On Thursday, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a town hall meeting at the library in Oro Valley to address the concerns of area residents about border security and illegal immigration. The room was filled to capacity by residents from across southern Arizona.
Arpaio opened the meeting with a number of comments about his career and some of the well documented “innovations” instituted in Maricopa County such as pink underwear and the expansion facilities by using tents. The Sheriff clearly enjoyed himself while discussing his management of law enforcement in the most populous county in the state.
Arpaio spent considerable time highlighting the similarities between he and Horne and the issues issues both men are working on. Their focus, according to Arpaio, is on the battle against illegal immigration and the illicit trafficking of drugs across the border into Arizona.
After a few minutes dodging one question, Arpaio finally relented and admitted that he is 82 years old. He appeared to be in excellent health, and said without a doubt, he intends to run for reelection in 2016.
Arpaio said that both he and Attorney General Horne have come under attack by a number of people “for doing their job; and that is enforcing the law.” Sheriff Arpaio lamented the fact that even their own Party appears to be attacking them and believes that it can influence the voters with constant attacks and massive advertising. The Sheriff closed his portion of the meeting with a very simple statement; “The parties need to remember that the power of people moves mountains. It’s not endorsements, and it’s not money, its voters.”
With that, Arpaio reluctantly turned the microphone over to Horne, who received an enthusiastic round of applause from the overflow crowd.
Horne told the group that he restructured the budget when he was first elected in order for a larger portion to be devoted to the investigation and eradication of the drug cartels that controlled the southern border of the state. Since taking office, three major cartels have been broken-up.
Horne, in an effort to get to the group’s questions, gave a very brief description about his successes in challenging the federal government thru litigation, including arguing for the State in the Supreme Court. He defended immigration legislation; SB1070, and Arizona’s legislation that requires individuals to provide proof citizenship when registering to vote. Horne promised “to continue the fight to require proof for Federal elections to the Supreme Court.” This elicited a rousing applause from the packed room.
The Sheriff and the Attorney General saved significant amount of time for questions from the audience. The first question asked was, “When did the Governor know that the Unaccompanied Alien Children were coming up from Central America?” Horne responded that he did not know when Brewer learned that minors would be housed and processed in Arizona, but that as soon as he learned of it he immediately sent a letter to the President. Horne threatened litigation if the federal government didn’t cease and desist transporting into Arizona. He went on the point out, that to the best of his knowledge, there have been no additional adults or UAC’s transported into Arizona by federal government since he issued the letter. He made it very clear that if the delivery of the illegal aliens were to resume he would not hesitate to file litigation.
The final question was to both candidates; “Gentlemen who do you each support for governor for the state of Arizona this fall?” Attorney General Horne was quick to say that it would be inappropriate for him to discuss candidates in other campaigns, however Sheriff Arpaio was more than willing to discuss the candidates. Sheriff Arpaio said that all the candidates have been to his office at least once to discuss his endorsement; however “Duval has not been there yet.” He said Christine Jones has been there couple of times, and has “brought in some very nice rum cake,” however he is partial to ice cream and Doug Ducey.
Attorney General Horne did feel comfortable stepping in and saying “that he believes everyone should study the candidates and make up their own mind as to who they vote for however it would be wise to listen to Sheriff Arpaio with respect to the Attorney General’s office.” That generated another enthusiastic applause to close the formal question period.
Both stayed and engaged in individual conversations with those who had additional issues to discuss with them until they were finished.