“If serving in an elected office ever becomes a career, corruption will surely follow.” A quote told by our nation’s 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, more than 200 years ago. There is not a better example of that than the corrupt Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The same board that has been surrounded by the controversial 2020 U.S. Presidential election as well as the 2022 Arizona Governor’s election, has lost all touch with reality with their voters. The current Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a member who votes to approve his own spouse (#2 presiding County Superior Court Judge) salary and departments annual budgets, and a member whose own family chicken warehouse may or may not have contained missing 2020 Presidential election ballots when it burned to the ground in March of 2021.
From 1990 – 2022 (none in 2016), there have been 277 bills that would set term limits on politicians on every level of politics. 236 (85%) of those have passed. Here are some more numbers: 16 states legislatures have term limits, including Arizona. 37 state governors have term limits, including Arizona. 9 of the top 10 cities in America have term limits for their city officials, including our very own Phoenix. Three of the top 6 largest counties in America, including the largest (Los Angeles County) have term limits for their Board of Supervisors. 82% of Americans want term limits and incumbent politicians are re-elected at a nearly 85% rate. It is about time that the board who oversees the 4th largest county had term limits as well.
Politics was never meant to be a retirement system. Many members of our federal government are so old now that they can’t make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich anymore, but they can vote on bills that will have impacts on future generations of Americans. Here in Maricopa County, we have a 4-1 Republican majority in our county supervisors and have so since at least 2000. Recently, our Republican led county supervisors voted to approve a contract with a solar power company to conduct business for the county. The only problem with this, the company uses supplies that are manufactured in an area in China that supports forced labor and forced child labor, a trade that the U.S. State Department identifies as ‘modern-day slavery’. I do believe that the Republican Party was founded in 1854 to combat slavery, so why are our Republican leaders supporting it? Also recently, the same county supervisors voted to approve the pay range for their own Chief of Staffs to between $120,500 to $194,000, and the pay raise to $163,500 for another staffer. When the average annual salary for a Maricopa County citizen is around $58,000, this is a direct slap in the face to the taxpayer.
The same reasons that our governor and other state executives, legislature, and many cities in Arizona have term limits on politicians are the same reasons we need them on the leadership of Maricopa County. If the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors had the same term limits as our Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, Clint Hickman, Bill Gates, or Steve Gallardo would not be able to run for re-election in 2024. I am calling for no more than (2) 4-year terms for our Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the same as our governor. I will be the first person to support any bill that would impose this.
Some people may ask why not term limits for all Arizona county supervisors. The fact is, we all know that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a huge strangle hold on Arizona, including much of the state legislature. How Maricopa County goes in our elections, a large majority of the time, the state goes. Maricopa County must be the standard setter and the example for all others to follow.
If we want to retake our county and pass down Maricopa County worthy enough for our children and grandchildren, we must make changes at the top of our county leadership. I have always supported term limits for every political office in America, including the office that I am running for. My name is Robert Canterbury, and I am a candidate for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, district 4 (Hickman) in 2024.
For more information on term limits throughout the United States, please visit: www.termlimits.com.