The winning centerpieces.

Those who did not get a chance to attend Breakfast with the Candidates last Saturday morning at the Prescott Resort or who would like to hear extended platforms of what congressional candidates spoke about need to get their reservations in today for the RWOP luncheon slated next Tuesday at the Hotel St. Michaels.

Barry Hall, Tom Hansen, Sydney Hay and Sandra Livingstone will each be given 10 minutes to speak followed by an open question and answer session, beginning at 11:30 a.m., after a half-hour social time. Call Anna Conklin at 778-5396 or Gail Folsum at 445-1326 to make reservations.

These candidates were among those invited to speak for three minutes each last Saturday morning for an overview of all Republican candidates running for offices in Yavapai County.

RWOP President Mary Williams welcomed the crowd of 170 people attending. The blessing was given by first vice-president Kay Harlan, and Americanism chairwoman Sue Francis led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Breakfast was then served and winners of the centerpiece contest, which featured diverse aritsitic red, white and blue creations, were announced after judges Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog, Prescott Valley Councilmen Harold Wise and Mike Flannery, and Prescott Councilman Jim Lamerson completed the difficult task of determining the most creative entries.

Event co-chairwoman Tammy Linn introduced dignitaries attending. Then her co-chair, Kathleen Dunbar, set the rules for speeches, warning candidates they would be stopped after speaking for exactly three minutes and if they turned negative on opponents she would be up with a hook to pull them off stage.

Candidates complied for the most part, with a few innuendos slid between points upon occasion. However, Dunbar never had to go the extreme of pulling anyone off stage.

House Representative Andy Tobin broke the ice for candidates as he rallied support for presidential hopeful John McCain. "Polling is clearly moving in our direction," Tobin said. He urged candidates and those attending the forum to proudly wear John McCain buttons in public and ask others to cast votes for him. He said there is one candidate who can solve the energy crisis with a plan and get the job market back on its feet. "Who's that candidate?" he encouraged the crowd. "McCain!" he shouted, and many in the audience chimed in. He spoke of McCain's stance on gun rights and partial birth abortions. "There's so much at stake here," he emphasized.

The first candidates to take the podium were congressional hopefuls Barry Hall, Tom Hansen and Sandra Livingstone. Although Sydney Hay did not show up, her daughter, Sarah Rabon, did and spoke of how her mother raised her with core values that God and country come first. "My mom is my hero," she said. "She's conservative right down the line and that will never change."

Hall said he's not a politician, he's a public servant and spoke of his work as a minister and his travels to the East and Europe. He said Homeland Security, solving the energy crisis and uniform trade agreements are his priorities.

Hansen said federal government is too large and it's time to return education funding back to the local level. He spoke of his 12 years as a school board member and background as a design engineer of power plants, then said how vital it is to invest in solar energy, power plants and biomass to resolve the energy crunch.

Livingstone discussed her global work as an educator, as well as her work in Washington, D.C., for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. "I'm only one person but it's time to work together to change the insanity," she said. She shared details of her S.E.N.S.E. plan: Focusing on securing the Mexican border; turning the economy around; addressing issues related to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); putting Homeland Security at the forefront by empowering U.S. military troops to finish their job; and exploiting energy resources the U.S. currently has but is not using.

Next up were encumbent Sen. Tom O'Halleran and challenger Steve Pierce.

Piecrce said he wants less government, lower taxes and a more realistic state budget. "I'm a rancher, I'm not a politician," he said. He asked for people to vote for him "because I'm the only true candidate with a clean record." He added, water, border security, sustainable growth and transportation are key focuses for him.

O'Halleran spoke of his 8-year history as a legislator, his 100-percent second amendment voting record, and his work toward increasing border security, education and the economic base in Arizona. He promised to continue working to improve these areas.

House Representatives Lucy Mason and Andy Tobin are running unopposed this election. They took their time at the podium to bring those listening up to speed on what they accomplished the last legislative session and what they hope to improve this next session.

All Republican candidates for corporation commissioner were invited to speak but 4-term legislator Barry Wong was the only one to show up. Wong explained he was appointed to the commission six months ago when President Bush appointed commissioner Mark Spitzer to the federal energy commission, and he asked for continued support of his work on the commission.

Yavapai County Supervisor Carol Springer and challenger Georgene Lockwood were next.

"I am running to bring a change to county government," Lockwood told the audience, citing transparency and openness as her strong points. She emphasized how important planning and vision are and asked everyone in the room to make sure to get out and vote.

Springer spoke of her accomplishments for county residents: more job opportunities, entertainment venues and business services. She emphasized that in the many years she's spent campaigning as former state senator, state treasurer and county supervisor, she has focused on the positive, not finding fault with her opposition. "You hear a lot of negative and what's bad," she said. "I want to talk about what's good!"

"I bring 18 years trying to do my part to make things better in Yavapai County," Springer said. "And with your support, I'm going to work another four years to keep making things better!"

District Two county supervisor Tom Thurman is running unopposed and promised to continue working hard for his constituents. "Someone told me when I ran four years ago this is a 30-hour-a-week job. I usually have that amount of time in by noon Wednesday. I closed my construction business down because there's not enough time for both."

Thurman stood strong against critics condemning the supervisors for going out to bond for $50 million in county projects and said safety and roads will continue to be the most important things he fights for and the money needed to address these is well spent and long overdue.

Next it was time to hear what Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh and contender Ernie Cox had to say.

Cox complained sheriff's office deputies are not friendly, more certified officers need to get training from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and something needs to be done to expand the work of DARE officers and gang reduction.

Waugh didn't waste his time trying to defend the darts launched indirectly at him but instead focused on his successes in office. "To me, past performance shows what future performance will be," he said. "I've deported more than 22-hundred illegal immigrants in the past two months. Response time is down 30-percent. Narcotics arrests are up by 19-percent. You are safer today than you were 3-and a-half years ago!"

Yavapai County Assessor Victor Hambrick appeared to be at ease as he spoke of how he turned an irate citizen around to being a staunch supporter after sitting down with him and explaining the law and how the tax assessment system works. "We don't set policy, we serve the public to the best of our ability within those laws," he said. He says he's counting on his "past experience, knowledge and track record" to retain his office.

Pete Weaver said if elected as county assessor he would work at the state level to improve valuation guidelines and the current system. "Arizona has the most complicated and messed up tax laws and I'd like to change that."

The third contender for the office, Pam Pearsall, did not attend the forum nor send someone to speak on her bahalf.

Final candidates to speak were unopposed Yavapai County Superior Court Judges Tina Ainley and Howard Hinson. Hinson took a stroll down memory lane and shared fond memories of growing up as the son of the Holiday Shop owner in downtown Prescott. He spoke with grace and wit, adding, "I never wanted to be anything but an athlete but spent 35 years officiating sports instead." If the response from the audience is any indication of respect for his work as a judge, officiating sports is not Judge Hinson's only forte.

Ainley spent her time thanking RWOP members for their support to help her retain the office she was just appointed to by the governor 2-and a-half months before the petition signature collection deadline. She also explained a bit about her background, which includes 17 of 20 years working for the government as an attorney, first for the City of Prescott for a couple years and then in the Yavpai County Attorney's Office for Sheila Polk until her appointment as judge.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed