Stop Complaining, Start Doing
Why Am I Running? To give District 6 voters a vigorous and credible CHOICE for State Representative and to rejuvenate the democratic process in District 6.
Fact: Arizona students test near the national average but our per pupil funding is next to the bottom in the 50 states (49 out of 50th). That tells me that our school tax dollars are spent very efficiently in Arizona.
What do you think would happen if we raised our school funding back to the national average - from about $6,000.00 per student to about $8,000.00 per student?
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is Tom Horne. Tom is a Republican. Tom had this to say in the last two “State Report Cards” sent to all public school parents in Arizona: “I believe that if we raise our resources to something close to the national average, because of our emphasis on academic rigor and accountability, we could be in the top ten states in test scores.”
That’s the top 20% my friends. That’s excellence. That’s the way forward to future prosperity for our children and our State.
So, as the parent of a third-grade girl who’s learned about school finance first-hand by active involvement in her school and in school district finances, here’s the CHOICE I’m giving you by running:
Vote for me if you want to return public school funding in Arizona back to the national average. Vote for my Republican opponents if you want to leave funding where it is - at 49th out of the 50 states.
My goal is a long-term goal - one that I hope to achieve during the course of my entire time in the House. That would be a total of eight years if you - the voters - elect me now for the first time, and then re-elect me for three more terms - the most I’d be entitled to serve under our term limit law. To accomplish my goal I will need to remain in the House and move into the leadership to maximize the chances that I’ll be successful. So if you elect me now, then keep entrusting me with your support by re-electing me, I commit that I will remain in this position for the full eight years allowed by law in order to do everything in my power to raise public education funding in Arizona from 49th out of 50 back to the national average.
My decision to run for State Representative came only two years ago. I am not a professional politician. I’m 53 years old and this is all new to me. I only decided to run because no one was offering me the same choice and commitment I just gave to you. So now I’m running in order to offer myself - and you - those same choices.
Like most people, I was busy trying to make good in life: Building a family, building my own business (in my case, my small business law practice), and getting through a divorce while trying to be a good father to my daughter. Sure, I didn’t like the way the country was being damaged under President Bush, and I didn’t like learning that Arizona went from the middle of the pack in school funding in the 1980’s to the bottom of the pack today, but what could I do? I was just one person. But something happened to change my mind and help me realize that “helplessness” and “apathy” are greater threats to our democracy and our American way of life than anything else.
I had just finished a long, complex trial in August 2006 when I finally noticed all the campaign signs for the 2006 legislative race: Four Republicans were fighting to convince voters that one was more “conservative” than the other. All of them declared themselves to be the enemies of “government” and to never, ever, ever raise taxes. No matter what - apparently. The proverbial “free lunch.” No need to build or pay for anything new. Just live off of yesterday’s investments in education and public infrastructure.
The fact that no Democratic candidates were running meant that voters like me were shut out of the process of choosing our next state representatives. The winners of the Republican primary (Anthem residents Sam Crump and Doug Clark) became our state representatives by default - before the General Election ever took place. For me, that was a “pencil-breaking” moment. Why weren’t there any moderate candidates? Why weren’t there any candidates from the City of Phoenix where the majority of voters in District 6 live? Surely there were others who felt the same way. I decided to run right then and there in order to give myself - and others - a real choice the next time around. A credible, strong candidate who will go after them on their record and who will work hard to win the election.
We are even worse off this year - after two more years of right-wing legislative dominance - than we were two years ago, yet our choices on the Republican side in District 6 are limited to “more of the same.” The notion that our government - OUR government - is “the problem.” The endless focus on hot-button social issues. Passing reckless tax cuts to further dig into an already “lean” State budget (to use the words of Senate Majority Leader Tim Bee). (Arizona ranked 43d out of 50 in per capita state and local spending in FY2005 - which is pretty lean indeed.) And the failure of the Republican legislative leadership to responsibly calibrate BOTH tools of fiscal responsibility - spending AND taxes - to keep our government running in the black without impairing vital State services.
The two surviving Republican candidates in this year’s House race are Sam Crump and Carl Seel. Both all of them doubtlessly share the goal of making Arizona a better place to live and to strengthen our future. Obviously, I share that goal and so do all of you. But I disagree fundamentally with Sam and Carl on how to get there. That’s the choice I’ve giving you by running.
Sam Crump was not even finished with his first term in the Arizona House earlier this year when he jumped at the chance to run for the U.S. Congress when it seemed that Congressman John Shadegg intended to retire. To put it bluntly, Sam Crump really is not interested in representing us at the State Capitol: He would rather be in Washington D.C., and he’ll bolt the first chance he gets. In fact, Sam’s roots in District 6 are very shallow. Sam moved to Anthem in 2002 to run for the State Legislature in a reliably Republican district after losing an election for the Legislature in California.
In other words, Sam Crump moved to Arizona specifically to be elected to public office.
Sam’s views on education in Arizona are especially stern: Ignoring the fact that Arizona is 49th in the nation in per pupil public education spending, Sam’s website assures us that Arizona’s schools don’t need more money. In a recent legislative debate, Sam defended his position by pointing out that Arizona’s test scores hover around the national average.
I don’t agree that “average” performance is a worthy goal. I think excellence is a worthy goal. Average is just another word for “mediocre.”
Sam argues that our schools don’t need more money - just discipline. The major advantage of this idea, for Sam at least, is that it allegedly won’t cost us any more money. I disagree. Hiring trained security officers to back up our school administrators and protect our children would cost more money. But Sam hasn’t proposed spending more money on real school security. His support of the idea of “guns in schools” suggests that school security can be accomplished “on the cheap.”
In my opinion, Sam’s empty ideas on discipline are nothing more than a smoke screen to cover up his refusal to fully fund Arizona’s public schools.
Indeed, when pressed at this year’s Republican primary Clean Elections debate to tell us what he would cut in order to balance the State budget, Sam claimed he would vote to cut State funding for All-Day Kindergarten. Sam said his anecdotal research “showed” him that most parents would scrape their family budgets to find the money - somehow - to pay for their own All-Day K if it were cut. As for those who couldn’t afford it no matter what, Sam dismissed those families with a waive of his hand and said that they could always apply for a “government handout.”
Clearly, this answer reveals the attitude of a person who has never had to worry about money and who has no real idea of what it’s like to survive as a working family (I certainly haven’t forgotten what it was like for my own working parents). It also shows that Sam views the public school system as part of “the welfare state” instead of the critical economic and social development vehicle that has served our country so well for over 100 years. In other words, Sam is out of touch with everything except his personal preconceived notions, prejudices, and privileged background on the value of the public schools in American society.
Sam Crump has also shown that he cannot be trusted to protect the 80% of District 6 voters who live in the City of Phoenix. In fact, he has voted in ways that harm us.
During the recently concluded legislative session, Sam co-sponsored a bill which would have given a very modest tax credit to residents of unincorporated areas - like Anthem. To pay for it Sam would have reduced the funds that Arizona cities - like Phoenix - receive from the State to pay for things like police and public safety. Predictably, I haven’t found any voters yet in the Phoenix portion of the District who are aware that he tried to pull this, though I’ll bet that he crows about it to the two or three people who show up to his regular coffee club in Anthem.
The reality of the matter is that stunts like this don’t really help Anthem at all. In fact it harms Anthem. The time may come when the people of Anthem need cooperation from the City of Phoenix. That’s less likely to happen as long as folks like Sam (and Doug Clark - who voted YES for Sam’s bill) are busy trying to gore Phoenix.
I am a long time Phoenix neighborhood activist, Village Planning Committee member, and school Site Council member with strong ties to City government. I submit to my friends in Anthem that I would be in a much better position to go to bat for you if you ever wanted closer cooperation with the City of Phoenix than Sam Crump or Doug Clark ever will be.
Sam is a nice person, but when he does nothing to help public education and does things that threaten police and fire protection in the City Phoenix, he loses my vote. It’s time to end Sam’s political career so he can rediscover what it’s like to practice law.
The other Republican running this year is Carl Seel, a young salesman and Republican precinct committeeman. Like his mentor Russell Pearce, Mr. Seel is focused almost exclusively on hot button social issues like gay marriage, abortion, and illegal aliens. Though his passion is sincere, Mr. Seel has neither the education, the experience, nor the interest to tackle difficult practical issues such as the budget or school finance. Regardless of how well Carl Seel’s views might play in East Mesa, I think they’re out of step with the people in District 6. That was underscored when Carl ran for this same office in 2006 and finished fourth out of four - in his own party’s primary!
The statement in Carl Seel’s campaign website that Arizona public schools are full of “waste” is belied by the fact that our State funding is at the bottom while our test scores are near the national average. In other words, Carl doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to school finance. Having gone out of his way to embrace his former rival Sam Crump and to become Sam’s running mate, Carl will doubtless look to Sam and other Republicans for guidance on things like budgets - as long as Carl gets to focus on hot button social issues.
Both Sam and Carl have signed a “No New Taxes” pledge - thereby giving away half of the authority they would normally have as a State Legislator. I this regard they are both part of a movement to change the focus of our Legislature from a body charged with solving Arizona’s practical problems and turning it into a mere debating club for hot button social issues.
The bottom line is this: I am running to give the people of District 6 a choice: Do you want a legislature that works to solves the practical problems facing Arizona - such as building an education system capable of competing against the best in the world? Or do you want a legislature that focuses on symbolic issues like guns in schools, gay marriage, and whether to teach creationism as a theory, belief, or a fact? Do you want a problem solving body or a debating club for hot-button social issues?
Our District has two seats in the Arizona House. Please vote to shake up the status quo by entrusting this pragmatic Democrat with one of them. I promise I will work hard to vindicate your trust and make you glad you gave me a chance to show what I can do for YOU.
May 14, 2008: Jack Doody files Nomination Petitions for State Representative, District 6 with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.
