Guests - Mark Lewis, Betsy Smith

Charter Amendments and Budget Accountability: A Call for Audits in Tucson

The recent defeat of Proposition 414 in Tucson has created a significant opportunity for fiscal accountability within local government. Mark Lewis, who has served on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board for 24 years and as a precinct committeeman for 45 years, suggests capitalizing on this momentum by filing charter amendments to establish independent audit committees for both the City of Tucson and Pima County.

"You all deserve a great hats off of credit for defeating the sales tax initiative for 414," Lewis noted. "I mean clearly it was just get more money and not take a look at the spending, and nobody would prioritize public safety in that tax increase."

The initiative was defeated by an overwhelming margin of nearly 70% to 30%, with only one precinct in Midtown Tucson supporting the tax hike. This result provides a clear road map of voter sentiment regarding government spending and accountability.

Lewis proposes filing a charter amendment to establish a "DOGE-like" audit committee, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency recently created at the federal level. This committee would be "made up of CPAs and business people who have experience in doing forensic audits and compliance audits" with the power to cut spending and make changes to systems.

"I would take that to the next level," Lewis added. "I would do an election audit charter amendment to create an election audit process that goes by and looks at the names of the people that are getting ballots and make sure they're still alive."

The timing is strategic, as petitions for the city council elections and the CD7 special election are due in the coming weeks. Lewis suggests using this petition-gathering period to simultaneously collect signatures for the charter amendments. "While you're in the petition mode and you got people going, we should file a charter amendment to the city of Tucson's charter and start collecting signatures during the middle of this special election."

The CD7 Special Election: Political Maneuvering After Grijalva

The passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva has set up a complex political chess match in Arizona's Congressional District 7. Several prominent Democrats are positioning themselves for the special election, including Grijalva's daughter Adelita, who seems to be the heir apparent. However, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has also announced his intention to run, which would require him to resign his current position.

"The resigned to run law is applicable for statewide offices and legislative candidates unless you're in the last year of your service," Lewis explained. "As soon as the CD7 petitions are filed and certified as complete and accurate, that triggers a resigned to run law, and so Secretary Fontes would have to resign on April 14th, the day that petitions are due."

This resignation would trigger another series of events, with Governor Hobbs needing to name a replacement for the Secretary of State position. Even if unsuccessful in the CD7 race, Fontes could still run again for Secretary of State or potentially for governor in 2026.

When asked if this move is part of a larger political strategy for Fontes, Lewis observed, "If I were running an election like his, I would take every opportunity to put my name on the ballot and to go out and campaign in every corner of the state to get my name ID built up."

On the Republican side, Daniel Boutieres has announced his candidacy, with potentially five or six other names in consideration. While CD7 is traditionally a heavily Democratic district, Lewis believes the changing attitudes toward border security and the fentanyl crisis might create an opportunity for Republicans.

"I'm not convinced that the new view of a secure border and the control of fentanyl transcends most people's political spectrum because of the human carnage we're seeing everywhere," Lewis stated. "Most Pima County residents are looking for a new change, and seriously, what do you got to lose to vote for a Republican in the general these days when there's a new wave coming?"

Lewis also suggested that border sheriffs from the five counties in CD7 (Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, Maricopa, Pinal, and Cochise) should collaborate to create "a county-run border policy to assist in building the fence and controlling the fence," potentially seeking funding from the Trump administration and Homeland Security.

Arizona's Water Challenges: Finding Solutions Through Cooperation

Water remains a critical issue for Arizona, with ongoing disputes between states and challenges in securing adequate water supplies for growing communities. Lewis, who served on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board until a year ago, highlighted several key water-related developments.

Currently, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) is renegotiating the 2007 quantitative settlement agreement among Arizona, California, and Nevada. "The secretary of interior under the Democrats declared that there was two million acre feet short in the lower basins, and we had to figure a way to come up with it," Lewis explained. "CAP actually did come up with a 630,000 acre foot water conservation austerity program that we've had in place for the last five years."

Lewis suggests leveraging the current political climate to negotiate better terms with California, noting that "since California is not on the most favored nation status with Trump, we should take the opportunity to eliminate the fifth priority in the Arizona versus California lawsuit... and have the Congress vote to change Arizona's priority and put it on equal footing with California."

His proposed solution involves modular desalination plants similar to those being built in Texas. "They are doing modular desalters and they're building desalters in 36 months, and they're able to deliver water at $800 an acre foot," Lewis noted. These modular units could be used to clean up contaminated water in the Gila and Santa Cruz Rivers.

"There's a great deal of salty, contaminated water running down the Gila River, running down the Santa Cruz River that could be put to beneficial use if we just find a way to clean up the salts and get a modular unit over there," Lewis explained.

He recommends forming a desalting committee at the state level, bringing together cities and tribes to participate in water reclamation efforts: "There's lots of water out there within the first hundred feet of the aquifer that nobody can drink because it's just too salty and too many nitrates from septic tanks."

Lewis also proposed working with Nevada to create partnerships similar to a previous successful collaboration. "We agreed to line the canals in the Imperial Desert with concrete, and we paid for it in California, and Arizona and Nevada got the water conserved from that project."

To initiate these changes, Lewis recommends starting in the state legislature. "We need some ballot resolutions to put together to amend the enabling act to allow California, Arizona, and Nevada to be on equal footing with water," he said, adding that existing funding from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) program could be used to build a Department of Desalination in Arizona.

Swatting Surge and Law Enforcement Concerns

A disturbing trend of "swatting" incidents targeting conservative influencers has prompted a response from the National Police Association. Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the organization, explained the alarming rise in these dangerous pranks.

"There have been an alarming rise in swatting incidents, and there were about a dozen conservative influencers who were swatted in about the last 10 days, the majority of them over the weekend," Smith reported. Notable targets have included Juanita Broderick, known for her allegations against Bill Clinton, and others with conservative social media followings.

Swatting involves making false emergency calls to law enforcement, claiming a violent situation is occurring at the target's home. Smith explained: "What they do through a series of internet switches is they are able to call 911 locally where the person that they want to swat lives, and they will call in and say, 'I'm being held hostage at this house.'"

This results in police, sometimes SWAT teams, surrounding the victim's home in the middle of the night. "You see armed men and women around your home. So especially if you're a conservative, you tend to get your own firearm, and that's exactly what they're hoping. They're hoping that the police get shot or the person that they're swatting gets shot," Smith noted.

The National Police Association has condemned these actions and called for federal intervention. "It's a weaponization of law enforcement against its own citizens," Smith stated. "We have asked Cash Patel's FBI to get involved, and not only has Cash Patel responded, but Pam Bondi has responded as well as has Christie Noem."

The association argues that swatting should be treated as attempted murder since the perpetrators are "sending armed law enforcement under false pretenses and knowing that the people who they're sending armed law enforcement to are likely to be pro-second amendment, to own their own firearms, and know how to use them."

Compounding the problem is the lack of a central database or information-sharing system among law enforcement agencies. While some perpetrators have been caught, including in the case of social media personality "Cat Turd" (Phillip Buchanan), many others remain at large. Some swatters have been identified as teenagers with computer hacking skills.

Smith connected the swatting trend to other attacks on conservatives, including the recent protests against Tesla owners and dealerships following Elon Musk's support for the Trump administration. "There's now a website that is doxing Tesla owners so that people aren't just going to protest Tesla dealerships, but they can go owner to owner to owner," Smith warned.

She contrasted these violent protests with conservative boycotts: "Let's look at a few things that angered conservatives recently. Let's go back to Bud Light... conservatives stopped purchasing Bud Light, and it was an impactful boycott. We did not burn down Bud Light factories. We did not set fire to Bud Light trucks on their way to the liquor store."

Smith also criticized Arizona Senator Mark Kelly for his recent statements against Elon Musk, suggesting such rhetoric encourages violence. "He has done zero for law enforcement. He has done zero for the military. And he has done zero to help the border situation here in Arizona," Smith asserted.

Trump Administration's First 60 Days: A Turning Point

The first 60 days of the Trump administration have been marked by rapid policy changes and executive actions aimed at reversing many policies of the previous administration. In January alone, President Trump signed 26 executive orders on his first day, with a total of 92 executive orders signed in the first two months.

Among the most significant actions highlighted were orders to end the weaponization of the federal government, eliminate DEI programs in government, withdraw from the World Health Organization, restore the death penalty, keep men out of women's sports, and implement the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Smith observed that public attitudes toward conservative policies appear to be shifting: "90% of the people that walked by me said, 'I love your shirt, I like your shirt, that's a cool shirt' when I wore my DOGE shirt and my thin blue line jacket." She added, "You used to kind of hide, you'd whisper, 'Hey, are you MAGA?' This and that. There's no more whispering now. We're loud, we're proud, we're not obnoxious."

Both Smith and Winn expressed optimism about the direction of the country under the new administration, emphasizing the importance of having clear leadership. "Donald Trump grew up in a time... right after World War II, out of the depression. They rebuilt this country, and they understand what that takes and what it means," Winn noted.

The administration's efforts to de-escalate international conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, were viewed as positive developments, along with attempts to counter Chinese Communist Party influence globally.

Both Smith and Winn celebrated what they view as a restoration of American values and a return to law and order, with Smith commenting that the administration's actions represent hope "that my nation is going to be, hopefully by the time my grandkids grow up, the same type of country that you and I grew up in."