City & Local Reform
It turns out that you can fight town hall. Here’s how we’re standing up for local citizens and winning.
Phoenix--Former Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters has joined the Goldwater Institute as a Senior Fellow. Ms. Peters served as transportation secretary for President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. Prior to that, Peters was the Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration. She also spent 16 years at the Arizona Department of Transportation, which she headed from 1998 to 2001.
Phoenix--There are almost 90,000 local governments in America, with an average of one new local government born each day. Few are models of limited government restrained by a system of checks and balances. Often they are unaccountable, and special interest-driven. Facing a maze of regulations and powerful local bureaucracies, ordinary citizens often can't fight City Hall. They need a concrete set of rights to protect them from the abuses of local government--the equivalent of a local bill of rights.
Since 1972, America has gained an average of one new local government every day. The mushrooming of local governments is outdone only by the growth in state and local spending, which has outstripped that of the federal government since 1970. Arizona is no exception.
Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon used his State of the City address to announce that he plans to lobby Washington D.C. for more federal dollars. Goldwater Institute communications vice president, Starlee Rhoades, responded on 12 News.
Goldwater Institute litigation director Clint Bolick talks to Channel 15 about why it might be a good idea for the judge in the Don Stapley case to be removed.
The Maricopa County Sheriffs Office is responsible for vitally important law-enforcement functions in one of the largest counties in the nation. It defines its core missions as law-enforcement services, support services, and detention.
After the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against Tucson, Ariz. Mayor Bob Walkup for failing to comply with an open records request, KGUN reporter Joel Woldman investigated why. KGUN's investigation found that the request fell into a "black hole."
Click here to view the executive summary and recommendations.
Click here to read the full report of "More Roads to Travel: A Path to Transportation Solutions for Arizona" by Dr. Byron Schlomach.
Phoenix--For a population that likes to be on the move, Arizonans spend a lot of time stuck in traffic. In fact, people who live in Phoenix or Tucson lose the equivalent of one work-week every year sitting in traffic, and traffic congestion costs Arizonans $2 billion annually in lost time and fuel.