Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Here’s some unsolicited advice for y’all if you are not trying to construct a coherent argument:

Claim that soccer is a sport of rich kids while making arguments on behalf of horse racing.
When you realize that that argument isn’t working, switch to the argument that the local soccer community is not interested in coaching poor kids. […]

As many of you know, I sit on the Pima County Bond Committee. You are no doubt aware of the hubub regarding Rillito Downs race track.
Former Pima County Supervisor Ed Moore is threatening to sue. Long time Pima County residents will remember bumper stickers that appeared in the late 1980’s that said “I’ve been sued […]

Liz Celania-Fagen, a regional superintendent for the Des Moines Independent School District, has been chosen to be the next superintendent for TUSD.
I only note this because I had a couple of people who consider themselves so “in the know” insist to me over the last couple of weeks that the fix was in for Rick […]

Steve Emerine is a frequent reader of this here blog, and he also sends me copies of his columns for Inside Tucson Business. In a column printed on Friday, he went off on local leaders who he thinks are ignoring the economic downturn. Some of it (like his attack on Tim Bee for focusing on […]

Democratic party activist Donna Branch-Gilby made a short announcement at the Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon today that she is going to take on Sharon Bronson in the upcoming election.
I like Branch-Gilby, and Bronson doesn’t always make me happy. However, I’m not sure how Branch-Gilby finds the money to run a strong campaign against Bronson. […]

I went to the Martin Luther King birthday celebration at Reid Park yesterday, and Ray Carroll was there. He is one of only two Republican officials who seem to want to be seen at that event in the nearly twenty years I’ve been attending, the other being Bob Walkup. Props to him.
The guy at the Black […]

Ray Carroll has been claiming that his pushing for Don Jorgenson over Nancy Young Wright for the District 26 house appointment was because he believes that the board is obligated to always vote for the top vote getter among the precinct committeepeople.
This begs the question of why the authors of the statute thought it appropriate […]

John Kromko has reportedly sent a note (handwritten even!) to Terry Goddard claiming that he is going overturn the RTA election.
Um, yeah. Given we are talking about a transit vote, is it proper to say that that train has left the station?
Statutes are pretty clear about this: you have until the Board of Supervisors certifies […]

Democratic activists in District 26 made their picks for the list that will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors to replace Lena Saradnik.
They are businesswoman Cheryl Cage, Don Jorgenson (who is already filed as a house candidate) and former Amphitheater School Board Member Nancy Young Wright.
If I were a betting man, I’d put my […]

Over the next few weeks, there will be a process to replace Rep. Lena Saradnik. Names are already being floated.
One of my pet peeves is that whenever a vacancy like this opens up, you end up with one or two folks who say, “I’ll take the appointment, but I’d never run.” This is one case […]

This morning Daniel Scarpinato reports that Paul Eckerstrom has bowed out of the race for County Attorney. Gosh darnit.
I heard about this earlier in the week. Apparently, he spoke with several people about it at a Pima County Democratic party get together. He didn’t speak to me about it though…I guess…now that he isn’t a […]

The judge in the election integrity case gave the Pima County Democrats a partial victory yesterday when he ordered the release of two database files for examination. Blog for Arizona has a comprehensive history of this case here.
I doubt that there was any fraud in the RTA election. One big reason is that the results […]

Word from downtown is that the judge that is hearing the Pima County Democratic Party’s election lawsuit will likely not be releasing his decision today.

Barbara Lawall sent out a letter this weekend that served as sort of an announcement for her re-election campaign. What struck me was at the top of her list of accomplishments was a brag about the low rate of plea bargaining and her high trial rate.
This is one of those bits that makes for good […]

The first official salvo in next year’s Pima County Attorney race has been fired. A group called Citizens for Justice has been formed and has put together a website detailing what they see as problems with Barbara Lawall’s stewardship of her office. The allegations are well sourced, with all of them being presented as articles […]

In an e-mail to supporters, Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez has declared her support for Barack Obama. No, I don’t know what the “F” stands for either.
In the 2004 primary, Rodriguez supported Wesley Clark. We came into the race late, and many legislators and elected officials had already signed on with a candidate (many […]

Y’all may remember a while back when the Star ran a story decrying the lack of neighborhood reinvestment money being spent in Ray Carroll’s and Ann Day’s districts. As I pointed out at the time, a big part of the reason for this was the lack of neighborhoods in those areas that needed the money. […]

Bruce Ash has been scribbling furiously on here. You may remember a few months back when he was installed as national committeeman for the Republicans, and folks thought that this guy was going to be a calm, reasonable voice for the party in contrast to the divisive Randy Pullen. This was a view shared only […]

Rumors are swirling that Ray Carroll has been looking for a candidate to run against Sharon Bronson. Bronson won an oddball three way race in 1996 after incumbent Ed Moore had left the Republican party and ran as an independent. 2000 was another close contest, but 2004 turned into a snoozer when Republican Barney Brenner […]

I’m trying to run down a few things, but I have two ideas for posts. That is pretty good, isn’t it?
Here is something to chew on in the mean time:
Bill Staples is not only the Pima County Assessor, but he is also a complete sentence. Believe It Or Not!