                                  T H E

                               Z E P H Y R

                      __     M A G A Z I N E
                     {__]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[]
                     Issue #42                7-20-87

                A weekly electronic magazine for users of
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                        (Mesa, AZ - 602-894-6526)
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                        Editor - Gene B. Williams

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                                (c) 1987

    THIS ISSUE:

       The recall of Evan Mecham has started.
       This sort of thing has happened only once in the history
    of our state, and then to a judge. Mecham is the first governor
    to be facing it.
       Just what is it all about? Is it true as Mecham fans claim
    that the recall is nothing more than a case of sour grapes
    because Mecham won't tolerate drugs or homosexuality? Is the
    whole thing centered strictly around the cancellation of the
    Martin Luther King holiday?
       Or does it go beyond that?

                         Reasons for the Recall

       The most cited incident is the cancellation of the King
    holiday. Mecham says, justifiably, that Babbitt instituted
    the holiday illegally. He and his supporters point out that
    the holiday will cost the tax payers.
       The important thing to keep in mind is that the surface
    of the situation seems to support Mecham. The full story and
    effects are quite different.
       Almost immediately after the election Mecham declared that
    one of his first acts in office would be to drop the holiday.
    He did just that, despite the fact that he had been warned to
    not do it - at least not right away and certainly not without
    giving the state congress and the public a say in the matter.
    He ignored the advice - which he can legally do in this case -
    and went ahead with his plan.
       The reaction came quick. A huge crowd (10,000 people) marched
    on the Capitol. Mecham not only ignored the people, he was later
    reported (I have no idea how reliable the report is) as saying
    something along the lines, "What do they know? They're probably
    too stupid to understand it the way I do."
       The public outcry became so loud that it stretched all the
    way across the country. Within a month Mecham was known from
    coast to coast. Increasing protests came in.
       The accusation was that Mecham is prejudiced. His reply
    was the ever-famous speech about how many black friends he
    has, and how they all call their children picininnies. He
    further stated that no blacks in Arizona face any kind of
    discrimination, and certainly not from him.
       It was suggested - urged - that the issue be brought to
    a vote. Mecham refused. Later he changed his mind and said
    that he wouldn't stop a vote, but also that he'd have nothing
    to do with it or with the results. There was a strong belief
    that even if it had gone to a vote and had won, Mecham would
    have refused to sign.
       In response to public demand, the State House of Representa-
    tives drew up and passed the necessary legislation to make the
    holiday legal. The bill stalled in the Senate, perhaps due to
    the rumor that Mecham was veto it regardless.
       The snowball has grown since then. Part is due strictly with
    the cancellation of the holiday. In actuality it goes much
    deeper.
       One of his main statements was the cost to the taxpayer for
    the holiday. The effect of the cancellation has already cost
    the state millions.

       It's still just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
       On November 9th, before he took office, Mecham declared that
    the major problem of past administrations was a lack of open
    and honest communication. He declared that his administration
    would open itself to the press.
       You know what became of that promise. He has regularly
    bad-mouthed the media any time they dare to print anything
    negative. At one point he shouted that a certain "non-person"
    was to be denied access to any press conference and even
    denied access to the Capitol building. When the Attorney
    General told Mecham, "You can't do that," Mecham's response
    was to talk about what a softie he is, that he would allow
    the reporter in but would refuse to recognize his existence.
    Mecham ended up walking out of more than one press conference
    when the questions took directions he didn't like. On his twice
    weekly radio program he has been known to hang up on callers
    who ask questions he doesn't like.
       In the same speech he talked about the importance of a smooth
    transition of power, with as little upheaval as possible.
       Just slightly more than a month later the firings began. Mecham
    wasn't even in office when, on December 18th, he demanded the
    resignations of 15 state agency department heads.
       The day after he took office he asked Susan Williams, who was
    the state's consumer protection advocate, to remain on the job
    at least until spring. This was important because she was
    handling a consumer class suit against APS in the amount of
    $194 million.
       Three days later, Mecham fired her and put Ted Humes in.
    Ted Humes turned around and fired the attorney in charge of
    the case, declaring that he himself would handle the
    cross-examination in the case. Humes is not a member of the
    Arizona State Bar Association, nor did he have any time to
    prepare, even if he had been the best lawyer in history. The
    case became a total disaster.

       On January 7th, after just 2 days in office, he flatly
    rejected all three Supreme Court nominees presented to him
    by the state congress, and tried to put in someone of his
    own choice - a violation of our state constitution. His statement
    was that none of the three nominees represented the philosophy
    that Mecham wanted.
       Later Mecham attempted to remove 10 appointees from the
    Arizona State Bar Association from the selection committee to
    replace them with people of his own.

       January 8th. Mecham has been in office just 3 days. Mecham
    put Ralph Watkinds in as the chief fund-raiser for the Board of
    Regents - right after Watkins promised Mecham that he would
    find ways to erase the huge debt Mecham had run up during his
    campaign. Both denied that there was any connection between the
    promise and the appointment.
       Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, a couple of months later
    Mecham put Watkin's son-in-law in charge of all state buildings,
    although this person had had no prior experience.

       In mid-February Mecham proposed a 2-year plan to eliminate
    drugs. His idea was to create a totally independent and separate
    legal system for this purpose. It would include an additional
    200 officers and 40 "hanging judges" hand-picked by Mecham. His
    comment was that the primary cause of the drug problem in Arizona
    was due to "left wing"
       Mecham is told that several parts of his overall scheme aren't
    legal, and that some major parts are unrealistic. They wouldn't
    work even if he did have the legal authority to create the new
    agency, which he doesn't.

       Mecham nominated Rex Waite as the State Revenue Director. This
    is the guy who is in charge of Arizona's internal revenue depart-
    ment. Our taxes. It was then found out that Waite was president of
    a bank that had to close its doors (bankruptcy). Hardly a person
    you'd want to be handling the entire cash flow of a state.
       When this nomination was rejected, Mecham put in one for a guy
    named Russell Ritchie. Once again the Senate turned it down. It
    came out that Ritchie hadn't bothered to file his own income tax
    report, hadn't bothered to renew his driver's license in some time,
    and had been operating a security company without any of the
    necessary licenses.
       When the Senate turned this one down, Mecham went ahead and put
    Ritchie in the #2 spot in that department - a spot that didn't
    require Senate approval. If the #1 slot opens, guess who takes
    over by default.

       Then came the nomination of Alberto Rodriquez as the head of
    the State Liquor License and Control Department. Rodriquez has
    openly admitted that when he was in power in Douglas, Arizona, he
    "looked the other way" when a local bar was conducting illegal
    gambling operations. He is also under investigation for taking
    part in a murder, and on charges of rape.

       Sam Steiger was put in as Governor's Aide. Steiger had been
    divorced. His wife brought him up on charges of failing to pay
    alimony and support. She started the only movement available to
    her - a garnish against his wages. Somehow this leaked, and all
    of a sudden Steiger was no longer on the payroll. She settled for
    a greatly reduced amount - and instantly Steiger was back on the
    payroll again.
       On another day, Steiger walked into a meeting of the State
    Medical Board. He said that he was there on behalf of the governor,
    and demanded that the board reinstate the license of a friend.
    This license had been revoked on the basis of bad medical practices,
    tax evasion and fraud, and a few other charges.

       And most recently, Sam Lewis, another man supported by Mecham,
    was presented with a long string of complaints about the prison
    system concerning visitors. People were being strip searched,
    including a 2-year-old. A new policy was installed by which the
    visitors were not allowed to bring in any food for the prisoners
    unless it was pre-packaged (i.e., junk food). Both policies were
    in effect even when the visiting was to take place in the "day
    room" and in full view of several guards.
       Lewis's response was said to be along the lines of, "Well,
    these people are all of the lower echelons of society anyway."

       Just before the recall movement began to legally gather signatures
    the opportunity was offered for him to read the list of reasons for
    the movement. The chance was given for him to "mend his ways."
       He refused to even look at it, or to talk to those involved.
       Instead he came out and said that he would receive a minimum
    of 60% of the vote - despite a recent poll that showed that Mecham
    has the lowest rating of any governor in history; with only 18%
    saying that he is doing a good job. (Mecham told reporters that
    he hadn't seen the poll.)

       Then comes his journey to Central America, where he took it
    upon himself to meet with the heads of government there to tell
    them how they should be running their countries if they want
    support from the United States. (Now, what in the world is a
    state governor doing even travelling to foreign countries at
    our expense - let alone practicing federal foreign policy?)

       He got various minorities made at him even before he took
    office. After being in office about a month he publicly declared
    homosexuality as an "unacceptable lifestyle." More recently he
    blamed the high rate of divorce, juvenile delinquency and some
    other problems on women who work, stating that they should stay
    in the home where they belong.
       Through all this some 31 conventions have been cancelled.
    We're not talking just a few disgruntled racial groups, either.
    Among the groups who have said they would not come to Arizona
    until Mecham either straightens out or is out of office are
    National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Public Broadcasting
    Service, (you know how Mecham feels about the media), the United
    Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist Association, Baptist
    Convention, the American Federation of Government Employees, the
    US Forestry Service, Women in Corporate Foundations, National
    Intramural Recreational Sports Association, Hispanic Association
    of Universities and Colleges, Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Records,
    Polygram Records of London, (he hates rock and blames it for
    everything from drugs to AIDS to . . .), the Federal Bar Association,
    Planned Parenthood, NBA, National Interfraternity Conference,
    Democratic National Party Finance Committee, Public Education Fund,
    and so on.
       If you have the idea that all the trouble and cancellations
    are racial, look over that partial list. The head of the Department
    of Tourism has come out, saying that the situation is getting worse
    and worse and will continue to do so. He had prepared a speech and
    as is common, released a copy of the speech to a Gazette reporter
    so that the basic body of the speech could be published as timely
    news. Heller then got a call from Mecham - and all of a sudden the
    speech was completely modified to leave out any and all comments
    concerning the loss of tourism from cancellation of King Day.
       In addition to the loss in tourism, Exxon has cancelled
    educational grants. More is almost certain to come out (or
    disappear) in time.
       Mecham supporters point to the estimated cost of $2 million
    for the new election as reason to stop the recall. Cost to the
    state already has far exceeded this. (Imagine the income from
    31 conventions and some 20,000 conventioneers. That's well over
    $2 million just in the dollars spent and wages earned by Arizona
    citizens from just these conventions and just this year. The loss
    of other business is impossible to calculate.)
       Then there are the other losses incurred. The withdrawl of
    educational grants by Exxon, for example. Conventions also tend
    to get attendees to think about expanding in Arizona. That
    represents and even greater loss in business and in jobs.
       The best experts say that he has already blown any and all chances
    for the $4 billion plus Supercollider project.

       The recall began legally July 10th. Over the first weekend
    there were 20,000 signatures gathered. It's bound to gain
    momentum.
       It's a sad thing, too. All that is needed is for Mecham to
    stop for a moment and listen to the citizens he is SUPPOSED
    to be serving. To realize that he can't force his own ideas
    and philosophies down our throats whether we like it or not.
    And that he can't keep putting friends into office when those
    appointments are to the detriment of the state.
       People and groups from all over the country are mad at him.
    The citizens of his own state have started a recall movement -
    something that has NEVER happened to a governor before. A poll
    show him to be the least popular governor in the history of
    Arizona.
       None of that has sunk in.

                          How Does Recall Work?

       By state law someone elected to office has to be given 6
    months before a recall movement can officially begin. (This
    right to recall an official who is not doing his or her job
    is guaranteed in our state constitution.)
       This is what is to come.
       The citizens have 120 days to gather enough signatures from
    registered voters. (This gives the official a guaranteed and
    additional 4 months in office.)
       These petitions are then turned over to the Secretary of
    State so that the number of signatures can be counted and
    verified. By law 10 days are allowed for this.
       From there the petitions go to the various county recorders
    where the signatures are verified as being legitimate. This
    means that the signatures and information are compared to the
    registered lists. The county recorders have 60 days to complete
    the job. (At this point, the official has been in power for
    a year and 10 days.)
       Assuming that the correct number of signatures are recorded
    and verified (216,746 in this case - although a minimum of
    350,000 signatures is needed to provide the number and the
    margin), the Secretary of State goes to the official (the governor
    in this case) and offers the choice of stepping down or forcing
    a new election. The official (Mecham here) has 5 days to make a
    decision.
       Once that decision has been made, the Secretary of State has
    between 100 and 120 days to call for the new election. (Now the
    official has been in power for 1 year, 4 months and 15 days,
    plus whatever additional time is for the actual election, tally
    of the vote, and transfer of power if needed.)

                            Getting Involved

       The general phone number for the Recall movement is 371-1127.
    Their address is 1309 E. Northern, Phoenix, 85020. They can
    certainly use volunteers to help and donations.
       A nice way to make a donation is in buying one of the
    items they're selling as collectable memorabilia.
       T-shirts (small, medium, large or x-large) sell for $10
    each. They're white with "Mecham for Ex-Governor" on them.
       "Mecham for Ex-Governor" bumper stickers run $1 each, as
    do pins.

       And of course, the best way to get involved on a small
    scale is to sign the petition. Keep in mind that you have to
    be a registered voter for this - and that even if you are a
    registered voter, if you didn't vote in the last election
    you'll have to register all over again.

    Until Next Time

       Just a little over 200 years ago America was born. The reason
    was simple. The government of the land would tax and tax and tax
    the people - they got taxed on what they earned, and taxed on
    what they bought, and taxed on what was left to their heirs. There
    were always plenty of excuses for raising the taxes. The government
    just wasn't able to make ends meet; the empire defenses had to be
    sufficiently maintained; the politicians needed more money to make
    sure that they stayed honest and didn't take bribes.
       In addition, laws were passed that protected the politicians
    and their friends. Scandals were rampant. The people starved
    while the bigwigs lived in luxury, driving around in what served
    in those days as chauffered limosines.
       The politicians of the day wanted nothing to do with the people
    and considered them too stupid to even take part in the making of
    the laws. Theoretically, any average man could become a part of
    the lawmaking process. There was a House of Lords and a House of
    Commons.
       It just wasn't working. And there came a revolution. Followed
    by the founding of a new country, based around the principle of a
    government of, for and by the people. No more politicos who would
    pass laws without common consent. No more ignoring the will of the
    people, even when the people were "too stupid" to understand all
    the facts.
       If a politician ignores a small group for the sake of the
    larger general populace, he's doing his job. When he takes the
    time to listen to the people, and act on their wishes, he's doing
    his job.
       When the politician ceases to do this, and ceases to serve the
    people, it is the right of the people to put him out of power. In
    fact, it's their duty to do so - or risk losing what America
    stands for.
       If that's not enough to stir your interest, think what kind of
    world you'll be living in 20 years from now if apathy continues.
       20 years ago, when I was 17, the national debt was about $350
    billion, or about $1700 for each man, woman and child. 20 years
    before that it was almost exactly the same. 20 years before that
    it was a mere $16 billion - which came down to just $131 per
    capita, and about one day's operation of our present government.
    About 20 years before that there were no income taxes at all,
    and yet no national debt.
       At this time the national debt is approaching $3 TRILLION,
    and close to $10,000 per person. Some experts have predicted
    that the national debt will double in the next decade or so.
    (Reagan's pet project, Star Wars, could do that all by itself,
    by the way.) 20 years from now, if things keep going as they
    are going, it could easily begin to double and re-double
    every 10 years.
       Right now our country is operating with 30 days grace,
    period. We're 1 month from national bankruptcy. U.S. Savings
    Bonds are no longer available, and won't be until and unless
    Congress votes to raise the national debt limit once again.
       They don't have much choice. Raise the limit, or chuck
    America down the tubes due to a long string of 5c plastic
    washers that ended up costing us $75 each, chauffered limos,
    a 32nd exercise facility in D.C. for the Congress, an office
    building put up without doors, political pay raises to the
    tune of 85% and more . . . and making those responsible into
    national heroes.
       Still bored? Still uninterested?
       Less than 100 years ago everything you earned was yours.
    Now nearly half disappears in taxes, and about half of what's
    left gets sucked up before it can get to your children. Even
    so we live within 30 days of having to "close up shop."
       What will it be like 10 years from now? Or 20?
       If you're now 17 and unconcerned with politics because it's
    so boring, by the time you're 37 will there be anything left to
    be concerned about? Or will your country have been sold down
    the river until there's nothing left because of general apathy.
       Mecham is the proverbial small potatoes. He's a symptom only
    of the overall problem - of politicians who have the idea that
    they can do whatever they damn well please.
       The recall in actuality is little more than a statement. Mecham
    WILL be recalled. That's a lot different from being thrown out of
    office. There is no doubt at this point that enough signatures will
    be gathered to force a new election. Mecham will refuse to step
    down, which means his name will automatically go on the new ballot.
    Enough Mecham fanatics are around to vote for him again. And there
    are no other viable candidates. It's a very good bet that Mecham
    will once again win by default.
       He'll stay in office because of the "politics is boring, and I
    don't want to think about it" attitude.
       North wanted to scrap the Constitution and replace it with
    martial law. He's now a national hero. He and his comrades took
    $25 million + of your tax dollars contrary to the law, and are
    pushing for $350 million more. Give North his way and the draft
    will go back into effect so that all of you younger users won't
    have to worry about voting or politics. You'll be in the jungles
    of Nicaragua dodging (hopefully) bullets and land mines and maybe
    coming home parcel post.
       Ahh, but North is a hero for selling weapons to Iran that are
    used to blow up villages in Iraq. Meanwhile a man in California is
    doing 20 years for selling radios to Iran.
       They get away with it because the people let them. Apathy.
       Politics is boring, and I don't care to hear or think about it.
    So, I'll just go bury my head in the sand and hope it goes away.
       Raise my taxes again? Well, I guess they have to. Gee, they're
    only pulling down $120,000. That's poverty wage! They need an 85%
    increase in salary, plus another $1 million in benefits such as
    free postage and exercise facilities that aren't used.
       And who better to run the state department of revenue than a
    guy who hasn't paid his in years? Jeez, this guy doesn't even feel
    the need to get a driver's license! But he's a politician, and I
    don't care.
       So crime in the Phoenix area is quickly approaching the #1 slot
    in the country. At least Mecham will blackball any homosexuals from
    finding work. Let them collect welfare instead. And let all women
    stay home, barefoot and pregnant. That's the natural order of
    things, right?
       Besides, I don't care to think about it.
       They haven't stepped on my rights - at least not too much . . .

       . . . yet!

Zephyr Magazine is © Gene Williams. All rights reserved.