JULY 21, 2010
More Barto disgraces!
There is a lot going on in the political arena and I thought the exposure of state senate candidate Nancy Barto was bad enough without further coverage, so we could move on to other races.
I do suggest you go to last week’s online My View, which lays out Barto’s contributors. She is essentially owned by the health care industry and if you think you will benefit in any way, you are mistaken.
Now we find that a carefully hidden sneak bill with Barto’s name plastered on it benefits schools and royally screws voters:
BARTO FLOOR AMENDMENT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDMENTS TO H.B. 2725
(Reference to printed bill)
Page 54, between lines 33 and 34, insert:
"Sec. 12. Repeal
Laws 2009, third special session, chapter 12, section 67 is repealed.
Sec. 13. School districts expenditure of remaining bond proceeds
Notwithstanding section 15-491, subsection J, Arizona Revised Statutes or any other law, when nine years or more have passed since an election that authorized a school district to issue bonds, the school district may choose to use the proceeds of any bonds authorized at that election or any necessary capital improvement, provided that the school district's governing board votes to authorize the proposed use of the bond proceeds prior to June 30, 2013."
Renumber to conform
Amend title to conform
This bill reads directly on CCUSD and may have been inspired by CCUSD School Board Chairman Mark Warren and school board member David Schaeffer who are CCUSD‘s legislative liaison. Allegedly they went to the legislature and asked for this unbelievable change to an existing bill, which restricted the use of bonds funds to the purpose for which voters approved it.
It is important to note that no official action was taken by the school board even though this change is devastating to voters and perhaps bond holders as well.
Everything I will explain has been covered in Linda Bentley’s well-researched articles. Links to those articles are:
http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2009/090930/IRSRules.html
http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2010/100310/ftpgCCUSD
In 2000 voters approved $11.5 million in bonds to build a new high school. Since the new high school wasn’t really needed they sat on the bond.
Rather than have the bonds expire in 2006 the school board voted to issue the bonds, which also triggered the interest on the bond money which is about $50,000 per month. So tax payers have been spending about $600,000 each year since 2006.
State law prevents the use of the funds for any purpose other than that which was approved by voters, that is, until Barto snuck in the change. Barto’s chicanery may cause state-wide havoc, as would have HB 2154, but she is perfectly willing to sabotage the whole state for local votes.
Note that her bill requires a bond be nine years old before they can use the funds for whatever they please. That is exactly the case at CCUSD.
But it doesn’t end there. IRS may be investigating the bond use, or lack thereof, which by the way, CCUSD’s bond attorneys cautioned against issuing. If IRS concludes their requirements were violated, the bond could lose its tax free status. If that happened, any future bonds issued by CCUSD would be toxic and unlikely to be marketable.
Furthermore, violation of IRS regulations maybe actionable, civil, criminal or both. The thought of the school board, Debbi Burdick and Barto in jail stripes is too delicious to contemplate.
The good news is Goldwater Institute is examining the issues involved to see if they should take action.
So voters, why should you believe the hype concerning bonds and overrides by this lying school district? An automatic no vote is called for until a suitable board is elected and competent honest school officials are hired and evaluated.
But also we need to stop electing legislators like Barto. She is a disgrace!
More data has finally rolled in to measure the impact of HB 2154, another Barto fiasco that would have cost citizens of the state millions of dollars and untold agony.
I had promised more data about the implications of HB 2154 that Barto tried to foist on an unsuspecting public. HB 2154 would have made anyone on a private road vulnerable to their neighbors. Her bill would have allowed any road maintenance cost to force cost sharing with anyone on the same road who decided to ‘maintain” to their satisfaction, not yours.
Using Maricopa County as a barometer since other counties would have more private roads;
I came up with these official numbers:
There are 22 cities and towns in Maricopa County and countless unincorporated areas. For all 22 there are 176.1 miles of unpaved public roads but 253.8 miles of private unpaved roads. Cave Creek, at 41.6 miles of unpaved private roads has the third most, behind Surprise at 58.9 miles and Goodyear at 48.2 miles. Even Phoenix has 28.7 miles of private unpaved roads. In Maricopa County alone there must be millions of people who would be seriously and adversely affected by HB 2154. Imagine how many in the entire state where private unpaved roads are the norm.
Did Barto, or those who approved the bill know all this? Either they didn’t know or they didn’t care.
So thanks to outrage by realtors, Sonoran News was able to have the bill defeated. But even after all that the CEO of the Arizona Association of Realtors, Tom Farley, chose Barto for reelection and contributed to her campaign. So don’t count on lobbyists like Farley to protect your interests.
Now the self-proclaimed soft spoken lioness has bungled another one. Linda Bentley will write this but a summary is that her actions may have seriously compromised health.
In letter from the ophthalmologists PAC, “As you know SB 1285 passed into law this last session which unfortunately expanded the “Scope of Practice” for Optometrists to include oral antiviral medications for which they do not have proper education or clinical training.
Representative Nancy Barto, as Chairman of the House Health Committee, had a significant role in that effort. The risk of systemic complications from ocular shingles is well known and as you will see in the enclosed article (hi-lighted) the risk of stroke is increased by 400 percent. This is all the more reason that SB 1285 is a threat to your constituents and the Citizens of Arizona.”
Now you know why her principle donors are in health related firms and practices.
