In an opinion piece appearing in the Arizona Daily Star today, State Senate President Steve Pierce writes of his decision to remove watchdogs, Jodi Bain and Rick Grinnell from the Rio Nuevo District Board, and his decision to replace them with city-friendly board members Fletcher McCusker and Christopher Sheafe.
Pierce, playing the tough guy reformer, says that if his new appointments “can’t deliver. I will push for Rio Nuevo to go away.”
Pierce says that “I have been to Tucson every other week to meet with people, learning more about the controversy and why this mess has been happening.”
What he doesn’t say in the opinion piece is what is supposed to be delivered, and to whom?
In response to an email dated June 7, from Mike Philipsen, aide to Senator Pierce, the editor at the AZDI took advantage of a ongoing dialogue between the two and wrote, “I would like to remind you that I requested information about the Independent Expenditure Committee; we are looking for information on the Republican Victory Fund. We are asking Senator Pierce to agree to release the sources of funding for that committee.” To date, neither the Senator, nor his aide, have responded to the request for information.
On Thursday, Pierce’s aide contacted the ADZI by email about language in an article about his meeting with local car dealer Jim Click. Mike Philipsen wrote, “In the article “Tucson leaders call for public hearing on Rio Nuevo coup”, the first sentence is a complete lie. President Pierce was not summoned to Tucson by Jim Click to discuss Rio Nuevo.”
When asked to clarify what part of the factual reporting to which Philipsen took exception, he pointed out the word summoned and challenged the date of the visit. As a result the story which once read “Last week, Steve Pierce was summoned to Tucson by car dealer Jim Click to discuss removing Rio Nuevo District Board members Jodi Bain and Rick Grinnell,” now reads “Recently Steve Pierce was summoned to Tucson by car dealer Jim Click to discuss removing Rio Nuevo District Board members Jodi Bain and Rick Grinnell. “
Pierce’s lack of understanding about the audits, investigations, and public sentiment is evident in his opinion piece. He writes, “The audit that was supposed to bring clarity was completed and questions still remain.” Either the statement is a deliberate attempt to divert the public’s attention away from the audit that is supposed to be released in the next two weeks, or he simply does not understand the situation at all.
Pierce is right about one thing; questions still remain. The question remains, will Pierce turn over information about the Republican Victory Fund?
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