Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Kyrsten Sinema's voting record‏

Kyrsten Sinema, former State Representative, Legislative District 15, who is running against my client, Bob Thomas, for the Senate, apparently missed a lot of votes in 2009. According to the story, reprinted by the Capitol Times (on a date few of us read the paper), Ms. Sinema failed to vote in the 2009 Session nearly 40% of the time for a total of 140 missed votes.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) gave her a rating of 31% (out of 100) for her voting record towards small business in particular and business in general.

Floor Votes Missed During 2009 Regular Session
By Evan Wyloge, Cronkite News Service
As released by the Capitol Times
Published: December 30, 2009 at 3:03 pm
HOUSE-TOTAL FLOOR VOTES: 382
Name #Missed (%Missed)
Rich Crandall 254 (66.5%)
Olivia Cajero Bedford 154 (40.3%)
Matt Heinz 146 (38.2%)
Kyrsten Sinema 140 (36.6%)


Source: Carole V. Bartholomeaux for Bob Thomas, LD15 GOP Senate Candidate

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

LD15 GOP and other District Volunteer Poll Watchers Needed

How to Help:

Volunteer on Election Day (Nov 2nd) to be a poll watcher.

A poll watcher is someone who is appointed by a political party to observe the Election Day procedures in a precinct. The Republican Party is currently asking for PCs and other Republicans in LD15 to volunteer on November 2nd to work as poll watchers. We would prefer for poll watchers to observe all day, but if you can only help for a few hours on Election Day, we still want your help.

To Volunteer to be a Poll Watcher:

1. Email Carolyn Leff at CLeff@AZGOP.org
with your name, cell number, physical and email address.

2. Attend one of the training sessions below:

Training Date: 10/12/2010
Time: 7pm
Location: LD11 GOP Meeting Madison School Office
Address: 5601 N. 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014

Training Date: 10/16/2010
Time: Noon
Location: Pima GOP HQ
Address: 5447 E. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ 85711

Training Date: 10/21/2010
Time: 6:30pm meeting/7:30pm training
Location: LD19 GOP Meeting
Address: 7110 E. McKellips Road, Mesa, AZ 85207

Training Date: 10/23/2010
Time: 1:30pm
Location: Glendale Foothills Library
Address: 19055 N. 57th Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85308

Training Date: 10/30/2010
Time: 10am
Location: AZ State GOP HQ
Address: 3501 N. 24th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016

3. Observe at the assigned polling place on election day.

Source: Carolyn Leff, AZGOP HQ

Monday, October 11, 2010

PHOENIX GENERAL PLAN UPDATE - IMPORTANT NEWS‏

IMPORTANT NEWS! NEW TIMELINE AND PROCESS FOR THE PHOENIX GENERAL PLAN UPDATE -

Staff appeared before the City Council Subcommittee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainablity on September 2, 2010 to get direction on the General Plan Update timeline given the fact that last May an amendment to the State Statutes was approved giving cities more time to complete their updates given the current economic conditions. This amendment establishes a new deadline of July 2015 for adopting or readopting our general plans.

Three options were presented to the Subcommittee:

1) complete a very limited edit of the existing plan by November 2010 in order to place it on the ballot in August 2011,

2) conduct a more comprehensive update that would include new 2010 Census data and incorporate two regional MAG transportation planning studies, in addition to other studies, by November 2012 and place it on the ballot in August 2013 (if there is a city-wide election item) or August 2015, or

3) complete a limited edit of the existing plan and put it on the ballot in 2011 and continue to work on a more comprehensive update that would be put on a future ballot.

The Subcommittee approved option 3. Given the limited time available, our plan of action breaks the update into two phases:

Phase I includes sorting the existing goals and policies under the four focus area which were developed last Fall and used to organize all of our public input - community, economy, environment and infrastructure.

These areas are based on the 3 E's of sustainability (equity, environment and economy) with the addition of infrastructure. Once the existing goals and policies have been sorted under these focus areas, we will identify gaps between what exists and what the you told us was important during the Village Visioning Workshops.

Phase II will inlcude a longer term work program for filling in those gaps; incorporating new data and studies currently in progress; and developing performance measures, strategies, and an action plan.

It is anticipated that the public hearing draft will be released no later than November 29, 2010. A notice will be sent to the listserve once the document has been posted to the www.phoenix.gov/planphx website and is available for your review.

Important dates for Phase I of the General Plan Update -

November 29, 2010: Public Hearing draft to be released for 60-day review

January 2011: Village Planning Committees review and recommend

February 9, 2011: Planning Commission reviews and recommends

March 2, 2011: City Council reviews and acts

April 6, 2011: City Council schedules election

August 30, 2011: Public votes

Please email at carol.johnson@phoenix.gov or call me at 602-261-8289 if you have any questions or comments about this revised process and schedule.

Source:

Carol Johnson, AICP
Planning Manager

Saturday, October 9, 2010

P.L.A.N. Update - Economy Improving . . . Slowly‏

On Wednesday, September 29, Arizona’s Finance Advisory Committee (FAC), received an economic and budget briefing from several of the state’s top economists. While sales tax revenues are still anemic, their general consensus is that an economic recovery is well underway. Many leading indicators are positive, meaning that a double-dip recession is unlikely to occur. Unfortunately, however, the economists project that the state will still face a budget shortfall for the FY 2012 budget cycle in the range of $800 million to $1.4 billion.

Click on the following link for a PowerPoint of the presentation:
www.azleg.gov/jlbc/revenuebudgetupdate.pdf

Source: P.L.A.N.

Monday, October 4, 2010

ORANGEWOOD CHURCH (7510 N. 27TH AVENUE) HOSTS LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 15 TOWN HALL MEETING, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5TH, 6:30 P.M

Pastor Bob Hake, Orangewood Church announced today that the Church will host a Town Hall/Debate Tuesday, October 5th. The event will take place at the Church, 7510 N 27th Ave., at 6:30 P.M. All Legislative District 15 Candidates from all parties have been invited to participate. Bob Thomas, Caroline Condit, Paul Yoder and Luisa Evonne Valdez will be in attendance. Thomas, Condit and Yoder are Republican candidates for the Senate and House. Valdez is a Green Party candidate for the House. For additional information check the candidates websites: http://www.votebobthomas.org/; http://www.condit2010.com/, http://www.voteyoder.com/, http://www.luisavaldez.com/ or visit the Church website: http://www.orangewoodchurch.org/.

“At every level, the mid-term elections this year have implications for our city and our state that will impact citizen’s lives for years to come,” Orangewood Senior Pastor Bob Hake, explained. “For that reason, we feel it is vital to provide a forum for citizens to come and meet with prospective Legislators. All candidates will make themselves available after the formal presentation to answer questions. We urge residents of Legislative District 15 to not miss this grassroots opportunity.”

“As we face so many challenges, it has never been more important for citizens to meet their prospective Legislators. Please join us October 5th at Orangewood Church,” Hake concluded.

For additional media information, please contact, Carole V. Bartholomeaux, Bartholomeaux/PR, 602 404 8018 or
Carole@b-pr.com After 5 p.m. the day of the event, contact Bartholomeaux @ 602 628 2666.