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We’re back again with cowboy hats, and Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott, happily obliged our passion for fashion. 

We’re still having a bit of fun during a tense legislative session, though we have noticed the spice level has decreased lately, and we’re OK with that. 

Arizona is part of the American Southwest, and there’s no shortage of Western history and culture. It’s spilled over into the Legislature and seeing anyone donning a cowboy hat on any given day is not uncommon. Here are the stories under the hats. 

PS: Sens. Shope and Gowan, throw your hat in our ring! 

Tell me about your cowboy hat. What brand? Where did you buy it? Is it custom made?

Stetson. It was a gift. Not custom-made, but limited edition.

What did it cost?

I am told it was around $900, but a gentleman doesn’t ask the price of a gift.

What’s the story behind your hat? Why wear it?

I’ve worn such a hat most of my life. In the winter months, especially in the northern states, it keeps your head warm; in the summer months, it’s your portable shade. So, I suppose it is as much utility as it is fashion.

Do you have a hard and fast rule about when you wear your hat to the Senate?

While I will wear it when entering the Senate building and down the halls, I very seldom wear it on the floor, only on special occasions when I am asked to. It’s a matter of decorum and respect for the chamber. 

Which of your fellow legislators should wear a hat (of the ones that do not currently wear a hat)? 

I would not presume to tell a colleague to wear a hat if it is not fitting for them to do so. Some men and women look like they belong under a hat, others, not so much.

Have you ever lost your hat? What happened and how did you find it?

The only hat I have ever lost was at the Grand Canyon, a straw hat that blew off with a gust of wind. While I could see where it landed, I judged my life was worth more than a $30 straw hat, so I let it be.

How do you know when a cowboy hat is “earned”?

I don’t know that hats are “earned,” they’re not like prize buckles. They are a choice, just like a style, once one chooses to wear one. The hat is fitting of the man, or woman, as the case may be. The classic Stetson can say a lot about one’s personality. The gaucho style, for instance, probably would not look good on me, except for maybe a formal occasion. 

Have you ever been called out for wearing your hat in the “wrong” place?

Nope. My Mom raised me with manners; take it off for prayer, the pledge and for supper.

The post Finchem’s hat: The mark of a gentleman first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Editor’s Note: This Q&A originally published in the Nov. 22, 2024, print edition of the Arizona Capitol Times. It is republished here in light of Tom Buschatzke’s role in the ongoing Colorado River negotiations. 

Tom Buschatzke is Arizona’s chief negotiator for the Colorado River negotiations and has been the arbiter of the state’s water supply for over 10 years as director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. In a career spanning decades and beginning with an internship at the very department he now leads, Buschatzke said there’s never been a dull day.

The questions and answers have been edited lightly for style and clarity.

What initially got you interested in water and water policy?

When I was an undergraduate student, I decided to become a geology major because I liked the opportunity to potentially work outdoors, especially when you’re younger in that field. I went to undergraduate school in upstate New York, where there were lots of rivers, streams, etc. So the three pathways with that degree were probably mining, oil or water. And I just got more interested in water, but more from a technical standpoint. I had aspired to work for the United States Geological Survey, and actually had a job offer from them, a job that would have started on October 1, the first day of the federal fiscal year. Shortly before that job started, their funding got cut. My job was no longer there, so I didn’t pursue that pathway … Then I decided to come here to go to graduate school. And in school, I saw … an internship advertisement on a billboard at ASU and said, “I kind of need some money, so I’ll go take this internship.” And once I got here, I started thinking, “Well, this is kind of interesting.”

What is it like to be the director of a department you were once an intern at?

If in 1982 someone said, “Tom, someday you’re going to be the head of this department,” I’d have told them they were out of their minds. There are a lot of really positive benefits that flow from it. First, having kind of worked my way up the chain, I recognize what it’s like to be at that level, at the intern level first, and then at the entry level and understand the challenges. I understand, because I’ve done it. But I also understand, having been an intern and worked my way up, how we viewed leadership at the time and how we would have loved to have had more of an opportunity to get input into leadership in a meaningful way. When I’m in the room with my staff, if they don’t tell me, I call on them and say, “What do you think?” They don’t get away with just sitting there because I value what they have to say. I know when I was younger, I had stuff to say probably that could have been valuable that I had a lot less opportunity to say. In that regard, the work world has changed. There is more value assigned to less-experienced employees in general in the work world than there was back when I was younger. I think that’s a very positive step forward.

What has kept you involved in water policy for the past few decades?

I think there’s several factors there. One, the policy side is really very interesting. It is hugely challenging, but it has so many different pieces that most days, I come into my job — and it’s been this way for a long time — I learn something new. After 42 years plus, you wouldn’t think that would be the case, but it definitely is. And I just think that for the future of Arizona, what I do is really important, and probably that drives me as much as anything, and has always driven me. When I was in Phoenix, it was for the future of Phoenix, but also in the context of the state and the region. Now, it’s the state and the region as well. So, I actually, crazily maybe, enjoy the interaction at the federal government level with the Department of Interior, other agencies that I’ve interacted with over the years, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA, etc. I think those are also really interesting connections to doing water policy, just the breadth of it is sometimes daunting, but also what keeps you motivated, because there’s rarely a dull day. I always say part of what’s motivating me now is my two grandchildren who live here and who probably will live here for a very long time, if not their entire lives … I’m doing this for the future, the future good for the state.

What do you wish people knew more about when it comes to water in Arizona?

So, I think maybe the single biggest issue is people don’t understand that the community they live in matters in terms of the reliability of their water supply. There are communities that are very reliable, and there are communities that are less so, and when the Rio Verde Foothills thing blew up, I doubt those people knew the risk that they were under before it blew up. I have a younger daughter who was a club soccer player. [The parents] would say, “What do you do, Tom?” and I tell them, and they’re like, “Well, how’s my water situation?” And I’d say, “Where do you live?” And they’d be like, “Well, why does that matter?” I’m like, it does because [of] the way water rights and supplies have developed over the years, this whole first come, first serve, prior appropriation and other things. I would really be a lot happier if people were more aware. I don’t want this to sound negative, because I think this is a two-sided coin. What I have helped do, what I’ve helped create, is a level of reliability for people that perhaps is taken for granted. There is no one who goes like this with their faucet and nothing comes out, right? That’s because of stuff that I and many, many, many people have done over many decades. And I think that is somewhat of a unique situation in the world. The number of people, or the number of areas, that have refined water, 24/7, that’s clean and healthy is a very small percentage of the population of the world. I think it would be good if people recognize how good they have it. The last thing, and this gets into really difficult issues, people want their services to be as low cost as possible, yet to address what we’ve already created and to address what we need to do in the future is going to take more money. When Flint, Michigan, had their issue with their water quality, it was about a couple of million dollars they didn’t want to spend because their constituents were saying, “We don’t want to have to pay those rates.” I think that’s something that people have to start thinking about. If they want to continue that reliability, the cost is going to go up, probably higher than the cost of inflation. 

What do you recommend for people who want to learn more about their water?

We live in an information overload world, but through your individual water provider, whether that’s a city or a water company, the universities, this department, there is so much information that’s at your fingertips on the internet. It just takes a lot of time to slog through it, and it’s very down in the weeds, if you really want to understand it. One of the most difficult things for me, certainly, is when I get interviewed on television, and they want to be able to tell the story in 20 seconds. You can’t tell the complete story in 20 seconds. You can’t tell enough of the story on X. We live in a sound bite world, and these issues are pretty hard to describe in a sound bite world. So that’s a challenge for us, and it’s a challenge for people who are trying to get information, to make the commitment to really get down into the weeds so they can really understand the benefits and the risks that are facing them and us. 

You’ve been at ADWR for nearly 10 years, do you plan on sticking around?

I have no plans to leave anytime soon. I do think when I leave, when I finally decide to retire – which I’m way past eligible – I think it’s going to be retirement. Lots of people do consulting or try to keep their hand in it. One of the things my water policy adviser mentor always told me is, “Tom, when you do the water policy, if you’re not down in the weeds and at every level, all day, every day, it’s not something you do part time.” Because you lose the connections, and you lose your ability to be effective. When he retired, he was like,, “Tom, I’m going to disappear.” And since he retired 22 years ago, I think I’ve seen him four or five times. He doesn’t follow the water stuff anymore. The couple times I’ve seen him, [one] was when I accepted being the director, and he called me like, “Let’s go to lunch, explain to me why you did this.” So I think I’m gonna probably go down that same path.

What legacy do you hope to leave on ADWR and the state of Arizona?

That I left the state in a place where there’s a road map to addressing the water challenges that are facing us. I don’t expect to solve them all, but I want to make sure that there’s a pathway to doing it so that the next whomevers, director, staff, etc, have a solid foothold on solving those issues. Also, I am a huge proponent, as you can imagine, of this department hiring interns. When I was an intern here, there were about a dozen or so interns, most of them went on to really impactful things in the world of water. One went to the EPA. One went to the New York State EPA equivalent. Two of them, one was as the head water person for SRP for years. The other was the second or third in command at SRP on the water side for many years. So I fully embrace and recognize the value of internships in terms of launching people’s careers, and the value that not only it gives to the state, but the value that it gives to the water community.

Is there anything else you think people should know?

I would just hope people understand that this department makes decisions in view of what’s good for the entire state of Arizona. That’s our charge. So, sometimes when you do that, individual groups are aggrieved. But I hope people understand that that’s what we have to do. The other thing I want them to understand, in relation to the Colorado River, is that this state was the first to really embrace meaningful roles for tribes. Now, there are other processes in other states, but we were really the ones who started bringing them into the fold, probably around 2016 or 2017. It goes to what I say publicly all the time, we need everyone to participate if we’re going to address the challenges of that river. One of the other big things we hear is like, “We want to be in the room.” Well, it’s hard to negotiate something with 100 people in a room. We’ve tried to create layers of participation, but that frustrates a lot of people [who say], “I have a stake, I should be in the room.” I think we have, relatively successfully, figured out a way, through having different layers, almost like an inverted pyramid, to get people to have the opportunity to really weigh in with us. Also, this department was devastated by the Great Recession. It went from 240 or 245 people to 90. When I became the director in 2015, we were probably about 122. We’re twice that now, and that occurred with the support of the stakeholders in this state. They wanted this department to grow back again, because even though they are aggrieved sometimes by some of the decisions, they understand. I think that is part and parcel of demonstrating they recognize the larger benefit that this department creates. I’m very thankful that we have that support.

The post Tom Buschatzke: Keeping Arizona’s faucets functioning first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

After the coffee shop operating in the Arizona Capitol Museum suddenly closed in February, baristas Tara King and Geena Stacy took a leap and reopened it themselves. Now, King co-owns and runs White Blossom Café with her partner, Peter and has become a familiar face to lawmakers, state employees and other frequent flyers in need of a cup of joe. 

What is your background in coffee?

This time last year I had just started working for Noble Ground. I’d been working in coffee before that for about five years, in and out of a couple of different places. I didn’t think this was necessarily going to be my full-time job forever. And then I tried a couple of other things, and then went, actually, this is going to be my full-time job forever. I don’t want to do anything else. I started really enjoying working here and wanted to work my way up within the business that was here before. And then (Noble Ground) decided to call it quits everywhere.

What was it like when Noble Ground closed?

We had no forewarning. That week before, there were a couple of deliveries that hadn’t come in, and we were like, “something’s weird,” but we had no warning other than that. Thursday afternoon came. I had just closed at the Capitol because we closed a little bit earlier than the other locations, and on my way home, I got an email that said, “Don’t go into work tomorrow.” Then we got an email saying there’s an 8 a.m. full staff meeting on digital. We thought maybe they’ll close a couple of locations, like some newer, not super high performing ones. But at the Capitol, the session had just started. We were one of the most profitable locations. We get to that meeting, and they lay us all off. From there, it was something I’ve always tossed around in my head with no real plans, like, maybe one day I’ll open my own shop. I didn’t think that was something that was ever gonna happen. I didn’t think that was something that would be profitable. Then, after the location at the Capitol closed down, Peter was the one who was like, “This coffee shop is actually a good idea.” You have a captive audience there. It’s not something we have to build from the ground up. We have a bit more infrastructure, and people already know us. So we just said, let’s go for it. We made contact with the Business Enterprise Program operations manager. I think he saw my email before (Noble Ground) had contacted him to tell him that they wouldn’t be coming back. But we were able to make those connections and string things along until we got the contract and got the space.

What are some of the challenges you’ve experienced since taking over?

Both a positive and a negative: so much of the space and the equipment are technically leased and owned by the state. It’s great, financially, not to have to worry about paying for upkeep and equipment that’s years old and needs fixing. We’ve had coffee technicians come in and fix our espresso machine a couple of times, and that’s fully on us, and it’s always a pretty penny. But finding the right people to contact and nudging that along is a little more difficult. We’re fairly confined to (our) hours because of the museum. We don’t open till 8:30 a.m. because we can’t get into the museum until eight, but everyone wants their coffee as soon as the day starts. It’s nice not to have to be here at six in the morning, or five in the morning, like at other coffee shops, but I’m sure people would appreciate being able to get their coffee early. We’re not open on the weekends. Personally, I love that. As a business owner, I wish we could have that Saturday and Sunday revenue. 

What are the upsides of owning the cafe?

I feel like I’ve developed such an amazing community. Like all of my closest friends are my White Blossom regulars or were and now have moved on to other jobs. I genuinely enjoy talking to people every day. I’ve had regulars at so many other places, but it’s not quite the same. People come in here, hang out, work on a puzzle, play Uno. During the session that might be a little different – everyone’s a little bit busier then. And just feeling the support. People want us to stick around, and they want to shout us out, and they want to buy our tumblers. Also, coming up with seasonal menus is always fun, and hearing people’s feedback on that. It’s not always easy, lots of tough decisions. 

What’s the craziest drink order you’ve gotten?

Dirty matcha, matcha with espresso. I will do it, I will make you whatever you want, but that one’s a crime. I have tried some crazier things myself. I made myself an espresso and Coca Cola the other day. I really like an espresso spritz, but I did have a couple of people try it and they were concerned. 

What’s your most popular drink?

Right now, people are loving the sugar cookie latte. All three of our Capitol favorites are consistently ordered: the copper dome, the honeybee and the desert garden. Those three are constantly on rotation. But everyone always loves seeing the seasonal stuff. 

Who are some of the Capitol celebrities you see visit often?

(Secretary of State) Adrian Fontes comes in. I don’t want to say a lot, but he comes in often enough. Honestly, when I started with Noble Ground, I didn’t really know anything about Arizona politics, and I kind of liked it that way. I don’t need to know who everybody is. I know them by what they’re drinking and the conversations we have. Obviously, all kinds of meetings happen in here, but I feel like a lot of people walk into here and we’re like Switzerland. And I think people kind of respect that about this place, because it’s a human need. We all need to get our coffee and get out. 

What would you say to people who haven’t discovered the cafe yet?

Please come by anytime. I love welcoming anybody in. This is a great neutral ground in every way. It’s a great spot to take a break from your office or to meet with someone. And even if you don’t like coffee, we have so many options and I will walk you through them. I feel like, especially with all these fancy coffee shops, people get so worried. They’re like, “I don’t know what a flat white is.” And I’m like, come talk to me. There’s nothing I love more than figuring out what you want to drink. So we can find something that you’re gonna love no matter what.

The post Tara King: Keeping the Capitol caffeinated first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

With 55 years of experience lobbying at the state Capitol, Barry Aarons, with his signature bow tie, is one of the most recognizable lobbyists in Arizona. From starting as a page after graduating from Arizona State University, to working for the Arizona Corporation Commission to former Gov. Fife Symington’s office and finally starting his own lobbying firm, Aarons’ impact on Arizona history and intimate knowledge of public policy make him distinct among the state’s highest ranking politicos. 

The questions and answers have been edited lightly for style and clarity.

Take me back to when you first started working in this field. What got you interested in it?

You know, nobody says “I want to be a lobbyist” when I grow up. When I came out of college, I had worked for the Republican legislative campaign committee, and I remember after I was about to graduate from college — I was just short of my 20th birthday — and I went to the fellow who would become the Arizona speaker of the House, a fellow named Tim Barrow, and said, “I need a job.” He said, “Well, I can make you a page in the House.” They paid me $102.49 a week and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I was actually going to be paid to be in the center of politics. I had been a page and then the legislative liaison for a couple of agencies, and I had gotten to know the people at what was then Mountain Bell Telephone, which was before the breakup of the Bell system. And they hired me, sent me up to Colorado, where I had all eight states that we had in the old Mountain Bell company. I was there for about a year and a half, and then the fellow who had been the lobbyist for Mountain Bell retired. Shortly thereafter, they asked me to come back and be the “Number Two” here in Arizona, and I’ve been doing it ever since. So I’ve been doing this for 55 years.

You’ve spoken before about growing up in the Bronx and your father. What did your dad do when you were a kid?

He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1932, and he went to work for Warner Brothers Pictures, where he handled negotiations and contracts with the movie stars. They dragged him out of his office kicking and screaming at age 75. I’ll be 75 next month. There’s a message there. He was always interested in politics. We were the kind of family that all sat around the dinner table and he would talk about politics and he’d make me read at least one story from the front page of The New York Times before I could read the sports pages. New York Times front page stories go on forever. 

Who is the biggest star your dad worked with? 

He signed Humphrey Bogart to his Warner Brothers contract. He signed the Three Stooges to their Warner Brothers’ contract. There was a rule in the contract that they all had to be present and sign at the same time, so they got on a train from New York to Chicago and they played (with) him overnight. They’d get two of them in a compartment. You go out to find the third one, you bring him back and one was missing. He said, “I’m going to get fired. I couldn’t get them all in the room.” He trudged back to the compartment about an hour before they were supposed to get into Chicago station, and he opens the door and they’re all there.

What was it like working as Gov. Symington’s legislative director?

Oh, a lot of highlights and then a lot of lowlights, too. For somebody in my position as a lobbyist and relatively young at the time, it was great. You always want to be able to work at the seat of power. You get in the morning at 7:00-7:30, and there’s a pile of stuff waiting for you. Everybody’s always your best friend when you’re on the Ninth Floor. And, at the end of the day, the pile is still there and you don’t know where the day went. You know, and it’s 7:30-8:00 at night, you’re saying, “Jesus Christ, what did I get done today?” I mean, I was busy the whole day running, running, running. He had a very successful legislative program and got charter schools passed. We were one of the first states to do charter schools. He was very proud of that. He made reductions in the personal income tax. He would have liked to have eliminated it completely, but every year we got a little bit. Of course, we had the luxury of having, except for that first session, really solid Republican majorities with really strong young people in leadership. And because of that, you’re able to work with them and negotiate with them, and everybody gets what they want and so on. 

Do you have a particular legislative session that stands out to you as a lobbyist?

Back in 1983, we did not have statewide 911. You were risking your life if you were in a place that didn’t have 911. Mountain Bell had some money at the Corporation Commission that was left over from a refund — about $25 million. So we decided that if we got that $25 million and could get it away from the commission’s hands, we could use it to develop the system. And then, if we had an ongoing revenue stream, we’d be able to keep it going forever. We decided the best thing to do was to put a small tax — I think we put a nickel on every local exchange line. I’ll never forget we decided we were going to do a little survey research to see how the public would react to having to pay an extra nickel so they could have 911 and what we found was the public was overwhelmingly supportive of paying an extra nickel for statewide 911. 

What’s something you think people don’t realize about lobbying?

I don’t think people realize how much goes into building relationships with legislators. Some people believe that lobbying is all about wining and dining. When I was at Mountain Bell, they kind of discouraged “overdoing it,” so we say. They would say, “Look, the rule is, if you can’t write his name down, don’t take him to lunch.” In other words, we are going to report anything. I’ll never forget I went to a state chamber for golf tournaments and the drink cart came around and I bought a member of the House a beer for $4. I reported it, and one of you guys called and said, “Hey, did you really report this?” I said yeah, we have a rule that if I spend money, then I’m required to report it. So, because of that we were kind of disincentivized to do a lot of heavy duty wining and dining, if you will.

What’s the most rewarding part of the job for you?

There’s obviously this good feeling that you get when a bill is passed and you see the governor signs it. You can say, “We did that.” It’s also a rewarding part when we’re fighting like hell against something and we finally see it defeated. But I think the most rewarding thing is when a group of people who have disparate interests are able to come around a table and talk about what their wants and needs are and they throw out ideas for each other and they do one of three things. The things that we know we’re never going to agree with, we throw them out. The things that we know we’re going to agree on, we say, OK, we’re all going to agree with that. The stuff that’s in the middle, we negotiate out. And there’s much more legislation that happens that way than gets rammed through by a powerful lobbying organization against an underrepresented organization. 

What advice do you have for lawmakers this upcoming session as they face a tight money outlook?

Well, the money issue is relatively simple. Life is easier when you don’t have any money because then it’s just easier to just say no to everybody. It means you’ll have to make some tough decisions. It means that they’re going to have to maybe find some new revenue sources. I’m not advocating for a tax increase or anything like that, but they’ve got to start thinking about how they grapple with some of the issues that are taking more money. This year’s going to be a challenge. I think with water it’s going to be a challenge. Every year is different. The scariest years I’ve ever seen were the COVID years. From a standpoint of being a lobbyist and trying to get anything done, it was horrible. And then in ‘21, we did it all over again, but they had these rules. You waited outside, you got ushered in so you could speak, and then you got ushered out of the building — the craziness that went on that year. 

I want to ask about the bowtie, your signature look. What do you like about it?

There’s three reasons to wear a bow tie. Number one, I’m asthmatic. You don’t have to tie a bow tie as tight around your neck. Number two, you never spill soup on a bowtie. You can wash your shirt but once you spill on a tie, it’s gone. You can dry clean it, but it’ll never look the same. The third reason is it has become my signature, and I kind of like it.

The post Barry Aarons: Legendary lobbyist tells all first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Kathryn Ptak spent most of her career working in child welfare before becoming director of the Department of Child Safety earlier this year. She says her personal connection to the system and her mission-driven personality have made child welfare work her calling. 

Answers have been lightly edited for clarity. 

Can you tell me a bit about your career trajectory so far?

I graduated from law school in 2011, moved to Phoenix, got a job at the Attorney General’s Office, and my client was DES, the Department of Economic Security, which at the time included Child Protective Services. So I represented both agencies. When Gov. (Jan) Brewer separated DCS into its own agency, shortly after that happened, I came over as the deputy general counsel. I also did our legislative work. I did that for three years. Then I went and ran the Clemency Board. I did that for a couple of years. I missed child welfare, so I went to Casey Family Programs, which is a national nonprofit that works to safely end the need for foster care. Then, after a year, when Governor (Katie) Hobbs took office, (then former Director) David Lujan asked me to come back as general counsel, which I did for about two years. Then I became the director.

Did you ever imagine yourself becoming the director of DCS?

No. Actually, when I first heard my name was being floated, I thought it was a joke. Just because I never, ever imagined that. When I was here before, Directors (Greg) McKay and (Mike) Faust were these larger-than-life personalities. They were people that I really looked up to and I thought they were just so great. I never imagined that I would be, not filling their shoes, but in the same role as them some day. I’m glad to be here because putting me in this role has given the agency a sense of stability. I’m the fifth director in two years. So that causes a lot of anxiety for the workforce. I think putting somebody who has done the work and has moved from the frontline up, I think people were happy with that. They know that I’m not going to come in and fire everybody and start things from scratch. But I also think it’s a testament to the work that the agency has done, that the Legislature and the Governor’s Office feel like we’re moving in the right direction, and want to keep it going in the direction that we’ve been going. So obviously, we believe in continuous quality improvement. We’re a learning organization. We’re never going to say “We did it, mission accomplished,” but we have made significant strides from where we were.

What has kept you interested in child welfare work?

I think it’s the most important work that you could do. I’m a mission-driven person, and so I have to care about the mission in order to stay engaged in something. I was a foster parent. I adopted my oldest daughter out of foster care, and so, I’ve seen both sides of it. I’ve been a client and also worked in the agency. The people who work here are really special, because they’re mission-driven as well. And so it’s just a really great team, and it’s a really great place to work, too.

How has that personal connection to the system influenced your work?

It’s made me more empathetic to the families that we work with, both the birth families and the caregivers. As caregivers, we’re asking them to do something kind of impossible, like love this child like it’s your own, but we’re also going to potentially move the child somewhere else. Or you’re opening up your home to a kid that you don’t know what their background is or whatever. So I think it helps me understand some of what they’re going through, as well as what the birth families are going through. So I have a good relationship with my daughter’s birth family, and understanding that they’re going through a hard time, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad people, and being able to maintain that relationship is really important. 

Your job is often described as one of the toughest in state government. How do you manage that?

It’s definitely a challenging job because we’re dealing with a hard subject matter, and we’re dealing with families often on their absolute worst day. The good part, though, is that we get to help them through what they’re going through. So that way, if they’re able to get their kids back, they’re safer, stronger parents. The kids are in a better place than where we found them. I’m able to do it because I have a really great team. My two deputies, all my assistant directors, everybody, they’re really really great. And if I didn’t have the support of a really good team, there’s no way I’d be able to do the job, quite frankly.

What do you wish lawmakers knew about the agency?

There are two things. So one, we’re a data-focused organization. I think a few of these high-profile events that are incredibly tragic but are very low frequency are being used to paint a picture of an agency that is completely dysfunctional, and that’s really not what our data shows. We get 160,000 calls a year to our hotline, we investigate 50,000 cases a year, and the vast majority of our families walk away better and stronger because of our involvement. To use a couple of these high profile cases to paint this picture of an agency that needs complete reform is just not based on the reality of the data that we know. I think the other piece I would say is that when you have a tragedy occur, to place blame on an individual who’s working in a system that is as complex as child welfare – that is completely oversimplifying what has happened, because there are so many different pieces that have to come together in order for us to do our work. No one shows up to this job hoping something is going to go bad on their caseload. They’re here because they care about kids. They want to do a good job. So if we assume the decision making made sense at the time, then when we’re looking back on one of these tragedies, we want to understand what information they did not have, what resources they did not have, and how do we fix that piece. And I know people want answers yesterday, but we have to follow the process the right way, or we’ll solve the wrong problem, and then we’ll be right back where we started.

What was your time on the Board of Executive Clemency like and why did you return to child welfare work?

It was interesting. I would say, “I’ve worked in child welfare for a long time. Nothing shocks me. I’ve heard it all.” And then I went there, and I was like, “These are some different fact patterns than I’ve known in the past.” What really struck me at the clemency board was the number of people who either, as children, had child welfare involvement or who should have. It was very eye-opening for me to see the impact of when we get it wrong, what happens down the line. So I think that was really important from that perspective. You don’t get bored working there. I came back to child welfare because I missed it. I feel like that’s my calling. As a mission-driven person, I think it helps when you’re dealing with the bureaucracy or the day-to-day stuff that’s irritating in any job. If you care about the work you’re doing, it makes it easier.

The post Kathryn Ptak: Mission-driven director of the Department of Child Safety first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Sandy Bahr is a well-known figure at the state Capitol, where she can frequently be found testifying at the Legislature and the Arizona Corporation Commission in her role as executive director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. Bahr says her work as an environmental lobbyist has only gotten more difficult under President Donald Trump’s second term, as his influence trickles down to Republican lawmakers in the state.

Answers have been lightly edited for clarity. 

What has this year been like for your work with all of the changes from the Trump administration?

When I read the headlines and I start looking at the news the thought that comes into my head is, “What fresh hell is this?” From day one of this administration, we knew they were going to go after the things that we really care about, the things I really personally care about. I do think it matters when you have the president of the United States saying things and making it OK and saying like climate change is a hoax, that windmills cause cancer. It’s a really challenging time for me. Personally, I have to think that continuing to do this work and really to advocate for what we think is right and for people who don’t have a voice in the process right now is critical, and that it will make a difference, and we will come out on the other side. I work with a lot of young people, and the level of anxiety and sadness and concern and outright fear (they have) … like I know Sierra Club activists who stopped participating because of concerns about what might happen. So we’re submitting our comments, we’re putting out our alerts, we’re organizing events, we’re participating in coalitions. And that’s all you can do. Sometimes you just have to focus on the day.

What was this legislative session like with a Republican-controlled Legislature that backs Trump?

I feel like the sessions have gotten increasingly hostile. The leadership sets the tone, so the speaker of the House and the Senate president, they set the tone. They can establish expectations of the committee chairs and they can bring them in and give them a good talking to if they’re not treating people respectfully. Like I don’t expect them to agree with what I have to say, but I also don’t think they should be disrespectful, and they especially shouldn’t be disrespectful to people who have taken time out of their day, maybe they took a day off work, a day off school or whatever. They should be respectful and that’s gotten increasingly worse there. It seems like anything goes with some of these committee chairs. I was in a committee this year where someone who I consider a colleague was speaking and she was crying. If you’re making people cry, then you’re seriously not doing the right thing, this was just pure meanness. And I think that is the big difference. Donald Trump is a mean person and that has trickled down. A lot of people think that it’s OK to just be mean, because you can, because you’re in a position of power. I do think this was one of the worst sessions because of that. It’s gotten harder to get people to come to the Capitol. We can get people to go for our Environmental Day at the Capitol because there are a lot of people and they’re going in groups, but getting people to show up or testify when they watch what happens (is hard).

There’s also an all-Republican membership at the ACC this year, what has that been like?

We have had all-Republican Corporation Commissions before. And for most of the time I’ve been working on these issues, the Legislature has been all Republican too. But it’s just a different type of Republican. At the (commission), they seem to not understand what their role is, as far as they are regulators. I know regulation is a dirty word for them, but they’re regulators. They are supposed to be, because these utilities are monopolies. I love it when they talk about the free market at the Corporation Commission. I’m like, you understand that a monopoly is not subject to market forces. Like if I don’t want to pay money to APS, if I don’t like what they’re doing, I have to move to get a different utility. And they’re taking their marching orders, I guess, from Trump. 

There’s been some hostility at the Corporation Commission as well, how has that impacted your work?

At one time, it used to be kind of a relief to go from the Legislature to the (Corporation Commission), because they have rules of procedure and it really wasn’t personal. It has gotten a lot more personal. And just like the Legislature, certain committee chairs make it very personal, either saying things about you, when you’re up there testifying, or about your organization, sometimes giving you no opportunity to respond. They think any sniping, mean comment or question that pops into their head is appropriate for them to spew out. That’s not leadership, that is not serving the public. They forget who they’re elected to serve. They’re not only elected to serve their core of MAGA supporters, they are elected to serve the public, the ratepayers, and that means me too, because I’m an APS ratepayer. I feel like it’s a total abuse of power, the fact that they’re not capable of showing any kind of restraint. I mean, believe me, when I’m testifying on things, there are things that pop into my head too, but I don’t say them because it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to say them in that context. I do try to be respectful of the office, even if the person has earned zero respect. I also feel like I don’t want to be that kind of a person. I want to be able to say I operated with integrity and that what I’m guilty of is advocating strongly for what I believe in. 

What has given you hope this year and what do you think Democrats and other activists could do better?

I am glad that the governor has not shied away from vetoing all those terrible bills. And despite the fact that the Legislature has tried to make a big deal about it, she has continued to use her veto authority and that has been really important. I just can’t even imagine what it would be like if she hadn’t, even just in the energy realm, all the bills that hit her desk. She did sign a couple (bills) that we thought were terrible bills, that the utilities wanted, and we still think they’re terrible bills. Even though she didn’t veto that securitization bill, just the community that came together around that and called it out, I think that was encouraging. Getting a diversity of voices in the process can make a difference. At the (Corporation Commission) we just really have not had much success this year at all, and they seem to be just opposed to everything that we support, and likewise, support everything we oppose. So it makes it pretty challenging. I do think it’s important that we continue to make people aware of (the Corporation Commission). Not enough people understand what the Corporation Commission is, what they do and why it matters in their everyday lives. That’s something I know we’re doing a lot of work on, and I feel like there’s some momentum building there. 

The post Sandy Bahr: Environmental activism in the second Trump era first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

The DeMenna family has helped shape Arizona law for generations as one of the Arizona Capitol’s most recognizable and respected public affairs firms. Nearly two decades after Kevin DeMenna founded DeMenna & Associates in 1998, his sons Joe DeMenna and Ryan DeMenna rebranded the firm to DeMenna Public Affairs in 2017, ushering in the next era of work at the Capitol under the DeMenna name alongside their father. In a recent interview with the Arizona Capitol Times, Joe DeMenna spoke about his role as a partner of the firm. 

The questions and answers have been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Tell me about your background. What got you interested in working in this field?

I’m an Arizona native. I’m fifth or sixth generation, depending on who you ask. I graduated from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and then quickly realized that journalism was not for me. It became very clear that you had to really have a thirst for that. But I always really enjoyed writing. I was never a math guy. I was always the language guy. After graduating from college, I worked at the Goldwater Institute, a congressional campaign, and Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s reelection campaign. I finally ended up as a House researcher which was really cool because it’s a bit different from how my brother came up.

What was it like growing up seeing your dad do the work you’re now doing yourself?

When I was growing up, our mindset was that my dad talked on the phone for a living. I had no idea what he did. He’d come home with these big brick cell phones attached to his head, pacing the pool in the backyard and having these intense conversations. Whenever I get a random call, I always have to tell my kids, ‘This is what I do for work.’ It’s scary because history is repeating itself. We totally grew up in the process. I have photos of dad and Barry Aarons holding fundraisers in my backyard for John McCain back when I was a baby. Whether I recognized it or not, that allowed me to learn how to approach people whom others might otherwise find unapproachable.

How influential was your experience working as a House staffer?

I was, in my own words, useless when I got there. I could barely read a bill. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, and I was honestly going through a divorce, so it was a super hard time for me. Still, the House staff under Speaker Andy Tobin felt like a family. They were so understanding and so loving. I know that I was frustrating. They could have canned me any time, but they really helped me grow, especially Ingrid Garvey. She really invested in me as an individual and I owe her so much.

So you joined with your father and brother in 2013. Take me through that process.

In 2013, I came to what was then DeMenna & Associates. Ryan had done his internship in the Senate and then came to work for Dad right out of that. So he had a couple of years on me and they really had quite a little duo that they were doing. It was super cool. I was really honored to be a part of that team and to be added to the mix. We went through a merger with another firm that didn’t turn out quite as well as we’d hoped, which kind of set us back quite a bit. However, it created a situation where we were able to move on to the next chapter of DeMenna, which is DeMenna Public Affairs. We are just lifers here at the Capitol and have a real reverence for the process. 

I think what’s especially cool about the family business that we have is that I kind of turned my nose up at it originally, and that’s part of the reason I went to school for journalism. It just seemed a bit silly to just go in nepo baby kind of stuff, but at the same time, when I finally took a good look at the reputation, and the professionalism, and what my dad’s been able to to build here, and the idea that I can work with my brother and continue the family business in a really smart and fun way, how could I possibly pass that up? I get to hang out with them. I get to bring dogs in. We typically work on issues that we like, and I genuinely enjoy what I’m doing. We have a rule here that if our relationships outside of this office go downhill or degrade as a result of what we’re doing, then we walk away. We haven’t walked away yet. I kind of view myself as the John C. Reilly of this office, and I don’t consider that a knock on myself. I’m sort of a jack-of-all trades in that respect. I have a handful of clients, but I also back up Kevin, and I back up Ryan. They are the lobbyists I would hire if I needed to hire a lobbyist, just because of how they operate. They’re so effective and excel at what they do. In 2018, we were voted the best family business by the Phoenix New Times, which is such a huge honor, considering there are so many family businesses in Arizona. The idea that they picked us — I still say that as one of my best accomplishments. 

You specialize in marijuana policy. How does one get into that area of politics?

In 2015, my dad had a DUI. He has pancreatitis, which is a well-known fact throughout the Capitol. He was taking oral medication to deal with that. Definitely shouldn’t have been on the road that day. Ryan and I went and got him, and we were like, ‘This is going to be on the front page of the newspaper,’ and sure enough, it was. It was a difficult moment for him and for our family business because we’re Republicans. The white Latter-day Saints, stuffy, chicken dinner, chamber luncheon type of deal. Dad had some marijuana on him at the time, which was included in the arrest record. I had given it to him and we said he’s gotta get off the pills and use cannabis as a titration method. Very quickly after that he and I went and got our medical cards and got legit. I had always found relief with cannabis use but I don’t think I quite recognized what it was that I found as a youngster. We got calls from medical marijuana operators at the time. Mom and Pop shops that needed help and government navigation. Eventually, I became the executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, and it was such a fun learning experience. I have a huge fondness for a lot of operators and a lot of good memories from that time.

What do you do during the interim when lawmakers aren’t in session?

On the lobbying side, the work never stops. For the lawmaker, depending on which one we’re talking about, the work may very well come to a halt. The interim is the time when you take a moment to go door-to-door, talk to lawmakers, and discuss the issues that will arise in the next session, ensuring they have a line of communication and a clear understanding. If your issue is being heard by lawmakers in a January committee for the first time, you’ve messed up. 

What’s something people don’t know about lobbying?

A lot of people don’t recognize how benign in nature it can be. They hear about backroom dealings and all the fun things the media portrays, as well as the horror stories. When you break it down into what it is that we do, people are like, oh yeah, that seems like a very basic, smart job. If you are getting sued or are having a legal issue, you can go to court and do it all by yourself. But you probably should hire a lawyer. Not every lawyer is a good person. Just like not every individual in the world is a good person. We’ve got icky and not-icky in all professions. Showing how involved the government is in your daily life, especially if you’re a business that deals with the government, it really becomes an essential component to a lot of businesses. Now, I recognize that politics, just by its very nature, is not something that everybody has an appetite for. In terms of functionality, I view the lobbyist role as essential. And frankly, a lot of the laws written have sort of created that situation, like term limits. We have a new crop of lawmakers who come in every couple of years and we want people to stick around. We like statesmen. I’m not saying anything negative about newbies, but having to educate and update lawmakers on issues every few years can get tedious and it does empower some of the more icky actors.

The post Joe DeMenna: Keep lobbying in the family first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Reyna Montoya has lived many lives. As a high school teacher, she learned how educational policies could intimately impact the lives of students. As a DACA recipient, she advocated for equal tuition for undocumented students in Arizona, landing her in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2018 and leading her to receive the ATHENA Young Professional award. 

By teaching, lobbying and raising awareness, Montoya, the CEO and founder of Aliento, works to give undocumented students in Arizona the opportunity to obtain what she values most: an education. She sat with the Arizona Capitol Times to talk about her mission.

Answers have been slightly edited for clarity. 

What brought you to the political and nonprofit world? 

All my teachers told me, “Hey, if you have a really good GPA … you’re most likely going to be able to get scholarships to go to college.” And I did. I was part of the National Honor Society, and I was doing a lot of volunteer service at my church. As I was getting my scholarships, when it came down to signing the paperwork and accepting them, it asked for a nine digit number, which is a Social Security number — something that, as an undocumented student, I didn’t have. 

It was this constant narrative that there were barriers in front of me. 

There were other people who even had fewer opportunities than I did. Being a student at Arizona State University and getting involved in student clubs is when I started to realize that we can actually make a difference. We can share our stories. We can learn about policy and inform the larger community about these barriers, showing them that they don’t have to be this way. We can change them.

Is that how you came across Aliento? To assist in that mission? 

I would say so. I never really dreamt about creating a nonprofit.

As a classroom teacher, I noticed that many of my students faced the same barriers. If they wanted to go to college, they still had to pay three times more.

That was really a wake up call, being 23 years old and seeing there was still a gap between the community’s needs and their ability to understand what resources they had available to them. When I launched Aliento, it was really with that spirit. It was an initiative never intended to be a full on nonprofit.

What’s something that you learned about yourself when you were in college? 

I started as a political science major because I thought I was going to become an international human rights lawyer. As I was doing that, I stumbled upon my other major, which is Transborder studies, with an emphasis on immigration and economic policy. So I felt that I was able to have a unique experience where, on one hand, I was studying political science, and, on the other hand, I was seeing the theories and the reasons why people migrate. There was very little understanding about the real reasons why people migrate in the first place.

What I learned about myself was that when you’re doing things out of passion and they (have) a specific place in your heart, it’s really critical for you to follow it.

What has it been like to watch Aliento’s success and growth over the past decade? 

It has been humbling and rewarding to see that there are so many people who care right now in this very divisive world. What I have witnessed with Aliento is that there are so many good people willing to support our children and our young people, regardless of where they were born. 

For me, that’s the essence of the American dream – we are going to be investing in human potential, and if people work hard, there is still opportunity.

What do you see as the future of Aliento? 

My hope for the future is that these young people will grow up and hold positions of power. From becoming teachers to becoming nurses, attorneys or maybe our future elected officials, that they don’t forget where they come from, and that they remember they have the power within themselves to really make Arizona and our nation a better place where all of us can belong.

What was your main takeaway from working with the Aliento Votes Campaign in the 2024 election cycle? 

Young people are thirsty for action, contrary to what we read about the Gen Z generation. There’ve been a lot of challenges, and what I have witnessed is that they are willing to do really hard things to raise awareness about what is going on. 

Young people are not only thoughtful, they’re ready to act. They’re willing to have those tough conversations if you coach them, support them, and show them an alternative.

What was your involvement with Proposition 308? 

(Proposition 308 allows qualifying non-citizen Arizona high school graduates to receive in-state tuition at Arizona’s community colleges)

Back in 2018, we launched our campaign Arizona Futures, and we started going to every school, to every church, to every place that they would invite us to, to discuss how students right now are being impacted by the lack of institutions, and how much Arizona needs the students. Because we don’t have an educated workforce, we need more people who are working age, who have more post secondary credentials. 

It took us three ideations at the state Capitol, where we talked to elected officials many times, to do a referral to the ballot, because at the end of the day, voters needed to be the ones deciding on this. That happened in 2021. In 2022, it was in the hands of the voters, and the voters thankfully sided with Arizona Dreamers. 

Now that it has been reinstated, and I have seen many people who were impacted during my generation go back to school. It’s beautiful to see young professionals returning to university to complete their degree.

In everything you’ve done, you’ve centered yourself in education. What does education mean to you? 

Education gives you the confidence and tools to remember that you have agency. Growing up as a kid who had to migrate without knowing why, education became my refuge.

Education gave me the power to make my own decisions and to know that I have value and that other people have value. If I (hadn’t) gone to university, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities of meeting other people who had similar stories that I did, but also had very different points of view.

Through education we can become bridge builders, even though we see the world very differently.

You mentioned dance was important in your life. When did you start dancing? 

I started dancing when I was little. I was eight or nine, and then that’s when I had my first migration. So I had to stop dancing, since we were moving from Tijuana to Nogales. From there, I migrated here, and I was able to rekindle it in high school.

After I graduated, I danced professionally for a little while.

As a high school teacher, I taught all the subjects. I was a humanitarian teacher. I did English, Spanish, philosophy and dance.

(Dance) kept me going. Art is such a key component of the programming of Aliento, because we understand that art can have that dual purpose for students to reclaim their agency and also to heal.

Do you remember what life was like when you lived in Mexico? 

What I mainly remember is going to school, playing soccer, and dancing, and being mad at my parents because they wouldn’t let me have sleepovers. But that was kind of what my life was like in Mexico.

My parents didn’t graduate high school. They come from very humble beginnings, but my dad has always been a hustler, so I grew up with a pretty normal life. I remember that around the age of nine or eight, that’s when things started making more sense. I remember having this feeling of a lack of safety. 

What was the transition to the United States like for you? 

It was very challenging. At the same time, it felt familiar. Being born in the borderlands, I always had access to the U.S.

When I migrated permanently to Mesa, Arizona, I was in middle school. Middle school is already a hard age for a transition. Kids would look at me differently. Kids would make fun of my accent. 

When I came here, I felt that I was not really valued for what I could bring to the table. I was being judged for looking different and having an accent, which made it really hard for me as a kid. 

When I tried to do my homework at that time, the internet wasn’t as accessible, so I would carry a huge dictionary to figure things out. I remember crying in my bedroom because I couldn’t do my homework by myself.

Is there anything else you would like people to know? 

I want people to know that, especially right now in this world, we are seeing how our differences are being utilized to create division and create a sense of isolation in communities. Be reminded that we do have the power to create bridges. When they hear my story, to not only see me and my accomplishments, but to see in me those children and young people, those immigrant kids that love this country, they can see how much we’re more alike than we’re different.

The post Reyna Montoya: An advocate for equal opportunity first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.