The unelected Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC), for the second time since it was created, has ordered that an elected member of the Arizona House of Representatives be removed from office.
The CCEC voted 4 to 1 that, Phoenix Rep. Doug Quelland, R- LD 10, a long time champion of publicly funded clean elections and who was elected by the voters of his district in 2008 as a clean elections candidate, broke CCEC rules and therefore should be removed from office and pay $45,500 in penalties.
This appointed commission, which has been given the power to over-rule the will of the people and remove elected officials from office, has determined that Quellland did hire Larry Davis as a political consultant for $15,000, which he failed to report to the CCEC.
Quelland claimed that he fired Davis within two days and that he never paid him for political consulting work.
Evidence obtained by the CCEC however, indicated that Quellland wrote checks to Davis that matched the payment schedule in his consulting contract.
Quelland is considering appealing the CCEC decision, which would allow him to continue to represent the people of his district during the appeals process.
If Quelland is removed from office, the Republican Precinct Committeemen of his district will be asked to recommend a replacement. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors however, will have the final say as to who shall represent the people of LD 10 in the Arizona House. None of the county supervisors however, currently reside in LD 10.
The American Conservative Republican believes that an appointed commission can have the power to fine or otherwise punish an individual, the power to remove an elected official from office however, is too much power for an un-elected body. The people of LD 10 put Doug Quelland in the Arizona House of Representatives, not the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Removing an official from an office he was elected to by the people is not only punishing the official, it is punishing the citizens who elected him.
Giving people who do not reside in a legislative district the power to select a replacement for a vacancy in that district makes no sense, they can't even vote in that district.
One member of the five member commission seems to understand that the power of removal from office is going too far for an un-elected body. Royann Jordan Parker was the only commissioner to vote against removing Quelland from office. Parker said removal from office is not something the commission should do. She said, "I believe that's something between him and the voters of his district," adding that the voters in his district could remove him by recall if they find his conduct objectionable.
The American Conservative Republican believes that no appointed commission should have the power to remove an elected official from office, that power should be in the hands of the voters or the courts, after due process, for a serious violation of law.
Allowing a county board of supervisors to fill a vacancy in the legislature makes sense if the entire board are registered to vote within that district, it makes no sense if they do not. Imagine a majority Republican board in Maricopa County filling a vacancy for a district that was represented by a Democrat or, a majority Democrat board filling a vacancy in Pima County that was represented by a Republican.
Allow the elected precinct committeemen from both parties of a district to select a replacement for a vacancy in the legislature with an individual from the party elected to the office.
This usurping of the people's right to decide who shall represent them must be corrected immediately.
For God and country,
Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican
Larry Davis must be the most unprofessnal political consultant in Arizona. Look at how he watched out for his clients interest. He is like a lawyer helping to strap his client in the elelctric chair.
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