Monday, August 24, 2020
Facebook
Pima County Constable Oscar Vasquez has faced disciplinary action as a result of his bad driving, altercations with Pima County residents and public urination.
Vasquez then walked up to her neighbor’s door and tried to serve the papers. When the neighbor told Vasquez that Carpenter lived next door, he first insisted that his GPS was telling him he had the right home. When the neighbor finally convinced Vasquez that he needed to go next door, he also warned Vasquez that Carpenter had dogs. Vasquez responded that he was armed with a taser.
Vasquez drove next door but Carpenter wasn’t home, so he drove his truck across her front yard, leaving behind a rut of visible tire tracks, according to a complaint Carpenter filed with the Constable Ethics, Standards & Training Board.
In his response to the complaint, Vasquez apologized for peeing in public. He said it “was not done out of malcontent.” Vasquez just really had to go: “I needed to urgently relieve myself and with the nearest restroom being nine miles away, I immediately relieved myself in order to avoid wetting myself due to being older.”
Vasquez, a Democrat who did not return a phone call from the Weekly, said in his defense that he suffered from a medical condition and was seeking treatment.
The public urination episode was only one of many that have required the Constable Ethics, Standards & Training Board to investigate and reprimand Vasquez in his first term as an elected constable with the job of delivering eviction notices and other legal summons. The string of abuses—including driving county cars at excessive speeds and smashing them up; chasing down a motorist after a near-miss accident at a four-way stop; and a recent failure to take online classes in driving safety and anger management—now has the constable ethics board asking the Pima County Board of Supervisors to suspend Vasquez without pay for at least for 30 days.
* * *
The 144-page report compiled as background for supervisors to read reveals an elected official who just can’t stay out of trouble.
WASHINGTON – Spoiled medication and missing rent checks are just some of the problems that Arizonans have seen as a result of recent postal system changes, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said during a grilling Friday of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“Over the past week, my office has heard from over 18,000 Arizonans about the importance of the Postal Service,” but many also said that the service is getting worse, the Arizona Democrat said during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
DeJoy has come under fire for several cost-cutting changes that have led to disruptions and delays in deliveries, and raised fears about the agency’s ability to deliver mail-in ballots in this fall’s presidential election.
DeJoy defended the changes that he said were made to cut costs and have long-term efficiency benefits at an agency that stands to lose $11 billion this year, after losing $9 billion in fiscal 2019.
He told lawmakers that there “will be absolutely no issue” with mail-in ballots, noting that the Postal Service handles two to three times as much mail in a single day as it expects to handle during election week.
DeJoy also said he has ordered a pause in some changes until after Election Day “given recent customer concerns.” But the House is scheduled to vote Saturday on a bill that would mandate that freeze until the end of the year or the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Over the past week, my office has heard from over 18,000 Arizonans about the importance of the Postal Service,” but many also said that the service is getting worse, the Arizona Democrat said during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
DeJoy has come under fire for several cost-cutting changes that have led to disruptions and delays in deliveries, and raised fears about the agency’s ability to deliver mail-in ballots in this fall’s presidential election.
DeJoy defended the changes that he said were made to cut costs and have long-term efficiency benefits at an agency that stands to lose $11 billion this year, after losing $9 billion in fiscal 2019.
He told lawmakers that there “will be absolutely no issue” with mail-in ballots, noting that the Postal Service handles two to three times as much mail in a single day as it expects to handle during election week.
DeJoy also said he has ordered a pause in some changes until after Election Day “given recent customer concerns.” But the House is scheduled to vote Saturday on a bill that would mandate that freeze until the end of the year or the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON – For Hispanic Democrats upset with what they see as a failure to adequately feature Latinos
in the just-ended Democratic National Convention, one set of numbers was particularly striking.
John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, got four minutes to speak, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, got just 60 seconds.
For Joseph Garcia, director of Chicanos Por La Causa in Arizona, the numbers were not surprising.
“The message is not: Yes, we welcome you into the party,” Garcia said of the number of Latino speakers. “Part of it is figuring, ‘Latinos got nowhere to go. They have to vote for us because they’re not going to vote for Republicans with their harsh line on immigration and other issues.'”
The message that Arizona convention delegate Leyna Negron heard was that the party values her vote, but not her voice.
“We need to be included in more than just discussions of ‘get out the vote.’ We need to be seen in leadership positions,” Leyna Negron said. “And that’s not happening.”
But Jessica Mejia insists that’s not the case. Mejia, the Arizona state director for Biden for President, said this year’s DNC was the “most diverse national political convention in history.”
John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, got four minutes to speak, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, got just 60 seconds.
For Joseph Garcia, director of Chicanos Por La Causa in Arizona, the numbers were not surprising.
“The message is not: Yes, we welcome you into the party,” Garcia said of the number of Latino speakers. “Part of it is figuring, ‘Latinos got nowhere to go. They have to vote for us because they’re not going to vote for Republicans with their harsh line on immigration and other issues.'”
The message that Arizona convention delegate Leyna Negron heard was that the party values her vote, but not her voice.
“We need to be included in more than just discussions of ‘get out the vote.’ We need to be seen in leadership positions,” Leyna Negron said. “And that’s not happening.”
But Jessica Mejia insists that’s not the case. Mejia, the Arizona state director for Biden for President, said this year’s DNC was the “most diverse national political convention in history.”
Friday, August 21, 2020
Click here for more Claytoonz.
Tags: democrat , republican , red , blue , elections , political , cartoon , Image
Thursday, August 20, 2020
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
This fall’s elections are the latest chapter in the slow-motion collapse of the U.S. Postal Service, one of America’s most venerated institutions. As November approaches, members of Congress and state election officials have grown increasingly concerned that the USPS will fail at a critical moment: a closely contested vote that will involve a record number of people casting a ballot by mail.
That worry was fueled by President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegation that voting by mail leads to massive fraud and by reports from Postal Service employees that key equipment was being removed and overtime was being slashed. The newly appointed postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, responded to what he termed “areas of concern” by announcing that he would approve overtime “as needed” and delay the removal of mail sorting machines until after the election. But the problems at the Postal Service go well beyond those issues and predate DeJoy. Earlier this month, the USPS warned state election officials that it might not be able to meet deadlines for delivering ballots for the November elections.
With DeJoy scheduled to testify before an emergency session of Congress on Friday, here’s a guide to help you understand the issues and what remedies lawmakers could provide.
What’s going on at the Postal Service under DeJoy? Is mail being slowed intentionally?
There are at least three possible reasons for the unusual recent delays in mail delivery.
This fall’s elections are the latest chapter in the slow-motion collapse of the U.S. Postal Service, one of America’s most venerated institutions. As November approaches, members of Congress and state election officials have grown increasingly concerned that the USPS will fail at a critical moment: a closely contested vote that will involve a record number of people casting a ballot by mail.
That worry was fueled by President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegation that voting by mail leads to massive fraud and by reports from Postal Service employees that key equipment was being removed and overtime was being slashed. The newly appointed postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, responded to what he termed “areas of concern” by announcing that he would approve overtime “as needed” and delay the removal of mail sorting machines until after the election. But the problems at the Postal Service go well beyond those issues and predate DeJoy. Earlier this month, the USPS warned state election officials that it might not be able to meet deadlines for delivering ballots for the November elections.
With DeJoy scheduled to testify before an emergency session of Congress on Friday, here’s a guide to help you understand the issues and what remedies lawmakers could provide.
What’s going on at the Postal Service under DeJoy? Is mail being slowed intentionally?
There are at least three possible reasons for the unusual recent delays in mail delivery.
WASHINGTON – First-time Democratic National Convention delegate Cynthia Engstrom may not have the perspective of nine-time delegate Cynthia Ford, but the newcomer and the old hand agree on one thing.
Something gets lost in the convention experience when it is held online, as this year’s convention has been, the Arizona delegates said.
“We’re missing the camaraderie and just the energy that exudes during a convention, and missing out on meeting other delegates as well as opening up lines of communication across states,” Ford said. “They may be doing something we haven’t even thought about.”
For Engstrom, who admits to “feeling a little lost” as a first-timer, it is an honor to be a delegate but unfortunate that “we can’t be together as a whole group.”
“You miss that part because it’s that meeting and learning with people from across the country,” Engstrom said. “We can do stuff on Facebook and do Zooms here and there, but that connection is a little hard to make.”
Democrats originally planned a traditional convention in Milwaukee, where thousands of delegates, party officials, reporters and others were scheduled to gather in mid-July. But the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the convention to be pushed back and then to be canceled in-person because of concerns of bringing that many people together.
Something gets lost in the convention experience when it is held online, as this year’s convention has been, the Arizona delegates said.
“We’re missing the camaraderie and just the energy that exudes during a convention, and missing out on meeting other delegates as well as opening up lines of communication across states,” Ford said. “They may be doing something we haven’t even thought about.”
For Engstrom, who admits to “feeling a little lost” as a first-timer, it is an honor to be a delegate but unfortunate that “we can’t be together as a whole group.”
“You miss that part because it’s that meeting and learning with people from across the country,” Engstrom said. “We can do stuff on Facebook and do Zooms here and there, but that connection is a little hard to make.”
Democrats originally planned a traditional convention in Milwaukee, where thousands of delegates, party officials, reporters and others were scheduled to gather in mid-July. But the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the convention to be pushed back and then to be canceled in-person because of concerns of bringing that many people together.
Democrat Gabby Giffords, whose career in Congress was cut short after she survived an assassination attempt that ended with six dead and 12 others wounded in a 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, spoke last night at the DNC.
Giffords tied her own fight to recover from her injuries to the importance of fighting against the Trump administration.
"Confronted by despair, I'm summoned hope," Giffords said. "Confronted by paralysis and aphasia, I'm responded with grit and determination."
Giffords talked about the struggle to recover her ability to speak.
"Words once came easily but today, I struggle to speak," Giffords said. "But I have not lost my voice. America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words."
She ended her brief speech with a call to elect Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
"We can protect our families, our future," Giffords said. "We can vote. We can be on the right side of history. We must elect Joe Biden. He was there for me. He'll be there for you, too. Join us in this vote. Vote! Vote! Vote!"
Giffords' husband, former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, is leading in the polls as he challenges appointed U.S. Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona this year.
Click here for more Claytoonz.
Tags: maga , trump , baby , blimp , bad year , goodyear , political , cartoon , Image
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
When it came time for the Arizona delegation to announce its votes for the next Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday, the job fell to middle school teacher Marisol Garcia.
Who spent much of her allotted 30 seconds in the national spotlight talking about the reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was part of an unorthodox roll call of the states during an unorthodox Democratic National Convention, where almost all of the business is being conducted virtually because of coronavirus concerns.
As they announced the voted that led to former Vice President Joe Biden’s official nomination Tuesday, delegates from each of the 50 states and seven U.S. territories were encouraged to spend part of their time talking about an issue important to them – and the party.
For Garcia, that was the challenges schools are facing.
“So clearly as an Arizona educator I wanted to talk about what reopening schools is looking like for us. I wanted to talk about being a mother of a high school freshman,” she said Tuesday.
“I wanted to talk about being a union leader in this state and then I also wanted to talk about the fact that I am a very proud Chicana Latina living in Arizona where the majority of us are really going to take our chance and have our voices heard this fall,” Garcia said.
Who spent much of her allotted 30 seconds in the national spotlight talking about the reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was part of an unorthodox roll call of the states during an unorthodox Democratic National Convention, where almost all of the business is being conducted virtually because of coronavirus concerns.
As they announced the voted that led to former Vice President Joe Biden’s official nomination Tuesday, delegates from each of the 50 states and seven U.S. territories were encouraged to spend part of their time talking about an issue important to them – and the party.
For Garcia, that was the challenges schools are facing.
“So clearly as an Arizona educator I wanted to talk about what reopening schools is looking like for us. I wanted to talk about being a mother of a high school freshman,” she said Tuesday.
“I wanted to talk about being a union leader in this state and then I also wanted to talk about the fact that I am a very proud Chicana Latina living in Arizona where the majority of us are really going to take our chance and have our voices heard this fall,” Garcia said.
