Last night at 5pm (horrible timing given Sun City residents penchant for following rigid schedules), the Arizona Corporate Commission (ACC) candidate forum was hosted by the Sun City Home Owners Association (SCHOA). The gathering was at the Sun Dial auditorium (thank you RCSC for providing the space). The crowd was below expectations, thought those in attendance were treated to 90 jam packed minutes of information and insight. All 5 candidates for the 3 openings showed up, which is a good thing because the last time they held a forum like this, two of the candidates didn't attend (more on that in a minute). Let me back up here a minute with a little background. The ACC was established as a 4th arm of the Arizona governing structure. Of late, their primary role is to oversee the utilities; predominantly water and power. When i first moved here (2003) i was most impressed by the job they did in keeping the utility companies from gauging the their customers. Then a strange thing happened, following the Citizen's United ruling by the Supreme Court, dark money started flowing into AZ. Some candidates in the 2013 race received huge (pun intended) sums of money from a source who preferred to hide behind the laws. Remember when i said two candidates didn't show for the forum; coincidentally it was the two candidates who took over three million dollars from this secret source. They went on to win, clearly the best money the utility company that gave it to them could buy. I won't pontificate here other than to say, it was absolutely shameful. Since that time, there is now an investigation into wrongdoing in this election and to Bob Burns (R) credit (one of the seated commissioners) he has been a bull dog in pursuing this. Unfortunately, the other 4 have been less than interested in getting to the bottom of it (no surprise there seeing as the two that took the money are on the board. Last night was good because this was one of the topics they could talk about. Candidates are unable to discuss their position relative to open rate cases and if they do, may forfeit their ability to rule should they win. That said, two other candidates said straight up they would support Burn's fight to right the wrong done in the 2013/2014 election. Both Tom Chabin (D) and Bill Mundell (D) were adamant in their willingness to work with Bob Burns if elected. I've never hid the fact i am a bleeding heart liberal, but when it comes to the ACC election. i could care less about party designation, i want people elected who care about the rate payers and not be owing a utility company who gives them massive amounts of money to buy their way into a seat. Love to hear others thoughts.
There is no "good" time in Sun City for these type of forums. Mealtimes, club meetings, sports commitments, church, nap times and the ability to drive after dark are all conflicts. I was pleased to see the size of the crowd and, perhaps if the dividing doors weren't open unless needed, it would have looked more well-attended. The 90+ minutes sitting in those uncomfortable folding chairs is another drawback but the whole audience remained seated until the end.(Oh to have comfortable theater-type seating for these important events!!) My votes will also go to Burns, Chabin and Mundell with no regard to their political affiliations. I was disturbed that we nearly made it through the whole forum and then we were told by Boyd Dunn this is a Republican/Democratic vote. Big thanks to SCHOA for presenting this event and RCSC for providing the space and electronics!
Not to argue with you g47 but when you get to pump 3.2 million into a campaign that typically runs on a shoe string, there has to be a massive impact. Those in fact were the two ass clowns who couldn't be bothered to show up at the SC forum and obviously didn't have a care in the world. Hats off to the 5 of them for coming, and i think it was Andy Tobin who made it a D and R issue. BTW, Tobin was seated during the past year to an open seat and apparently he wouldn't join with Burns in sorting the dark money out issue.
