My View
By Don Sorchych | October 22, 2008
• Vote for Arpaio, Thomas
• CCUSD School Board
• Scottsdale City Council
• Congress
Sonoran News endorses Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas to continue in their respective offices.
These two men have courageously fought the battle of illegal aliens; Arpaio on the law enforcement end and Thomas with effective prosecution.
They withstood a withering assault from the left wing media (except for talk radio and Sonoran News there is no conservative media in the state) accusing Arpaio of profiling and both of racism and worse.
Cave Creek and the surrounding area have benefited from Arpaio’s tactics. After Cave Creek passed its Solicitation From Public and Private Property ordinance, MCSO moved quickly even before the ink was dry on the ordinance to send in torrents of patrols that literally swept illegals out of the area. Arpaio didn’t need the ordinance, he just used existing law.
As a consequence, the Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church (GSOTHEC) closed its “dayworker” center and the van loads of illegals from Phoenix disappeared.
Before that action by MCSO there were often as many as 100 illegals at the church and up and down Cave Creek Road. Dozens of illegals were in campsites around town and living at what is now the T.C. Thorstensen property next to Hammerhead Jack’s.
Today, thanks to MCSO, there are only about 12 illegals hanging around the GSOTHEC parking lot, almost exclusively from the next door Village Apartments. A few stroll the streets and some are picked up at the Village Apartments.
That is a huge difference over prior years.
It was not an easy decision to endorse Arpaio. We have had serious disagreements over the years. His Public Information Officers, all of them, made it clear they didn’t like what we said about their boss and we would not get treatment received by those who wrote favorable news or editorial articles.
We reported extensively on the deaths in jails and tent city issues.
Following MCSO’s court loss to the West Valley View for refusing to provide public records, I received a call from Captain Paul Chagolla to go to lunch.
We met at Cocomo Joe’s and had a clearing of the air. Chagolla said henceforth MCSO would meet all requirements of public records statutes and nothing was expected in return.
Since that time MCSO has been responsive to requests for information. Somewhere along that timeline Arpaio and Thomas began to aggressively pursue coyotes (human smugglers.) In landmark cases they were able to prosecute their illegal alien cargo as conspirators, jail and deport them.
Arpaio began his controversial sweeps in Guadalupe, Phoenix and Chandler and took major heat from the media.
Now he is enforcing the employer sanctions law and complaints are flooding the media. He is enforcing the law and, as a consequence, he is accused of profiling, racism and all the standard Democrat playbook phony assertions.
The loudest shrieks are coming from Dan Saban, the Democrat challenger.
We endorsed Saban for sheriff when he ran in the Republican primary four years ago. After the election he made a serious mistake. He sued Arpaio. Along with lawsuits comes discovery under oath, and I am sure his attorney advised him that perjury is a felony, so tell the truth.
Apparently Saban had sex with his stepmother at age 15. She said he raped her he says she molested him. The details weren’t pretty. Saban admitted to masturbating while in uniform. Why he did is a mystery since he has had at least five wives. There was an admission that he undressed in front of a male juvenile.
After reading his 80 or so “Thoughts while driving’ emails and sharing some with you, this one is ironic. “Mom upside down is WOW!” With his foster mother’s claim is it Freudian or what? Had he placed “spelled” between “Mom” and “upside” the Freudian implication is gone. But then Dan is not terribly literate, nor bright for that matter.
Saban’s migration to the Democrat party, adopting their talking points, appearing on the defunct Air America shows no moral center. All we need is a Democrat in arguably the most powerful position in the state to add to a Democrat governor, attorney general, and mayors in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Andy Thomas deserves another term generally for being an able prosecutor and specifically for showing courage, as Arpaio has, in fighting the illegal alien plague.
Thomas’ opponent Tom Nelson is an ACLU attorney who deserves scorn for supporting the cause of that un-American left wing outfit. Remember what ACLU and their racist partner MALDEF did to Cave Creek’s ordinance to prevent the safety hazards of “dayworkers” clogging our streets? We lost in court and it is costing us $70,000 plus our own attorney’s fees.
Go for Joe and Andy and keep pressure on illegals and retain aggressive law enforcement and prosecution.
CCUSD School Board
A number of people have contacted Sonoran News asking about who we will endorse.
Don’t vote for those who claim experience as board members. They have adequately shown their incompetence. After some consideration we are endorsing Hugo Di Giulio, Thomas Martin and David S. Schaefer. Let new faces change the culture of insular rubber stampers and tolerance shown by the current school board for illegal tactics to win bond and override elections.
Scottsdale City Council
Jim Lane has the right stuff to clear the air in Scottsdale after years of Mary Manross’ dictatorship. Vote for Jim Lane for mayor.
Give Lane, Bob Littlefield and Tony Nelssen help by electing Tom Giller and Nan Nesvig.
Congress
John Shadegg, Congressional District Three is about as good as we can hope for in this insane election. So fill in the blank for him. The race has gotten tight due to out-of-state DNC funds are outspending Shadegg three to one.
Get rid of the Harry Mitchell disaster, in Congressional District Five, he is just another Nancy Pelosi submissive. Go for David Schweikert, he will be a vast improvement, and will return a Republican congressional seat.