God bless Emil Franzi. According to his family, he survived surgery for cancer this week. We wish him a speedy recovery, and his family nothing but the best and a very Merry Christmas.
Shortly before Emil underwent surgery for esophageal cancer, the apparent buildup of bile landed on the pages of Inside Tucson Business. As Franzi was clearly distressed and unlikely thinking clearly, it is difficult to understand the editor’s decision to publish Franzi’s piece. Perhaps he felt pity for Franzi or believed it was a dying declaration. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that Inside Tucson Business could and should do better.
In his scatter shot hit piece, Franzi attacked well-respected Pima County Board of Supervisors member, Ally Miller, veteran and certifiable hero Sean Collins, former State Rep. Randy Graf, local radio host James T. Harris, the Arizona Daily Independent, and it’s founder, me; Loretta Hunnicutt.
It is the targets of Franzi’s frantic and baseless rant that appear to reveal his motives for it.
The only thing the diverse members of this group have in common is a desire for our own kids and the kids in this community to have the same shot that Franzi’s generation had at the American Dream.
The capitalism that Milton Friedman refers to, the one that offers opportunity to all who grab it and work tirelessly to nurture it, is not the same one that Franzi and his crapitalist cronies (to borrow a term from radio host Jerry Doyle) enjoy.
Through the efforts of radio personalities like Chris DeSimone, Joe Higgins (who work out of the same studio/broom closet as Franzi), Jon Justice, James T. Harris, and Garret Lewis, and citizen journalists at the Arizona Daily Independent, the corrupt system, which has starved the residents of Tucson and Pima County, is being exposed daily.
Obviously, that cannot be allowed. So Franzi kicked into high gear with his shrill accusations intended to do nothing but cast doubt on enemies of that corruption.
Smear the source and cast doubt at all costs.
Miller is facilitating County whistleblowers, and DeSimone, Higgins, Harris, Justice and the Arizona Daily Independent are ready and willing to help her get information out to the information-starved public.
The Arizona Daily Independent recently filed an RFI with Pima County based on accusations by the public that a Pima County staffer in Supervisor Ray Carroll’s office has abused his position on the Pima County payroll. According to the County Attorney’s Office, the requested information is expected to be available next week. Make no mistake, we at the Arizona Daily Independent doubt that we will receive all that we asked for. But the panic is on for those who might have benefitted politically from the alleged abuse.
Kill the messenger before they can decipher and deliver the message, and Franzi is a team player for sure.
Franzi claims that we have plagiarized at the Arizona Daily Independent. He obviously does not understand the concept and use of press releases by the press. The charge is even more absurd since Inside Tucson Business was called on the carpet for actually plagiarizing articles from a Tucson real estate news site.
Unlike too many sheeple in this town, we will continue to stand up to thugs like Franzi and expose the likes of Richard Elias, Ramon Valadez, Ray Carroll, and Chuck Huckelberry.
As a matter of fact, we are building Daily Independents across the country to facilitate those who want to take on the crony crapitalists in their communities, and the politicians in both parties the crony capitalists own.
Loretta Hunnicutt