Hellon had his smear team in full force for months
Just when you thought Ray Carroll was only candidate for the Pima County Board of Supervisors who was desperate enough to engage in sleazy tactics, Mike Hellon steps into it. Hellon, who told a Republican constituent that his opponent Ally Miller, “attacked first,” has sent out a mailer full misogynistic innuendo.
Hellon, who engages the services of political dirty trickster Emil Franzi, uses silhouettes of women in various poses of distress, in the attack mailer full of half-truths and false claims at the 11th hour. The Primary election is this Tuesday, August 28, and most of the ballots have been cast.
Hellon, as the handpicked selection of good old boy Don Diamond, presumes to own the race. Miller, as an activist who first gained city-wide attention and admiration for her watchdog work which spurred the investigation by the FBI of the old Rio Nuevo Board and its activities, is Hellon’s only real competition. Vic Williams and Stuart McDaniel are expected to be the “also rans” in the Pima County Board of Supervisors, District 1 race.
In an ExplorerNews.com article on a forum between the candidates Hellon cited, “his years of experience in dealing with the Pima County, Hellon said the County is transparent if one knows how to navigate the process.”
Hellon even went on to defend the current County system; “By the time it gets to the meeting, the decision has already been made,” he said. “That’s how things work down there.”
To which Miller responded, “Isn’t that illegal?” she said. “Isn’t there an open meeting law in Arizona that you have to do things out in the open instead of behind closed doors?” Her response was met with loud applause.
It is that loud applause, and Miller’s growing popularity, that has caused Hellon to ramp up the smear campaign.
This weekend’s Hail-Mary mailer is designed to make Miller look first and foremost, like a WOMAN! The gender issue should be bad enough for some of the good ol’ boys, but as Bruce Ash pointed out on Arizona Public Media, “some people like her because she is a woman.”
For those misguided Republicans, Hellon offers ready responses. To one such male Republican, Hellon wrote, “She attacked first. If she can’t stand the heat, she’s got no business in the kitchen. And if she is unable to stand accountable for what she says and does, the Democrats would eat her alive. She’s a complete whack job and if you had any brains you’d know it. Everybody else with any sense does. Nancy Young Wright would kick her ass and we would have 4 D’s on the board. Just like we have Ron Barber in Congress. Typical wacko Republican primary. Nice job. That’s what I’m trying to avoid. And you might not like the Weekly, but they got it right.”
One member of Smart Girls Politics, a conservative woman’s organization took exception to Hellon’s response, “This is the kind of vitriol and chauvinism that drives women from the Republican Party. The response from Hellon to a potential constituent is a harbinger of how he would govern if elected. His arrogance and hate speech is offensive and what we don’t need in Pima County. We need representation that is responsive to the diversity of District 1 constituents.”
Hellon’s mailer purports to be a fact check, but does not offer any real facts. In large caps, Hellon’s half-truth mailer says it is “FALSE” that Miller has business experience. In it, Hellon claims, “she hasn’t had a job in fifteen years.” The inconvenient truth for Hellon is that Miller retired after a successful 30 year business career.
The mailer quotes Rick Grinnell, a Hellon supporter and former member of the Rio Nuevo Board, as having said that Miller had nothing to do with the FBI investigation. According to sources, Grinnell did not authorize the use of the quote. Grinnell implies that the investigation was spurred by something said or done in Executive Session of the Rio Nuevo Board. However, Miller entered the homes and earned the respect of Tucsonans through her almost regular appearances on several news channels for her work on the Rio Nuevo investigation.
The mailer claims that Miller failed to recall Supervisor Sharon Bronson, this is partly true. The fact of the matter is that Miller did attempt a recall on Sharon Bronson in 2009. Bronson, another Don Diamond favorite, has earned the distrust of many in the County. She gathered over 6,000 signatures against the Supervisor who is being challenged this year by popular political newcomer Tanner Bell.
The mailer claims that Miller participated in the failed recall of Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. This is a flat out lie.
One operative from a Republican Sheriff’s campaign is questioning the wisdom of mailing out such a vitriolic, and easy to refute mailer at the last minute, “The ballots have been cast, and this only serves to divide the party more, at a time when we will desperately need unity.”