On Thursday afternoon, after the four 2021 partisan commissioners took the oath of office, they interviewed the five candidates for chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Because of my annual eye exam, I was unable to observe all five as they happened. Today, I did.
First, each of the five are earnest. Each of them has some applicable qualities that could work. All of them know the potential conflict and tension the position is likely to entail. The elephant in the room apparently was the influence of the Republican Party, but also was the Covid19 pandemic.
Technology advanced dramatically between the 2001 and 2011 commission. In 2021, telecommunication technology seems to have caught up to that envisioned in the 1960s cartoon series, The Jetsons. Zoom makes instant video teleconferencing look so darn easy and natural. It's possible that the pandemic forcing the meetings to take place remotely may, for the most part, mitigate the awful emotional burden for the new commission which the 2011 commission endured.
David Daley, author of Unrigged, wrote this piece dateline January 14, for Salon.com,
Last August, more than one hundred Donald Trump supporters gathered in front of a Flagstaff, Ariz., gun store for a rally. The "Team Trump On Tour" bus dominated the shopping mall parking lot. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, spoke to the crowd.
Then, in September, Trump backers gathered again at Timberline Firearms and Training, this time for a "shooting day" to support the president.
Now, the owner of that gun store, Robert Wilson, has been selected one of the five finalists to become the powerful chair of Arizona's redistricting commission — the supposedly independent, and almost certainly decisive voice on a five-person board (along with two Democrats and two Republicans) who will determine this swing state's legislative and congressional districts for the next decade.
Wilson might be a registered political independent. But "hosted Trump rallies at his gun store, with a speech by the Freedom Caucus chair" doesn't inspire confidence in his actual independence or his ability to be the fair-minded, scrupulous arbiter that this position requires.
Indeed, someone fair-minded might look at the list of five finalists recently selected by the state's Commission on Appellate Court Appointments — an ostensibly nonpartisan personnel board — and wonder if the Republicans are trying to ratfuck Arizona's independent commission before a single line has even been drawn.
Four of the five finalists, while registered as independents, have either strong public opinions, or close ties and/or financial interests through jobs, family and partners into the state's political power structure. (more)
Anyway, in the order they were interviewed, here are a few of my observations.
Robert Wilson (Coconino County)
Wilson presents himself very authentically.
He expects the AIRC to need to proceed, despite no longer being subject to DOJ preclearance, as if the need for preclearance still exists. I appreciate that perspective.
He suggests that the commission should defer judgment on 4 of the six lawful requirements (notably including communities of interest and competitive districts) to what the public tells the commission in public comments over the course of the process. Of course, that invites chaos as people badger the commissioners like the Tea Party activists did last decade. That point, as well as a tell he displayed about his partisan perspective -- no matter how respectful he tried to be, he referred overtly to the Democrat Party. While referring to individuals as Democrats is legit, the Party is the Arizona Democratic Party. Republicans and conservative-leaning independents who have been active politically, know that using the term Democrat Party is a blatant expression of disrespect.
Mr. Wilson is NOT at all good fit for the Independent chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.
Thomas Loquvam (Maricopa County)
Loquvam (the V is silent,) speaks easily about himself, his experience and redistricting related matters. Early in his interview, he mentioned that he had received mass texts (which I interpreted to mean group texts) and emails urging him to apply for the position. Which naturally raises the question about from whom did he receive those messages. In fact, Commissioner Shereen Lerner asked him that very question, or something very close to it. He responded, long-windedly, that it was his daughter who encouraged him to apply. He didn't address the underlying question raised by his admission about texts and emails.
Loquvam rightfully acknowledged that the six required criteria the new maps must fulfill are NOT weighted and there is no hierarchy of importance. However, in telling the story of his short-lived solo law firm, he expressed obvious appreciation to now federal Judge Mike Liburdi who needed to shed clients when he was appointed to the bench. Liburdi, who referred clients to Loquvam, was very active in 2011 supporting Tea Party opposition to the maps. The ironically titled Fair Trust apparently funded Mike's advocacy and some of the litigation that provided quite a bit of the stress and tension encountered by the 2011 AIRC. "Apparently," because Fair Trust (which I referred then to as the UNFair Trust) refused to disclose either the extent of its involvement or who provided the funding for its efforts.
Mr. Loquvam, because he is indebted to Liburdi as a result of reciprocity, is absolutely disqualified from the position.
Gregory Teesdale (Pima County)
Teesdale is a Coast Guard veteran with what he called Blue Collar roots.
He holds an MBA from Arizona State with a focus on Supply Chain Management. He describes himself as data-centric and comfortable in the tech world.
Rather than talk about his experience growing companies from the "ground floor," he referred to "sea level." Teesdale spoke in detail and confidently about related concepts more so than about himself... unlike Wilson or Loquvam. Responding to the question about what success will look like when the process is finished, he described it in terms of the voter and the electorate.
On handling conflict, he would encourage people to teach him how what he and the commission is then doing does not comport with what the law and the six criteria require of them.
He seems experienced in and well-qualified to explain complex issues and situations clearly so everyone can understand. Without, as he noted, talking down to them. He also prides himself in being an innovator. He impressed me as an out-of-the-box thinker.
Erika Neuberg, Ph.D. (Maricopa County)
Dr. Neuberg is a very confident, poised professional committed, she said, to working for the common good. She noted that she's been preparing for this opportunity for the last year.
Despite the clearly stated purpose of Prop 106, which Arizona voters enacted in the year 2000 general election,
PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA; AMENDING ARTICLE IV, PART 2, SECTION 1, CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA; RELATING TO ENDING THE PRACTICE OF GERRYMANDERING AND IMPROVING VOTER AND CANDIDATE PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS BY CREATING AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF BALANCED APPOINTMENTS TO OVERSEE THE MAPPING OF FAIR AND COMPETITIVE CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS.
Erika Neuberg emphatically downplayed this last of the six criteria enshrined in the Arizona Constitution:
... competitive districts should be favored where to do so would create no significant detriment to the other goals.Erika Neuberg, Ph.D., though she is a lovely person, is NOT, (in my opinion) a good fit for the 2021 AIRC chair position.
Further, Carollo has experience doing town halls and study groups in that professional work.
To her, success would be to set a good example for the next decade's commission, she's hopeful that the maps produced ultimately will be well-received.
Carollo made a point to suggest that appearing nice does not equate to weakness.
Her interview only took 20 minutes.
Megan Carollo, the owner of a high-end floral boutique whose partner, according to state Democrats, both advises the Arizona Mexico Commission — a trade association chaired by the governor, and now led as president by Pacheco, the utility general counsel's sister — and serves as president of a firm that has received more than a million dollars in contracts from the governor's budget.
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