The caller on Friday said he had asked Pinal County Sheriff Chris Vasquez why the Tribune was publishing so many stories critical of the sheriff.

The sheriff told him it was because the two reporters had made a deal to go to work for his opponent Paul Babeu should his opponent win.

What was i going to do about this? the caller asked.

Well, if it’s true, they would be fired, I said.

Do I believe it’s true? Absolutely not.

Here’s the rest of the story:

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Jeanine L’Ecuyer, the governor’s press aide, saw the previous blog and shot me an email with this warning:

“You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

She urged me to contact Prop 203 deputy campaign manager Katie Hutchinson.

Hutchinson said the campaign is disputing the secretary of state’s assessment of valid signatures.  She said signatures are being rechecked and she expects that there will be enough to qualify the transportation tax initiative for the November ballot.

To do that, the campaign will have to ask superior court to reverse the secretary of state, she said.

In Monday’s edition, the Tribune reported that Arizona ranks 41st out of the 50 states in the amount of their incomes that go to support state and local governments. Good news I thought when I read the story.
Later in the day even more good news. The effort by the governor and development interests to raise the state sales tax 18 percent through the initiative process apparently won’t make the November ballot. Not enough valid signatures, according to the secretary of state.

The proposal was ill-timed and under-handed.

The push to put it on a crowded presidential ballot was timed for a large turnout of uninformed voters. Maybe, just maybe few would notice that there taxes would go up.

In the meantime, “leaders” seemed unmoved by the fact that Arizonans are suffering through a recession that is costing many their homes and tightening budgets in households that stay in tact. The proposal was tax and spend government at its worst.

The initiative was also tarnished by the games played by the governor’s office and backers to raise money for the project. Initially the plan would have required developers to pay a share of the tax tied to future development.

But behind closed doors, developers were left off the hook in exchange for a $100,000 contribution.

You and I would have been the ones left on the hook for paying for transportation infrastructure that ultimately would have benefited developers.

Great deal for them; lousy deal for us.

But it looks like we’re off the hook–for now.

As the East Valley struggles to get back on its economic feet, those leading the charge would do well to listen more to Christine Mackey and less to Joan Krueger.

No disrespect intended toward Gilbert Vice Mayor Krueger. Her heart is in the right place.

But Mackey, acting economic development director for the city of Chandler, is using her head, and who can argue with a 10-year economic development pro in a city that boasts the highest employee wages in the state?

Businesses that plan to relocate or expand into a different city begin with that city’s Web site, according to Mackey, so it had better be good.

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