. Instead, the Airport Authority leases the property from the county for $1 per year and runs the day-to-day operations under the supervision of an airport director.
Dakota Territory Tours’s dispute with the Airport Authority can be traced back to a 2012 sublease which allowed the company to fly in and out of the airport. A series of amendments kept the sublease in effect through April 2017 at which time the deal was kept in effect per a settlement agreement between Dakota and the Airport Authority in connection to a lawsuit the company filed in 2014.
Part of the agreement called for Dakota to continue to use its space while the Airport Authority put together a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) for that space.
Then in June 2017, the Airport Authority awarded the sublease for tour company space to Guidance Air Service LLC, another longtime leasee. The award made Guidance the only air tour company that would operate at the airport without paying high airport use-fees.
Less than 10 minutes after the RFP was awarded to Guidance, an attorney for the Airport Authority sent Dakota a letter demanding the company vacate its leased space within 30 days.
Dakota protested the award, alleging Airport Director Amanda Shankland altered the selection criteria at the last minute and accepted Guidance’s bid even though it would purportedly provide 32 percent less in revenues for the airport. The company also alleged the RFP process was “rigged” to ensure no air tour provider other than Guidance could emerge the winner.
Shankland denied Dakota’s allegations and rejected the challenge, arguing that the airport could not support more than one air tour operator.
In August 2017, Dakota and a partner company sued the non-profit Airport Authority, Yavapai County, Guidance, and Shankland in federal court. The anti-trust lawsuit alleged the Airport Authority lodged a false complaint with the FAA against about the company and failed to comply with the settlement of Dakota’s 2014 complaint.
The federal lawsuit also alleged the airport’s Master Plan allowed for more than one tour operator, and that the RFP process “was intended to and will ultimately foreclose and end competition” for airport-based air tours of the Sedona area.
A federal judge in Prescott dropped Yavapai County and Guidance from Dakota’s lawsuit in 2018, but allowed the claims against the Airport Authority and Shankland to move forth. In April 2019, that same judge dismissed the case per a stipulation among the remaining parties, “with each party bearing its own costs and attorneys’ fees in this action.”
With the federal case dismissed, there was nothing stopping the Airport Authority from moving forward with enforcing the 30-day vacate notice through a forcible detainer action with the Yavapai County Superior Court. By then, a number of concerns had been documented in various court files.
For instance, the Airport Authority presented an independent consultant to provide expert testimony to support one of its arguments against Dakota. However, neither the expert nor the Authority revealed to the court that the expert was affiliated with Guidance.
There is also a record showing the complaint made to the FAA about Dakota was found to be unsubstantiated. And that if Dakota could no longer be based at the Sedona airport then the company would have had to pay the Airport Authority for every takeoff and landing at a non-leasee level.
That would have cost Dakota, which employed about 20 people, to pay about $45,000 per month, based on its late 2018 to early 2019 flights.
If the Arizona Supreme Court refuses to hear Dakota’s appeal then the company will be responsible for paying the Airport Authority’s legal expenses related to the eviction action.
by Corinne Murdock | Apr 14, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
According to the latest polling of Arizona voters, a sweeping majority support strong voter ID requirements and cleaning up early vote-by-mail lists. A total of 550 voters were polled. 82 percent of them supported voter ID in general, with nearly 64 percent in support of requiring ID verification in order to vote by mail.
Although the majority of respondents in support of voter ID requirements were Republicans, a significant amount of Democratic respondents supported them as well. 42 percent of Democratic respondents supported ID requirements for vote-by-mail. Nearly 69 percent of Democratic respondents supported ID requirements for all who vote.
The poll results come as the Arizona state legislature considers bills addressing those very matters. SB1713 would require a form of voter ID for mail-in voting, such as a driver’s license number and signature. That bill has already passed the Senate, and is progressing through the House. SB1485 would clean up the early vote-by-mail lists; it was last retained on the House calendar after passage by the Senate.
The primary majority of respondents were 65 and older, but the second-largest class of respondents fell in the 18 to 34 category. A poll released by the Harvard Institute of Politics before the 2020 election assessed that a majority of 18 to 29-year-olds displayed Democratic leanings with their intent to vote for President Joe Biden.
Although a slight majority of respondents considered themselves Republicans when asked about how they were registered to vote, the greater majority classified themselves as “moderate” rather than conservative when asked what they would classify themselves. The greatest number of respondents either had attended college and not achieved their degree, or received their bachelor’s only. And, the greatest number of respondents were nearly split in their voting patterns, having either voted in all of the last four general elections or none of them.
60 percent of respondents hailed from Maricopa County. That particular county has made headlines for a number of election-related controversies. Several weeks ago, the Arizona Senate hired four companies to audit the county’s results from the 2020 election. The results of that audit are pending. Last week, Republican leaders reached their goal to cover the audit expenses.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club and Heritage Action sponsored the survey.
In a press release shared with AZ Free News, Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi explained that the poll reflects that Arizona voters hold a positive view of stricter voting regulations despite opposing media coverage.
“During the past two weeks, the public has heard nothing but negative attacks from the media on the issue of election integrity,” said Mussi. “This poll clearly shows that most voters support reasonable laws that protect our election process, despite no organized campaign in support of these reforms.”
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by AZ Free News | Apr 14, 2021 | News
Arizona has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration the garbage left behind by individuals crossing the U.S. Mexico border illegally. The Attorney General’s Office says it is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for violating the National Environmental Policy Act.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) alleges that the immigration policies of the Biden administration are “destructive.” immigration policies. The AGO is asking the U.S. District Court in Arizona to void the decisions to stop border wall construction and the “Remain in Mexico” policy until the federal government complies with its obligations under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
In its complaint, the AGO argues that DHS and other federal officials did not provide environmental impact statements or environmental assessments when DHS abruptly halted ongoing border wall construction and also began permitting entry of additional migrants by ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Biden, in one of his first official actions on January 20, 2021, ordered the halting of ongoing construction of miles of border wall, leaving what the AGO an area residents claim are “haphazard and unplanned gaps between physical barriers,” which they say encourage “widespread illegal migration.”
Ranchers are concerned as well about the abandoned machinery and fencing that has been standing idle and eventually metals will leach into the water table and cause health issues for grazing cattle.
by Terri Jo Neff | Apr 13, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
What to do with Arizona’s $350 million or so surplus has a lot of legislators pulling out their calculators and trying to figure out how best to spend the money, and whether to implement Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed permanent tax cuts.
Among the leading contenders for allocating the surplus funds to increase some public health and healthcare spending, increasing funds for higher education, and addressing the state’s unemployment situation. One issue likely to be front and center is what consideration should be given to COVID-19 relief funds received from the federal government in deciding how to divvy up the surplus.
The Finance Advisory Committee will meet Thursday at Noon to discuss this year’s budget process. But two ideas for using the state’s surplus to change Arizona’s tax system are already gaining momentum.
One option is to convert the state to a flat income tax, something that would likely need to be transitioned to over a two to three year period. A sales tax is an example of a flat tax, where everyone pays the same percentage.
It is an idea popular this year among Republican legislators, with heavy support from House Majority Leader Ben Toma, Sen. J.D. Mesnard, and Rep. John Kavanagh. However, coming up with a plan that can receive enough votes will be a challenge, given that legislators have differing ideas of how a flat tax system should work.
Another option for utilizing the surplus is to implement permanent tax cuts, such as the $600 million of income tax cuts proposed by Ducey in his 2021-2022 budget. The governor’s proposal would phase in the cuts over three years starting in 2022.
Other tax cuts could involve reductions in residential and commercial property taxes, although many cities and towns are opposing that idea.
More will be known after Thursday’s meeting as to what consensus House leaders can come up with.
by B. Hamilton | Apr 13, 2021 | Education, News
By B. Hamilton |
A group of enthusiastic parents, kids, and politicos rallied in front of the Arizona State Capitol on Monday to send a message to Governor Doug Ducey: #Letthechildrenbreathe. The rally, organized by Arizona Stands United, was part of a campaign to eliminate mandatory masks in K-12 schools.
Approximately 100 maskless and smiling attendees listened as young person after young person explained the difficulties of wearing masks in the classrooms.
The rally preceded the delivery of over 10,000 signatures in support of their cause to the Governor’s Office.
Organizers hope the governor will rescind Executive Order 2020.51 which requires masks to be worn by students in traditional and charter public schools.
Jenny Jackson, president of Arizona Stands United, says the group was first made aware of the difficulties kids were experiencing by a member of the group’s Education Committee. The group agreed to take on the cause as part of its commitment to end the current state-of-emergency and what they call “COVID tyranny.”
The “COVID tyranny” has even caused small children to wear masks while participating in P.E. outdoors.
Chloe, a fourth grader, said “Wearing masks makes it hard to breath. I have friends who have asthma and I get scared when they run and start having trouble breathing. I’d feel better if we didn’t have to wear them.”
Parents report children coming home exhausted due to what they believe is a lack of oxygen due to mask wearing.
Jackson says it is unfair that adults have a choice to wear a mask now or not, but kids are given no choice in the matter. It makes it especially egregious, say supporters because there is ample evidence to show that COVID is little threat to otherwise healthy children, they are no longer considered super spreaders, and at this point, most classroom teachers have been vaccinated against the disease.
by B. Hamilton | Apr 12, 2021 | News
By B. Hamilton |
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is urging his constituents to contact Senator Mark Kelly with any concerns they may have regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s decision to set-up shelters for migrant families in the Ahwatukee area.
News of the plans broke last week in the Washington Examiner.
“Hundreds of people who illegally came over the U.S.-Mexico border with a family member will be placed in hotels in El Paso, Texas, and Chandler, Arizona, this Friday as the Biden administration spends tens of millions of dollars to house people despite having its own holding centers,” according to the Washington Examiner.
After weeks of refusing to visit Arizona’s Southern Border, Kelly finally visited Yuma last week to witness the border crisis that critics say President Biden created.
Although, during two separate interviews in 2019, Kelly said there was a crisis at the border, critics say he seems to be dismissive of the fact that a record number of unaccompanied children crossed the border illegally last month.
Currently, a Holiday Inn, located at 15221 South 50th Street is serving as a migrant shelter. Dubbed “La Casa de la Luz,” or House of Light, the shelter began accommodating more than 200 migrants last Friday.
According to the Washington Examiner, beginning April 30, “Phoenix’s Sure Stay Best Western motel rooms will hold 142 people as the “Casa de Alegria” or House of Joy. It is located close to the airport.”
