SEPTEMBER 8, 2010
General elections • Kiwanis
The primary elections are over, but the Nov. 2 election is only a few short weeks ahead.
However, there are things which happened in the primary that should not be forgotten. Principal among those are three legislative actions by Senate wannabe Nancy Barto. There are still alternatives to her candidacy. There may be Democrat, Libertarian and Green candidates which we will report on before Nov. 2.
Barto has proved she can’t be trusted and has sold herself to unions, lobbyists and the health care industry. Those facts are reported in Sonoran News archives. She bought her primary election by raising more than $70,000.
Those of you who are seeing their health care costs rising exponentially should know the entire executive structure of Blue Cross Blue Shield gave massive contributions to her primary campaign. Perhaps you should ask her to talk to them about these raises and if you do you will find the money given to Barto is to benefit her and them, not you.
Barto was the sponsor of HB 2154 which would have made everyone living on a private road vulnerable to neighbors who had different ideas about road maintenance than they did. The cost to millions of people living on private roads in Arizona would have been astronomical. She didn’t care about the statewide impact only a local contributor to her campaign, who also happened to be a Republican Precinct Committeeman.
Those of you who voted for the year 2000 bond that included funds for a new high school may be surprised to know that Barto snuck a floor amendent to HB 2725 to allow CCUSD to use the proceeds of the bond for whatever purpose the governing board choses. So your vote was stricken to inconsequential by the self anointed “soft spoken lioness.”
CCUSD’s friendly Arizona Republic even gave a detailed list of where these expenditures will be made. Ten areas are listed and none of them are essential, especially in these recessionary times.
We know of several detailed complaints about this radical change to an existing law. Complaints are pending with the Secretary of State, which governs elections, IRS which gave non tax exempt status to the bonds, Goldwater Institute which is a watchdog over government shenanigans, and the Attorney General, who is supposed to keep government on the straight and narrow.
Yet to be heard from are bond holders and their underwriters who could face a retroactive tax from IRS if not legal action.
Then there is SB 1285. The following is from a Linda Bentley article.
“SB 1285, which Barto, as Chairman of the Committee on Health and Human Services, facilitated getting passed.
“SB 1285 contains provisions that will now allow optometrists to prescribe, dispense and administer macrolides (a family of antibiotics) and antivirals for the treatment of diseases of the eye and its appendages, which includes the eyelids, muscles and soft tissue.
“The practice of optometry traditionally involves examining the eye for prescription and dispensing of corrective lenses and detection and non-surgical management of certain limited eye diseases.
“Jeff Gray, legislative liaison for the Arizona Ophthalmological Society spoke in opposition to the bill during the committee hearing, stating testimony was previous provided that “shingles, and ocular shingles, in particular, is a systemic disease that impacts other parts of the body,” referencing a recent article in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, which confirmed a link between shingles and stroke.
“While the bill was in the Senate, Gray said, “The medical community was asked to document and show evidence that patients in other states have been hurt by having this prescribing authority for optometrists.” He explained there is no formal reporting mechanism in place for complications that arise from this prescribing authority. However, Gray said there was anecdotal evidence, such as testimony provided by Rep. Russ Jones that he had a condition, which was misdiagnosed by an optometrist as pink eye.
“Dr. Thomas F. Moore, who is also chairman of the Ophthalmologists’ Political Action Committee, commented on the passage of SB 1285 and said it ‘unfortunately expanded the ‘scope of practice’ for optometrists to include oral antiviral medications for which they do not have the proper education or clinical training,’ adding, ‘Nancy Barto, as Chairman of the House Health Committee had a significant role in that effort.”
So there you are, a dangerous legislator under the Republican flag. Aren’t you proud?
I feel much the same about Heather Carter, bought and paid for by the Arizona Educational Association, the state teachers’ union. To add insult, she tacked an adder on her campaign signs bragging she was endorsed by police and fire, whoever they are, although surely union. She is definitely a Democrat in Disguise (DID); I hope the Republican leadership in the Senate and House has reserved rooms for Barto and Carter in the cellar, without phones.
Kiwanis
I mentioned before that Manny Gonzalez is the Kiwanis President Elect. I also counseled a Kiwanian friend to not be overjoyed. Gonzalez is surrounded with good old boys (GOBs) as officers, directors and committees. Unless Gonzalez had a way to deal with these miscreants, it is business as usual.
Soon to be history, current Kiwanis President, Susan Vanik had to reach for a legacy and decided to buy Petersville, the “Windmill” property east of StageCoach Village. Her dream was a restaurant and Kiwanis headquarters replacing Harold’s Wednesday lunch meeting and a dying lease with Carefree where they hold Flea Markets.
Although there are many problems with that property versus their needs, can you imagine Cave Creek Council approving a general plan amendment and then a rezoning to change its residential status to commercial? T. C. Thorstenson is only one of many who have tried on the parcel north of Hammerhead Jacks, and lost.
If the council did, which is way doubtful, there would be a referendum and Kiwanis would lose. They would lose even quicker if Kiwanis asked for a Carefree address, even though the property is in Cave Creek, which was a condition requested by Vanik. Has she forgotten she has lunch in Cave Creek every Wednesday?
Maybe it is time for Cave Creek and north Scottsdale to start their own Kiwanis since the one they belong to is run by Carefree GOBs. They could even have secret ballots like other citizens do. Now there is an idea we could support.
