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Wastchak: Not re-electing Kate Brophy McGee will be major loss to LD28

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I recall Kate Brophy McGee’s first campaign for the Arizona House in 2010.

At that time, I was just getting reacquainted with politics by running to be Precinct Committeeman in what used to be Legislative District 11, now Legislative District 28. All of Paradise Valley is in LD28, although the district extends further south, west and north of our town limits.

We were lucky enough in that election year to see Kate Brophy McGee elected to the House, and I was proud to support her within the Kiva Precinct as a newly elected PC.

When Kate took her seat in the Arizona House of Representatives in January of 2011, it struck me how humbled she was by her election. She was not afraid to share with her constituents that she was on a steep learning curve as she worked hard to get her hands around all the different issues, as well as the arcane legislative process, that is so overwhelming for a freshman lawmaker new to the capitol.

“Worked hard.” What a fitting pair of words for Kate. She always has, and not just for causes important to Republicans, but bipartisan issues that are important to all the voters of LD28 and the State of Arizona.

Kate was a leader in the creation of the Department of Child Safety as a stand-alone agency, key to the passage of Medicaid restoration and also restoration of funding for the KidsCare program, and she sponsored the bill which extended for 20 years the .06 cent sales tax dedicated to K-12 education.

Kate’s countless specific efforts on behalf of the Town of Paradise Valley have included, perhaps most importantly, beating back the never-ending assault on photo radar as a critical traffic safety tool for the PV Police Department.

Fast forward past Kate Brophy McGee’s re-election twice to the House of Representatives, and then to the State Senate in 2016 and again in 2018, to the current election.

Senator McGee is still working as hard as she did back in 2011, but in place of the overwhelmed, novice, freshman lawmaker, she has matured into a veteran at the Capitol, wise with a knowledge of how the same arcane legislative process works and the respect of her colleagues, both attributes essential to actually getting things done at the Capitol for Paradise Valley, LD28 and the State of Arizona.

There is a very good reason why Senator McGee was selected in 2020 by the Arizona Capitol Times as not only the “Best Republican Legislator,” but also the “Best Bill Sponsor for Both Parties.” Again, Kate gets things done, as one of the most bipartisan legislators at the Capitol, and has a track record in both the House and Senate to prove it.

I watched the LD28 Clean Elections candidate debate on Aug. 25. The contrast in experience between Senator McGee and her Democratic opponent, Ms. Marsh, was obvious from their responses to questions about how to handle the most important issues facing LD28 and the State of Arizona.

Ms. Marsh is sincere in her hopes to make improvements at the State Capitol, but why would the voters of LD28 want to replace someone as respected, knowledgeable, and truly bipartisan as Senator McGee, with a freshman legislator who will have little clout in the Senate and spend at least two years on a steep learning curve and overwhelmed? I certainly don’t, and the voters of LD28 should not either.

Critical issues to be addressed right now require expertise, knowledge, and the clout that Senator McGee provides today, and will be lost if she is not re-elected.

Significant changes to “short-term rentals” policy, to name just one such issue, has already been at the top of Senator McGee’s agenda as she leads the charge to tackle this problem in our neighborhoods.

The coronavirus pandemic stopped her short of passing important legislation on this topic this year. We need Senator McGee back at the Capitol next term, and beyond, to finish this important work so that local control over short term rentals is returned to the Town of Paradise Valley and other municipalities in the State of Arizona.

Together, we need to make certain that Kate Brophy McGee is re-electing to the Arizona State Senate so that we don’t lose all that she provides to the Town of Paradise Valley, LD28 and the State of Arizona: true leadership, critical experience, rare bipartisanship, and actual results.

Editor’s Note: Daran Wastchak is a resident of Paradise Valley and member of the town’s Planning Commission.