STATE
THURSDAY OCTOBER 30, 2014
HERALD/REVIEW
A5
Judge asked to rule on ‘dark money’
AP PHOTO/ROSS D. FRANKLIN
Television host moderator Ted Simons, left, goes over debate ground rules with Arizona candidates for governor, including Democrat Fred DuVal, second from left, Americans Elect party candidate John Mealer, third from left, Libertarian Barry Hess, second from right, and Republican Doug Ducey, right, prior to a televised debate, Monday, Sept. 29, in Phoenix.
Governor’s race targets independents BY BOB CHRISTIE The Associated Press
Lawsuit seeks to stop Patagonia mine copper search BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
PHOEN I X — Environmental groups filed suit Wednesday to block efforts by a Canadian mining firm from looking for copper in the Patagonia Mountains. Defenders of Wildlife and the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance are asking U.S. District C ou r t Jud ge Ja me s Soto to void permission granted to Regal Resources Inc. by the Forest Service to drill exploratory bore holes up to 6,500 feet deep in the Alum Gulch area. The groups contend the federal agency violated federal laws and regulations by authorizing what has been called the Sunnyside Project. A company spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. Calls to the Forest Service were not immediately returned. Attorney James Tutchon said this may be
only the first of a series of lawsuit. He said at least one other mining company is seeking similar permission to look for copper and silver in the mountains. T utchon s a id ju st drilling from the Regal Resou rces project would use an amount of water equal to 10 percent of the daily demand of the town of Patagonia which he said depends on that aquifer. Adding the other big project, he said, takes that to 50 percent. At the heart of the lawsuit is the claim the Forest Service ignored requirements that it consider environmental impacts of new projects. The lawsuit says the agency did prepare a biological assessment. But that assessment said it only might — but was not likely to — adversely affect species like the jaguar, ocelot, lesser long-nosed bated or the Mexican spotted
owl. Based on that the Forest Service decided the project needed no further environmental analysis. Challengers said that ignores evidence that the project involves six drill site locations, wh ich w i l l r e qu i r e roadway clearing, drilling and maintenance, with the necessary use of heavy equipment. “Up to two drill rigs at a time will be used,� the lawsuit states, with d r i l l i n g a l lowe d 2 4 hours a day, meaning artificial lighting at night. Challengers said the project is expected to last up to one year, with a six-month break to avoid the breeding season for the Mexican spotted owl. Even with that, the lawsuit claims effects of noise and drilling on critical habitat for the jaguar and interrupting a corridor that ocelots use to immigrate to the United States from Mexico. It also says
other species would be affected, with a rock drill typical for this kind of project creating 98 decibels of noise, comparable to a power mower or a motorcycle 25 feet away. And they said there are questions about the effects on Patagonia’s water supply.
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HUACHUCA LODGE #28 FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE PRESENTS A
Phoenix man arrested and accused of animal abuse PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoeni x ma n is ac cused of animal abuse after authorities say he a l lege d ly hoste d dog and cockfighting events at his rented ranch. M a r ic opa C ou nt y Sheriff ’s officials say Luis Garcia is being held on suspicion of 4 0 counts of animal abuse. They say more than 90 animals were found Tuesday on Garcia’s prop er t y a nd m a ny were in poor condition.
the state continues to impose the registration and reporting requirements — illegally, he contends — in statewide and legislative races. Assistant Attorney General Paula Bickett did not dispute that fact. But she argued that the ruling simply bars Fountain Hills from enforcing the law. And she said that once Galassini’s dispute with Fountain Hills was resolved, the legal issue went away. “The court no longer has jurisdiction,� she told Teilborg. The judge was skeptical. “It sounds like that you’re suggesting that because it’s just a judgment against the city, it has no ramification beyond that and therefore is not really a declaration of unconstitutionality,� Teilborg asked Bickett. “It is a declaration of unconstitutionality as it applies to the town,� she responded. But Teilborg persisted, pointing out that the lawsuit claimed the entire law is unconstitutional, not just that Fountain Hills was applying it illegally. Bickett, however, insisted that only the town can be bound by his ruling. Teilborg said he will consider the arguments.
Elks Lodge
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PHOENIX — The Democrat promises not to raise taxes and even talks about lowering some. The Republican bills himself as a reformer of education. The race for Arizona governor has created an odd mix of arguments in a state where recent gubernatorial contests were dominated by divisive issues like immigration. The shift away from hardline rhetoric and toward more nuanced positions marks an effort by both candidates to negate their opponents’ key points as they court the growing bloc of independent voters in Arizona. Republican Doug Ducey is casting himself as the front-runner, a tactic he used in the run-up to August’s six-way GOP primary. The current state treasurer, Ducey touts his experience building the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream franchise into a nationwide company before selling it in 2007 and getting into politics. He promises to bring a businessman’s approach to state government, eliminating wasteful spending while recruiting businesses to move to the state. And he wants to drive the state’s income tax rate way down, with a target of zero. Democrat Fred DuVal has made restoring education funding the mantra of his campaign. A former aide to Democratic Gov. Bruce Babbitt in the 1970s and 1980s, he later served in President Bill Clinton’s administration and was appointed by thenGov. Janet Napolitano to the state university Board of Regents. The Tucson native also worked in private business and as a lobbyist — a background that has become the centerpiece of attack ads by Republican groups. Ducey has worked to take the wind out of DuVal’s education focus by highlighting his own plan to eliminate waste in schools and redirect money from administration to classroom spending. And he’s benefited from outside ads that highlight his education agenda. The two faced off in five debates in recent weeks as they tried to lay out their plans for the state, leading to sharp exchanges over their competing visions. DuVal went after Ducey for his plan to eventually eliminate the state income tax while dealing with a looming state revenue shortfall. “The notion that on top of the budget deficit that you could withdraw 40 percent of the state’s budget and still fund health care, corrections and education is tooth-fairy math,� DuVal said at a debate last month.
Ducey has maintained that his business experience gives him a leg up over DuVal in dealing with the budget shortfall while continuing Republican Gov. Jan Brewer’s effort to position the state for growth through tax cuts. “Our state has assets, and I’m going to look at the budget one fiscal year at a time,� Ducey said. “I would say that everything’s on the table except education.� Mainly gone from the general election race is the heated debate over immigration that was a highlight of the Republican primary as the six candidates ran to the right to appease the strident GOP primary base. Ducey himself called for deploying National Guard troops along the Mexican border and said he’d use satellites to track illegal border crossers, despite the fact there are no satellites under state control. Arizona has not had a statewide elected official who was a Democrat for four years. Democrat Janet Napolitano, who left office in 2009 to join the Obama administration, was the last Democratic governor. Now, Republicans are trying to maintain that seat in a state that leans GOP but has a growing Hispanic population that primarily supports Democrats. The state has also been hammered by the recession and its national reputation hurt by divisive GOP-backed laws that cracked down on illegal immigration and angered gay-rights supporters. Reliable polling is non-existent in Arizona, but backers of both candidates are pouring money into the race. Campaign finance filings show Republican-aligned groups backing Ducey have spent $ 5 million as of Tuesday, and those backing DuVal just over $1 million. The candidates themselves show about $1 million in general election income each, although the most recent filing is several months old. The problem looming for both candidates is a massive budget deficit projected for next year and beyond, along with a state Supreme Court ruling that found the Republicancontrolled Legislature illegally underfunded schools during the recession. That ruling has led to an order to pay K-12 schools $1.5 billion over the coming four years, and a judge is considering whether another $1 billion in back payments are owed. The budget deficit for the current and upcoming budget year is projected to be $1.5 billion, more than 15 percent of general fund spending. Neither has given solid details of how they’ll address that looming deficit and still meet their tax-cutting promises.
PHOENIX — A federal judge is being asked to rule that “dark money� groups that now don’t disclose the source of their contributions can also legally hide how they’re spending the money — and on whose behalf. Attorney Paul Avelar pointed out to U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg that he already declared more than a year ago that a key state law about political committees is unconstitutional. Teilborg said the 183-word definition of who has to register with the state is so vague as to be unclear to “people of common intelligence.� But Avelar told Teilborg on Wednesday that Arizona continues to require groups spending money on campaigns to register. So now he wants the judge to issue an order immediately blocking the state from enforcing the law. Avelar, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, conceded that would have ripple effects. If the law about who needs to register with the Secretary of State goes away, so do all the laws that govern what political committees, other than those operated by candidates themselves, need to do. And that includes detailing not just what they are paying for TV commercials, newspaper ads, mailers and phone banks but also which candidates those efforts are designed to elect or defeat. T h at p ossibi l it y alarms Jim Drake, the deputy secretary of state. “I don’t think you can understand what sort of chaos that would cause,� he said. Drake said it would leave Arizonans with no way to tell which outside groups have been spending millions of dollars to influence their votes. It also would leave these groups free to run attack ads without even a hint of the amount they are spending. And it even would eliminate those minimal disclosures that outside committees are now required to make at the end of their TV commercials. Drake said if Teilborg enjoins enforcement of the law the state will seek immediate review by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And he said the state will ask that Teilborg’s ruling be placed on hold until that can happen. He said, though, that absent a stay or overturning the law, the
judge’s order would leave the door wide open to all sorts of spending that can be shielded from the public — at least until the Legislature gets a chance to come to the Capitol to try to fix it in a way acceptable to the judge. But Tom Collins, executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, said there may be an escape valve of sorts. Collins said his agency, set up under different laws, may still be able to demand spending reports by those trying to influence elections, no matter what Teilborg decides. The state finds itself in this position because of efforts by Dina Galassini to oppose a 2011 bond election in Fountain Hills. She sued when town officials told her that state law requires she first register as a political committee before she could hold protests prior to the election. Attorneys for the state intervened to defend the law. But the judge ruled last year the law requiring political committees to register was so badly worded as to be unintelligible, perhaps even to attorneys, making it unenforceable. That ended the fight with Fountain Hills. But Avelar told Teilborg that
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BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
COCHISE COUNTY SHERIFF’S FOOTHILLS COMPLEX Foothills Drive & Highway 92
OCTOBER 24
25 26 30 31
6-10 p.m. 6-10 p.m. 4-7 p.m. 6-9 p.m. 5-? p.m.
Admission $3 or $2 with a can of food Children under five admitted free Other organizations participating in this effort include the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, the Boys & Girls Club of Sierra Vista, National Alliance on Mental Illness, San Pedro Kiwanis / Just Kids, Inc., CASA, Good Neighbor Alliance and the Fry Fire Department