In 2016, Pima County used more than $15 million in county assets as collateral to lure an aspiring space tourism company connected to now-Sen. Mark Kelly to Tucson despite myriad questions about whether the deal was constitutional.
The Arizona Court of Appeals answered one of those questions on Oct. 26, ruling that a major provision of the county’s deal with World View Enterprises violated the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution. That deal allows World View to purchase its Pima County-financed office and manufacturing complex on prime commercial land for only $10 in 2036.
Pima County has 30 days to file a petition for review with the Arizona Supreme Court. If no petition is filed, the case goes back to the Pima County Superior Court for further proceedings in compliance with the appellate decision.
Jan Lesher, the current Pima County Administrator, notified the county supervisors that the Pima County Attorney’s Office will discuss the appellate decision during an executive session on Nov. 1.
Former Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, with support from Kelly, attracted World View’s corporate and manufacturing operations by promising to construct a Space Port (launch pad) on county-owned land near the Tucson International Airport. In addition, the county designed and constructed a 142,000 square-foot complex on 12 acres of adjacent county-owned land.
The $19 million cost of the project, which includes interest Pima County pays for financing the construction, was justified, supporters like Kelly and Huckelberry claimed, because of the 400 high-paying jobs and $3.5 billion of economic impact World View would bring to the area.
For its part, World View is to reimburse the county’s outlay via rent payments as part of a 20-year Lease-Purchase Agreement. Then when the lease is up, World View can purchase the office / manufacturing complex (sans the Space Port property) for $10.
The problem with that provision, according to the Court of Appeals, is that the building will still have a 30-year lifespan in 2036 and a fair market value of $14 million.
“The ‘give’ then, by Pima County, is $14 million and its ‘get’ is $10,” wrote Chief Judge Karl Eppich in the Oct. 26 appellate decision. He added that the provision was “lopsided” from the perspective of the county because the purchase price represents only .0000007 percent of the property’s value.
Eppich wrote that the expenditure of public funds to benefit a private company is legal under the Arizona Constitution only when a public purpose is served and only if the benefit or consideration between the public and the private entity is not “grossly disproportionate.”
“We agree with Taxpayers that the $10 purchase option amounts to an unconstitutional subsidy because the consideration received by Pima County is grossly disproportionate to the value of the World View facility,” he wrote.
Kelly became an advisor for World View in 2013 after getting to know the company’s founders. He has continued his relationship with the company even though those founders are no longer affiliated with World View and have started a competing new space tourism company in Florida.
World View, which still claims people will travel to the edge of the stratosphere someday via its proprietary balloons, has significantly missed most of its annual staffing and payroll targets. County officials have also had to revise the agreement at least once to address several months of late rental payments.
Timothy Sandefur is vice president for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute and is one of the attorneys who represent three Pima County taxpayers who sued the county shortly after the World View agreement was announced in 2016.
“County governments exist to protect the rights of citizens and allow them to pursue their own business in their own way—not to pick winners and losers in the marketplace, or gamble with taxpayer money,” Sandefur said after the appellate decision was announced. “When they do, the consequence is often that taxpayer money simply floats away.”
Sandefur also addressed the possibility that Pima County will ask the state’s highest court to consider the case.
“Although they could appeal the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court, it seems well past time for Pima County officials to admit that this entire deal was both illegal and foolhardy,” he said.
In a bid to win over independent voters, Arizona’s dominant voting group, Senator Mark Kelly’s campaign staffers are telling voters he’s pro-life.
Paid campaign staffer Evynn Bronson told an undercover Project Veritas reporter that Kelly is pro-choice, but advised the reporter to tell voters that Kelly is pro-life and avoid the phrase “pro-choice.”
“I would [tell a pro-life voter that] Mark Kelly is pro-life but also pro-keeping the government out of our health care. I don’t know, something stupid like that,” said Bronson. “Absolutely he is not pro-life.”
Bronson, an Idaho native and LGBTQ+ activist, is a political science major at Brigham Young University (BYU) and plans to graduate this fall. Bronson was involved with the Raynbow Collective, an activist group pushing for LGBTQ+ acceptance at BYU, a private Mormon university. Bronson has since wiped her social footprint: her LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, Facebook and Instagram profiles are gone. Earlier this spring, Bronson interned with Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA-28) — a gig set up by the Victory Institute.
Bronson claimed to Project Veritas that she didn’t know Kelly’s stance on abortion. However, her job as a paid campaign staffer contradicts that claim: she gave a presentation on Kelly’s abortion stance and other topics like inflation and gun control.
“As far as I remember, I said that I don’t know his stance but that he supports the decision between a woman and her health care specialist,” stated Bronson.
Bronson worked the Kelly campaign through Mission for Arizona (AZ) throughout the summer, the advocacy nonprofit funded by the Arizona Democratic Party. In July, Bronson advised the Democrats of Greater Tucson (DGT) on “How to Talk to Voters.” One of the contentions that DGT members had during the presentation was that Bronson and fellow Mission for AZ staffer Anna Smith focused on advocating for Kelly rather than other Democratic candidates ahead of the primary elections.
In her advice, Bronson claimed that she and other campaign staffers weren’t there to change minds. Advice on addressing Kelly’s stance on abortion didn’t include any mention of his being “pro-life.”
“It’s important to remember we are not changing minds. We cannot have a productive conversation with a super far-right-leaning, conservative person because they’re just so rooted in their beliefs,” said Bronson. “We’re focusing in on those independents, those 40 percent of independents that we showed you, that really don’t know who they’re going to vote for.”
Part of the Mission for AZ plan presented by Bronson included registering voters to the Active Early Voting List (AEVL). According to the nonprofit’s research, those who receive an early ballot are 30 percent more likely to vote. Mission for AZ also collected “vote commitments” that included voters’ contact information.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Chris Magnus, formerly Tucson’s police chief, is reportedly falling asleep during and skipping border-related meetings.
Numerous Biden administration officials working with Magnus revealed this information to Politico. They insisted that Magnus has virtually no grasp of border operations, observing that the commissioner often sends deputies to meetings in his stead.
“Operationally he’s not even in the conversation,” said one official. “He knows the border, but the ins-and-outs and the size and capabilities of CBP is pretty far outside his remit and understanding how to deal with other parts of the administration.”
Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) both supported Magnus in his nomination.
Officials also claimed that Magnus “bad-mouths” other agencies, and distracts CBP from solving the border crisis issue. They shared that Magnus is reportedly more concerned about systemic racism and negative cultures within Border Patrol (BP) than addressing the historic high of illegal crossings.
“He’s not in the game,” stated one anonymous official to Politico. “Every time there’s a meeting and he’s in it, we’ll get to a conclusion and Magnus will have some sidebar issue that he wants to raise and we’re all like ‘What the f**k is that about?’”
Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. Mental health is a critical public health issue, and I'm committed to ensuring that @CBP's workforce has access to the resources they need to improve their overall wellness.
— CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus (@CBPChrisMagnus) October 10, 2022
Magnus’ reported indifference to the border crisis aligns with his repeated denial of the border crisis and past refusal to enforce immigration law while Tucson’s police chief. It may also be why he was the Biden administration’s pick for commissioner, considering the White House has downplayed the severity of the border crisis continuously.
Last month, Magnus again downplayed the border crisis to NBC News, declaring that the border was in a state of order.
“I think people across the country should know it’s not chaos here [at the border],” said Magnus.
Biden’s CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus denies reality, claiming “it’s not chaos here” at the border. pic.twitter.com/ppi1jyC9QP
Magnus denied his colleagues’ allegations. He blamed multiple sclerosis for falling asleep, and claimed that he was almost always asking “too many” questions at meetings.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Are you considering voting for a Democrat, or not voting for a Republican because you think they’re crazy?
If you’re someone who votes according to the “candidate I like,” rather than the political party, consider what RESULTS your vote will bring to America, Arizona, and your family. A candidate’s likability and respectfulness mean nothing if their actions bring destruction.
You may like a Democrat as a person, and they may seem “reasonable” compared to the Republican alternative, but gone are the days when you could assume both parties have the same goals for America with different ideas to achieve them. Today’s Democrats have the opposite vision for America than Constitutional Republicans.
What is your vision for America, for your everyday life, for your family’s well-being? Don’t give your vote to a politician who will dismantle and eventually destroy your vision. Check the voting record and statements of ANY Democrat. (I’m not saying every Republican is wonderful; only that they will at least do far less damage than any Democrat.) Think I’m exaggerating? Look at what Democrat ideas have done to your daily reality:
THIS is what EVERY Democrat represents—no matter how “reasonable” a person they seem to be. Just look at the results of President Biden, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and virtually every Democrat in power—including every Congressperson. And don’t forget about Mark Kelly who ran as a moderate but votes 94% of the time with Democrats. Mark Kelly = Joe Biden. Katie Hobbs = woke insanity.
This is a different America than we had 20, 10, or even 1 year ago. And the main reason is a Leftist “long march through the institutions,” (Christopher Rufo) and a long strategy grounded in communism and socialism which has overtaken the Democrat party, big business, education, culture, law, and even medicine. Think about it. This is not the America we could have imagined even a few years ago.
“A disastrous and shaming flight from Afghanistan is described by President Joe Biden as ‘a triumphant success,’ while Dr. Anthony Fauci retires with dignity after doing terrible damage to the country with his nonsense about shutting schools, ‘droplets,’ the ups and downs of masking, the ‘abolition of hand-shakes’—almost all of it now thoroughly discredited.
Six years ago, no one could have imagined that these outrages would have occurred, much less that they would be accepted by a bedraggled, degraded, demoralized United States, its federal government in the hands of lawless and authoritarian myth-makers, applauded by the complicit national political media. Can this be America?”
What will your kids and grandkids experience if we keep putting Democrats in power?
It will only get worse.
That’s why a return to Constitutional Americanism is the only way to restore sanity, dignity, productivity, and hope to America.
And the surest way there is to elect Republicans (no matter how flawed one may be) to replace the destructive RESULTS of Democrats (no matter how nice one may seem).
Kim Miller is the President and Founder of Arizona Women of Action. You can find out more about their work here.
On Thursday, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) claimed that he doesn’t engage in stock trading. Yet last year, Kelly was fined for violating the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) reportedly violated the Stop Trading in Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law to dissuade insider trading. https://t.co/AZKPtmuxpF
The stock trading that earned Kelly his fine was with Boom Technology (previously known as Boom Aerospace, or Boom Supersonic): a Chinese-partnered company designing supersonic aircrafts on whose board Kelly served from 2015 to 2019. Kelly failed to file a disclosure on exercising that stock option for four months. The STOCK Act requires legislators to disclose that action within 30 days of notification or 45 days of the transaction.
In January, Kelly introduced legislation to ban members of Congress and their families from selling stocks while in office: the Ban on Congressional Stock Trading Act. It hasn’t moved out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee since then.
Other Democrats introduced similar bills after Kelly’s was introduced, also fated to wait in committees: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) with the Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA-45) with the STOCK Act 2.0.
Kelly currently uses the motionless bill to fundraise for his campaign through ActBlue. The fundraising page also alleges that Kelly rejects corporate PAC money.
Kelly’s claim is technically true — corporate funds to his campaign don’t come from a PAC, but they do come from corporate executives. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Kelly’s campaign receives a majority of its major donations from his PAC called the Mark Kelly Victory Fund. That fund, in turn, receives money from major corporate executives. From January 2021 through June 2022, the fund’s biggest donations were nearly a dozen $20,800 donations from individuals directly in or closely associated with the corporate world.
For example: in June, Kelly received $41,600 from Michael Michelson and his wife, Georgia Taylor Michelson. Michael serves on the board of directors for Zimmer Biomet, a medical device corporation.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
