Regional 'tea party' rally set for Gilbert on April 15

by D.S. Woodfill - Apr. 12, 2010 02:27 PM
The Arizona Republic

"Tea party" activists plan to bring their disdain for tax increases, nuclear arms reduction, health-care reform and a host of other grievances to a regionwide rally in Gilbert on Thursday, the deadline for filing federal and state income taxes.

The East Valley Tea Party is drawing some big names from Arizona's political world to the rally at 11 a.m. Thursday in Freestone Park at Guadalupe and Lindsay roads.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he will be making his fifth tea party rally in six months, and J.D. Hayworth, who's running a primary election challenge against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is also planning to attend, the group said.

Arpaio, who was scheduled to take the stage at 11:30 a.m., said he will probably speak on illegal immigration and his operation of the county jail system.

"I don't know if I'll get to taxes other than the fact that we should be more conservative and save money and enhance the business community, since I was in business myself," he said. "Whether I'm going to say I'm for taxes or not, I don't know. (If) I get the question, I'll answer it."

The protest is the East Valley Tea Party's third since it formed under a different name in early 2009.

Organizers hope the turnout will surpass last year's 2,000 people, thanks in part to Arpaio's attendance.

"(I) don't know how many more, but we are definitely expecting more," said Sally Boatman, a spokeswoman.

Pam Stevenson, the group's chairwoman, said attendance at the organization's weekly meetings has grown since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and now averages about 250 people a week.

"We're seeing a lot of good things happen," she said last week as she and eight other organizers met in Freestone Park to make signs for the protest.

"Conservatives have sat back for years and just kind of let the liberals do whatever they wanted," she said. "But now it's at the point where the liberals are trying to cram things down our throats. That's why conservatives all across the nation are coming together."

When asked why he got involved in the local tea party, activist Kin Liang said cited opposition to President Barack Obama.

"I can't believe he got elected," Liang said.

Stevenson insisted the group isn't just about protesting.

Jo Lucas said she was motivated to get involved after the passage of federal economic stimulus legislation.

"We want to take our country back," she said. "We want it to go back to the Founding Fathers."

"I feel like we're getting weak in defense," she said, citing last week's nuclear arms-control treaty Obama signed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Arpaio said he empathizes with the tea party movement's negative treatment in the national media.

"I can feel how they may feel with the negative publicity when all they're trying to do is to do something for their country, and that's sad," he said. "My advice to them would be the more publicity - negative - the better it is for you guys."

Although he's considering a run for governor, Arpaio said he's not attending the tea party events for political reasons He's said he would make his decision by May 1.

"If I don't run for governor in three weeks, I'm not up for sheriff until, what, 2012," he said. "I just got re-elected for the (fifth) time. I'm not doing this for political reasons. I do this because I want them to know how their sheriff feels on certain subject matters, whether it's controversial or not."

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