The Goldwater Institute issued a report yesterday on public officials using tax dollars to promote themselves. We’re told they jumped on this issue after the left wing media went after County Attorney Andrew Thomas for issuing a Crime Handbook for the public. After the left wing media unfairly targeted Thomas, Sonoran Alliance went after Attorney General Terry Goddard for wasting thousands of dollars promoting himself on multiple handbooks and brochures prominently featuring his face on the front cover and in several places within the literature as well. Thomas’s booklet didn’t even feature his face on the front.

The Goldwater Institute report states that Thomas is not “constitutionally mandated” to issue the handbook. It conveniently leaves out the fact in the section about him that he’s statutorily mandated to educate the public on issues related to crime. A.R.S. 13-2314.03 governs how money seized from criminal profiteering (RICO funds) is to be spent by law enforcement.  “Monies in the fund may be used for the funding of gang prevention programs, substance abuse prevention programs, substance abuse education programs…” This is not explained in that section. In the report’s chart of how much each public official has spent on “self-promotion,” it leaves out the fact that Thomas’s office, as the largest law enforcement agency in the state, receives $2.5 million in this kind of directed RICO funding each year.

Seems pretty clear that issuing a guide for the public educating them about crime and how to protect themselves from it falls within this statute. Again, conveniently, the report failed to point out that $65,000 of the cost of the booklet was paid for with RICO funds. And on top of that, the Goldwater Institute report conveniently failed to point out that the handbook was wildly popular and the public ordered thousands of copies. The purpose of the handbook was not to promote Thomas for reelection, but to genuinely educate the public. Which cannot be said about other booklets that have been issued by other public officials, such as Pima County Barbara Lawall’s 56-page booklet bragging about her accomplishments as county attorney, featuring her picture on the front.

Only at the very end of the report, in a separate section, is it casually mentioned that there are RICO funds used by law enforcement officials for purposes like educating the public – but still never mentions that they are mandated to by statute!

Ignored was any discussion of how if just a few people are able to save themselves from being victims, or a few defendants are deterred after reading the handbook, the cost of the booklet (allegedly $215,000) would have more than paid for itself, considering the cost in savings of the arrest, prosecution, appeals, defense, etc. of the deterred crimes.

We also have a philosophical difference with the Goldwater Institute on politicians promoting themselves. Law enforcement promotion is different than regular politicians promoting themselves. Are criminals deterred by the concept of Sheriff Joe Arpaio? You bet they are! His larger than life image creates fear in the minds of criminals. There is a legitimate reason for law enforcement officials to let the community know who they are. Incidentally, the report notes they had nothing to report on Sheriff Arpaio, who asserts the office has never issued anything with his photo on them. No surprise there, the people love him so the media follows him everywhere and provide him with immense amounts of publicity. The report downplayed this - they should have pointed that if he was really such a publicity hound as his enemies always accuse him of being, then this firmly refutes that notion.

The report concluded this about Thomas, “Not one of these is necessary to achieve transparency or accountability or to discharge the official obligations of the position of the county attorney.” Based on the information they left out, such as the fact that Thomas is mandated by statute to spend RICO funds to educate the public, and the fact that unlike other politicians, his photo is not featured on the front of the Crime Handbook, this conclusion is not accurate. Clearly, the Goldwater Institute is jumping on Thomas in order to look like they’re playing fair and going after Republicans too, and Thomas was an easy target because of being extensively targeted by the liberal media over the Crime Handbook.

Law enforcement officials like Attorney General Terry Goddard have issued countless brochures and booklets knowing the liberal media will never call him on it (Sonoran Alliance counted 72 last year). The list of publications his office offers continues to grow. Far too many of them have his photo on the front and/or photos inside. At the bottom of this post is a current list of the Attorney General’s publications. Thomas has nothing like it.  His sole Crime Handbook looks rather paltry compared to all the glossy handbooks Goddard has issued featuring his photo on the front.

The Goldwater Institute is praising bills by Sen. Jim Waring and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema that would prohibit public officials from issuing publications like these. That’s fine, but there needs to be more honesty about these publications. Trying to hold up Andrew Thomas’s one Crime Handbook as the reason for getting this kind of legislation passed is intellectually dishonest and a transparent attempt to smear Thomas for something that has been really been abused by officials like former governor Janet Napolitano. Blame also should be placed on legislators like Waring and Sinema who were responsible for passing the RICO statute in the first place instructing law enforcement officials to educate the public about crime. I don’t think I’ve ever read a government publication that didn’t include the name of the government official responsible for issuing it, so let’s hope the proposed legislation doesn’t go overboard.

Incidentally, the report gave Thomas a high score for dealing with the public records requests from the Goldwater Institute. The report says that to this day, Terry Goddard has not even fulfilled all of the public records requests. Napolitano received the lowest score of all officials for responding to public records requests. This leaves us wondering, were they hiding something? How many more publications has Goddard issued that the Goldwater Institute was not able to get information about?

This would have been a valid report if the Goldwater Institute hadn’t tried so hard to portray Thomas as equally as guilty of self-promotion as other officials. Obviously the Goldwater Institute was trying to find a high-profile Republican to go after to make their report look fair. But let’s be honest, Republicans tend to be more fiscally conservative than Democrats. By including the unfair attack on Thomas, the report loses its credibility.

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CURRENTLY OFFERED BY TERRY GODDARD

Housing Discrimination: Get The Facts

Educational Brochures

Arizona Crime Victims’ Rights Laws

Consumer Guide for Young Adults

Consumers’ Guide to Buying a Car:

Steer Clear of Trouble!

Crime Victims’ Guide

Crime Victims’ Right to Leave Work

The Criminal Appeals Process

CUT IT OUT - Arizona Brochure

CUT IT OUT Safety Card

Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation Tip Card

Elder Abuse: Potential Legal Remedies

Employment Discrimination: Get the Facts

Employment Discrimination Tip Card

Financial Exploitation of the Elderly

Housing Discrimination Tip Card

Identity Theft Repair Kit

Identity Theft Tip Card

Indian Arts and Crafts Act

Internet Safety Guide for Parents and Teens

Internet Safety Tip Card

Life Care Planning Packet

Office of Victim Services

Predatory Lending Tip Card

Protecting Arizona Seniors

The Promise of Brown v. Board of Education

Recognize and Report Phone Fraud

Restitution: The Realities

Top 10 Consumer Scams

Voting Discrimination Tip Card

Attorney General Opinions

Opinions (1999 to Present)

Handbooks And Manuals

Area Agency Handbook

Guide to Pre-Employment Inquiries

The Primer (Colorado City)

Public Service Orientation Manual

Safety Net Directory

School Use Guidelines: Community College District Resources

School Use Guidelines: School District or Charter School Resources

School Use Guidelines: University Resources

Tenant’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook (Community Legal Services)

Forms

FHA Accessibility Compliance Site Review Form

Gambling Registration Form

Posters

CUT IT OUT Poster

Discrimination in Employment Poster

Drug Endangered Children

Hopes, Dreams and Fair Housing Poster

Identity Theft Poster

Reports

2005 Gasoline Report

Arizona Attorney General Annual Reports

Arizona DNA Report 2007

Capital Case Commission Final Report

Cold Case Task Force Report 2007

NIJ Report on Zylon Body Armor

Racial Profiling Policy Guidance