On Monday, GOP leaders for both legislative chambers’ elections committees announced additional election transparency measures in an agreement with the Phoenix-based ballot production and distribution company, Runbeck Election Services (RES).
State Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD03), vice chair of the House Elections Committee, and State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD07), chair of the Senate Elections Committee, shared in a press release that RES entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) guaranteeing an observation program, software audits, an election workflow report from RES, and access to 2022 election data.
Kolodin further revealed in the press release that RES also agreed to cage the ballot sorters, contingent on legislative appropriation. The MOU dates back to last Wednesday.
“This agreement represents a significant advancement in our ongoing efforts to ensure the security and integrity of Arizona’s elections,” said Kolodin. “I appreciate the cooperation of Runbeck’s new ownership and their willingness to provide greater transparency — the foundation of public trust and confidence.”
Fresh off our last win, Runbeck has now agreed to significant new transparency measures as a result of our investigation! TY to the new ownership for their cooperation + commitment to restoring public trust. pic.twitter.com/I48zwUOOpW
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) March 4, 2024
By “new ownership,” Kolodin was likely referring to the company whose president and CEO is Mihai Toma, brother to House Speaker and congressional candidate Ben Toma (R-LD08). Last August, RES sold a majority stake in the company to Lincoln Shields, a subsidiary of Black Mountain Investment Company (BMIC), whose president and CEO is Mihai Toma.
RES said in a statement that the speaker has no stake in RES and was unaware of the purchase until shortly prior to its occurrence. The speaker pledged to divest his financial interest in BMIC, reported to be over $100,000, around the time of the sale.
The RES CEO is Jeff Ellington, appointed to the position in 2021 after serving for about a decade in various executive capacities. Under Ellington, RES reported significant growth in its ballot mailing operations: from 3.5 million in 2016 to 16 million in 2020. According to the company, at least 45 percent of registered voters in the nation “touch[ed]” one of their products in 2020.
Under the MOU, RES agreed to allow up to three observers each from the state’s Republican and Democratic parties onsite during the primary and general election days to watch in-bound mail packet sorting activity via the loading dock and the camera feeds viewing the loading dock, sorting areas, and ballot storage room entrances; a House-led audit of signature verification and ballot duplication software licensed to Maricopa County, which will be completed this year and made public; a RES report published prior to the upcoming August primary outlining its scope of work and election workflow with Maricopa County and other state election agencies, complete with chain of custody documents, as well as RES documents completed and returned to Maricopa County; and onsite access to up to two legislative observers to view RES’ general election night loading dock video footage from 2022.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Chandler City Council will vote to renew a police union memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, a weighty decision given recent allegations of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation involving one of the council members and the former police union president.
Those purportedly under investigation are Councilwoman Jane Poston and former Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA) President Michael Collins. As first reported by ABC15, Chandler’s recently retired police chief, Sean Duggan, claimed the existence of the FBI probe in an email to City Manager Joshua Wright last November. The FBI didn’t confirm the existence of any investigation in response to questioning from the outlet.
“In this matter, information was uncovered indicating Collins and Poston may have committed violations of federal law and as such, an active public corruption criminal investigation is underway,” said Duggan.
Poston denied the existence of any such investigation in a statement released earlier this month to ABC15, calling the claim an “unsubstantiated rumor.” The councilmember said she was unaware of Duggan’s email prior to the recent reporting on its contents.
“No one from any investigative agency has contacted me. Based on the complete lack of evidence, I decided to treat this as the unfounded rumor I believe it to be,” said Poston.
A spokesperson for the city also denied that the city manager was contacted by the FBI regarding such an investigation.
An additional, related concern ahead of Thursday’s vote relates to a potential conflict of interest for Poston over the proposed CLEA MOU. Poston’s company, J2 Media, has done public relations for CLEA in recent years, and serves as one of their business supporters.
One of J2 Media’s creations for CLEA in 2021 was a presentation advocating for terms of the existing MOU.
Thursday’s city council meeting will address the renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CLEA to last through 2026. The updated MOU includes several substantive and expensive changes:
Merit increases of up to five percent for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years;
Maintaining the compensation market position at third market as a measure for market increases;
A $1,500 bonus to certain CLEA members;
A five percent Special Assignment Pay Differential for officers assigned to Bike Team, School Resource Officer, Behavioral Health Unit, and Neighborhood Response Team;
Vacation accrual increases of .3 hours per pay period for 0-5 years of service, .4 hours per pay period for 5-10 years of service, .1 hours per pay period for 10-15 years of service, and the annual maximum vacation accrual cap increase of 80 hours;
A $10,000 contribution into the Post Employment Health Plan (PEHP) of any officer with 10 or more years of service;
A $25 per pay period contribution increase into PEHP accounts by the city;
$900 to $1,750 graded PEHP sick leave contribution amounts based on years of service;
A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 10 years or more of service who didn’t receive a 2024 contribution;
A one-time $5,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 15-19 years of service;
A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 20 or more years of service;
Contributions to retiring officers’ PEHP account align with graded PEHP sick leave contribution scale, except for officers with over 30 years of service (they receive 50 percent of sick leave balance);
And, an increased 1.5 pay rate for officers working through a holiday shift.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Attorneys for the Goldwater Institute and the City of Phoenix will be in court Wednesday to argue over whether government workers subjected to a collective bargaining agreement can be forced to finance union activities, including a union’s political endeavors.
The issue before Judge Daniel Martin of the Maricopa County Superior Court is a legal challenge brought on behalf of two city employees over a practice known as “release time” approved by the Phoenix City Council in 2019. Release time allows some city employees to be paid to work for their private union instead of working for the public.
Employees utilizing release time are allowed to engage in activities such as lobbying, union membership drives, filing grievances against the employer, and wage and benefit negotiations. Release time activities of city employees are subject to the discretion and control of the union, not the city which pays the employees.
In May 2019, the City of Phoenix signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 2384, Field Unit II (AFSCME) which serves as the exclusive bargaining unit for a wide range of public workers, including but not limited to electricians, mechanics, security guards, street technicians, and maintenance workers.
AFSCME is the nation’s largest public services employees union with more than 1.3 million working and retired members. The MOU applied to all City of Phoenix employees assigned under Field Unit II whether union members or not, and it provides for myriad release time benefits, including four full-time release positions.
“That means that four city employees are released full-time to work exclusively for the union at the public’s expense,” according to the Goldwater Institute, which also noted nearly 3,200 additional paid work hours are available to other union representatives. That is roughly equivalent to 80 weeks of full-time work.
The MOU between Phoenix and AFSCME also guarantees compensatory time for high-ranking union officials using release time, as well as additional hours and payment for AFSCME members who attend union seminars, lectures, conventions, and workshops.
In October 2019, attorneys with the Goldwater Institute sued the City of Phoenix on behalf of two Field Unit II city employees who contend the release time salaries and benefits in the MOU are funded by all government employees of a specific bargaining unit.
The result, the lawsuit argues, is that non-union members are forced to fund union activities in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, along with Arizona’s Right to Work laws and other state constitutional provisions, the employees contend. The lawsuit also contends the four full-time release time employees “are not contractually required to provide an accounting to the City for how they use release time.”
Judge Martin will hear oral arguments Wednesday and Friday in dueling motions for summary judgment filed by the parties. Court records show AFSCME has been granted intervenor status in the case.
Among the organizations also opposed to release time policies is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which has developed draft legislation that lawmakers across the country can use in an effort to ban paid union activity by public employees.
Under the ALEC draft legislation, it would be “against public policy” for a public employer like the City of Phoenix to enter into a deal with any private union to compensate a public employee for union activities.
“While public employees should not be prohibited from freely associating outside of their employment duties, including hiring individuals to help represent their interests, this should occur at public employee, not taxpayer, expense,” according to the ALEC website.
