For some reason Arizona House Speaker David Gowan reminds me of gun grabbing, ACLU atheist Democrat Jennifer White.
I know Jennifer White from HSGP (Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix), AU-GP (Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Greater Phoenix), and the FFRF (Freedom From Religion Foundation). Jennifer White seems to hate me because I am a Libertarian, and because I think it's wrong to throw people in prison for having consensual sex).
Roberts: Gowan's abuse of power should cost him more than $12,000 Laurie Roberts, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:39 a.m. MST April 11, 2016 Remember last week when House Speaker David Gowan kicked reporters off the floor but it wasn’t payback, we were assured, it was protection for our leaders? Turns out it wasn’t the first time Gowan has “protected” our leaders by targeting reporters. Or, should I say, one reporter. The one who wrote blew the whistle earlier this year on Gowan’s misuse of taxpayer funds. Turns out last week’s decision to bar the media from the floor in light of new security precautions was Gowan’s third shot at Arizona Capitol Times reporter Hank Stephenson this year. “The actions of the House since January serve as strong evidence that this sweeping policy has less to do with security than it does with retribution against a reporter who dared to investigate the most powerful person in the chamber,” wrote Jim Small, editor of the Arizona News Service, which publishes the Cap Times. Small reports that just hours after Stephenson’s story about Gowan’s use of state cars for his congressional campaign was published on Jan. 8, the Cap Times’ access to the floor for opening day was rescinded by Stephane Grisham, Gowan’s right-hand henchman. This, just a day after she had told the publication that it would have two seats at the media table. When I called Grisham to get an explanation, she made no bones about the fact that the paper’s access had been pulled because of the story. She accused the paper of working for Chandler attorney Tom Ryan, who was quoted in the original story saying he intended to file a complaint against Gowan and the others for misusing the state vehicles. “This can be worked out with attorneys. I’m not going to go any further,” she said before hanging up the phone in the middle of my follow-up question. But after the story was published, she notified the Capitol Times by email that “there won’t be any space” for the paper on the floor because the chamber had received too many media RSVPs. Instead, she said its reporters could watch the day’s proceedings, including Gov. Doug Ducey’s state of the state speech, via closed-circuit television in a hearing room on another floor. The next day, House Deputy Chief of Staff Brett Mecum met with my publisher, Ginger Lamb, as part of an effort to get our access restored. Mecum said the only way that would happen would be if someone other than Stephenson or me – I covered the House for six years – was assigned to cover the House. He also suggested all access issues would be resolved if Stephenson was dismissed from his job. Think about it. The most powerful man in the House – a guy who would like to go to Congress -- didn’t like a critical story written about him. So he not only tried to hamper that reporter’s ability to do his job but tried to get him fired from his job. Cue Small again: Then in early February, the House’s attorney wrote a letter to Lamb outlining claims of “rude and inappropriate conduct” on the House floor by Stephenson. He was accused of a “consistent lack of decorum” since the session began, including that he regularly types on his computer during the chamber’s daily prayer, that he was overly aggressive when questioning elected officials and that he asked accusatory questions of Gowan and House Majority Leader Steve Montenegro. Those claims had no basis in fact, as evidenced by witness testimony we secured and recordings of the interviews cited by the House attorney. Not coincidentally, the letter came a day after Stephenson asked Montenegro about his use of a state vehicle to attend a July 2015 American Legislative Exchange Conference summit in San Diego. In both cases, our attorneys at Ballard Spahr threatened to take the House to federal court. In both cases, the House backed down and allowed Stephenson to continue doing his job unimpeded. So, Stephenson asked aggressive questions of the top two leaders in the House about their personal use of public resources? And that's a bad thing? Fast forward to Great Gowan Protection Act, in which all reporters now must submit to an invasive background check in order to sit on the House floor, where they have access to our leaders. This is aimed at Stephenson, who has a misdemeanor trespass conviction – one that would bar him from the floor under Gowan's new "security" policy.. Clearly, powerful people in the House knew about that 2014 conviction, which is curious given that Stephenson told only his family and his employer. The conviction is a public record but it would have taken some digging to find it unless you know in which court the case was filed. Small reports that the day before the deadline earlier this month for reporters to agree to the background check, House Majority Whip David Livingston told Stephenson, “I hear you’ll be retiring tomorrow.” This, then is what payback looks like, for revealing that the speaker of the Arizona House was misusing public funds. Stephenson's story cost Gowan $12,000 -- money he had to refund to the state. But the aftermath -- his bare-knuckle revenge -- should cost him a lot more. |