voting in tucson, az, usa

10.1: gov/vote

. I have 2 districts: one for fed & state,
the localization guy is on my ballot .
leg # 28,
fed # 8 .

10.9: pos.gov/vote/finding info:
. the best way to find vote info,
is to google opposing candidates,
and you get their debates or editorials .

10.9: voter help sites:
fec.gov
vote411.org
guide to guides (all christian, pro-fam or pro-life)
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=94

http://eagleforum.www.capwiz.com/election/guide/az#
http://afanet.www3.capwiz.com/election/guide/az
http://www.diocesephoenix.org/acc/survey/2010/combined-final.html

http://ballotpedia.org/
http://www.ballot-access.org/
http://www.ontheissues.org/

az.state

azsos.gov
http://www.pimadems.org/
http://www.lwvaz.org/azvoterservice/LWV 2010 Voter Guide.pdf
http://www.blogforarizona.com

vids of debates
http://www.azpbs.org/vote2010/
http://www.azcleanelections.gov/home/video/generaldebatevids2010.aspx

http://azcapitoltimes.com/2010-general-election-matchups/
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/officials/congress

tucson, az school board:
 Governing board members are unpaid volunteers,
and are usually people passionate about education,
with education backgrounds.  and meets monthly publicly
http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/govboard/govboard.html
. you can see the meeting content here .
http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/govboard/gbminutes.html

9.17: proj.gov/vote/service-gutting prop's:

~ prop 106: anti-obama hate speech,
106 - NO www.prop106endangersyourhealth.org
some are confusing usa bill with canada's
where dr's can't deal direct with patients .
. tucson rn's claim {70% people, 60% dr's}
wanted national healthcare,

~ prop 107: dismantles eq opp for women,
107 - NO http://www.protectarizonafreedom.com/

~ prop 109: a legal morass
109 - NO http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/pa_2010/fallpropositions.asp
. how can you sanely have an unlimited right
to a limited resource?

prop 110: has no opponents,
110 - YES http://arizona.sierraclub.org

~ prop 111: needs work
111 - NO
prop 112: has no opponents,
112 - YES
~ prop 113: cap's vs labor
113 - NO

prop 203: medi pot
203 - YES www.StopArrestingPatients.org
-- jefferson (the closet interracial)
was a proud hemp grower for treating migrains .
-- recent montana med pot law has resulted in
many traffic accidents where pot was involved .
. doesn't say if they also involved
drinking at the same time;
(I recall being on pot (1972..1984)
was my only sane driving time (1978..1979)
-- paranoid? slow down)
. they also cried about how aweful pot addiction is .
(like addiction to sex?
if the kitchen's too hot ...)
. the only real problem with this bill
is it has you needing a card from
the same adhs who says
right there in opposing remarks
that you might need to get new staff
before any cooperation from that office!

~ prop 301:
301 - NO http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/
. seems unfair when people
volunteer donations for a cause
and then policy switches from a promise .
-- they should show that all donations
have been spent on intention .
else raise new taxes instead of
cheating taxes from other programs .

~ prop 302:
302 - NO http://savingfirstthingsfirst.org/
. first things first program
and an az early childhood devel't health board
. it will be another attempt at
cheating the [no new taxes]-promise .
. the whole point of these programs
was that they assured they pay for themselves
by asking a certain tax for a certain thing
and do you agree with that ?
-- that's an excellent style of governing!
(needs a large savings acct tho'
-- hey that's excellent gov'ing too!!)

10.1: proj.gov/vote/city :

prop#400:
400 - YES http://www.keeptucsonfirst.com/
. I think it's complicated or unfair
to have property tax;
because what if you were poor
but worked hard to save for a nice house,
then the property tax makes you rent it out?
a property tax only makes sense if you assume
a property will generate income .
. I agreed with other spokanites (1984..2006)
that income tax is less regressive
than a sales tax;
but here in tucson, we have so many seniors
that have no taxable income;
the best way to find seniors with
other wealth to tax
is to have a sales tax on luxury items .
. the details of the proposed sales tax,
however,
lead me to think we should
hold out for a better deal;
one commenter claims:
. tucson's combined personal income is $24M
yet it employs 239 at > $100k;
(. if you include corporate income and perhaps assets
some for prop#401 are calling tucson a $1B business [gdp])
. if all employees would take a
1% pay cut per $10k of salary,
our city budget would have  a surplus again .
10.2:
. one problem with voting no on this
is that they may have a contract
promising not reduce salaries
nor fire them without a long notice .
. there may also be some reality
to fears that lower salary will bring
lower quality mgt .
. ironically, it's the con's that point out
this gov' pays too much on overtime:
that's an example of trying to cut jobs
only to inflate the use of other jobs .
. what if lowering salaries had
similar unintended consequences ?
not so ironically,
the objector's point is that
overtime is a symptom of the same
high-salary disease:
. what if we could restructure
to make the system's constitution
more quality-oriented
rather than depend on a few key players
being responsible in the dark?
. I just won't vote on this one .
10.10:
. it's bumping it up by just 0.5%;
I now say help a downer now,
give lectures later .

prop#401:
401 - YES http://yeson401.org/
. many more goods than neg's
. tea party endorsed it as good use of money;
and in this issue they can't be damaging .
[10.12: I was amazed at tea part out there
barking about obamacare;
you'd be about lower taxes
and defend this medicare?
you are either a selfish hypocrite
or a racist or a jews-should-zionist .]
. con's say this reduces local democracy
(more power to unelected)
--
. how are successful businesses
electing their mgt?
seems we do a lot of voting
with lackluster results .
(... I thought of this just before
reading about prop#401 here,
which wants to have gov select
some jobs that were once chosen by vote).

10.10: dem's picks
http://www.pimadems.org/
. these are also merged with my comments above;
I happened to be aligned with them all .

STATEWIDE PROPOSITIONS
106 - NO www.prop106endangersyourhealth.org
107 - NO http://www.protectarizonafreedom.com/
109 - NO http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/
110 - YES http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/
111 - NO
112 - YES
203 - YES www.StopArrestingPatients.org
113 - NO
301 - NO http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/
302 - NO http://savingfirstthingsfirst.org/

CITY OF TUCSON PROPOSITIONS
400 - YES http://www.keeptucsonfirst.com/
401 - YES http://yeson401.org/

TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
402 - YES
--[. they do have some gifted properties;
one thought they were trying to cover up
gross mismgt .]

10.8: web.gov/vote/State Senate LD28: Ewoldt:
[10.12:
. Ewoldt's radio ad' introduced me to
relocalization -- where the
dem's and tea party can merge
rather than collide !]

Dave Ewoldt, Independent Candidate
for AZ State Senate, LD28
http://www.daveforarizona.org/
. he says the p word:
http://www.daveforarizona.org/html/sustainability.html

"(sustainability entails determining,
and staying within, the balance point amongst
POPULATION, consumption, and waste assimilation
so that bioregions, watersheds and ecosystems
can maintain their ability to
recharge, replenish, and regenerate.)

-- nice talk but, he's only running for
az's district 28 -- not a fed position;
still he's the idea man,
and here's his blog .
http://daveforarizona.blogspot.com/
. his talk on relocalization is here .
http://daveforarizona.blogspot.com/p/what-is-relocalization.html

A global growth economy
based on cheap and abundant
fossil fuels
to both grow and transport our food
thousands of miles,
and to supply the raw materials
for the cheap plastic throwaway goods
we've come to rely on,
is quickly drawing to a close.
We are not going to see an economic recovery,
because we are not in a recession.
We are at the end of a
historic period in human civilization.
. the American Dream
as presented by Wall Street,
Madison Avenue, Hollywood,
and the rest of corporate media
really is a mere dream
because one must be
asleep to believe it.

. we must rebuild our local economies;
recapture our sense of place;
reclaim our sovereignty;
and restore our communities.
. relocalization is the antidote to
growth, corporate globalization,
manifest destiny, and individualism.

Rather than trying to be competitive in a
global economy that's heading south
--in more ways than one--
we have the opportunity to become
global leaders in sustainable,
local living economies.
using steady-state economics,
a whole-systems approach
to creating
an alternative public infrastructure
that exists within
a bioregion's carrying capacity.

As a concrete strategy,
relocalization moves production of
food, goods and energy
closer to the point of consumption,
increases food and energy security,
and empowers local decisions
in the development of
currency, culture, and governance.
. in addition to
protecting local economies from the
slow drain of an export economy,
relocalization goes a step further
with a commitment to
reduce consumption, waste,
and to improve
environmental and social conditions.

Relocalizing means building
community networks of mutual support.
It means more family farms
(many, many more)
and making sure they're not
forced to sell out to developers.
It means living wage jobs
in clean, zero-waste industries
that use renewable energy;
that focus on
rebuilding our local economic base,
recapturing the skills and craftsmanship
we're lost to
overseas off-shoring, outsourcing
and the model of industrial efficiency
that puts quantity above quality.

As an added bonus,
living wage jobs also directly address
the issues of affordable housing and poverty.
Relocalization means
making our cities human-friendly
and less reliant on cars.
Less asphalt and more trees
means less urban heat island effect
and more natural carbon uptake.

Plus, rebuilding, renovating, and remodeling
for low-impact, energy-efficient
homes, businesses and infrastructure
will keep local construction industries
busy for decades to come.

In addition to supporting
the strategy of relocalization,
Dave Ewoldt will help the
Transition Movement
http://www.transitionus.org/
support and inspire
community led responses
around the relocalization strategy.

A Transition Initiative
is a community-led response
to the pressures of
climate change,
fossil fuel depletion
and increasingly, economic contraction.
There are thousands of initiatives
around the world including
Transition towns, cities, villages, universities,
churches and more .

http://www.transitionus.org/transition-101
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/
http://sheffield.indymedia.org.uk/2010/06/453356.html
http://transitionradio.posterous.com/
http://transitionus.org/category/resources/awareness/economy
http://transitionus.org/transition-handbook
-- that book is also sold here .
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_transition_handbook/
. they also have a primer .
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-primer

10.9:
Ted Downing and Paula_Aboud
vs the localization guy, Dave Ewoldt .

. Paula_Aboud was not elected
but selected to fill giffords move to fed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Aboud
she is a good dem fit, but her competition is
the localization guy, dave, a green as indep,
and another dem
running as indep, Ted Downing .
 Dr.Ted Downing, UA Research Professor in social development,
running nonpartisan and independent,
former 2 term Democratic house legislator in LD 28
from 2003 to 2007),

az party hist
40's: 80% repub;
70's: 40% d,r, 10% indep;
2010: 33% d,r, indep .

Tucson midtown party status:
36,000 Democrats,
22,000 Republicans and
24,000 others
according to downing, but,
Aboud said
Democrats are left out of the loop
because of the large Republican majority.
[at the state leg?
perhaps that is true because
the indep's are voting for repub's still .]

. downing moved to indep because of
grid lock:
the parties require voting with the party
but that under-serves a place
with few votes like tucson;
the jobs were in construction,
the plans now are to lobby state and fed
for earmarks that bring jobs;
and also to support microlending
to spur jobs like india has .
. downing does have a good chance;
but, dave is the better ideas man;
however,
I fear dave will just be a billboard
for the future .

http://www.votedowning.com/www.votedowning.com/Compare_Candidates/Entries/2010/9/17_Press_stories_on_the_LD28_race.html

Downing said he endorsed Goddard.
Ewoldt said he would likely align with Goddard
but disappointed Goddard wasn't showing
strong leadership on big issues.
Ewoldt ditched the Green Party label
in an effort portray environmentalism
as something consistent with both
dem and repub's values [relocalization].
Ewoldt said of Downing:
"Ted's going to have a hard time
convincing people he's independent.
He's one of the good old boys
of the core Democrats in town."
[but downings point was
not being forced to vote with party]

--
. Ewoldt's relocalization plans
are really promising;
I don't usually let greens
steal votes from the dem's;
but, this race is really between 2 dem's;
if you pick green this time
then you get some discussion rolling;
if Aboud wins you get more gridlock;
if downing wins you get less .
. both of the dem's act like
dave is not a threat at all,
that downing might let the repub in
when the repubs are a minority in tucson .
. dave said real things about job loss
that the dem's simply ignored (hid from:
"(omg, dave's a political bomb,
while we're just a pop'bomb! ...)).

. who are the az greens reputed to be?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Green_Party
Dave Croteau ran for mayor of Tucson in 2007
on a platform of relocalization
and received over 28% of the vote.
. greens hosted the notorious nader campaign
that clinched the bush presidency .
. we should embrace relocalization (jobs)
but what does dave think of
mobilizing for jobs via
earmarks on fed and state bills ?
. the bottom line is that
if you've been voting dem's
just to get close to the green menu,
now you have 2 dem's and a green:
hello?

10.9: Corporation Commission (vote for 2): Bradley, Garcia:

Democrat: David Bradley -- solar
http://www.bradleyforarizona.com/myplan.html
Democrat: Jorge Luis Garcia
http://www.votegarcia.org/
(current LD 27 State Senator
& Senate Minority Leader)
. details of dem's are for solar:
http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_b0b98bf3-d2ea-5840-b45c-5f57ebe63bd7.html

10.9: sec'state: Deschene
vid.debate:
http://www.azpbs.org/vote2010/
. Chris Deschene got into engineering
so that he could get into renewables .
issues:
. he's nitpicking about the incumbent's
response to the green party scandal;
(sec'state is esp'ly a chief elections officer);
he's nitpicked for missing 34% of his leg duty?
he has a good excuse:
he was there for key votes
vs votes meant to harrass;
he's 6 hours away, so he skips harrassment .
. chris voted against sb1070;
he should be supported for that
(well, if fed'dem's should be supported
...haven't seen the bill [however,
during the gov debates it was pointed out
that they lied when claiming it was
just like the fed bill;
it said things like if you know of
any illegals amongst your, say church,
you can be charged with harboring illegals .
--. has even the drug war
gone off the deep end like this? ])
. finally,
this office could be considered vice-governor;
and a dem could do a lot of good there;
also he'll match the dem I put in governor .
. the green is Michelle Lochmann .
http://64.92.214.160/michelle/


10.9: treasurer: Cherny:
http://www.aztreasury.gov/
vid.debate:
http://www.azpbs.org/vote2010/
. the dem is a prosecuter who noticed
treasurer was not helping white collar crime:
$10B of investments -- done wrong .


10.9: superintendent of Public Instruction: Kotterman:

vid.Debate:
http://www.azpbs.org/vote2010/
Huppenthal has a proven acctability system;
but he wants english only;
[10.12: we hijacked a hispanic state
and then complain about bilingual education?
if they would get into
relocalization of the economy
and away from global trading;
the problem of white taxes paying for
3rd world pop'explosion
would simply evaporate .
. the democratic way to relocalization
is giving minorities eno' land
to be their own farming and solar bosses .
(remember to save some fed land for zionists;
there will be no mideast peace
without declaring usa to be new zion) .]
. why is our school at the bottom?
rand studies say we are ok
(the bottom of a good system
is not that bad).
. salaries are not showing quality,
40k vs 60k .
. an auditor said our school was underfunded .
. race to the top was an issue .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_Top

http://www.johnhuppenthal.com/
The Vocational Education Association
named Senator Huppenthal
Legislator of the Year
for reducing paperwork and bureaucracy.
As Senate Education Committee Chairman,
Huppenthal has worked with parents of
children with autism
to improve the quality of education
available to children with autism.
Huppenthal helped start a
model summer school
for children with autism.
As Senate Education Committee Chairman,
Huppenthal sponsored and helped pass
legislation to bring best practices to Arizona
for our special needs children.
Huppenthal helped pass legislation
implementing a statewide merit-pay system
to ensure good teachers receive good pay.
As Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Huppenthal will work to improve Arizona’s
merit-pay system to increase the
quality of instruction
and reward our best teachers.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anyone-But-John-Huppenthal
. he voted with his party on sb1070
and also wants to force English.
He is opposed to bilingual education
--[. his way may be efficient,
but we should be a bit more gentle
given the fact that this land
was hispanic very recently; [10.12:
it's a more efficient use of
childhood's ease of learning,
not to hold up that learning
waiting for english skills to sharpen .]
. I would like to see programs where we
hired parents at labor rates to help with
bilingualism, classwork assistance,
and classroom policing (let teachers have
more bathroom breaks)
. having teacher partners can reduce the strain
and keep the highly trained teachers happy .
]
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_a8f64222-c13b-11df-832d-001cc4c002e0.html
Kotterman is the former president of the
Arizona Education Association,
the state's largest teachers union
rose from the ranks,
and demands teachers have certification
such as by mentoring programs
(not just a college degree).
her site:
http://www.pennykotterman.com/news/tag/john-huppenthal


GOVERNOR: Terry Goddard:
[10.12:
. I would never vote for a libertarian
that didn't have a humane pop'reduction plan;
but, ] hess is a good speaker .
http://www.hessforgovernor.com/

10.10:

co.apt/pol/Governor Debate:
Wed, Sept. 1 - Barry Hess (Libertarian)
http://www.azpbs.org/vote2010/
. talking to libertarian who pointed out
we could reduce by 40% if we
just got gov out completely;
but he says that
like it means just the end of obamacare;
what about the hypocrite tea party's deathpanels?!
you promised us medicare
and you're going to pay a black hole
of high tech medical bills for every senior ?!
. a libertarian poking at dem healthcare?
he has no idea what he's talking about;
everyone wants their medicare;
nobody wants the obvious good
libertarians have!
[. you ask how could that be good
when you voted for obamacare?
the gov could do it like auto insur':
if you drive, then insur' is manditory
but you can negotiate with any co you want .
. likewise with medical:
if you plan to accept services,
then you pay private insur'co's
for the type of plan you'll accept care from;
(eg, I myself would save a bundle
not accepting cancer or heartdisease treatments
from this corn puff nation ...)
. the only gov (tax-funded) expense
would be the watchdog enforcing the
no-pay no-play rules .]

co.apt/gov/vote/debate rage:
. after watching goddard debate incumbent;
I was wow'd:
see that?! that was
right-wing radio on obama in reverse rage!
seems like so much justice
but that was really unfair
since the repub jan is simply giving us
what az.state asked for .
. dem's and repub's are both finding
ways to do the pop'control indirectly;
who has the [androgens] to solve the pop'problem
directly ?
dem's just don't want it done by ethnocentricity .
the dem's are like a [unnoticably petite] diff
from az voters ... but so sensitive[petite diff's] ...
. dem's are quite diff from christians:
"(they are saving the wrong half!)!

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Felecia Rotellini
http://www.feleciaforarizona.com/
http://azstarnet.com/
. served from 1992 to 2005
as a civil and criminal prosecutor
working under a Republican,
and then Terry Goddard, a Democrat.
. opp is currently
Superintendent of Public Instruction .
She opposed SB 1070,
the state's new immigration enforcement law,
because it doesn't do enough
to combat illegal immigration.
. the budget cuts bound for her office
will not reduce under her watch
funding to the office's
civil rights division
or consumer protection section,
and she plans to resurrect
an elder affairs unit.

U.S. SENATOR: Rodney Glassman:
http://www.azcentral.com/
He is an ardent supporter of an
expansive government-run health-care system
and more stimulus projects in Arizona;
he also thinks the state
overstepped its authority
in passing the controversial
immigration-enforcement law.
. "(he faces accusations of
plagiarizing portions of his
Ph.D. dissertation )
--[ when they said that,
I remembered they said that about
the [I have a Dream].guy, King .
. I wondered if that was a signal that
hate groups were incensed at his views .
(while az is 1/3 indep, those might be
tea party culture-war types,
so responding to our
repub isn't tea party eno'
with maybe you need an Obama dem'
might look like a
voter-assisted suicide attempt .)
]
McCain voted against the
health-care overhaul;
Glassman said he would make changes
but supports a government-run system
like the one that members of Congress have.
McCain thinks the $862 billion stimulus
was a failure
and laments a smaller package he sponsored
wasn't adopted instead.
Glassman called the stimulus disappointing
but thinks in some ways
it wasn't large enough.
In particular,
he wants additional spending on
infrastructure projects
such as roads and bridges
[and solar, and relocalization!!!
right?]
to create work and improve communities.
. McCain leads Glassman
in the general election by 53%-34% .
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/rodney-glassman/
[10.12:
. I'm really suprised az's not going for
the dem's approach to getting more jobs;
but I don't watch tv;
they may be a bit more convincing there
than right-wing radio is
about how taxing is just such a job loser;
sure, you give cap's more money
and they create more jobs -- overseas;
you give gov more money,
and they hand out lunches
while singing Kumbaya .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbaya
. solar would be so expensive,
even after all the infrastructure is paid for,
just thinking about all that free energy
seems so very expensive
for some political careers .]

CD8 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE:Gabrielle Giffords
. voted for healthcare .

MINE INSPECTOR: Manuel Cruz
vid.debate:
http://playpbs.azpm.org/video/1598502657/
. adopt a mine .
. don't let lack of money stop you,
how to find the owner? do we need to?
. solar panels in strip mines .
his site:
http://www.cruzforarizona.com/


state house #28: Steve Farley, Bruce Wheeler (2):

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Steve_Farley
Farley provided answers to the Arizona State Legislative Election
2008 Political Courage Test.
The test provides voters with
how a candidate would vote on the issues;
his legislative priorities:
1) Strengthen and achieve energy independence
by making the economy Arizona
the Saudi Arabia of solar energy
2) Create universal health insurance
through individual mandates (not business mandates)
and programs to make health insurance
affordable to all
3) Build alternative systems of
public transportation to give Arizonans
real alternatives to the high gas prices.

In 2010 National Rifle Association
http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=123866
gave Wheeler a grade of A-,
in its scorecard for candidates seeking office in 2010.

Wheeler’s Campaign Is Endorsed By:
http://www.wheeler2010.com/wheeler2010/
Arizona Education Association
Planned Parenthood of Arizona
AZ Professional Firefighters
Fraternal Order of Police
Sierra Club
League of Conservation Voters
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Arizona AFL-CIO
AZ Realtors Association
AZ Nurses Association
AZ Multihousing Association
AZ Technology Council
-- many of these also endorse the other dem .
[... it's a 2-man post is why .]

Republican: Ken Smalley
http://kensmalleyforrep.com/issues.php

10.11: county info:

clerk of superior court: noland

[letting the incumbent remain]
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_2493c7cc-2604-5fc2-9dee-62c0d2dd968c.html
difrank challenges noland
The challenger says the online records issue
is stalled by the incumbent
who says the issue is in the hands of
the Arizona Supreme Court,
which is currently working on other projects,
Noland said.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/courting-votes/Content?oid=2219062
DiFrank worked for Noland
after Noland's first election,
and was fired after 10 months.
DiFrank says she expects Noland to characterize her
as an angry ex-employee,
but that she runs because
she feels her experience
makes her very qualified
for this public office like no other:
she runs an investigations firm
that often works on criminal legal cases,
and holds a master's degree in
public service management .

While she worked under Noland,
DiFrank disagreed with
what she considered to be
unqualified hires.
. one current staff member
helped Noland with campaigns
when the clerk served as a state legislator,
and another is a fellow Republican
and former state legislator
voted out of office in 2006.
Those employees both make more than $90,000.
Noland's salary, which is set by the
Board of Supervisors, is $76,600.
[. this could also be a loyalty thing;
says they still get paid
less than those doing the same job
on some other branch .]
DiFrank also complains
Noland is not putting all
criminal and civil court records online
as required by Arizona law.
Currently,
records are available at the
Pima County Courthouse,
where four computers are used for searches,
and copies cost 50 cents per page.
"She's just not willing to make public access
fully available,"
DiFrank says.
Regarding DiFrank's criticism about
public records, Noland says that
the Arizona Supreme Court has
asked all counties to have all records
go through the same portal for online access.
"They don't have it ready yet.
(DiFrank would) be in the same place,"
Noland says.
[I couldn't understand this argument;
because the records appear to be somewhat online
and are linked to the main site;
so, why put up the search site
if not connecting the entire base?
maybe the search site is recent .]
"... She wants it to seem as if
I am against transparency,
but that's just not my intention."
Instead, Noland says she has
worked to make records more accessible
by creating the system that
allows the public to access records
on the second floor of the courthouse.

Noland adds that DiFrank's company, Info-Tracts,
does work for Storts' office,
and she wonders how DiFrank
would separate herself from the business,
which she owns with her husband,
Terry Frederick.
The business works closely with
area attorneys and court cases
throughout the state
—and DiFrank would have access to
records that could potentially
benefit her business.
DiFrank says she recognizes
the potential conflict,
but has plans to "pass the baton"
to a different business partner
if she is elected.

the online access is discussed here .
http://docs.google.com/
2008.9 was the date they started rolling plans;
they want a unified system plan
to get a single deal
from the most competitive vendor .

Arizona
http://www.rcfp.org/ecourt/survey.html#AZ
Opinions from the appellate courts and Supreme Court
are available online for free.
Docket sheets from trial courts
are also available online.
This information can be accessed for free at
www.supreme.state.az.us/publicaccess/notification/default.asp
[. checking that out,
http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/publicaccess/
The Arizona Judicial Branch
is pleased to offer
Public Access to Court Case Information,
a valuable online service providing a resource for
information about court cases from
153 out of 180 courts in Arizona.
Unavailable Courts
http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/publicaccess/courtsnotinc.aspx
The following courts are
not accessible through this site.
Please contact the specific court
for case information.
... Pima County Superior
main page: http://www.sc.pima.gov/
entry to online access .
http://www.agave.cosc.pima.gov/PublicDocs/
--. also follow www.sc.pima.gov ... record search
to get this:
http://www.cosc.co.pima.az.us/home.asp?Include=pages/record_search.htm
. If the case or person you are searching for
does not appear,
please call 1 (520) 740-3240
or come down and visit our
Legal Records Department at 110 W Congress.
]
. Information from certain kinds of cases
are not available online,
such as sealed cases;
The rule concerning electronic court access, Rule 123,
can be found at
http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?SP=AZR-1000

. interesting paper about going online .
http://docs.google.com/viewer?....appellatecourtclerks.org/

10.11: tusd` board: hicks, ortega

summary:
. az is a place where amer'natives were
invaded by the spanish
who were then invaded by the anglos;
and charter schools have since
moved the high achievers out of tusd,
tucson's public school district;
and, a basically latino school
should have more latino governance;
. grijalva, ortega seem like
the most hispanic friendly;
however,
after finding out from the debate
that hicks is part amer'native,
and was left behind as a youth
by this exact district
I gave the incumbents place to him .
(tucson.az is one of those frontier hotspots
with major native reservations nearby;
I think it likely that many here
are partially native,
and the board should represent that .
. hicks is not such a good debater,
but he does teach at a community college;
so, I'm betting he's articulate
once acclimated to his setting .)

http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/08/05/5-candidates-file-for-2-seats-on-tucson-unified-school-district-governing-board/

 Governing board members are unpaid volunteers,
and are usually people passionate about education,
with education backgrounds.  and meets monthly publicly
http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/govboard/govboard.html
. you can see the meeting content here .
http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/govboard/gbminutes.html

2. Adelita Grijalva,
incumbent board member (has served 2 terms since 2003)
3. Michael Hicks,
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Manager
for City of Tucson, Dept. of Transportation
4. Miguel Ortega,
Council Administrative Assistant
to Ward 3 Councilwoman Karin Uhlich
(formerly Chief of Staff)
5. Armand Salese, J.D.,
attorney in private practice,
ran for this office before
in November, 2004

here they are debating:
http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/events_boardforum.html
(that .asx file needs windows media player)
[thanks to mac.vmware`fusion]
http://quill.tusd1.org/20100410

Grijalva
. when she says
the school needs more ad's
pointing out its good parts
I think her strategy is to
bring back the workables
so the school isn't left with
all the what's-homework's .
... later on in this debate however,
she gave a good example of
the school needing better ad'ing
when she was asking about programs
and was told there none,
then finding later there were 8
and one was several years old .
. says a board should do
more policy less managing .

+hicks:
. he's got some native blood,
and got bumped along through
this same school district;
he might have that spirit of
no child left behind done right
not with one-time tests,
but persistent oversight .

+ortega:
. he forgot to mention on his
candidate statement
that he does also have
some endorsements;
but that seems unimportant
after listening to his
pro'presentation skills,
his familiarity with the issues,
and sharing my own positions
on where the school should be
and how they should get there .
. his accent was much more latino
during this debate
than on the tv presentation,
where he seemed possibly italian .

candidate staments:
http://www.schools.pima.gov/site/2010_school_board_candidates

Grijalva
. endorsement from the Tucson Education Association,
the Pima Area Labor Federation
(Communication Workers of America,
AFSCME, ...)
and Educational Leaders, Inc.

+ortega:
Miguel taught students for 5 years
in the 1990’s at TUSD and SUSD.
As a proven partnership builder,
he has extensive knowledge and strong relationships
with Tucson and Southern Arizona non-profits,
human rights and arts organizations.
Ortega has advocated for youth in the area of
prevention of teenage pregnancy,
gang activity and drug abuse.
He is a founding member of Tucson
Steering committee of Local Firs Arizona
(a state-wide small business advocacy group)
and a past board member of the
GLBT Chamber of Commerce.
[ The mission of the GLBT Chamber of Commerce
is to promote the success and growth of
the glbt and allied business community
through education, networking, and advocacy.]
In 2005, Miguel was recognized as a winner of
the Tucson Business Edge 40 Under 40 Awards.
Ortega believes we need a new vision for
TUSD students, teachers and working families.
He is the only candidate to
speak out on the out-of-state
TUSD Board travel budget,
to ask for a delay in selecting
the new TUSD superintendent,
and the only challenging candidate
to consistently attend board meetings
this past year.

+Hicks: [ well positioned for the job]
. shares his knowledge with students by
teaching Information Technology classes
at Pima Community College,
as Adjunct faculty member.
In his spare time Michael volunteers
at his children’s schools
where he has given hundreds of hours
providing additional support
for both students and faculty.
“Over the years I have seen the changes in
TUSD’s practices and policies
and the impact it has had
on my children’s education.
I feel that I can bring valuable knowledge
when analyzing budgets and specific areas
given the amount of money
TUSD spends on Transportation,
to reduce costs in that area
and free up funds which we can use
to improve our children’s
hands-on education”.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2010/09/19/why-is-the-tusd-school-board-making-such-a-grave-mistake/

. TUSD faces many complex problems that make it unique.
We have had a desegregation order on us
since 1979 until recently.
We also have the only ethnic studies program in the nation
and it is currently under attack via HB2281,
recently passed by the famous Arizona 2010 legislature .

Adelita Grijalva
and Bruce Burke, were put in charge of
making the schedule/time-line for appointing
the new superintendent.
... before their November elections.
[seems right, show your work, but
picking the sup may be complicated
and take time]
. the reason this decision is being rushed
is because John Pedicone,
of the conservative
Southern Arizona Leadership Council,
has the votes required to win
right now.
[here is his interview results]
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/article_d8b77bfc-eb66-50af-9c92-92ac00337b4a.html
 Pedicone would be an enemy
of the ethnic studies program.
. nothing will ever get done
if he does not have the board's votes

+Michael Hicks:
a conservative who collected many signatures
at TEA Party rallies.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/article_d4ecb3ee-fda8-5138-bccc-4dc4f9d48438.html
. a political issue is whether
Mexican- American studies classes
must be used as a history requirement;
[. I thought Mexican- American studies
was very helpful;
I had wondered why the mexicans got pushed back,
and thought that while texas was in dispute
it might have been a bit much of usa
to also snatch new mexico and az
in the heat of the argument over texas .
. we were set on an english federation
with a region packed with spanish .
. federations should have
per-state speech requirements
and this state should have been kept spanish .
. if you're not sympathetic to that view,
you might not want to hear about
mex-amer studies! ]

+Hicks
 does not believe the courses
should satisfy the history requirement
and would prefer to see it as an elective .
[ "(the) history requirement?
I would hope any region has to study
more than one history;
other sources showed
that the debaters didn't seem to agree
on just what the question meant:
should ethnic studies be
counted as history
vs should there be studies like
history and ethnic studies .
. if people think reading and math
are more important than history,
keep in mind that
some kids need motivation!
history includes stories of wars,
depressions, fierce job competitions .
. one candidate mentioned teachable moments
and history lessons remind me of that .]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teachable_moment

Salese:
. the district does not have
the public's trust
because children tend to be
pushed through the system
whether they're ready or not
. the district needs to be
less antagonistic toward lawmakers
and the state superintendent
in order to get more funding.
on mex'amer studies:
he wanted to make certain
kids are taking core courses first
to ensure they will be able to
function in the real world.

vids of debates:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/09/07/four-t-u-s-d-governing-board-candidates-interviewed-on-kuat/
. one reason they have low scores
is that parents didn't always
have choices
and now they are flocking to
charter schools;
leaving only the under-achievers;
http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/v18n1/v18n101.asp
[Charter schools operate on taxpayer dollars,
so there is virtually no cost to students.
] 1994 is when they started here in tucson;
books.google.com/books
charter schools can be picky:
http://www.greatschools.org/
This [charter] school is definitely not
for every child, especially if the children
do not have support at home
to go over homework.

grijalva, incumbent,
mom of toddler
-- but it's not a full-time day job .
. the new mother has a heart for early edu,
she was once into how to have schools
keep kids out of trouble
[she likely learned that's impossible,
-- and getting worse! --
as the workables move to charters]
. tusd has great pre-school programs
that simply need better ad'ing .

+ortega:
. we need to get out of our comfort zone
and talk in kid's lang to
get at the meat of edu:
it's not what you learn
but about learning to learn
and making the best use of
tech or "(tools of today).
. steal ideas from other schools!
. don't blame teachers,
but few bad apples [?
this doesn't make sense by itself;
but other examples show how a bad system
can make a lot of teachers look bad
when they are simply unable to escape
traps of the system
(one test means everything,
a few students can bring down whole school
just for being absent on
that one test-day;
the teachers have no access to parents,
and no leverage to motivate students .).] .

+hicks:
site-based decision making:
. teachers and parents decide
need to steal ideas from other schools .
. the sup' is walking into a hornets nest;
many teachers seen as lame ducks .

salese:
. a lawyer that sees kids whose parents
need to get involved because
they aren't doing the work .
. he sued the school over equity issues .
. our sup should be using
data driven info systems,
performance-based decision making .

http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2010/09/16/how-will-the-new-tusd-superintendent-affect-ethnic-studies-video/
. tucson public is approaching
80% minority (non-anglos)
because the anglos left for charters,
yet they're still making decisions
about the public school
like the anti-Ethnic studies bill HB2281
 John Pedicone, vice-president of the conservative
 Southern Arizona Leadership Council,
has a “horrible record when he was at Flowing Wells
and certainly represents the inverse relationship”
of supporting ethnic studies,
according to Martinez, the lawyer fighting HB2281
on behalf of the ethnic studies teachers .