Page 11 - the Noise July 2016

by cindy cole NEWSbriefs
Former Corporation Commission Chair, Gary Pierce Badge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Current Arizona Corporation Commissioner, Bob Stump
KnocK KnocK: Who’s There?
Former Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Gary Pierce got an unprecedent- ed knock at his door last month — it was agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who came to his home on June 10 to interview him. The FBI confirmed in a statement that it“is currently conducting a long-term investigation related to the financing of certain state- wide races in the 2014 election cycle.”
In 2014, Mr. Pierce was serving on the ACC at the same time his son Justin was campaign- ing, albeit unsuccessfully, for Secretary of State. Justin Pierce received more than $500,000 in contributions from an organization called The Free Enterprise Club, a nonprofit group that is not required to divulge the names of its donors, thus the term “dark money.” How- ever, many suspect that Arizona Public Service and its parent company Pinnacle West would appear on that list. The organization also made large contributions to the elections of Commissioners Tom Forese and Doug Little.
Back in 2013, then-Commissioner Sandra Kennedy asked Mr. Pierce to recuse himself from votes involving APS. She expressed the concern that Mr. Pierce might be inclined to unduly favor the utility company in exchange for help on his son’s campaign. Mr. Pierce de- nied any ties between himself and APS or any link to the younger Pierce’s bid for Secretary of State. In 2014, more than $1 million in dark money was spent to defeat Ms. Kennedy’s bid for re-election.
Then in early 2015, a whistleblower went public with accusations about unethical con- duct between commissioners and APS. Antonio Gill, former Commission employee and assistant to Mr. Pierce, wrote a letter to the Arizona Attorney General’s office detailing ac- counts of unscrupulous, and possibly illegal, contacts between Mr. Pierce and Don Brandt who is Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West, and Chairman and CEO of APS. The whistleblower alleged that Mr. Pierce and Mr. Brandt had at least a dozen one-on-one meetings during times that the Commission was considering rate requests from APS. These meetings may have been in violation of “ex parte” rules that govern contact between the Commission and organizations with which it is doing business.
In addition, Commissioner Bob Stump has also been accused of communicating through more than 100 text messages with Scot Mussi, President and sole board member of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, in the weeks leading up to the 2014 elections. It is suspected that he may have been acting as a go-between coordinating dark money contributions to the Forese and Little campaigns.
While the Attorney General’s office says it is still investigating the ACC/APS connection, both organizations report they are cooperating with the FBI. Mr. Pierce has also stated he is cooperating but has offered no further comment. It has also been reported that the FBI has subpoenaed documents and emails from the ACC to support their investigation.
ForesT service MeeTs To Discuss sMoKe issue
You’ve heard the saying — if you don’t like the Arizona weather, wait ten minutes and it
will change. Well, change it did at the beginning of June, and in a most unpredictable way. The result was a blanket of smoke over Sedona and the Verde Valley for the first few days of June caused primarily by two wildfires burning to Sedona’s north, and less by one near Pine.
Social media was burning up those days with comments and complaints about the thick smoke that filled the valley. Suggestions were made repeatedly to contact the United States Forest Service and file complaints. So the complaints rolled in, outpacing the USFS’ ability to answer each and every one. So, on June 8, representatives of Coconino National Forest as well as Sedona Fire and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, held a public meeting to discuss the smoke, though it had already cleared by that time.
Newly installed Coconino Forest Supervisor Laura Jo West told the crowd of about 80 people that, on average, there are about 300 to 600 wildfires reported annually. “I’m willing to bet you all know that wildfire plays an important role in the health of the forest,” she said. “And the truth is that, as long as we have pine forests, fire will be with us.”
“We couldn’t respond directly to all the inquiries we receive,” she continued, “so I wanted to meet face to face.” She empathized with those in the community who contacted her regarding the ill effects they were experiencing as a result of the excessive smoke that filled the valley. “While I will never be able to guarantee to you that you will never experience smoke effects again,” she said, “I want you to understand how we make decisions about fires. We want you to understand that we consider your health and safety in these decisions.”
The discussion that followed focused primarily on the Mormon Fire which burned close to 8000 acres just outside of Munds Park near Mormon Mountain. The fire was started by a lightning strike early in the morning on May 15. Flagstaff District Ranger Debra Mol- let explained the process through which the USFS made the decision to allow the fire to continue to burn.
“We put the fire in monitor status,” she said, “so that we could determine if this was a good opportunity to let fire take its natural course.” She noted the area had not had timber removal for decades and could become a serious risk under less favorable conditions. She also discussed “values at risk” considerations the USFS looks at, including proximity to pri- vate lands, location of watersheds, and presence of sensitive wildlife. In addition, weather patterns are taken into consideration. Typically at this time of year, winds come steadily from the southwest which was expected to push any smoke away from inhabited areas.
Once it was decided to allow the fire to take its course, a line of containment was set up. Incident Commander True Brown explained once firefighters committed to the planning area, a combination of unforeseen events made operations complicated. They planned to hold the fire over Memorial Day Weekend to mitigate any smoke impacts over the holiday. “We were checking the weather regularly and things looked good,” he said.
But, in typical Arizona fashion, the weather changed unexpectedly and conditions turned unfavorable for the burn during the holiday weekend. This resulted in the excess smoke that filled the Verde Valley. Firefighters moved quickly to finish the burn but the smoke had already done its damage. The result is still a safer area for everyone in the event that another fire starts in that region.
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