Election integrity topic at Saguaro Eastside Democrats meeting

“Election Integrity: Are our votes counted honestly?”

On Tuesday January 8, 2013, Saguaro Eastside Democrats will host a discussion of this issue by Mickey Duniho and Tom Ryan. Both men are members of the Pima County Election Integrity Commission which tries to influence our ability, as voters in Pima County, to confirm the honesty of our elections process. Their opinion is that the results in its first four years are limited. Although attempts to increase security procedures and security documentation have succeeded, attempts to increase the transparency of election processing have failed.

The meeting will be held at New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail (on the northeast corner at Camino Seco). The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and time for socializing. The formal program will begin at 7 p.m. and last until 8:30.

Please note that this is a new day of the week for our programs. In 2013 we will be meeting the second Tuesday of the month.

All meetings of SED are free and open to the public. You do not have to be a member to attend. For further information, call attorney Pat Wiedhopf at 520-850-6755.

This is a very important issue as we all in this democratic country want to insure that when we vote in Primary and General (and special) elections that our vote will be counted accurately.

Watch LD 10 House Democratic candidates debate

Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission held a debate on July 10 between 3 Democratic candidates seeking 2 House seats in LD 10. The debate can be seen online (click here) and was held at the Pima Community College District Office in mid-town. The moderator was C.J. Karamargin, PCC Vice Chancellor for Public Information and Government Relations.

Candidates for this primary race:

–Stefanie Mach, former Americorps volunteer, current business consultant for non-profit organizations, political newcomer, www.stefaniemach.com

–Brandon Patrick, former Air Force translator (Arabic), former Ward 2 City of Tucson Council aide, current community outreach director for El Tour de Tucson, political newcomer (though was the campaign manager of the successful effort against Prop. 200 in 2009 – defeated 70.21% to 29.79%), www.patrick2012.nationbuilder.com

–Bruce Wheeler, current LD 28 House Representative and former Tucson City Councilman from Ward 1, click here for member page

Only Brandon Patrick is a Clean Elections candidate, the other two are running traditionally.

Stefanie Mach

Brandon Patrick

LD 28 Rep. Bruce Wheeler

And if you missed this debate and want to see these candidates speak & answer questions live:

LD 10 CANDIDATES SPEAK TO SAGUARO EASTSIDE DEMOCRATS AND LD10

On Monday July 16, 2012, the three Democratic candidates for two seats in the Arizona House of Representatives from Legislative District 10 and the candidate for the AZ Senate will participate in a forum co-sponsored by the Saguaro Eastside Democrats and the Legislative District 10 Democratic Committee.

Stefanie Mach, Brandon Patrick and Bruce Wheeler are the candidates for the two House nominations. David Bradley is running unopposed for the Senate nomination.

The meeting will be held at New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail (on the northeast corner at Camino Seco). The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and time for socializing. The formal program will begin at 7 p.m.

All meetings of SED are free and open to the public. You do not have to be a member to attend. For further information, call Pat Wiedhopf at 850-6755.

The 2 House winners of this Democratic primary will face two Republicans Todd Clodfelter and LD 30 Rep. Ted Vogt in the General Election. Former LD 28 House. Rep. Dave Bradley will face off with LD 30 Rep. Frank Antenori for the State Senate seat in LD 10.

Vote wisely in the Democratic primary of August 28.

Hot topic of Redistricting at Saguaro Eastside Democrats meeting

REDISTRICTING FOCUS OF Saguaro Eastside Democrats MEETING

On Monday, September 19, political activist Bill Roe will help people understand both the significance and the process of redistricting in Arizona through a presentation and a question and answer period. Roe will be the guest of Saguaro Eastside Democrats (SED) at their meeting held at New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail (northeast corner of Camino Seco).

Roe, who was a Democratic candidate for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, was recently elected to the Democratic National Committee representing Pima County.

The SED meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and time for socializing. Roe’s presentation will begin at 7 p.m. All SED meetings are open to the public. You do not have to be a member to attend. For further information, call 520-850-6755.

For info on the AZ Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC): http://www.azredistricting.org/

AIRC had a first round of statewide public hearings this summer. In South Tucson on August 2, 86 people signed in, 62 requested to speak; on August 6 in Tucson, 140 signed in, 76 requested to speak. So there’s been a lot of interest in this Commission’s work and the process of drawing up new Congressional & state legislative maps. And there have been accusations of violations of the AZ Open Meetings laws and other issues of non-disclosure by Commissioners. Stay tuned as the Commission continues their work and draws up a proposed redistricting map for Arizona.

The AIRC’s Executive Director Ray Bladine explained the current situation on KUAT Channel 6 on September 13 (click here).

And to read in-depth analysis of the Commissions’ meetings, see Steve Muratore’s blogsite, The Arizona Eagletarian (www.stevemuratore.blogspot.com).

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and his challengers to speak

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik will be the guest speaker at the Saguaro Eastside Democrats (SED) meeting on Monday, June 20th. Democrat Dupnik has already announced that he will run for reelection in 2012. He has served as Sheriff since February 1980, with over 50 years in law enforcement and is now 75 years old. Biographical/career info on the Sheriff click here, from the Pima Count Sheriff Department’s website.

The meeting will be held at New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail (northeast corner at Camino Seco). The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and time for socializing. Dupnik will begin his talk at 7 p.m. There will be ample time allotted for an audience question and answer period.

All meetings of SED are free and open to the public. You don’t have to be a member to attend. For further information, call 520-850-6755.

The Saguaro Eastside Democrats encompasses Pima County ’s Eastside communities in Legislative Districts 28, 29 & 30.

Then two days later several Republican potential challengers to the Sheriff are speaking:

“Pima GOP After Hours” with Pima County Sheriff Candidates Terry Frederick, Chester Manning, Walt Setzer, and Vinson Holck. Click on their names (blue hyperlinks) for their campaign websites. Looks like there will be a contested Republican primary for this office in 2012.

The Pima GOP After Hours begins promptly at 6 PM with some announcements. Each of the candidates will then have an opportunity to speak and answer questions individually. At 7 PM there will also be a 30 minute period to talk to each of the candidates one-on-one.

Where: Pima GOP HQ, 5447 E 5th St., suite 100 (west of Craycroft)
When: Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 6:00 PM

More info: wwwpimagop.org.

On the Democratic Attorney General campaign trail…June 21

The three Democratic lawyers running for Arizona Attorney General (Rep. David Lujan, Vince Rabago, and Felecia Rotellini) are debating at the Saguaro Eastside Democrats meeting tonight, June 21st.

logo

The debate kicks off at 7 p.m. but there will be light refreshments starting at 6:30 p.m. with a chance to meet the candidates. Location: New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 Old Spanish Trail (northeast corner of Camino Seco). Attorney Roger White will be the moderator.

These three candidates have debated previously at events hosted by the Arizona Borderland Democrats, the Nucleus Club, Drinking Liberally, and probably elsewhere in Southern Arizona. Some voters I know have already decided whom to select for this run off in the August 24 primary, but if you haven’t seen or heard these three candidates speak, attend this debate to hear how they will enforce Arizona’s laws.

You can also read my previous blogs–with photos–of these candidates (click here for the May 13 debate) and here for the January 29 one.

For more information about Saguaro Eastside Democrats, log onto their website:
or call Program Chair Pat Weidhopf at 520-850-6755. They say they are “dedicated to galvanizing people who share a commitment to Democratic values, which include:

* Loving liberty
* Working for justice
* Actively participating in our political system”.

Their political area encompasses Pima County ’s Eastside communities in Legislative Districts 28, 29, & 30.

on the LD 28 House campaign trail…March 19

The Saguaro Eastside Democrats and Legislative District 28 are hosting a debate for Democratic State House candidates running in that district on Friday, March 19. The debate will start at 7 p.m. at the New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail, NE intersection of S. Camino Seco. Light Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the debate should end by 8:30 p.m.

Moderator will be John C. Scott, host of KJLL 1330 AM talk radio show.

Democratic donkey logo

Expected to debate will be LD 28 Democratic house candidates:

– State House Rep. Steve Farley (incumbent)
– Marlena Fineberg
– Ted Prezelski
– Mohur Sidhwa
– Tim Sultan
– Bruce Wheeler (former 1 term State House legislator & 2 term City Councilmember)

Marlena Tova Fineberg just filed to run recently, and she is a sales executive at Ambient Air Heating and Cooling, and has published a poetry book entitled “Elephants, Alligators, Umbrellas”. Marlena says she is a Democrat, but her party affiliation is not listed on the official state campaign finance website, though she just informed me that she is “listed as a Democrat now on the hard copy sent to the Sec. of State.” (update 5 p.m. 3/18/10).

Voters in the August 24 Democratic primary will chose 2 of these candidates to face off in the November 2nd General Election, against Republican house candidates in LD 28.

Republican Ken Smalley, a property manager, www.kensmalleyforrep.com has filed to run in this race. Another Republican Greg Krino filed recently, and he is a 3rd year law student at the U of A, clerking at the Pima County Attorney’s office (http://gregkrino2010.com/)

For these Democratic candidates’ brief bios and website information, click here, for my earlier blog at the first forum of these hopefuls (except Fineberg) which was held on February 21, at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church. At that forum 5 Democratic house candidates all introduced themselves and spoke for 10 minutes, but there was no debate or public question/answer period.

For more information on this debate call Pat Wiedhopf at 520-850-6755.

Be informed, attend these debates to meet these Democratic candidates.