Taxpayers deserve accountability from Board of Supervisors

Maricopa County residents deserve action by the Board of Supervisors before they are asked to pay a $100 million ‘Arpaio Tax’ to replace the funds misspent by Sheriff Arpaio.

For years, the Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors sat idly by as Sheriff Arpaio squandered millions of taxpayer dollars. Now, despite clear and convincing evidence of wrong-doing, the Board of Supervisors are refusing to complete their statutory obligations, under A.R.S. § 11-251, to supervise the official conduct of all county officers charged with safekeeping, managing and disbursing the public revenues.

The Board’s dereliction of duty has even caught the eye of the conservative watchdog Goldwater Institute. In Sunday’s Arizona Republic, the Goldwater Institute’s Byron Schlomach said, “The bottom line is the sheriff isn't exercising the oversight that he should've been. And there's been a fundamental failure by the Board of Supervisors to hold him accountable."

While the Goldwater Institute and the Maricopa County Democratic Party rarely find common ground, we can agree that there has been a fundamental failure by the Board of Supervisors to hold Sheriff Arpaio accountable.

Ann Wallack, Chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, commented, “It is not too late for the Board of Supervisors to act. But they must act now. Taxpayers need to know that wrong-doers are held accountable before paying a $100 million ‘Arpaio Tax’ to replace the misspent funds.”