Shifting Blame, Stalling Real Action

(CHANDLER, AZ)— District 1 Supervisor Fulton Brock’s Opinion Editorial in the East Valley Tribune on Saturday September 12th demonstrates that the County Board of Supervisors continues to deny responsibility for putting Luke Air Force Base at risk of being closed.

A.R.S. §28-8481 and A.R.S. $28-8461, both signed into law in 2004, require counties and municipalities around the state to amend their general plans to protect land around military bases. Maricopa County did not comply, and filed a lawsuit challenging Attorney General Terry Goddard’s interpretation of the state law.

"Why does the county think their fundamentally flawed interpretation of the law is superior to that of the state's chief law enforcement officer?” asked Devin Mauney, Campaign Manager for Hermes for Supervisor. “This is a lawsuit the county will lose. It only serves to waste taxpayer money and to put off getting to work on saving Luke."

In his op-ed, the 12-year, never challenged incumbent reiterated the false opinion that the County Board could do nothing to stop development in the base’s “accident zones.” The County’s planning and zoning staff, however, recommended that the Board not approve development in those areas because of the threat posed by ordinance-loaded fighter jets to homes and the adverse impact of development to the operations of the base. Ed Hermes again called on the County Board of Supervisors to drop their lawsuit against the State of Arizona, permanently cease issuing building permits in Luke’s accident potential zones and comply with the 2004 law as every other county and municipality in the state has done.

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