Yes, there’s a recall election underway against Julie Spilsbury – and I’ve been inundated with calls and texts asking me to expose the hypocrisy behind it, “just speak from your own experiences…” Anonymous campaign blasts, church-network house parties, and a dark-money political auxiliary humming in the background. Five years later, the cast hasn’t changed and neither has the script.

Spilsbury’s public persona shifts with the political wind. That’s not leadership – it’s stagecraft. In 2020 she pitched herself as a community mom and bookkeeper; in weeks, she was suddenly a self-proclaimed “entrepreneur” and small-business owner, as these titles were more fitting. Once the, “only Republican in the race”, and now the Democrats are her base, man what a difference a few years make…

LD10 Democrats canvassing every weekend for Spilsbury

The policies are almost beside the point – it’s the branding that matters to her operation. Her playbook comes straight from former Mayor John Giles, who hand-picked her for the seat. Giles perfected the same dance: tout a small-government Republican image locally, then, once safely in office, flip to endorsing Democrats when it no longer costs them politically. Two peas, same fraud.

When a Campaign Looks Like a Church Meeting

Early in Spilsbury’s 2020 campaign, an invitation went out for a “Meet & Greet” hosted entirely by members of the Church – including then-Mayor John Giles and a who’s who of well-connected LDS families. Many Mesa voters couldn’t tell if this was a political rally or a ward social. Spilsbury herself is the LDS bishop’s wife (a detail surely just coincidental to her rapid political rise).

It used to be federal law that churches (and other 501(c)(3)s) were barred from intervening in campaigns – no church directories, no ward contact lists, no official church communications used to rally voters for a candidate. While those restrictions have since been stripped away, the principle remains the same: in Spilsbury’s case, her campaign felt less like civic outreach and more like a church program. Every host on that early event flyer came from the same LDS ward circle. That isn’t broad-based “community engagement.” It’s a religious machine doubling as a political one.

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Caption: Spilsbury’s early campaign invite — hosted at Mayor Giles’s home and stacked with LDS families.

Pro-Trump to One Crowd, Anti-Trump to Another

In 2020, Spilsbury’s network didn’t campaign on Mesa issues like streets, water, or public safety – they trafficked in pure political outrage. They micro-targeted voters with whatever partisan trigger would prompt a reaction.

Some voters were bombarded with messages claiming I was “anti-Trump,” painting Spilsbury as the only true Republican in the race. Meanwhile, others got the opposite narrative – that I was a “conservative extremist” tied to Trump – implicitly casting Spilsbury and her mentor Giles as the sensible anti-Trump choices. Two opposite stories, pushed by the same senders in the same election. That isn’t communication; it’s cynical theater.

Caption: Targeted 2020 blast text: branding me “anti-Trump” to some voters, while other lists were told I was a Trump extremist.

At the very same time those coordinated texts went out, the same circle was busy producing a parody video lampooning Trump and his supporters. One minute Spilsbury’s camp was positioning her as pro-Trump; the next, her allies were mocking Trump voters as clueless rubes.

Over 5000 Signatures

It should be no surprise to anyone that more than 5,000 Mesa residents signed petitions to recall Julie Spilsbury from the City Council — well above the 3,100 valid signatures required to trigger a special election. According to reporting at the time, the recall committee cited her votes to raise utility rates, increase council pay, and approve homeless housing in a hotel as proof she’d betrayed the very base she claimed to represent. But the deeper truth is this: people signed those petitions because they’ve had enough of the fraud. Spilsbury campaigned in 2020 as a Republican stalwart, riding messaging that painted her opponent as “anti-Trump.” Yet once she was safely reelected and politically untouchable, she pivoted and began endorsing Democrats down the ballot. She pretends to be one thing in Mesa and something entirely different on the national stage. Voters saw through the act, and the thousands of signatures collected for her recall are the direct result of that hypocrisy.

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The “Integrity” Alliance That Does the Opposite

Enter the Public Integrity Alliance – Spilsbury’s church friends, run by Tyler Montague. It’s a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” outfit – what most people call dark money – because it can spend in elections without disclosing donors. In Mesa races it has poured serious cash into attack mailers, robocalls, online ads, and door programs. All while lecturing everyone else about “integrity.” The irony that they are now complaining about dark money is Mesa is comical.

It’s the oldest Mesa trick in the book: accuse others of being the extremists, fund it with anonymous dark money, then hide behind the candidate smiling from the “high road.”

Here’s the proof: PIA’s independent expenditure filing with the City of Mesa, showing tens of thousands of dollars poured directly into those very attack ads.

And here’s the irony: while their allies were blasting me as “anti-Trump,” Montague and his friends were busy making parody videos mocking Trump himself. One video, covered by Phoenix New Times, depicted Trump being “schlonged,” produced by the very same Public Integrity Alliance. (Phoenix New Times)

Even worse, those anti-Trump mailers that flooded Mesa in 2020? They weren’t some anonymous neighborhood project. They were financed and distributed by the Public Integrity Alliance itself — the largest dark-money operator in our city’s history and Spilsbury’s church friends.

Anti-Trump mailers funded by the Public Integrity Alliance — the same group now claiming to defend “integrity.”

Here you’ll find their campaign finance form

Wishing Trump Dead

And here’s the real kicker: Tyler Montague himself. Not only did he bankroll both sides of the Trump narrative, he openly despises Trump and has prayed for his death. These people are sick. They empower and recruit for the MAGA crowd inadvertently. Their antics are the fuel for the MAGA movement that they so despise.

Montague, Julie’s friend and operator of the Public Integrity Alliance, openly despises Trump — mocking him in parody videos, funding anti-Trump mailers, even posting on X that he prayed for Trump’s death.

This is classic Mesa politics: use the church network to attack opponents while pretending the candidate herself is “above it all.” Let the “Integrity” Alliance take the swings, while Spilsbury smiles from the high road.

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Follow the Money (and the Ward Lists)

To my friends at the Church: take a look at the actual contributor roster from Spilsbury’s reports and tell me you don’t notice a pattern. Over and over you see the same family networks, the same ward surnames, the same social circles — all bankrolling a “nonpartisan” city race.

And while we’re on the subject of “diversity,” let’s talk about her official “Supporters” page. Spilsbury’s campaign published what they call an endorsement list. Scroll through it and you’ll quickly notice a pattern: page after page of the exact same ward families and church leaders.

Pages from Spilsbury’s official “Supporters” list — It’s not an endorsement list. It’s mostly a ward directory repurposed for politics.

To my friends at the Church: does this look like broad-based community diversity? Or does it look like a contact sheet repurposed for campaign turnout? When the overlap is this overwhelming, I’m not sure how the IRS—or any fair-minded voter—could tell the difference.

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Silent When It Mattered; Loud When It Was Safe

When Spilsbury’s Church friends sent out anti-Trump flyers, Spilsbury stayed quiet and let proxies do the work. Later, when it became politically safe, after her re-election, the branding shifted and the endorsements to Democrats flowed. Meanwhile, Giles kept the “Republican mayor” façade during election cycles, then found his voice right as he was exiting. Same method, different mask. That is who these people are. They will sell you anything for power. Mesa voters saw through the act, which is exactly why over 5,000 signatures were collected to recall her.

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Weaponizing the City Attorney’s Office

Lest anyone forget: nearly a decade ago the City bureaucrats tried to destroy my campaign with threatening letters — demanding I surrender or destroy my campaign materials. Political speech is protected; we had to bring in outside counsel to say the obvious. This is the same playbook Julie and her handlers use: if they can’t win on principle, they’ll weaponize our institutions.

Cease-and-desist letter sent by Mesa’s attorneys — weaponizing the City Attorney’s Office to intimidate political opponents. More details

My attorney’s response.

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Giles: The Hand That Picked Spilsbury

Giles, the hand that picked Spilsbury, spent years selling small-government branding locally while voting for new taxes, then capped his career with splashy national endorsements once there was no political risk left. Loud at the end, quiet when it counted.

And here’s the bigger problem: people like Giles and Spilsbury can’t see that they themselves are the cause of Trumpism. When it mattered most, they were fake — silent to protect their careers. Only at the end of their terms, when there was nothing left to lose, did they suddenly discover “righteousness.” That’s not courage. That’s opportunism. The very definition of fake politics they embody.

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No Chance Against the Machine

I don’t know Dorean Taylor, the person opposing Spilsbury. But I do know one thing: she stands no chance against the systematic Church electioneering machine she’s up against. What we’re watching isn’t a debate about policy or competence, Spilsbury would stand no chance if competence mattered. It’s a closed circuit where church lists become invite lists, invite lists become turnout lists, and “Integrity” groups do the opposite of what they’re named. Messaging shifts depending on the audience, legal threats fill in where arguments fail, and “nonpartisan” is nothing more than a fig leaf for a very partisan machine.

Mesa deserves straighter talk and cleaner politics than this. If our city races are going to stay nonpartisan on paper, they should act nonpartisan in practice — without ward directories doubling as field programs, dark-money mailers telling each audience a different story, and bishops doubling as campaign operatives.

If you like the machine, you already know how to vote. If you don’t, well this is Mesa, find a new home.

This week has been an emotional one. We welcomed our new baby, Olivia, to the world on 3/1/22. It’s hard to not be extremely grateful, emotional, and realize how lucky we are when we see what is happening in Ukraine. Babies are being born in bomb shelters and thousands are evacuating Ukraine as I write this. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have our baby in a situation like what is occurring in Ukraine. We need to build a country that is not reliant on corporations and oil imports for the future sustainability of our country.

America has a problem with oil

America has a major issue regarding how much oil we import. In 2020 we imported 7.86 million barrels of oil. Think for a minute of all the major oil-exporting countries. How many of them do you believe are friendly to the United States?

Oil exporting countries

1. Saudi Arabia: US$113.7 billion (17.2% of exported crude oil)
2. Russia: $72.6 billion (11%)
3. Iraq: $50.8 billion (7.7%)
4. United States: $50.3 billion (7.6%)
5. United Arab Emirates: $47.9 billion (7.2%)
6. Canada: $47.6 billion (7.2%)
7. Kuwait: $28.3 billion (4.3%)
8. Nigeria: $25.2 billion (3.8%)
9. Kazakhstan: $23.7 billion (3.6%)
10. Norway: $22.7 billion (3.4%)
11. Angola: $20.2 billion (3.1%)
12. Brazil: $19.6 billion (3%)
13. United Kingdom: $16.1 billion (2.4%)
14. Oman: $15 billion (2.3%)
15. Mexico: $14.9 billion (2.2%)

Let’s start with Saudia Arabia. In 2018 they decided they would lure Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist for the Washington Post, into an Istanbul consulate and chop him to pieces. The most protected form of free speech should be given to our journalists.

The second on the list is Russia as we speak they are invading Ukraine. Killing and destroying everything in their way. The list of issues goes on…

Oil, energy, and SRP

Let’s get to what all this has to do with our future and the future for our children. There is only one way for the United States to diversify away from our oil imports, electric cars and solar. While solar and electric cars are not perfect they are the best chance we have at diversifying away from our oil imports and reliance on nations not friendly to our country. Note that I said diversify, not eliminate. I don’t think that’s rational as there are necessary use cases for oil that will always exist.

In order for solar to be sustainable, we need something called “net metering” essentially what this means is if you install solar on your house and overproduce electricity on a net annual basis you should only be charged for the net energy that you use (consumption – production). Unfortunately under the current leadership of David Rousseau and John Hoopes, and other corporate cronies this is not happening. They tout on their expensive mailer that they are solar-friendly and their opponents are bought by special interest groups. But one only has to look as far as the amount of money they are spending on their campaigns to know that they are backed by institutional donations. As America forges ahead with the democratization of electricity through rooftop solar installations they are exactly the type of politicians that get in the way. They push for centralized solar like the large-scale solar farms you see in the desert. These installations, while great for the environment, take all the financial benefit for the consumer and only benefit the corporations installing them.

I have 20kw of solar installed on my house. This provides about 100% of my electricity usage a year. Last year we installed solar on my parent’s house. Based on the current SRP plans and not recognizing net metering it kills the ROI for the average homeowner.

Trust Fund Kids and antiquated elections

SRP elections are antiquated and regressive. The more land you own the more votes you get. Yes, you read that right. The more land you own your elite vote suppresses all of the commoners. So if you visit the website of the existing SRP members you’ll see endorsements from trust fund kids who have inherited their money and political positions largely due to family inheritance and their religious connections. That is what allows these people to stay in power.

So as these two corporate shills would say “Keep your eye out” for your ballot this year. But be careful as there is more than meets the eye in the deception of their mailer. Let’s vote for a future for our kids. A future where electricity is decentralized and affordable through solar. Vote for the SRP Clean Energy team.

• Randy Miller (Division 8 Association & District Board)
  • Donate to Randy Miller
• Mark Mulligan (Division 8 Association & District Council)
  • Donate to Mark Mulligan
• Krista O’Brien (District At-large seat 12)
  • Donate to Krista O’Brien
• Kathy Mohr-Almeida (District At-large seat 14)
  • Donate to Kathy Mohr-Almeida

How to get a ballot

You will not receive a ballot even if you are a registered early voter. SRP has its own early ballot list. You can request one, here.

Important Dates

Monday, March 7th last day to register to vote

Wednesday, March 9th early ballots

Friday, March 25th last day to request early ballots

Tuesday, April 5th Election Day

Response to the lawsuit from my attorney can be found here. It is well worth the read. The corruption in Mesa runs deep. Articles can be found below.

From the Washington Post

Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen — who is representing the candidate — has the details; I’ve looked into the case, and I agree with his analysis:The city of Mesa, Arizona, has threatened suit against a local businessman, Jeremy Whittaker, who is running for city council in opposition to a longtime city employee who enjoys endorsements from several current elected city officials. His offense? His lawn signs and campaign literature include a single-color version of the city’s logo … as a handy way of identifying the office for which he is running. City officials told him he can’t use the city logo on his campaign materials because the city has trademark rights in the logo and, supposedly, a trademark can never be used without its owner’s permission. Last week they upped the ante: the city’s outside IP counsel sent him a stiff cease-and-desist letter claiming that Whittaker has infringed the city’s logo and demanding that he turn over all of his campaign material (presumably for destruction).There are several reason why this demand is wrong — Whittaker is making a purely noncommercial use of the logo which is therefore outside the scope of the Lanham Act and, indeed, protected by the First Amendment, and, in any event, nothing about his material suggests that the city is behind his campaign. Beyond that, the logo is used to identify the city as the subject of his campaign for office, which is fair use.And then there is this lurking problem: section 2(b) of the Lanham Act forbids the registration of any “flag or coat of arms or other insignia of … any State or municipality” as a trademark. The Trademark Office has apparently been using a narrow construction of this statutory limitation to allow agencies to register logos to identify specific government services or programs. A couple of years ago, a federal judge in New Jersey expressed grave reservations about the very idea of a government trademark in its own seal…. By identifying the symbol at issue as the city’s official insignia, its lawyer might have unwittingly put his client’s trademark registration at risk.In a letter today to the city’s counsel, I have explained that Whittaker is not going to give in to the incumbents’ trademark bullying. I expect that this will be the end of the matter. If not, my thanks to Al Schmeiser for his willingness to be local counsel.

From Public Citizen

Monday, May 23, 2016

Mesa, Arizona tells insurgent candidate not to put the city’s seal on his lawn signs

by Paul Alan Levy

The city of Mesa, Arizona, has threatened suit against a local businessman, Jeremy Whittaker, who is running for city council in opposition to a longtime city employee who enjoys endorsements from several current elected city officials.  His offense?  His lawn signs and campaign literature include a single-color version of the city’s logo (shown at the right) as a handy way of identifying the office for which he is running.  City officials told him he can’t use the city logo on his campaign materials because the city has trademark rights in the logo and, supposedly, a trademark can never be used without its owner’s permission. Last week they upped the ante:  the city’s outside IP counsel sent him a stiff cease-and-desist letter claiming that Whittaker has infringed the city’s logo and demanding that he turn over all of his campaign material (presumably for destruction).

There are several reason why this demand is wrong — Whittaker is making a purely noncommercial use of the logo which is therefore outside the scope of the Lanham Act and, indeed, protected by the First Amendment, and, in any event, nothing about his material suggests that the city is behind his campaign.  Beyond that, the logo is used to identify the city as the subject of his campaign for office, which is fair use. 

And then there is this lurking problem: section 2(b) of the Lanham Act forbids the registration of any “flag or coat of arms or other insignia of . . . any State or municipality” as a trademark.  The Trademark Office has apparently been using a narrow construction of this statutory limitation to allow agencies to register logos to identify specific government services or programs.  A couple of years ago, a federal judge in New Jersey expressed grave reservations about the very idea of a government trademark in its own seal.

The lawyer who sent the demand letter is the same one who submitted the trademark registration a few years ago, claiming that it was only for limited specific programs and services.  At the same time, the city’s publicist was describing the graphic as “a new logo to replace the stylized ‘M’ that has branded the city for a generation.”    By identifying the symbol at issue as the city’s official insignia, its lawyer might have unwittingly put his client’s trademark registration at risk.

In a letter today to the city’s counsel, I have explained that Whittaker is not going to give in to the incumbents’ trademark bullying.  I expect that this will be the end of the matter.  If not, my thanks to Al Schmeiser for his willingness to be local counsel.
    

Posted by Paul Levy on Monday, May 23, 2016 at 05:03 PM | Permalink

From ARS Technica

A well-known First Amendment lawyer has formally responded on behalf of a city council candidate in Mesa, Arizona, who is accused of abusing the city’s trademarked logo in his campaign literature.

In his Monday response letter, lawyer Paul Alan Levy informs the City of Mesa’s lawyer that “not every use of a trademark constitutes infringement, and the First Amendment protects Whittaker’s use of these logos for purposes of noncommercial political expression.” Levy represents political hopeful Jeremy Whittaker.

The dispute represents yet another seemingly overzealous attempt at restricting speech using intellectual property laws. Levy has proven successful at halting such cases: earlier this year he defended an anonymous YouTube user when the subject of the user’s video, a Georgia dentist, attempted to reveal the user’s identity.

FURTHER READING

Presidential candidate’s lawyer schooled over spurious IP claimWhittaker received a demand letter last week from Kenneth Booth, an IP lawyer who represents the City of Mesa Municipal Development Corporation. Booth argued that because Whittaker was using and continues to use the City of Mesa’s three-tiered logo on his campaign materials, that it “implies an endorsement of [his] candidacy by the City of Mesa and must stop immediately.”

Levy blasted Booth’s legal arguments and concluded that “Whittaker is not going to give in to your demand on behalf of the incumbent city officials, who apparently hope to use trademark bullying to run up the costs of an independent candidate challenging a longtime city employee whom the incumbents prefer.”

It’s interesting to see Mesa Mayor John Giles begging the federal government for more money. Claiming that the City has been impacted by Covid and the need to continue to funnel millions of dollars from the Taxpayer to the City of Mesa. But what is really going on in the City of Mesa?

Updated contracts

Recently I took a look at the amendments to the contracts for the City Auditor, Attorney, Manager, and Clerk. These were approved by the City Council and can be found below.

City Manager

City Auditor

City Attorney

City Clerk

Bonuses and raises for everyone

What is interesting when you look at the recent amendment all of them received $2,000 bonuses.

I was informed that all employees received a $2,000 bonus and raise. Let’s keep in mind this is while Mesa is suffering from high unemployment rates and food lines that are stretching for miles.

You also might recall when the City took $50 million of the Covid fund to balance its budget internally last year. The money was supposed to be spent on helping out members of our community. We now know that this was used to prop up internal employees’ raises and bonuses while leaving Mesa to fend for itself.

Federal COVID funds should be for those in need not to balance our budget

Mesa’s Cost of Living

Mesa’s cost of living continues to be amongst the highest of any of the Phoenix metro cities.

Highest cost of water and wastewater?

Highest cost for solid waste?

Sales tax? While Mesa’s sales tax is one of the highest the revenue they collect is amongst one of the lowest. The reason is the poor economic situation in Mesa due to their failed policies. This is evident in their collection of sales tax

Here’s to Bankruptcy

How long do you think it will be until City Manager, Chris Brady, and the entire City Council take out our City?

Bankrupt Pensions & Unsustainable Pay Increases

I want to address a recent video that my opponent and our Mayor made claiming that I’m for drastic cuts and trying to enact a primary property tax. I wrote an article on the primary property tax which you can read here. However, I want to make sure everyone is clear about what causes our taxes to go up and what causes them to go down. I want to prefix this by saying there is a lot of common sense here. Like the more of your money they spend the higher your taxes are going to be with the opposite being true. Bear with me while I explain.

Giles chaired the committee trying to enact a primary property tax in 2006 because he loves taxes

It’s ok to be a big-government politician. Some people believe that the government is better at spending our money than we are. However, it is not ok to be one while pretending to be a small-government conservative. While claiming that I want to raise taxes the Mayor has advocated for higher taxes for over two decades. John Giles even chaired the board to enact a primary property tax in 2006 while claiming that I am the one pushing for a primary property tax. Scroll down to see all the tax increases Giles has supported over the last 2 decades. I do not believe there is a single person in Mesa who has advocated for more taxes than John Giles. He loves taxes. This is why he wants me off the Council. I do not believe more taxes is going to solve our problems. Not only do I believe this I’ve advocated for it since I opposed the 23% sales tax increase in 2016.

Taxes

First, you should understand that politicians poll you to see what topics are popular and which are not. Then they use these buzzwords to determine how they can attach the negative keywords to their opponent while emphasizing their support for the buzzwords that you care about. In the above video, the Mayor indicates that I’m for a “primary property tax”.

Further, if you look at my opponent’s latest mailer she talks about “cause Mesa to enact its primary property tax”. Does she think that we can just flip a switch and “enact” a primary property tax? It doesn’t work this way. It has to go out to the voters. This flyer gives a false narrative that it can simply be “turned on”.

Why does Giles and your opponent lie about their support for a primary property tax?

He does this because he knows the issue is wildly unpopular amongst Mesa voters. Because in 2006 he chaired the campaign to try and enact a primary property tax. The truth is I’ve been opposing their wasteful spending for the last four years. In fact, I’ve voted against multiple budgets because they were unbalanced. Meaning we are currently spending more than we take in revenues. The way that the budget has been legally balanced is drawing out money from our utilities placing them in grave danger as they become underfunded for necessary capital improvement projects. But make no mistake they will come to the voters in the next couple of years and ask you for billions in new debt.

Reserves being depleted, what do you think the Mayor will do once he’s finished depleting our reserves?

Year after year Giles and his friends have passed an unbalanced budget. They steal the money from the reserves which will eventually run out. They have no plan once this money is gone.

Budgets must be balanced

I will never support a budget that is not balanced and this makes me wildly unpopular with people who benefit from increased spending. See link, “Who’s buying the Mayor and Mesa City Council“.

Steal Money from Covid support fund

This year the federal government gave us $90 million dollars to address Covid related concerns in our community. The City took $50 million of this to balance their budget. While not buying a single piece of personal protective equipment for you, the citizens of Mesa.

In the last 20 years there is not a single person who has advocated for more taxes than John Giles

Below are all the voter publicity pamphlets you receive when you’re voting. Every time there is a new tax you can almost bet you’ll find John Giles name.

2018

2016

In 2016 you were asked if you wanted to spend money to build an ASU campus in downtown Mesa. This vote failed. This is the one you should be most upset about. After you voted down the sales tax they stole the money from our utilities because that didn’t require voter approval and they knew this. More details here. They have to push these projects through because their deep-pocketed donors to their political campaigns would not support them.

2014

The utility bonds become tricky and I support these with a clause. But let me tell you where the deceit comes in. If the City was not draining all of the savings from our utilities every year by transferring it out to the “general fund”, “economic development fund”, and ASU all of these bonds would not be necessary. Some perhaps, but not in the amount that they propose. The image below I pulled from an article about why I opposed the ASU campus. It can be found here. Pay attention to the ending reserve balance line of our utility system. The current Mayor and City Council are draining our savings from our utilities. It’s why I started “Yes on Affordable Utilities“. This will lead to massive utility rate hikes in the future. This graph is old. The latest ones show us now running out of money in the next five years.

2007

2006

2002 – Cardinals Stadium

2000

1998

In summary

Bureaucrats are always increasing our taxes because they fundamentally believe that they are better at spending our money than we are. I will continue to fight against tax increases and out of control spending.

Text message deceit

I want to talk about a text message that you may have received yesterday. It looks something like this.

Primary property tax is not so popular

I want you to pay special attention to this last section, “result in Mesa’s first primary property tax”. What the political establishment has done with their endless dark money is poll you, the voter, to determine how popular certain topics are. They know that Mesa voters do not support a primary property tax. So they use this information to discredit our campaign. I want to breakdown this last section claiming that my initiative https://voteyesonaffordableutilities.com/ will somehow enact a primary property tax in Mesa. That is not the purpose of the initiative. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. It is to stop out of control spending and unbalanced budgets so that we do not have to raise taxes. You may recall my objection to the ASU campus for this very reason. We never had the $100 million-plus money to build it and we still don’t. It’s why the City had to steal money from your Covid dollars to balance the budget.

Hypocrisy

It doesn’t matter to me if you’re for a bigger government or against it, but don’t claim that you’re one while doing the other. The most ridiculous part of this text message is the group sending this message identifies themselves as the United Mesa Firefighters. The issue? This very same group and Mayor John Giles are the ones pushing for a primary property tax in Mesa! So while they are accusing me of wanting to enact a primary property tax and deceiving you they are the ones trying to do it! Don’t take my word for it though. You can read through the publication from 2006. Below are the relevant excerpts. The actual reason this group is against me is I’ve called out their leadership for bankrupting the pensions of our public safety employees while the taxpayer is left holding the bill.

• 

• 

• 

• 

More taxes

Every election a publication comes out and you can read about all the issues on the ballot. There is a “For” and “Against” section. The Mayor along with these special interest groups have been for every single tax increase for the last two decades. This is the real reason they want me out of office. No more questions about their spending habits. They always will be for more taxes, there is no government that is too big for them. They fundamentally believe the government is better at spending your money than you are. Their budgets increase massively every single year. So my question is, when does all this taxation stop? Why is the taxpayer always the one getting the short end of the deal?

In summary

We may disagree on issues facing our great city and I completely understand that, but please don’t be a victim to the dark money and their allies attack ads. I’ll continue to fight for balanced budgets and responsible spending so our future generations don’t have to suffer for our debts. I will continue representing the people that elected me. As always, when you’re ready to see me go please vote me out of office. My goal is to be the voice of the people I represent. Hold me responsible for that and send me packing when you feel like I’m no longer doing that.

Candidates hide while dark money attacks

I have spoken out on multiple occasions about anonymous dark money buying our Mesa City Council and the Mayor. Being vocal about this corruption has its consequences. I am the only Councilmember in which dark money continues to attack. I will give them the free publicity by reposting their attacks here because I know I’ve earned your trust over the last four years. I wear these attacks as a badge of honor. Win or lose these groups despise our campaign and what we stand for. Nothing will ever change that. It’s time for people to ask, “Why is dark money and special interest groups spending so much money to remove me from office?”

Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Do you remember when “Arizona Citizens United” attacked me in 2016? Here is one of their hit pieces. (My opponent is blurred out as I don’t want to bring her back into this mess)

I debunked all of these false claims:

• I am a proud Independent. I have no party affiliation. I feel as if the political system in America has lost its way and I want nothing to do with it. I will always be an Independent. You will hear false claims that I always change my party affiliation. In prior years you had to do this to get an early ballot for the primaries. I’ll judge politicians by their character not their party affiliation.
• Yes, I took a picture in front of the Mormon temple in downtown Mesa. I also took a picture in front of the Catholic and Christian churches. The establishment used this narrative to somehow indicate that I was falsely claiming to be LDS.

• Yes, there are elections I do not vote in. The reason is simple. I’m not usually that excited about my local selections. Is this always the right thing to do? Probably not, but like a lot of people my faith in the political system is eroding.
• Yes, I had a Lamborghini. I will not ever apologize for being successful in America. I worked too hard for someone to degrade the blood, sweat, and tears I put into my businesses.
• Mangling my wife’s face was the ultimate low. I get attacking a candidate. Disrespecting their family is a completely different story.

The latest attack

These claims by “Public Integrity Alliance” are actually all true. It is however the deception that makes them misleading.

• Yes, I did go to Las Vegas for this government conference on technology. In fact, here is a link to this year’s brochure – http://www.cesgovernment.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CESG-Program-2020-EVersion-FINAL.pdf . These events are intended to learn about technology related to government.

• Yes, I stayed in the hotel hosting the conference that year.
• What this ad won’t tell you is collectively I have spent less than any other Councilmember in my discretionary fund during the time frame of this trip.
• Nothing was ever hidden about this trip. In fact, I wrote this blog on my experience and published publicly – https://jeremywhittaker.com/ces-2019-replacing-humans-with-supercomputers/
• Technology and artificial intelligence will have a huge impact on our future. I would hope that my elected officials are staying on top of how to utilize technology to make for a more efficient city. It is unfortunate how under-educated our government officials are on these topics.
• I went here alone. I don’t remember the last time I went anywhere by myself and considered it a vacation as this flyer makes it out to be. In fact, I travel a lot for my other businesses, and being away from my wife and son is more of a burden than it is in any way enjoyable.
• Yes, I ate at a restaurant in my hotel called “the strip house”. Don’t be fooled into believing this is some type of strip club or something of that nature. It is just a restaurant at the bottom of the hotel I was staying at. Further, what they don’t tell you is this, I receive a per diem when I travel on city business. This is a daily allotment of funds for food and travel. If I go over this amount I have to pay the rest out of my own pocket. So it doesn’t matter if I ate a steak or a cheeseburger from McDonald’s. I still would have received the same exact amount of money.
• Every year the Council travels to Washington DC to a conference called “National League of Cities”. In order to make up for the costs of this trip, I did not attend NLC. Some of the Councilmembers spent in excess of $3000 on this trip. You will not ever see Public Integrity Alliance speak against this because these are candidates that they support. Here is a list of all of the Council’s travel for 2018 and 2019

Who is Public Integrity Alliance?

Public Integrity Alliance is run by three individuals according to their tax filings Tyler Montague, Pace Ellsworth, and Steve Cox.

UPDATE: Trevor Denton reached out and asked that his name be removed from being mentioned above. So I will move it. For complete transparency, he was listed on their tax returns as a “trustee or director” in 2013. A link to that document can be found by clicking on the image below.

These are members of the Mesa political elite. Using these shell organizations it gives them the ability to:

• Funnel unlimited donations from special interest groups and donors to elect people of their choosing
• Take anonymous donations that never have to be reported
• Spend unlimited amounts of money to get their candidates elected. For instance, in 2018 their campaign finance form shows they spent $29,514.52 to get David Luna elected to the City Council.
• 
• The maximum donation amount in Mesa is $6,450 per individual. Creating an organization like this allows them to circumvent the law and spend unlimited amounts of money. You might be wondering, “Why on earth would a person spend almost $30k to get a City Council member elected?” You will never know because their donors are completely anonymous.

The hypocrisy

This group claims to be about “public integrity” in government. But here is the hypocrisy. Do you remember Paul Peterson our old county assessor? He pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and illegal adoption scam. But you don’t hear anything from Public Integrity Alliance. Why? Look at the post below. all of these people run in the same elite circles. Public Integrity Alliance has no desire to bring integrity to Mesa. Their goal is simply to maintain power.

It is never popular for a politician to attack their opponent. So what Public Integrity alliance acts as is the “attack dog”. They do the dirty work so candidates can distance themselves from these attacks. But make no mistake they all run in the same elite circles.

More hypocrisy

The Mayor has traveled to a music festival multiple years it’s called South by Southwest or SXSW. He goes because there is a government conference there. Arguably there is nothing wrong with that. But Public Integrity Alliance could have just as easily sent out attack mailers against his campaign. But they didn’t and they won’t. In fact, most of them donated to his campaign.

The most expensive trip ever taken was by ex-councilmember Chris Glover to Europe. He traveled to London and made a series of stops in German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, and Munich. Not a peep out of Public Integrity Alliance.

Why? Why the double standards? Because their goal is not transparency and it never will be. It’s just a front organization for the elite to maintain control over our City. It’s time to start asking who is buying your elected officials and why?

This election is not about winning to me. In fact, I ran for office to give my time back to my community. The truth is if you’re ready for me to go then I would encourage you to vote for my opponent. Until then I will stand up for an America and a Mesa that I can be proud to live in. I will continue to fight for every citizen in Mesa until you send me packing.

Kathy Pearce
State Representative – District 25

Republican
Traditional Funding

Website
electkathypearce.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/electkathypearce/

Statement
We’re a conservative district and deserve a conservative Representative. That’s why people asked me to run and why I agreed. I’m a mom, a grandma, and I’m very involved in helping our returning veterans through a non-profit organization that I run. I know freedom isn’t free — my son Brent lost both legs fighting for us in Iraq to keep America free! I’m running because our district is very frustrated at Michelle Udall being the most liberal Republican in the State House and wants someone they can count on to protect their wallets, defend school choice, oppose poorly-written “Red Flag” laws that trample our 2nd Amendment rights, and protect our Constitution and God-given rights. Republicans only have a one-seat majority in the State House – but with a liberal, big-government Republican in that seat who works to cut deals with socialist Democrats, we don’t have a real majority at all. Every seat matters, this one more than most. That’s why I’m endorsed by patriots like Cindy Biggs, County Treasurer Royce Flora, Kathleen Winn, former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, Dr. Ralph Heap, and numerous veterans and community leaders. I’m a committed conservative you can trust, and I ask for your vote!

Michelle Udall
State Representative – District 25

Republican
Traditional Funding

Statement
Representing Mesa has been the service opportunity of a lifetime. Mesa is my lifelong home and our schools, public safety, and conservative values are personal to me. During this last term in the legislature I worked to get money into our local schools, supported a fiscally responsible budget, and worked to continue the pro-growth conservative policies so that we can begin our recovery after this recent recession. If I’m re-elected and given the opportunity to continue to represent Mesa, I will continue to fight for our children, families, small businesses, and hard working taxpayers.

Russell W. “Rusty” Bowers
State Representative – District 25

Republican
Traditional Funding

Statement
I am grateful to live in such a wonderful, diversely beautiful place – Arizona. I am a four-generation Arizonan, have a wonderful wife, 7 great children and 20 grandchildren. I have served many years and I have gleaned experience across diverse subjects through my service: government operations, environmental issues in water, air and natural resource. I know the worth of teams and informed consensus and have enjoyed working on difficult projects of broad impact, as well as specific individual challenges for those with very limited resource capacity to seek justice. I offer a 30 year span of experience in this arena, and have tried to address challenges thoughtfully and in an informed manner. I believe in the platform of life, liberty and the pursuit of personal agency for my, my family and my friends’ interests. I agree with the main elements of my party platform including protecting the unborn, the right to bear arms and self-protection, preserving religious freedom, reasonable regulations, wise use of resources, and self-discipline. I thank you for your interest in the election and ask you to consider my candidacy.

Suzanne Hug
State Representative – District 25

Democratic
Traditional Funding

Website
hugforhouse.com

Donations
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hug

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HugforHouse

Twitter
https://twitter.com/HugMesaAZ

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC81zKBi4CNS17N_a6MVNEhQ

Biography
Suzanne Hug is a local business owner, proud parent of two, devoted wife, and cub scout leader. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, she moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University. After earning her degree in Economics, she was recruited into the insurance industry and was promoted multiple times over 14 years. She has been a Notary Public for over 5 years. In 2017 she opened a game store on Main Street in Mesa, AZ and is a Mesa Leadership member.

Statement
We face new challenges as a community and it is time for new leadership. Suzanne Hug is skilled in project management, communication with diverse groups, and has a clear vision for a progressive and prosperous Arizona. Her dedication to data driven solutions and pushing forward good ideas, such as fully funding public education and expanding healthcare solutions, will help pivot Arizona into a national leadership position. She is a fiscal conservative, who will carefully guard our tax payer dollars, while protecting important social safety nets and working for equity under the law for marginalized groups. Suzanne is fierce, determined, and diligent in her defense of civil liberties and rights for all. She is the leader Arizona needs now.

Paul Weigel
State Senator – District 25
Democratic
Traditional Funding

Website
paulformesa.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/PaulforMesa

Biography
Paul Weigel brings long-term progressive thought-leadership to his candidacy as a Senator for LD 25. He’s an executive, small-business owner, and college professor at Mesa Community College and Park University.Paul has new ideas for how the Senate can work across party lines and find solutions that are lost with one-party leadership.

Statement
Our future cannot be limited by old ideas. I love Mesa and I love Arizona. But our leadership is committed to old ideas from the last century. We have a state paralyzed by long-term leadership without the ability to work across party lines with a commitment to our shared future — now’s the time for a change. Our education system is fundamentally flawed, where our teachers are paid 47th out of 50 states for our public K-12 schools. Your hard-earned tax dollars go into the pockets of private companies rather than teachers improving the future of our students. Our great state is rich in natural resources and beauty. We need to expand our investment in renewable resources ensuring Arizona will lead the nation in transition from fossil fuels. We can profit from our resources while ensuring future generations inherit a sustainable economy and ecosystem. We must recognize the importance of equality – that women are equal to men, that all races, colors and creeds have the same access to the same resources, and are paid equally. I have a plan for how to work across party lines to find solutions for 2020 and beyond. Arizona deserves better.

Tyler Pace
State Senator – District 25
Republican
Traditional Funding

Website
https://www.paceforazsenate.com/

Statement
Tyler Pace was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona where he attended Mesa Public Schools. Tyler is a passionate entrepreneur who has created jobs in Mesa. During his first term in the Senate, he has fought job killing regulations and big government spending. As a healthcare expert, he has fought for patients rights and has been a helpful expert during the current health crises. In addition he has been a strong conservative voice for families, small businesses, and has fought passionately on behalf of the residents of Mesa. Tyler is a proud husband, father, and conservative voice in the Arizona legislature. If re-elected, he will continue to be a champion for Mesa at the Arizona Capitol.

Anna Tovar
Corporation Commissioner

Democratic
Participating

Website
www.tovarforarizona.com

Donations
https://apps.azsos.gov/apps/election/eps/qc/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/annatovaraz/

Twitter
https://twitter.com/AnnaTovarAZ

Biography
Anna Tovar is a proud Arizona native and has dedicated her life to giving back to her community. Anna was a public schoolteacher for five years, served on the Tolleson City Council for over seven years, and was Vice Mayor for two years until she was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. Anna and her husband have been married for over 20 years and have two wonderful sons.

Statement
As a legislator, Anna earned a reputation as a leader who fought for her constituents. Anna is a two-time cancer survivor and recipient of a lifesaving organ transplant. Because of her experience, Anna made it her mission as a state legislator to restore funding for nearly 100 patients on the transplant list – and she succeeded. In 2013, she won election to the State Senate and in 2016, Anna was the first woman elected to be Tolleson’s Mayor, where she continues delivering results for her hometown. Regardless of her role, the one question Anna always asks herself before making any decision is: will it be good for constituents and the future of our community? It’s why she is now running for the Arizona Corporation Commission. She believes that far too often, many of the Corporation Commissioners have forgotten about who they were elected to serve: the people of Arizona. Anna wants to restore transparency and integrity to the Corporation Commission, and she will fight to protect consumers and promote renewable energy so we have a strong and sustainable future. She is asking for your vote so she can be a voice for all Arizonans.

Bill Mundell
Corporation Commissioner

Democratic
Participating

Website
https://www.mundell2020.com

Donations
https://www.mundell2020.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BillMundellAZCorpCom/

Twitter
https://twitter.com/MundellBill

Biography
I was raised in a military family and graduated from ASU and St. Mary’s University law school. After fighting corruption, I became the Presiding Judge of the Chandler Court. I next served in the House of Representatives where I wrote numerous laws protecting our environment, including a law preventing Arizona from becoming the nation’s dumping ground for hazardous waste and laws protecting our rivers, mountains, and native plants. I was a Corporation Commissioner (9 years) and Chair (2 years).

Statement
I want to return to the Commission so I can join Commissioner Sandra Kennedy, the Chair of my campaign, in fighting the corruption that has resulted in unjustified rate increases and the crushing of rooftop solar. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, you should be concerned by the coziness between the current Commissioners and the utilities they regulate. When I return to the Commission, this undue influence by government created monopolies will end. APS/Pinnacle West spent millions against me in 2016. Why? Because as a Commissioner (1999-2009), I opposed their unjustified rate increases and their attempts to stop rooftop solar. And I will do so again. When I was a Commissioner in 2006, I coauthored the current renewable energy requirement: REST Rules. As a result, Arizona was a leader in solar energy. That requirement needs to be greatly increased. Arizona should be the Solar Capital of the World! I want to bring back integrity, fairness, and transparency to the Commission so it again works for regular people rather than powerful utilities and their political insiders and lobbyists. I ask for your vote so I can protect consumers from unjustified rate increases, stop corruption, and increase solar energy.

Eric Sloan
Corporation Commissioner

Republican
Participating

Website
www.EricSloan.com

Donations
https://go.azsos.gov/ktfv

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10044139&ref=bookmarks

Twitter
https://twitter.com/sloanforarizona?lang=en

Biography
Eric and Alisa Sloan have been married for twelve years and they are the proud parents of an amazing little girl. Eric has a professional background in Economic Development and is a graduate of Arizona State University. Eric and his beautiful wife have a small family business. Eric is proud to be founding member of the Blue Blazers Squadron at Luke Air Force Base. Vote For Eric Chandler Sloan

Statement
Eric is running for the Corporation Commission to defend our families and everyday Arizonans from increased utility rates. Eric supports cutting unnecessary regulations and eliminating taxes. He believes the role of a Commissioner is to protect Arizonans and do what is in the best interest of Arizonans. Eric Will fight against unfunded mandates and out of control subsidies. Eric Supports creating consumer protections for Arizonans. Eric will also bring his business and public policy background to make sure Arizona business are being taken care of. As a Commissioner Eric will focus on helping Arizona business grow and expand in Arizona. Taking care of our economy is crucial to making sure that Arizona is the best state in the union to live, work and raise a family.

James “Jim” O’Connor (Write-In)
Corporation Commissioner

Republican
Traditional Funding

Biography
Email:jwo@ronnoco3.com

Lea Márquez Peterson
Corporation Commissioner
Republican
Participating

Website
www.VoteforLea.com

Donations
www.VoteforLea.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/VoteforLeaMarquezPeterson

Twitter
www.twitter.com/leapeterson

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vote-for-lea-marquez-peterson/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv5mjrQIqO7RCrHaelhbMRg

Biography
Lea Marquez Peterson is a member of the Corporation Commission and a lifelong Republican.She is holding utilities accountable to ratepayers and fighting for affordable, safe and reliable energy.Previously, Lea was a small business owner and also served as President & CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber. She received her degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona, and her MBA from Pepperdine University. Lea has resided in Arizona for over 40 years and lives in Tucson.

Statement
Lea Marquez Peterson is a current member of the Corporation Commission. She was appointed by Governor Ducey and has spent her time at the Commission holding utilities accountable to ratepayers and fighting for affordable, reliable energy. She is the only Commissioner based outside of Maricopa County and has worked diligently for the entire State with a focus on rural Arizona and assisting vulnerable populations. Her small business experience and outreach to stakeholders across the state has been invaluable to ensuring that Arizona’s utilities are affordable, safe and reliable, and that business incorporation is streamlined to attract new employers and retain small businesses. She is not a career politician and is running for re-election to serve families in every County and to ensure Arizona’s economic prosperity. Since her appointment, Lea has led initiatives related to the 250+ privately held small water companies in the state, broadband access to under served areas of the state, and has emphasized a data-based approach to Arizona’s future energy goals. “I would appreciate your Vote! As a Commissioner, I am fighting for ratepayers like you. As a Clean Elections candidate I will work for the citizens of our state, and not special interest groups.”

Shea Stanfield
Corporation Commissioner
Democratic
Participating

Website
www.sheastanfield.com

Donations
www.sheastanfield.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sheastanfieldaz/

Twitter
https://twitter.com/sheastanfieldaz

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/?trk=onboarding-landing

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJSnRh9OwR2QC_WNubZj-g?view_as=subscriber

Statement
The mission of the Arizona Corporation Commission is, “to power Arizona’s future.” The ACC is responsible for growing Arizona’s economy, ensuring safe, reliable, and affordable utility services, enforcing an ethical securities marketplace, and modernizing a responsive government agency. ACC Commissioners establish policy, sit in judgment, and advocate on behalf of Arizona residents. Arizona has been my home since 1957. I’ve raised two sons, earned a B.A. and M.Ed from Arizona State University in Education, and served on the Cave Creek Town Council. My environmental commitments include board membership on The Black Mountain Conservancy, advocating for the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, as well as, the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, and volunteering with the U.S. Forest Service. During my 40+ years, as an educator, I worked with the local teacher’s union on behalf of educational staff and with families from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. My responsibility, as an ACC Commissioner, is to represent the residents of Arizona. My role is to focus on the ACC’s Constitutional oversight responsibilities; this includes engaging in decisions for renewable energy solutions to ensure a healthy environment. Together, we must elect individuals who are committed to building a sustainable future for Arizona.