Earlier this week, the New York Times printed an editorial entitled “An Exodus in Our Own Backyard”, criticizing the Obama Administration over its domestic treatment of refugees fleeing violence in Central America. The piece stated, “President Obama has spoken of them with sympathy. But he and his Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson have done far…
DetailsYesterday’s New York Times piece lifted the national veil on Arizona’s dark secret: our state is ground zero for efforts to expand the use of Dark Money – undisclosed political contributions – to influence state and local races. This past session, Secretary of State Michele Reagan and her Elections Director Eric Spencer authored legislation, Senate…
DetailsAs ballot returns started to come in last night, it became clear that Proposition 123 is headed to a photo finish. In recent weeks, other surveys had claimed that the proposal was in a strong position with 59.7% support in one push button poll. Another survey declared that Prop 123 was headed to a “big…
DetailsAs early ballot voting is underway for Proposition 123, many school districts and education supporters are deep in the midst of considering potential overrides and bonds for later this year. The deadline for referring items to the November 2016 General Election is fast approaching. For some, November has been the plan all along, and for…
DetailsMy Turn – Arizona Republic, Tuesday, April 26th As parents we often encourage our children to do better. Typically, that is a hard message to deliver – we love our kids and we want to encourage them, but we cannot be overly enthusiastic or negative about mediocre work. I can remember many times be it…
DetailsToday marks the first time in many years that Ryan Smith hasn’t called HighGround home. After nearly eight years at our firm, Ryan began his new career today as the Government Relations Coordinator for Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. All of his colleagues here at HighGround cannot be more pleased for him and for the Airport Authority;…
DetailsSB1516 is nothing short of a pure deregulation of political committees in Arizona. Under the false pretences of streamlining our system, this proposal abdicates nearly all responsibility for regulating political committees. If you think dark money rules our current system now, buckle up because it’s about to get a whole lot darker. Article 7, Section…
DetailsReject SB 1516 – Reject Corruption Dear Members of the Arizona House of Representatives: As soon as this afternoon, you may be considering SB 1516. I urge you to reject it. In Sunday’s Arizona Republic (3/27/16), Representative Ken Clark offered his opinion on why this bill should be defeated. For my part, I agree wholeheartedly…
DetailsArizona has lost another icon, and I lost a good friend. Yesterday afternoon, I received back-to-back calls from friends and colleagues from Tucson to inform me that Don Diamond had passed away. After 91 years on the planet, I was sad to hear that Don was no longer with us. Don was a mentor and…
DetailsThe Crucible of Public Service Steady, purposeful, compassionate, thoughtful, quiet, humble, kind, joyful, patient, dignified and… funny. It is understandable that this past week, a momentous announcement took Unfortunately, in today’s political environment, announcements like this are often followed by speculation that something else is afoot; that the elected is stepping down for some other…
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