October 14, 2008
4 vying for 2 open House seats in District 18
By Gary Grado
Tribune
District 18 House candidates faced each other in a candidate forum held at EVIT. Candidate Cecil Ash is seen here.

Tribune
District 18 House candidate Tammie Pursley

Tribune
District 18 House candidates Steve Court

Tribune
District 18 House candidates Joe Brown

Tribune

For the first time in eight years, west and central Mesa will choose new members for the Arizona House of Representatives.

4 Republicans competing in District 18 primary race [http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/123061]

Whether voters of Legislative District 18 fill the two vacant seats with one or both of the Republicans, the Democrat or the independent on the ballot, the candidates all agree that the first order of business will be the budget.


"There's a lot to do there," said Republican Cecil Ash. "But there aren't many options."

The Legislature borrowed money, took money from special funds and took money from the rainy-day reserve fund to balance this year's $9.9 billion budget.

Revenue is falling short, though, so legislators and their soon-to-be elected colleagues are probably going to be faced with massive spending cuts.

Ash said he is educating himself on all of the state agencies and talking with people who are versed on their excesses.

"I don't know that they're all necessary," Ash said.

Some can be cut, but they all need to reduce their budgets, he said.

Fellow Republican Steve Court said spending has to be cut across the board "to share the pain" and that he would not favor any tax increases.

"I hope this time we can balance without going in debt," he said.

Independent Joe Brown, who has run as a Republican in previous elections, said he would favor across-the-board cuts to the extent possible, but some agencies, such as the Department of Corrections and the state Veterans Hospital, shouldn't be cut too drastically.

"The best they can hope for is the same budget as last year," Brown said.

The Legislature needs some sort of mechanism that allows it to give some discretion to voter-mandated spending during times of financial crisis, Brown said.

Democrat Tammie Pursley said cuts need to be made, but the junior high school teacher wants the education budget to go mostly untouched.

"I want to make sure cuts are in the right places," she said.

Education makes up a significant chunk of the state budget.

The one thing she would cut is Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards.

"Testing doesn't teach," Pursley said. "Let's spend the dollars wisely."

Court also said he would like to see AIMS scrapped, but replaced with a standardized test that better measures how our students compare to those in the rest of the world.

For the short term, Court said he wants to make sure education dollars go to the classroom, but the long-term plan should be to look for new education models, particularly with an emphasis on math and science, that don't require increased spending.

Brown and Ash favor school choice, but Ash said he has had some insight into the thinking of public school teachers he has spoken with since his campaign began.

He said public school teachers say they don't believe they are on a level playing field with charter schools.

The teachers say they are required to accept everyone into their schools, while charter schools pick and choose and weed out problem students, even though they aren't supposed to, Ash said.

All of the candidates except Pursley want to extend or make permanent the three-year suspension of the state equalization tax, a property tax that goes toward schools, in 2009.

Even though illegal immigration was a primary issue for Russell Pearce, who is leaving his House seat for a run at the state Senate due to term limits, the four candidates haven't heard much about it from their constituents.

Ash said that when he was collecting signatures in March to be placed on the ballot, illegal immigration was at the top of everyone's minds, but no longer.

Ash said that with fewer illegal immigrants crossing the border these days - for whatever reason that may be - now is the time to address the problem.

One of the first things to do, Ash said, is defeat Proposition 202, which would reform the 2007 state employer sanctions law to require proof that an employer had direct knowledge of hiring an illegal immigrant and that complaints must be written and notarized.

Ash said that while he's heard plenty of complaints from business groups about the employer sanctions law, they aren't legitimized because no one has been prosecuted or directly harmed under it yet.

The Legislature has floated plans for a guest-worker program that would permit companies that cannot find qualified employees in this country to hire workers in Mexico and bring them in legally.

Ash said that until businesses can prove they can't function without the current employment base, they don't have a case for a guest-worker program.

"Now, I may find out differently when I get in there," he said.

Court said he would be behind a guest-worker program so long as businesses can show a need for one.

Pursley said the solution to illegal immigration really rests with the federal government.

Brown wants to secure the border and make it easier for legal immigrants who have been good citizens to stay.

Even though none of the candidates have served elected office, only Court is a newcomer to politics.

Pursley ran for the same office in 2006 and lost by 2,056 votes to Pearce, a margin she said gave her hope that a Democrat can be successful in a district where her party is outnumbered by Republicans by almost 9,000 registered voters.

She said wins by her and a Republican would give everyone in the district representation.

Brown ran for the same office in 2004 and Senate in 2006 as a Republican and lost by a large margin each time.

He said he decided to run as an independent because he entered the race late and was able to skip the primary.

Ash has worked as precinct committeeman since 1994, worked on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and worked at the United Nations for United Families International, a group whose mission is to preserve family values.

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