I wish there was a better way to concisely phrase proposed laws stripping away union rights. 'Union-stripping' sounds risque. :) But anyway. Arizona governor Jan Brewer is looking to make it easier to fire state employees, who happen to be part of AFSCME. Since there won't be any more special sessions of the legislature, this puts union-stripping law on her agenda for next year.
From the AZ Daily Star:
Brewer said it is now "extremely difficult" to get rid of a worker who is not performing properly. And she said all the hurdles in the current system for firing or disciplining workers "discourages supervisors from managing employees."
"Our current system would not be tolerated by any business in this country," she told the American Legislative Exchange Council at its policy conference.
So she was at an ALEC conference, natch. I have to wonder if she was talking to them or if they were talking through her; it is no secret whatsoever that ALEC already peddles influence, and that the state legislature passes much of what ALEC writes for them.
The local union president, Sheri Van Horsen, is quoted in the article about her worries regarding the possibilities for cronyism that governor Brewer's proposal would permit. Brewer opened herself up to this charge when she turned the state department of Commerce into a partially privatized system, and re-hired its director to run the new agency.
"His salary tripled; he got a car bonus; he got a sign-on bonus," she said, adding that he's essentially doing the same job as before. "The reason why Republicans, more than 40 years ago, got rid of the spoils system in favor of the merit system is they were sick and tired of the corruption and cronyism in government," Van Horsen said.
Brewer has defended both the hiring of Cardon for the new spot and his salary, saying his job really is different.
Not that she can explain how the job is different. Don Cardon in either case is directing the Commerce effort for the state gov't, which tries to attract business to the state, right?
It does seem ironic that it was Republicans who supposedly worked to eliminate corruption and cronyism in the gov't. I have no reason to disbelieve Van Horsen; I wasn't here 40 years ago, and I understand the state's politics once leaned more Democratic than Republican. Power can corrupt either party. Brewer seems to think she's immune. I doubt it. I think this is a symptom of the disease.
So this is the counter-argument offered by Matthew Benson, a press aide to governor Brewer:
Anyway, Benson said, Arizonans should have faith that those at the top, including Brewer, will not tolerate cronyism, simply because it isn't good politics. A governor who doesn't have a competent, professional staff will be held accountable by voters, he said.
That's rich! We should have faith that our elected officials won't engage in practices that are not "good politics". Because it would make them look bad. Because voters would hold them accountable.
Well, recent experience does tell us that the voters can, and sometimes will. But not without incident. The recall of state senator and racist dirtbag Russell Pearce was marred by various acts of...less than "good" politics, perhaps. Fake candidates, lawbreaking politicking, and now after the fact, death threats. I acknowledge some irony in citing a link from a local Fox news station to report actual news.
I may be a skeptic already, but there's no way I can have faith that Jan Brewer & co. will do the right thing by the people of Arizona. No way.