Citizens Advocating Pragmatism

McCain in town with Sen. Brown, plus Laser Cats

2010-03-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Sen. John McCain is going to the UofA game today in Tucson with MA Sen. Scott Brown. Sen. Brown is a popular moderate who just won in MA to take over for Ted Kennedy's seat. It looks like McCain is moving for more moderate appeal, just as he moved to the far right to fight off former Rep. JD Hayworth in primaries. But the polls are in McCain's favor, so I think he getting ready for the general election against likely Democrat nomination Tucson Vice Mayor Rodney Glassman.

To give you a smile I posted my favorite SNL digital short from the Laser Cats series. Laser Cats 2!!!

Recall Canceled

2010-02-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

We haven't posted anything in while so, I figured I should at least put something up. Here's a link to one of my favorite blogs that dishes on Arizona politics. It's definitely left leaning, but it's well written and the author is a find of mine. Here is a quick blurb about the Humberto Lopez failed recall campaign of the Tucson government.

Chula Vista's Foreclosure Program

2009-11-05T07:29:00.001-08:00

Abandoned and vacant foreclosed houses that remained unsold on the market have been major a problem facing several cities severely affected by the foreclosure crisis.

An abandoned foreclosed house is a prime target for vandals, vagrants and other criminal elements. Additionally, vacant foreclosed homes become eyesores that pushed down property values in neighborhoods and present danger to the public health.

Recognizing the negative effects and problems created by foreclosure properties, several cities across the country have initiated maintenance ordinances or programs aimed at eradicating vacant properties in neighborhoods.

Officials in Chula Vista, California launched the Abandoned Residential Property Program which imposed almost $1.4 million fines on servicing agents and lenders. The city's program mandated that lenders inspect properties they foreclosed to determine if they are occupied or not. Lenders are then required to register a vacant repossessed home and pay the fee of $70. Lenders are then mandated to inspect the foreclosed property at least once a week.

Following the lead of Chula Vista, Stockton also initiated a vacant property policy. Stockton's program is similar to Chula Vista in terms of requiring lenders to provide maintenance and security on foreclosure houses and to post contact information.

However, Stockton program differs with Chula Vista because it does not require mortgage servicers to register their foreclosed properties. The city relies on residents to report the unmaintained property in their neighborhoods.

The Ohio city of Cleveland has also the same program in place. The city has staff to survey neighborhoods to determine unmaintained foreclosed properties. Officials said that the city has become an expert in determining if a certain foreclosed home is marginally deteriorating or totally abandoned.

However, despite the city's sophistication in identifying deteriorating distressed properties, Cleveland's foreclosure problem continues to overwhelm its efforts to alleviate its devastating effects.

In Detroit, Michigan, an estimated $14 million in federal funds will be used by the city to demolish neglected and deteriorating foreclosed homes. The initiative, which is part of the neighborhood stabilization program of the federal government, involves properties purchased through the help of Michigan Land Bank or from Wayne County.

Similarly, the Indiana city of Indianapolis also received federal grants amounting to $29 million from the U.S. Housing and Urban development which will be used to purchase, demolish or rehabilitate foreclosure properties.

Would a program like this work in Arizona?

Police and Firefighters are Great, Prop 200, not so much

2009-09-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I think police and firefighters are great. They do dangerous work that benefits society by making their municipalities safe and secure. So, in Tucson on the November 2009 ballot the Proposal 200: Public Safety First Initiative which requires the city to increase the number of police in the city from the current level of 1.9 police officers per 1,000 residents to 2.4 per 1,000 and requiring fire department response times recommended by the National Fire Protection Association seems like a great idea.

But, if you look at the language in the initiative there are no provisions for funding of this requirement. According to the website that is promoting this initiative it will cost the city 16.7 million dollars for hiring more police officers and 30.4 million dollars for hiring more firefighters and the needed capital expenses. So, according to the pro-initiative group it will cost approximately 47.1 million dollars and the city estimate closer to 100 million dollars. Either way that is a great deal of money for a cash strapped city to bare and there is no designated funding sources. Like with any new expense you have two ways to pay for it: raise taxes and take money from somewhere else. Which means that property and sales taxes will go up. Increasing property taxes does not help an already hurting property market in Tucson and increasing sales taxes hurt consumer spending and disproportionally affect lower income people. The alternative method to pay for it to cut spending which will hurt school and community programs which will make Tucson less desirable to move to and, again, disproportionally affecting the poor.

The cost estimates are conservative in my mind because there will be indirect additional costs like funding additional support staff and jails. When one gets right down to it, what is it that police do? Popes wear pointy hats, scorpions sting, and police arrest people. With the increase of people that are arrested, there will be an increase the jail population. Anecdotally, I have heard if there are too many more people in the Tucson jails there will be a need build a new jail, which cost the city and county money. Now, that may be extreme but at the very least there will be a need for more jail guard and administrative staff for the police and jails to process the new arrests. I have not seen any reliable estimates, but intuitively city and county costs will go up with more people in jail.

So, while I like the idea of more police and firefighters, I cannot support this proposal because it is fiscally irresponsible and a burden on our city. My budget philosophy is like pre-paid sell phones, “Pay as you go.” While the pro-proposition groups are well funded by the Realtors, home builders, the police and firefighters unions, there is some grassroots and business opposition to this proposition called "Don't Handcuff Tucson" and here is their groups fiscal statement for Aug. 20, 2009. Hopefully, the Realtors and home builders that funded this initiative will write a better one next year if this one fails to pass.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Hopefully the following video will make it better.

The PEVL in the Stream

2009-09-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Running up to the November 2010 elections you will be hearing about the Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL, pronounced pev-el). Both the Democratic and Republican parties are trying to push PEVL registration, so do not be surprised if a party activist asks you if have signed up for PEVL. By filling out the PEVL form, your county clerks office sends you a mail-in ballot for every area election, from procedural voter initiatives to the President's election.

I have heard from party officials that 95% of people that have signed up for the PEVL end up voting. I think it's because people that usually vote are more likely to sign up for PEVL, but the people pushing the PEVL sign ups think if you sign up for early voting you are more likely to vote. So, we'll see if the PEVL drive will increase voter turn out in a mid-term election. I personally like getting mail-in ballot because I don't like waiting in line after work to vote.

If you want to get on the PEVL you need to fill out the form, but first you need to registered to vote and have you current address registered.

If you have recently moved and need to change your or you need to register to vote in Arizona you can use the following link:

https://servicearizona.com/webapp/evoter/

I have used it when I initially registered in Arizona and when I moved. It's very easy and there should be no excuse for you to not to be registered and have the correct address with the recorder. Also, https://servicearizona.com is an easy place to get a duplicate drivers license, if you loose yours or need to change the info on your license.

Now, if you want to sign up for the PEVL, your county clerk should send you a form. If you cannot wait for the form and you live in the Tucson or Phoenix metro areas below are the PEVL forms for Maricopa

and Pima counties. The recoder's office websites in the other Arizona state counties will have the forms for you. You need to print this and send it to the address on the form.

For those of you that like to vote at the polls instead of mailing in an early voter form, you can still go to the polls and drop off the early voter ballot there.

Happy voting, everyone!

Child Welfare Reform: Maine leads by Example.

2009-08-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Child Welfare Reform: Maine leads by Example.

In 2002, Maine's senior child welfare managers began to look at the outcomes for children under the state's supervision. From that review, a plan for reform began to evolve. Information is beginning to accumulate that change is occurring. For example:

* In 2001, there were 3,200 children in out-of-home care in Maine. In 2004, that number had been reduced to 2,900, and by July of 2006, the number in care had declined to fewer than 2,350.

* In 2001, less than 10 percent of children under supervision were placed with relatives. In five years, the number has doubled.

* In 2004, there were 770 youths in residential placements in Maine funded by the child welfare system. Two years later, there were 465.

* As late as 2005, less than 50 percent of child protection first contacts were achieved within 14 days. Today face-to-face contact is done in 75 percent of cases within five days.

* In 2004, family team meetings became a part of practice. There are now 600 family team meetings each month.

* Since 2001, there has been a 25 percent reduction in removals, adoptions have increased as a percentage of children in care, and re-unifications have risen by 25 percent.

What explains this change, most of which has taken place in the past four years with no added resources? First, the reform that was prompted by the organization was realized in a 2002 review. Reviewing programs at regular interviews allows for an honest assessment of effectiveness. The initial impetus for reform began in 2002 with the realization by Karen Westburg, Maine's child welfare director at the time, that children in Maine's care were not achieving acceptable outcomes. Children were in care for long periods of time and large numbers were not living in families. A decision was then made to seek support in achieving reform from the Casey Strategic Consulting group, which proved instrumental in the transformation of management and practice models. Borrowing from effective business models is not something that should be looked down on. It is something that, upon occasion, can be very effective in helping out government programs.

Reforms included the development of a beliefs statement, practice model, strategic plan and the use of data to measure change. In 2005, all policies were reviewed by assigning them to local offices to ensure that they were consistent with the organizational beliefs statement and the practice model. Each child welfare office assumed leadership in revising policies to meet that goal. Among those changes were: putting into place timely responses to complaints of abuse and neglect; ensuring that domestic violence perpetrators were the focus of interventions; implementing family team meetings to ensure inclusion, safety and permanence; developing clear family-centered policy to make visits child and parent friendly; and a focus on safety, permanence and well-being.

Driving the reform has been a clear statement that it is the organization's responsibility to ensure that every child lives and grows up in a family while being connected to a community.

Training for family team meetings, the practice model, residential use and other changes were the key to building these reforms. Good supervision does cause change and much focus has been on supporting a team of managers invested in a common view of what is right vs. what is easy.

The agency staff is now recognized for timely responses by persons who have made referrals; families and extended families are less fearful of our caseworkers; and family team meetings have resulted in sharing critical information with extended family that we previously lacked. More youths are being placed within their communities in part because it is policy, but also because it is being measured. Community placement data on each caseload and an array of other key data elements will soon be made available to every worker and to each unit and office.

This statewide initiative signifies a shift away from perception-based case management to a more data-driven practice. In other words, administrators look first at hard numbers—for instance, the length of time between report of child abuse to the initial investigation—vs. subjective observations in a social worker's notes to determine how best to manage a troubled child's situation. The result: fewer reports of child abuse as well as longer foster-care relationships throughout the state.

Among the remaining challenges are the offices and units where strategies have not been effective in achieving the strategic indicators. Another challenge is ensuring fidelity to policy as reflected in our quality assurance process.

Please watch a video by Maine's Governor regarding Child Welfare Reform at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHP0cj8zg60&feature=PlayList&p=740FD3E68DCF9650&index=25

Who are Citizens Advocating Pragmatism?

2009-08-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a good idea that worked for a little while? In politics today politicians far too often cling to outdated and unworkable policies and practices that fail to deliver real results to citizens. CAP-PAC is a political action committee designed to influence politicians with real ideas and a willingness to try new ideas at the Arizona state level. With moderate annual dues CAP-PAC is a way for average citizens to have access to leaders. CAP-PAC is not beholden to a set group of values other than effective government with fiscal responsibility.