Il Ducey
One thing Arizonans have learned in the few months that Gov. Doug Ducey has been in office is that the
Koch-fueled pinhead does not like people questioning his decisions.
When educators and families protested the governor's draconian cuts to schools, Ducey and his dark-money backers brought the hammer down on officials who disagreed with him. In Mesa, they used a robocall campaign to smear Superintendent Dr. Michael Cowan, who had sent parents in his district an email describing the terrible consequences of Ducey's policies. When more than 230 superintendents signed a joint letter to legislators asking them to reject the governor's appalling education budget, he and the GOP tried to ram through a bill that would make their criticism illegal, which happily did not pass.
Bottom line: don't speak out, don't criticize, even if you're upholding the law by doing so. That was the predicament in which former acting director of Arizona's Weights and Measures Shawn Marquez found himself earlier this year. Marquez had worked for the department for 28 years and was two years short of retirement, but now he's out of a job because he enforced a law that Gov. Ducey and his business lackeys did not like.
Ducey is all for "the rule of law" when it's a law he supports. For instance, Bisbee was the first town in Arizona to enact a ban on plastic bags, like hundreds of other communities across the country, and Tempe and Flagstaff were considering a similar ordinance. But Ducey and his chamber of commerce chums did not like the idea that Arizona's blue communities might set stricter environmental standards, so he signed legislation that prohibits all municipalities in the state from banning plastic bags and other disposable packaging. If towns ignore the new state law, Gov. Ducey has said he'll prosecute because, you know, it's the law.
Other laws he's okay with ignoring, especially if doing so benefits the governor's business cronies. Until recently, Arizona law said that ride-sharing companies like Uber must license their drivers with the state, similar to taxis. So when the Super Bowl was here this year, and acting director Marquez suspected that Uber and Lyft were not complying with the state statute during the busy tourist season, he planned a sting operation to snare unlawful drivers.
When Gov. Ducey heard of the plan he fired Marquez, which we first learned of yesterday when the governor bragged about sacking the longtime employee at the RNC meeting in Scottsdale:
Ducey, a big supporter of the popular ride-sharing companies, told the audience that plan didn't sit well with him. "I'm happy to tell you that director is now in the private sector," Ducey said to the applause of a packed ballroom.
When reporters asked Gov. Ducey if he had fired the agency head for simply enforcing a law that was on the books at the time, he blathered some BS about government regulations killing innovation, but he did not answer the question,
only stating, "We’re not looking to sting or surprise companies." Since the Super Bowl in February, Ducey has
rolled back almost all regulations for ride-sharing firms, pushing through legislation that eliminates licensing and insurance requirements, business-friendly measures that even Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed.
So Ducey doesn't want to "surprise" companies with checkups. I guess now he'll eliminate all inspections so government agents don't "surprise" filthy restaurants, contaminated meat packers or manufacturers selling toxic products. In other words, it's still okay to surprise consumers. Because Doug Ducey said so, the law be damned.