The following was read at the call to the public portion of the Dec. 4 Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting:
Mr. Chairman,
This is a time for respectful allegiance to truth, transparency and accountability.
As Ecclesiastes 3 tells us: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.
In that spirit, I want to thank Kevin Cavanaugh for initiating the civic engagement awards we’ve just witnessed, and for daring to bring disturbing, costly, but challenging issues to the board.
Next, a warm embrace to Kent Volkmer for his dedication to the rule of law, despite the discomfort of those trying to bend the law for partisan gain. May he find other welcoming fields where he can plant the seeds of justice for others to harvest.
To Sheriff Mark Lamb, in candor, may he find time to heal from his legacy of promoting the big lie, that has diminished trust in our Constitutional institutions of governance, may he heal from opposition to enforcing COVID-masking because of his sense of freedom that has contributed to the death of over 33,000 Arizonans, while that same freedom of choice has thus far tragically caused over 6.996 deaths of Arizonans illegally consuming fentanyl, a drug illegally imported by suppliers from south of the border responding to demand from north of the border.
In the spirit of Ecclesiastes, I encourage the renewed Board of Supervisors to prepare for a new season of an administration espousing enactment of Project 2025, that includes elimination of federal resources for education, housing, infrastructure, including loss of grants being approved by you in today’s consent agenda.
This board faces massive new challenges by a morally challenged administration, overwhelmingly approved by unquestioning Pinal County voters, an administration that promises mass deportation of immigrant families that harvest Arizona’s crops, immigrants who build homes, immigrants who invest billions in social security benefits they will never receive. A new MAGA administration that promises destructive tariffs on Arizona’s most beneficial trading relationship with our Mexican neighbors.
Yes, as Ecclesiastes puts it: A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . . a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
May call to the public continue as the venue to speak out respectfully for truth, transparency and accountability.
